Amish men and women stop cutting their hair and beards as soon as they are married. It is a sign of their religious devotion and that they are following their biblical interpretations. Cutting it off would be shameful, and a disgrace.
In February 2015 an Amish Leader went back to court to ask that his sentenced be lightened. His reasoning for this is that the Constitution demands freedom of religion, and separation of the church and state. He claims that his actions were religion based and the courts cannot interfere with religious activities.
Originally in October 2011, several Amish men were arrested and charged with burglary and kidnapping. The men (along with several others) were accused of breaking and entering other Amish homes. While in these homes the intruders they cut off wen’s beards and women’s hair with scissors and horse trimmers. In many of the cases, the attackers were immediate family. In one, a son cut off his own parent’s beard.
The judge said that the legal system cannot interfere in religious activities, but they can charge someone with breaking into homes and assaulting the occupants.
Reports stated that the elder Mullet had previously been reprimanded by the Pennsylvania bishops. Over 300 bishops assembled and together they condemned Mullet’s for his poor leadership. Mullet responded by yelling at the bishops, telling them to go to hell. Then he thumbed his nose at them. Investigations found that after the chastising, Mullet and his followers had moved away from their original community. It was believed that the attackers were a group that was ostracized in the main community.
In their new community, the people continued to follow Mullet faithfully. They also started recruiting more followers. The community steadily grew for years. Mullet, apparently, encouraged his followers to shun the practices of any other Amish communal.
The Amish leadership had stated that they have been watching Mullet for years, but could do nothing until this blatant attack. Two of the attacks were even against bishops.
Supposedly, Mullet ordered the attacks. The investigation turned up a “hit list” where several people had not yet been attacked. The authorities stated that this “war” could keep going and even esculate into worse crimes.
Even though Mullet did not do any of the actual breaking in or hair cutting, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The others received one to five years.
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
According to Rosenstand, N. (2013) chapter 1 “Religion is the key to the moral values of the members of the community”(p.17). What moral values are being taught here?
Do you think he should not have been charged? Do you think he should not have been charged so harshly? Do you think that these types of action should be considered completely religious and the law should not interfere at all?
According to Rosenstand, N., (2013) chapter 1, “Philosophy teaches that one must exam the issue without solely relying on the word of authority” (p. 17)
I think the law did exactly what it should have. Mr. Mullet was a very influential leader. He convinced his groups that they were the only ones following the Lord “correctly”. He was so persuasive that he persuaded them to assault other Amish. He is a very dangerous religious zealot. He and his people cannot commit crimes and use their religion to hide behind them.
References:
SEEWER, J., (Feb 2015). Ohio Amish leader in prison for beard cuttings seeks release. Associated Press.
Retrieved from:
http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-amish-leader-prison-beard-cuttings-seeks-release-181527587.htmll
TRIP GABRIEL, T., (Feb 2013) Amish Sect Leader Sentenced to 15 Years in Hair-Cutting Attacks .The New York Times Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/us/amish-sect-leader-gets-15-years-in-beard-cutting-attacks.html?_r=0
WELSH-HUGGINS, A., (Dec 2011) Amish Beard-Cutting: Leader Of Eastern Ohio Group Calls Attack A Religious Matter. The Huffington Post . Retrieved from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/amish-beard-cutting-attack-ohio_n_1004321.html
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Blog 7.3 Should Tanking Be Allowed In Any Sports?
Today, sports are about money. The more you win, the more
fan base you have, and the more money you make. When a team losses, or is in
the lowest ranking spots players, coaches, and everyone else involved with the
team loses money. Plus, coaches often do not last long with their team. The
managers and owners will fire the coaches and try to get someone “better”.
“Tanking” is when a
team purposely loses games to help advance them later. A team may want to lose
to another simply to shift who they may play later. It tends to be most
prominent in basketball, but can be found in all sports.
Most sports fans and officials frown on Tanking. When a team
intentionally lowers their playing abilities, it is considered unethical,
dishonest, and downright cheating. Others feel that it is nothing more than a
strategic move to get their team in better standings later.
Tanking has gone beyond the professional teams. Recently in
the news, two girls high school basketball teams were caught losing on purpose.
They did it to avoid playing the top ranked team during the play offs. Both teams were suspended and fined.
So, should Tanking be considered a tactical maneuver, or
cheating? “What is Good? What is evil? Nietzsche says that depends on your
perspective. Rosenstand, N., (2013) Chapter 10 (p. 497)
I think that it is unethical. I also feel that it is
teaching our youth that you can be rewarded for cheating. I mean, aren’t high
school sports supposed to be teaching teamwork, good sportsmanship, integrity,
ethics, morals, and values?
Most negative role models are thought to be teaching ethical
and moral lessons. As described in Rosenstand, N., (2013) chapter 10, Box 10.2
(p. 479) The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Adan and Eve have undesirable characters, but
the lesson learned are “good “. Tanking teaches just the opposite. It
encourages teams to manipulate the system and get compensation for doing it.
