Beginning class in Public School with a prayer. Is it a violation of separation of church and state?

Public School shouldn’t start every morning with a Christian prayer, even if it is led by the teacher and is not mandatory for every student in the class. Where is the line between religious freedom and religious imposition? Students may be forced to do it because they feel confused or think they can be excluded for the rest of their classmates, so undoubtedly this case would violate the separation of church and state.

Teachers and students have their rights if they want to speak about religion matters (First Amendment, free speech) but teachers can’t allow students to pray out loud or with a group. If they allow Christian students to pray, they must to do the same with Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist students,... The United States is a diverse nation with people who follow many different faiths and all of them can’t be represented in the started of the classes.

Teachers should not defend just one religion in their classes and should keep out of it. Teachers’ work is to teach their corresponding field, they are not responsible for teaching students to pray. This work belongs to the parents who are the real responsible of it. Students can pray in Churches or at home with their families.

There is a time and a place for everything, and Public School is no one of them. If a family really wants that their children pray at school, they should look for a specific school, a private school which share their religion. But if they want to keep their children in a public school, they must to respect to the rest of the people who have different religious ideology, such as they want to be respected.

Beginning class with a Christian prayer - violation of the separation of church and state?

First of all I agree with the objection of the non-Christian parents. Although it’s most probably a harmless violation of the Amendment that regards the separation of church and state the teacher shouldn’t include the Christian prayer in school. Even though the students can choose whether to participate or sit quietly, the prayer affects all of them who sit in class. I mean isn’t this way an unconscious intake of the information?

Secondly, the teacher projects her belief on the students which is partly also not correct because America claims to be a country that encourages the freedom to follow your own religion.

What the school could do is to offer a religious class as additional subject in case some parents would like the idea. That is how the school system used to be when I went to school and I think it is a good solution.

Violation of the separation of church and state? (Illinois)

"A school in Illinois instituted a daily prayer, every morning, which thanked God for the day and asked for support, but which didn't mention a specific god or religion."

In my opinion It violates the separation of church and state since it's a public school and I assume it's part of the government. The school shouldn't force the students to pray or to have any religion. It's a personal decision. Even if the prayers didn't mention any specific religion, it's still related to religion. People should have the chance to choose any religion they want, even if they choose not to have a religion. The school is not giving this choice for the students.

Violation of the separation of church and state? (Arizona)

In my opnion, this case is definetelyviolation of separation of church and state.
Once a law is enacted, People's rights are affected by it.
People are eligible for enjoying the freedom of religion and separation of state and church
without any pressure like goverment interference or others's oppression.
If students felt they were praying under teacher's pressure and the teacher used his authority to make students pray,
It could be said that it is an intrusion into what is supposed to be the separation of state and church.

Violation of the separation of church and state? (Arizona)

To my mind, this case definitely violates the separation of church and state since this procedure is based on a governmental decision. The children at school are told to pray or to mediate before their classes start. This means that the students are in a way forced to do so and even the ones that are undenominational must pray.
It remains questionable whether these regulations are stipulated by the school itself or by the government. If the latter is the case, the separation of church and state would clearly be violated because the government would directly interfere with the school's decisions. On the other hand, if it was a school internal decision, it may appear not to be a violation but in a wider sense it is because in the end, everything happens on a public school.

Occupy Wallstreet Interview Project.

Occupy Philadelphia started on October 6th at 9:00 am at City Hall and it was originally inspired by the wall street protest in New York.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Philadelphia)
The majority of protestors are unemployed or students who see little hope for the future.
They have been demonstrating against corporate greed.
They call themselves the 99 percent and their main grievance is the fact that the richest 1 percent of Americans control 49 percent of the wealth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_are_the_99%25)
Blue-collar workers,people from jthe middle class and a few of the rich protest against wasteful distributionof wealth and against the government's support for the wealthy 1% in the US.
In other words, They pitch their tents and do sit-in to fight peacefully for their right of equal financial treatment as we already discussed in our class.(https://www.change.org/petitions/do-not-evict-the-occupy-philadelphia-protesters)
What we found suprising was that even very young children,homeless and adults participated in the protest.
In addition to that,there was a little library for kids. We realized how peacefully this protest is going on. Nevertheless,People seemed absolutely determined in what they do.

" Working hard for the American dream is hardly working. The government should invest in education, infrastructure, basic
reaserch for the poverty, not tax breaks for billianaires."
"If Individuals can be arrested, so can corporations. They don't deserve it."
'It is unfair. We am working all the time and so what have we done wrong?"
When we asked them what these protests were for, They said.
It doesn't seem that these protests end in a short time.(http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2011/10/post_39.html)
We doubt they solve America's deep problem.
but at the very least,we believe this movement is generating A much needed discussion of wealth.
They show that they fight not only for the human rights , but also for the American values praised by the government itself.

