Government 1A Essay 1

Prompt: Should Government be classified as a type of government?

Family is and should be classified as a type of Government. The government is defined as a system by which a state or community is controlled. Well, the household can certainly be called a community, one of the original communities at that. The household also exhibits many of the variables government’s often get created around. For example, a hierarchy needs to be clear and plain to see in a functional household. The adults of the house have power over the children. There need to be guidelines, as well as rules and regulations that support this claim. If a child misbehaves or disrespects the adult they get punished; whether that punishment be through privilege’s getting revoked, time out, ect.

Those time outs and the like can be viewed almost like preparation for adulthood. Preparation for the real, state funded time outs the child will have to be aware of later in life. The child will have to learn that other people have authority over them, and that disobeying that authority can have real consequence’s. Understanding that authority, and submitting to it at a young age puts the boundaries in place the child will need to remember throughout their whole life.

The child learns the laws, submits to obeying them, and understands if he disobeys them a greater authority will step in to enforce punishment. That is, at its most basic level, what government is and has always been. A hierarchy of regulations, submission, and fair punishment that protects the peace and order of a community.

In conclusion, even if the household community only consists of one family of people, its still a community that functions under a system of control. Therefor, the family is a government.

Literature Essay 1

Essay 1

Prompt: Do you think that Luther really believed that Pope Leo X did not know what the indulgence salesmen were saying?

Martin Luther, as radical as he seemed at the time, was a Christian. A Christian that truly cared about his fellow Christians, and their fate beyond death. Because of this the 95 Theses resembled a passion project; it was an emotional debate set to tug on our pathos and ethos. Now because the theses was a work of emotions and ethics it had to fall into the basket of what Christians of the day felt, and most felt that the Pope was a honest and holy man. Regardless of what the truth was, or how he personally felt on the matter, Luther needed to portray the Pope in a holy light if he wanted to be taken seriously by the masses. Or on that matter, if he didn’t want to be immediately and unconditionally prosecuted for blasphemy. He needed to be able to make the argument that he did respect and had shown respect to the Pope, even if he subtly slandered him here and there.

Luther knew the pope was human, and as a human he was just as vulnerable as anyone to sin and corruption. So it was more than likely that on some subconscious level Luther questioned the true holiness and generosity of the Pope. He made the argument that the Pope had enough money to fund the building of the St Peters chapel himself, but instead he condoned commoners to pay for it through buying indulgences. He spoke on behalf of the Pope, expressing the Pope must be naïve to the situation. If he wasn’t naïve he would certainly put a stop to these lying priests, right?

In reality the Pope knew full well about the indulgences. He was more than happy to sit back and allow his followers to build the chapel for him, without actually spending a dime of his own cash. By writing the 95 Theses Martin Luther not only called out this avarice, but did so in a way that didn’t connect him to many legal repercussion’s. He was clever enough to make it look as if he supported the pope, while in fact doing the opposite and questioning the divine foundation the popes rule rested upon.

He managed to call out the heresy of the indulgences and the priests that sold them, but he also did more than that. He managed to call out the source, the top dog, the high and mighty. He called out the control of the whole operation, the ruler of feigned holiness sitting upon his throne of greed. He managed to do this in a way that brought very little chide upon his name. If any other person were to question the Pope, question the supposed righteous leader, he’d have his head lopped off his body in less than a fortnight. But Luther figured out a way to do just that and get only a slap on the wrist. Luther managed to question the sanctity of the Popes authority, while making it seem as if he was on his team. That brilliance led to a revolution. Luther inspired rebels back then, and is still inspiring them today.

Civilization Week 2

Questions Week 2:

9/15/2018

Question 1: Explain Luther’s main points in the section you read from On the Freedom of a Christian.

Answer: Luther was explaining that it is by faith alone that a man is to get into heaven, not the good deeds a man has done. He encourages good deeds, saying they are a way to show your love of God and the earth he’s created; but he says they are not a way to get into heaven. He says the Christian has nothing to gain from preforming ‘sacred acts’ such as pilgrimages and fasting, but should look only to the word of God and the gospel for salvation.

