Write a multi-paragraph (paragraphs can be 9 + sentences long) essay using the essays or works suggested in this section (at least 2) as your support, as well as (at least 3) outside sources. The overall topic is SEEKING TRUTH AND JUSTICE. Each body paragraph should have a strong conceptual TOPIC SENTENCE that shares ideas you see as relevant to the overall topic(s)
-How important is truth?
CONSIDER this article “Does Truth Matter?” by Carl Sagan
This is a dense expression of the myriad of farcical notions we humans have about life. It questions what we know, but mostly what we think we know or what we superstitiously know or what we think our abilities are to reach higher powers and the unknown. It is incredibly powerful and can begin your journey. It is peppered with enclosed subtext (the boxes within the essay) that are most interesting! How do facts change our life? Why do people ignore them?
This essay could set you on a course to seek: odd hoaxes and ridiculous notions (Salem Witch Trials or Transcendental Meditation) or an essay about the pandemic and quarantine we are living today and how the information about its truth has been parsed with political ambition in its way. Consider all the avenues Sagan travels and let yourself sit with it for a bit. Does truth matter? The groundwork of this essay is a perfect start.
This essay also touches on science as a form of spirituality (312) and the Latin translation of spirit is “to breathe.” Will the future allow for these two entities to meld?
Connection: Henry David Thoreau was a Transcendentalist (not to be confused with Transcendental Meditation).
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendentalism/
This same section on page 312 discusses selfless courage as found in Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mohandas Gandhi. All these men were certain of a truth about mankind, that was being denied them. Where do people get this certainty? Where do they find the courage to stand up to the system? What else doe this entail?
-How important is justice?
CONSIDER this article “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper2/thoreau/civil.html
This essay was the impetus for Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, who then inspired the “civil disobedience” of the Women’s Marches across the country sparked by the #metoo movement and Black Lives Matter protests. Thoreau’s protest against a tax was a minor confrontation, but it inspired the essay that has been read and adhered to for a century. Here, the participants were all sure of a truth and thus, sought JUSTICE.
CONSIDER “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson (218). This document sought freedom from tyranny. The British Crown (Great Britain) continued to tax the colonies, so the colonies rebelled, fought a war and won. They devised this document to separate themselves from Britain and to establish their beliefs in a new rule of law. How is this document relevant today as we consider ALL MEN and WOMEN?
CONSIDER the Constitution of the United States
https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992
Today, the highest court in the land, The Supreme Court, often is considered binary (one of two things; either conservative or liberal). How are these judges considered liberal or conservative? What makes their decision-making identify them as one or the other. And what does it mean when a judge is called a originalist? How do judges come to their decisions within the reality of our world today. This would make for an interesting research essay as to the makeup of the court and how each judge seeks truth and justice.
CONSIDER the media today. Why did Trump, the 45th president of the United States, exclaim from the highest position in the land that the media we listen to and hope to trust is FAKE? He has called the media we trust “an enemy of the people.” Why? What evidence did he ever produce? Consider the main source of our information. Consider the way information is disseminated and the trustworthiness of that process. Then consider his political gain. Then consider how his rhetoric has affected the American psyche. (There may be something in history that mirrors this agenda.)
*Things to considers for your research & brainstorming*
What is truth? In Science? In Politics? In our Society? Where does it begin and end? How much truth can we take? Where does our truth come from? Once we establish our belief system, how often do we question our truth, if ever? How does Truth encounter Justice? Who seeks Justice? Why?
What is society’s role in establishing and maintaining TRUTH? Because of America’s history, how should the future look in respect to justice and truth? Consider “Black Lives Matter” as a focus or “Women’s Rights” or the “Myths and Misinformation about Latinos” over time.
How important is it that we as Americans understand American history as it really happened?
How has the “establishment” kept people (who are not white men) in their places? Have things changed at all in the last 50 years in that regard? 20 years? 3 years? How so? Whose voices are heard?
Whose voices should be heard? Why and How? Do we turn a blind eye to truth? How true is something true?
What ethical responsibility do we have to each other? Our family? Our environment? Are we a depraved society that allows falsehoods and misinformation? Do we allow things to go unaddressed if we are benefiting from a situation? Do we exercise “doublethink”?
