Nicole Moreira

Friday, May 8, 2009

The Persecution of the InnocentLet's say that all is going well in your town near Clonmel, Ireland. After a particularly harsh winter, you seem to fall incredibly ill. What would you normally expect from your partner? Unfortunately, Bridget Cleary wouldn't be able to give you that answer herself simply because she is dead. While she was very sick, the wheels in her husband's head started to turn. Why? Because in Celtic folklore, many believe that faeries would steal human children and then replace them with their own offspring, which is called a changeling. Seeing how that doesn't only apply to children, Michael Cleary, Bridget's husband, was convinced that Bridget was a sick changeling. The result? She was burned alive by her husband, who swears that she was stolen by the faeries and that he was trying to make the changeling admit iti. Throughout the years, thousands upon thousands of innocent people have been sentenced to death because of their religion or lack of, therefore. Now, there are many ways to kill someone, as many have discovered. There is hanging, drowning, burning, pressing and gassing, as well as using a gun or sword. Every single one of these methods have been used on hundreds of people who did not deserve death of any kind. As you listen, I will show you just how brutal and simply unfair our stupidity as religion-driven humans has made us. Ever heard of a witch or wizard? Before Harry Potter, there was the more stereotypical description of a witch or wizard. Black clothes, flying broomsticks, creepy laughs and suspicious black cats. In 1692, witch trials started in Salem, Massachusetts. A group of girls, for unknown reasons, started to fall into fits of hysteria and started to blame random people for their bizarre behaviourii. Whether the accused were witches or not, who knows? The kind of tests that were issued were groundless, not to mention pointless. One test is to see how you faired in water. Apparently, witches float and humans don't. As it's said: If you are human, you should sink. If you are a witch, you should float. Now, how does that work? Simple, it doesn't. In the end, every single person that was thrown into a deep lake drowned, yet were innocentiii. Though the first witch to be hanged was Bridget Bishop, Giles Corey's trial was much more interesting, and even admirable. After refusing to plead either guilty or innocent, he was taken outside, stripped of his clothes and made to lie down on the ground in front of a large crowd. Four or five wooden boards were placed across his chest and then men placed large, heavy rocks on the boards. Can you imagine? This method is called pressing, for obvious reasons. Giles Corey stayed in that position for two days before he was asked again if he was a wizard. His reply? More weight! And so they did. He, of course, could not take the strain and died on September 19th, 1692iv. All in all, the Salem Witch Trials resulted in twenty-four deathsv. Since we might as well go across the map, we'll go to Jerusalem, which is the cause of a 200-year war between Christians and Muslims. As you may have guessed, I am talking about the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of campaigns against the Muslims which, in total, resulted in eight Crusades. From 1096 all the way to 1270, the fight over Jerusalem and the hatred between the two religious people raged on. Why? Because, apparently, a city is more important that one and a half million lives. If you are Christian or Catholic, you would know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not too far off from Jerusalem, and then spent most of his days in Jerusalem. If you are Muslim, you would know that Muhammad also spent most of his days in Jerusalemvi.

Nicole Moreira

Friday, May 8, 2009

This, of course, is beyond contradictory and somewhat ironic, as well. In the Christian Bible, it clearly states as one of the Ten Commandments that Thou shall not killvii. In the Muslim Bible, it clearly states that Do not take any human being's life that God willed to be sacred other than in the pursuit of justiceviii. And what did they do? They broke one of the most important rules so they could obtain land that one of their holy figures walked on. Thinking about it now, it doesn't sound too smart, now does it? Jesus and Muhammad were probably pulling their hair out as they watched their people massacre each other! If you want mass murder, then you should check out the Holocaust. I understand that practically everyone in this class has heard everything about the Holocaust because we have talked about it in English and it is being taught in History, but it should be mentioned anyway. Though most say that the Holocaust started in 1942, it actually started nine years prior to that. 1933 was when Adolf Hitler began rising to power and started with closing Jewish businesses and then killing small amounts of Jews. 1942 was when the Jews started being persecuted by the hundreds and thousands and people finally started noticingix. The Jews were killed in a few choice ways, ranging from gunshots to the head to being gassed and then burned. All of this, just because they were Jewish. I see nothing wrong with being Jewish and many of the Germany soldiers and citizens felt the same way, but wouldn't risk their own lives just for a Jew. Though the numbers vary, the most popular amount of Jews killed during the Holocaust adds up to six million peoplex. No wonder they burned them all; where would they find the room to bury them? To be honest, they started out by burying them and then realized they would run out of room. What did they do? They dug up the bodies they buried and then burned them along with the rest of themxi. As Hitler, I quote, The young Germany, that is led by me and that finds its expression in the National Socialist Movement, has only the most heartfelt desire for an understanding with other European nationsxii. To quote the website that I got this from, This is the guy who started World War IIxiii. I myself was brought up as a Roman Catholic and went to a Catholic elementary school. To be honest, we were never taught about any wars or events that would point to Christianity or Catholicism as being at fault. I was not taught about the witch trials. I was not taught about the Crusades. I was not taught about the Holocaust. I was, however, taught about how the religion my teachers taught was the only choice I had. I can safely say that this is basically the same thing taught to most children, regardless of their religion. These choices were to prevent rebellion. If you thought being killed by someone else because of your religion differences was bad, how about being killed by someone of your own religion? Unlike Bridget Cleary, who was killed for supposedly being a 'changeling', Aqsa Parvez was strangled to death in 2007 by her father, with the help of her brother. Why? Because she didn't want to wear the traditional Muslim clothing; the hijab in particularxiv. With all that you've heard, would you be able to do something like that? Hurt or even kill someone just because they believe in Jesus Christ or Muhammad or Buddha or Allah or Ra? For me? I'd rather die myself than have to commit such a crime. Thank you.

i "Bios." Burning Bridget Cleary - High Spirited, Foot Stomping, Heart Warming Celtic Music. 4 May 2009 .

ii Rice Jr., Earle. The Salem Witch Trials. Print. iii Lambert, Tim. "The Witch Trials." Local Histories. 7 May 2009 . iv Snyder, Heather. "Salem Witch Trials: Giles Corey." Salem Witch Trials Documentory Archives. 6 May 2009 . v "Salem Witchcraft History." Salem Witchcraft. 7 May 2009 . vi "The Crusades." History Learning Site. 3 May 2009 . vii Robinson, B. A.. "Comparing the Ten Commandments with verses from the Qur'an." Religious Tolerance. 7 May 2009 . viii Ibid. ix "The History Place - Holocaust Timeline." The History Place. 6 May 2009 . x "The Holocaust." ushmm.org. 6 May 2009 . xi Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Babi Yar." About.com. 7 May 2009 . xii Mischewski, Dean. "Adolf Hitler - Christian, Athiest, or Neither?." KiwiCatholic.com. 7 May 2009 . xiii Ibid. xiv Roberts, Rob. "Girl, 16, dies after hijab dispute with father." National Post Web.6 May 2009. .