Question 2: Explain Calvin’s main points in the selection you read from the Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Answer: Calvin was explaining to Francis the first belief’s of the protestants, and how they differed from Anabaptists. The Protestants were being persecuted at the time, and Calvin was trying to explain to the king that the Protestant movement was not trying to take down the Catholic church. It was instead a throw back to the old testament, having faith in the way the Christian faith had been in the past.

Question 3: How does Calvin answer those who say predestination makes God into a being who dispenses justice unequally?

Answer: He says that questioning the will of God, and the will he’s put into place is extremely arrogant. ” If to make it appear that our salvation flows entirely from the good mercy of God, we must be carried back to the origin of election, then those who would extinguish it, wickedly do as much as in them lies to obscure what they ought most loudly to extol, and pluck up humility by the very roots.” He says that those that question God have already proved God has sentenced them to something less than heaven, and are in fact proving his points by merely questioning them.

Civilization Week 1

Questions week 1:

9/7/2018

Question: What was the condition of the Catholic church on the eve of the Protestant reformation?

Answer: Many of the people of that time were clearly unhappy with the church. Some saw it as corrupt and full of greed, which sparked the movement of looking within ones self for divinity. Others were displeased that they were being pressured to spend money on indulgences. They felt as if their hard earned money was being spent on a far away city, distant from what they personally held dear.

Question: What were the 95 theses about? What was the basic message of Luther’s complaints?

Answer: Luther believed selling indulgences was deceitful and corrupt. He made the argument that it was giving people false hope; it was also making them spend money on St Peters church, a church many of the Germans would never even be able to visit. He questioned the churches power, saying it had no power over purgatory. People back then (whether they were upset with the church or with the indulgences) saw Luther as a real icon. A captain, you could say, to the revolution many wanted to see happen.

Literature Essay 2

Prompt: Why does More Present the traveler as a sensible reformer early in book 1, but not later?

In More’s Utopia, Raphael is a traveler that has seen many societies in the world. He has spent a chunk of time in the fictional society of Utopia, learning their customs. Because of this, he has several reforms he thinks would better everyone. His ideas start out practical enough. He’s against standing armies for one. He sees them as tools used by the rulers to intimidate and overtake other nations, he uses France as an example. He’s also against thieves being killed for their crimes. He says since that’s the same punishment murderers get, it will make a thief more likely to kill rather then just steal. If they are getting the same punishment for both crimes its easier to just kill the witness.

After this his reformation ideas begin to get a lot more radical. He says the government should step in and abolish private property. He says that the landowners herding sheep eventually turns those sheep into beasts, and that renting to tenants eventually turns them to thieves. He also says money should be abolished, and that people should be able to go into town and take what they need without needing to pay. He says the government should be the ones controlling and regulating the market, and the people within the system will get everything they need.

He also says the government should abolish gambling, taverns, and sporting events. According to Raphael people are incapable of quitting these habits themselves, and will continue to ruin their own lives by wasting their money. If the government not only gets rid of these recreational markets, but also gets rid of money in general people will live much better lives. If the government has complete control of the cultivation and supply of the market then people wont have to worry about making financial mistakes, and can more efficiently produce for said government controlled market.

More’s response to this was that the system wont work. The sin of sloth is too potent in man, and having an opportunity to slack off and let the government handle things is far too tempting. He explains that if people are to have ambition they need something real to work for. More’s quote is as follows: “It seems to me that men cannot live conveniently where all things are common: how can there be any plenty, where every man will excuse himself from labor? For as the hope of gain doth not excite him, so the confidence that he has in other men’s industry may make him slothful.”

The closest form of government to what Raphael was speaking is socialism: the government controlling the market and the people receiving an equal and common wealth. More was using the traveler as a mouthpiece to why this government type wouldn’t work, and why a capitalistic society is the only way to motivate people into working. While its idealistic to think of needing something, receiving it, and not having to give any sort of payment; this sort of lifestyle would only encourage lazy inefficient behavior.