References:
ABC News, 2 Prep Girls Teams Caught Tanking, Banned From Postseason
(Feb 2015) Retrieved from:
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/prep-girls-teams-caught-tanking-banned-postseason-29174239
Deeks, M., What actually is tanking, and which NBA teams actually do
it? (Jan 2014) Retrieved from:
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/1/10/5266770/nba-draft-lottery-tanking-gm
Rosenstrand, N. (2013) The Moral of the Story, pp. 497, 479
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Ethical Stories in the News 6 Corrupt Scientists
Scientists are studying stem cells
in hopes to be able to grow them artificially. If stem cells can be produced
they can be used to replace old or diseased cells, increase the understanding
of diseases, and to develop new treatments for illnesses. If stem cells could
be produced easily and cheaply, it would be a huge break for the medical
community. This makes the pressures to find the answers on how to produce the
stem cells astronomical.
Many scientists desperately want to
be the one to discover something new that they give into the temptation to
falsely claim they have done it. Quite often these researchers get away with
it. The problem is so wide spread; affecting the validity of scientist all over
the world.
Trying to prove how wide spread
this epidemic is, the head of cancer research “Glenn Begley” took 53 new and
innovative experiments and attempted to reproduce the documented findings.
After many attempts, he could only prove 6. Then the Bayer Company did a test
of 67 of these “groundbreaking” researches. Sadly, they could only prove about
15 of them.
Recently in the news a Chinese
scientist was caught fabricating her studies and results on stem cells.
Professor Obokata published
two articles claiming that she could change everyday body cells into embryonic
cells, and do it in a very simple way. Her techniques were supposed to be much
quicker and less damaging to the cells than any previous methods.
Professor Obolata claimed that after using her easy methodology, the old
cells become similar to stem cells. This allows the cells to become young again
and grown into any type of cell in the body. It also was supposed to get better
cell results than previous practices, doing less damage to the cells, or cause
them to turn cancerous.
Yet, within just days, her theories were disproven and she was
publically disgraced.
I believe Professor Obolata made these false claims for several reasons:
1.
She was very young, as researchers go.
2.
She is a female in a very male dominate culture.
3.
Pressure from the scientific community to
perform.
4.
Her appetite and desires overruled her reasoning
and morals.
As explained in chapter 8,
Rosenstand (2013), (pp. 408-410), Plato explains how an individual needs to use
his/ her reasoning to guide their willpower. Using both the reasoning and
willpower one could control his / her appetites (desires).
Professor Obolata was so badly
caught up in her own desires and pressure from the scientific community that her
reasoning, decision making, and willpower were clouded. Thus, allowing her
desire, to be the first to make a discovery, to rule her actions.
When I read this article, I was
completely taken aback. I could not believe how the community that searches for
“truth” could be so corrupt. What a shame.
References:
Rasko J., & Power C., What pushes scientists to lie? The disturbing
but familiar story of Haruko Obokata (2015) , retrieved from:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/feb/18/haruko-obokata-stap-cells-controversy-scientists-lie
Rosenstrand, N. (2013) The Moral of the Story, pp. 408-410
Mayo Clinic, Stem Cell Transplant (2013), retrieved from:http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/stem-cell-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117
Monday, February 9, 2015
Ethical News 5.4 Capital Punishment for Certain Murderers
This article discusses a proposed bill that would allow Michigan to use the
death penalty for those criminals convicted of murdering police
officers.
In 1846 Michigan banned capital punishment. This
legislation would set a unique precedence in legal punishment. Not only would
it put capital punish back into the law books, but it would discriminate which
murders could be considered for the death penalty.
I think this case fits into this week’s assigned
reading of chapter seven in our class text very well. Do we have the right to
take a person’s life? Would an individual that murders a police officer still
be considered a “person”? According to
Rosenstrand, (2013), "genetically as well as legally, serial killers are
still persons, and the very fact that we choose to hold them accountable in
court is proof of that" (p. 324).
I also believe one must consider the question of
equality and of equal rights with this type of law. I am not so sure that I
feel a murderer of a child is less of a person, or holds a smaller amount of responsibility
than a murderer of a police officer. Does
the killing of law enforcement officers constitute different punishment than
killing anyone else? The discussion in Rosenstrand, (2013), "Treat equal
equally and unequals unequally" (p. 339) explains how treating people
differently may keep the treatment as fundamentally equal.
The kind of punishment discussed here is several of the
five punishments listed in our class text. Rosenstrand, (2013) (pp. 357-359). If
people believed that could be put to death for killing a police officer that
would be a “deterrence”. Capital punishment would also permanently “incapacitate”
the criminal, and could be considered as “retribution” for the crime committed.
References:
Oosting, J., (February 06, 2015). Michigan Live. Death Penalty for Cop Killers. Retrieved from:
Rosenstrand, N. (2013) The Moral of the Story, pp. 324, 339,
357-359
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