Occupy Philadelphia

More than 4 millions of layoffs and an economy controlled by bankers and corporations have led the protest movements that multiply at times in the U.S. Protests are already in lots of cities, and in Philadelphia they decided to camp out, give tents and foods to the people and walk with banners against corporate greedy people.

Last Friday we went to the City Hall and found different kinds of people as homeless people, students, volunteers and curious people like us. Protesters mentioned some reasons but most important reason is for a change of the current system and the inequality of wealth.

“We are the 99 percent”, a homelesswoman said. She doesn’t believe that her life can be changed. She came here 2 weeks ago and is in one of the tents of the City Hall. Why? to protest? No, It’s only because she has nothing and they are providing a shelter and food.

A student of Temple University gave us strong reasons, she said: “I am here because we need a fede

ral and local changes. I want a basic health, free college education and a job. It is the time to change the current system”.

Joe, a volunteer, has own reasons to be there, he is a disabled person and claims: “People with disabilities are entitled to better jobs and opportunities, a high percent of us are unemployed. We want national health care as you hav

e it in your countries like Spain and Korea. Capitalism caused the big problem of disparity”.

The occupation in Philly is a representation of what is happening all across the US as the people are starting to realize and protests against the hard conditions they are living in.

These people, who claim to be the "99 percent", are comparing themselves against the wealthiest people of the population, which represents only 1 percent of the population. They are not looking for the American Dream, they just want to protect

their rights and have fair conditions, free education, health care and changes in taxes. In summary, the US which lots of people consider it the best country in the world is proving that it is not capable of giving its citizens the basic needs to live, and people started to protest for retrieving their basic rights which are repressed by 1% people.

Occupy Wall Street - Illusion or change?

The media says:

Occupy Wall Street began a month ago in lower Manhattan among a few young people, and has grown to tens of thousands around the country and the world. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll says more than one-third of the country supports the Wall Street protesters, and even more – 58 percent – say they are furious about America's politics. – The Huffington Post¹

Dozens of such groups have since formed across the United States, spurred by anger at the power of giant corporations, frustration at joblessness, and exasperation with politicians who refuse to increase taxes on the richest 1 percent of Americans while slashing programs for the poor. – The Philadelphia Inquirer²

Let's be honest. The American "establishment" – mainstream media, political elites, academics – have absolutely no clue what to make of the Occupy Wall Street protests. The month-old movement has spread across the world, but remains centered in dozens of America's largest cities and university campuses. – Guardian³

Occupy Wall Street is a demonstration which started on September in New York’s Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The purpose of it is to protest against the social and economic inequality as well as the power and influence the government and corporations (mainly in the financial service sector) have on the United States economy.

The participants' slogan "We are the 99%" is regarded to the difference in wealth between the top 1% and the other citizens of the United States.

Desperation, loneliness, anger, hope, belief - these were the feelings that surrounded me on Friday, October 21, 2011 during the protests that have been going on for weeks now at the City Hall in Philadelphia. In the middle of Skyscrapers and businessmen walking around in suits, there are tents, banners, homeless as well as unemployed people.

At first it was hard to find anyone to talk to. The first group of protesters I tried to approach were like walls telling me not to come any closer and giving me no way to get through. At the beginning I was disappointed. I admire people who want to change something but their faces already portrayed hopelessness. Don’t you need fire if you want to win a battle? Soon other protester showed me the ambition I was missing and I had some very interesting conversations.

One man to whom I talked had lost his job two weeks ago. He said that he was close to a burn-out and that’s why he asked for a week off to recover. The answer he received: “If you leave now you don’t have to come back”. Is it possible that everybody is expendable? Apparently yes! No mercy, it doesn’t matter how much you give or have given to a company in the end everybody is replaceable.

I asked him what his expectation of this movement was. His answer:

“This movement has merit! People have been blind so far but the new generation will open their eyes and make them realize that something has to be changed. Capitalism has no moral or obligation to people only to money”. - Antonio

Antonio knows that this movement is not going to change anything from the governmental side. The government is already aware of the problems. In Antonio’s view the fact that after graduating our children will not find a job and maybe become criminals or have drug/alcohol problems will reveal that this situation is our fault because we support the “rich man”. For me Antonio’s way of thinking is really interesting and that is why I enjoyed talking to him.

Furthermore greg, who is a Quaker, said: “We believe in social equality, so all human beings should be treated like this. It is immoral that some people have so much money whereas others have (almost) nothing. This movement will be a cultural transformation around the value that is placed on humans."

In case you are thinking that I spelt “greg” wrong with a small “g”, greg himself told me that his name is written with a small “g”. When I asked him for the reason he told me: “All important things are written in capital letters and since according to the English language things like tree, flower, street, house and so on are not important, I spell my name with a small “g”, because I am not more important than nature”. I find this a very interesting thought and that’s why I decided to share it with you.

After speaking to greg, I had a very curious conversation with two guys:

We are not homeless we are home free! Live life to your fullest and have fun - fuck the politics! - Tank and Juniper

So what do we make of all this? At first I was confused, I wondered why would someone choose to life like this? How can you enjoy life if you live in a tent without money? Aren’t they scared of dying any moment because of lack of food or the cold? I basically figured out that they rather die knowing that they are free than be a prisoner of society. Interesting thought isn’t it?

According to our discussion in class, US citizens have always supported and protected the wealthy. Since they believe in the American Dream so strongly they are afraid of spoiling their chance by acting “incorrectly”. Michael Moor says in one of his writings: “Don’t attack the rich man, because one day that rich man may be me”. Honestly, for me this is understandable. I come from a country where people are very realistic and would never protect a person in a high position to such an extent. We know that the chance to become rich is 1/100. In fact as soon as the news paper writes about pay raises in the management sector people start to complain. And I am only talking about small amounts like thirteen to fifteen times more than a standard employee earns. Imagine Swiss people had to deal with CEOs and Presidents of companies getting 411 times more than the general public like in the US. They literally would go crazy!

Talking to those people, looking at the atmosphere that is surrounding the United State right now and reviewing this part of the American culture makes me feel positive about this movement. Even my survey shows that Americans have started to realize what is causing all this unemployment, homelessness and lack of money. 90 % were completely against the fact that CEOs should earn as much money as they can get. They are aware now that protecting the wealthy side of society only harms them rather than helps them.

I am sure it will take some time till the change can be put into practice but like I always say: “Better late, than never”. We own our progeny a safe and fair world – lets fight for this!

Invisibility!!!

I'm not going to lie, i love being sneaky and sneak into places without people seeing me... i'd love stealing people's food and eat all i can... I'd love to avoid septa every time i can!!! and to be honest, I see myself more as a villain than a hero. So i'll pick invisibility, its the one that describes me the most, and i love it!

The power of Teleportation

When it's pouring or blazing hot or the road is very slushy in winter, I used to imagine myself teleporting. With the power of teleportation, I can transfer from one point to another without traversing the physical space between. As soon as I was assigned this task, this superpower popped up in my head. But there is a precondition; I would need to be able to carry heavy things while I use this power so that I transport stuff quickly OR, maybe I might save a person who is stuck in a burning building! However, for my privacy, I don't want my superpower to be known to the public. Not being obstructed by anything, I will go everywhere I have ever wanted to go without wasting time or money. How useful it is!

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose and why?

If I could have any super power, I would choose the power of 'Mind reading'.
The older we get, The more time It takes to really get to know each other.
As we tend to barely share our real feeling, thoughts and idea, hide ourselves and pretend to be cool, It's getting very hard to understand others.
So I think It would be very AWESOME if I could read someone's real mind.
Sometimes It could be hurtful, but It would make a difference, if my remark never touch a nerve with people or if I could read my fiance's mind to see how much he loves me, or If i,even though I wouldn't try this :), won lots of money with crooked gambling!

If you could have any superpower, what would you chose and why?

I'd really like to be able to stop the time and decide which people, including me, can go on moving. Life would be so much easier if I only had this superpower! Everyday I could sleep as long as I feel like, decide on the duration of weekends when I have a good time with my friends, make happy moments last longer, have enough time for important decisions at short notice, have more preparation time for oral exams and eventually, I would never ever miss a train or bus again. That would be so cool :-)

Democrats or Republicans

In my opinion, the democrats have a better idea of government than the republicans. Of course the republicans will have a better economy and more money running all over the country but Cuomo said, they make the rich people richer and the poor, poorer. I believe democrats should be ruling because of many reasons, first of all health care has to be free for everyone there isn't any exception for this, if someone needs health care he/she should receive it without any problem. Education, some people say that people that don't get education is because their parents were really lazy and didn't work enough to afford it, then it all leads to one point, people need to be LUCKY when they're born, college education should be free because is everyone's right to learn. And lastly, social equality, everyone should have the same rights no matter how many millions or pennies you own.
Of course the democrats system has some problems, but they can all be solved with some time to analyze every single bit of them.

Sarah Vowell: "[...] that's why we are Ronald Regan"

To my mind this statement, which is merely based on the fact that Regan was elected and reelected, is truly too judgemental. One cannot generalize the opinion of one person and transfer it to so many other people.
However, I think that speakers and especially politicians should not focus too much on the bright side of a certain issue but also consider the other side. This would help the audience understand that the speaker is aware of the real situation and additionally that all his actions and decisions will include everybody of every social class.
Briefly, criticism and generalization should be expressed more carefully.