In the 1800s, anti-Catholic sentiments were ablaze throughout North America. Protestants were against Catholics due to the fact that Catholics were “outsiders.” Catholics had deviated from Protestantism, causing unrest between the two groups. During this time, literature was a prominent way of denouncing Catholicism. The most famous, and yet horribly untrue, piece of anti-Catholic literature is Maria Monk’s Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Monastery in Montreal. In this essay, I will argue that Maria Monk’s book was a scam designed to discredit a religion. I will first explain the book itself. Next, I will show a connection between Maria Monk’s mental state, living situation, and novel. Finally, I will analyze the critical thinking concepts …show more content…
Awful Disclosures was fuel for a pre-existing, anti-Catholic fire. Anti-Catholics now had an extremely popular first-hand account that would work towards the discreditation of Catholicism. The book’s contents were gruesome and heavily detailed, which did not make the distinction between truth and lie easy to identify. Monk claimed that the convent would force the nuns to be intimate with priests, then baptize and kill any babies born from these relations. It was also written that the monastery had a number of terrible additions, such as prisons for nuns who acted out, underground tunnels, secret entrances, and the like. Towards the end of the book, Maria states that she found herself pregnant and took an opportunity to flee after seven years in the monastery, ending up in New York. There she supposedly gave birth and told her story, was urged to publish it, and Awful Disclosures came to …show more content…
When it comes to Awful Disclosures, the motivation was the discreditation of Catholicism. When Stone pronounced the book a hoax, Protestants would not believe it. They completely disregarded hard evidence that Monk’s book was a lie, because they so badly wanted Catholicism to be evil and unholy. This ties into the backfire effect, a critical thinking concept that causes a person to cling tighter to their belief even when presented with conflicting evidence. While Awful Disclosures was popular, the backfire effect was present everywhere. Many people clung to the idea that Catholicism was awful, despite having heaps of conflicting, hard
Moreover, one could argue that Protestant tolerance has evolved with time to be more “understanding” of dissimilar beliefs. For example, Strong makes the point that “the commands of the Pope, instead of the constitution and laws of the land, demand the highest allegiance of Roman Catholics in the United States.” (strong page 371) By drawing this comparison Strong is showing one of the flaws in this opposing faith that challenges not only American Laws but the Protestant dominance that is associated. Ultimately Strong warns that the loss of protestant values will lead to the growth of the “Romish Clergy.” This threat of Catholicism is purposed as a source of impending danger that simply cannot be
The military as well as the police force have continuously abused their preeminent title of being a hero. The word is so broadly defined that even a newly recruited military member, who wears the uniform, but has not yet served still qualifies as one. No matter how they treat others or represent themselves; if they wear a badge they get the praise and approval of everyone. However, David Masciotra bluntly shows the true colors of our role models. By defining hostily what doesn’t qualify and bringing up emotionally furtive secrets, he effectively demands that the carte blanche interpretation behind the word hero gets a slimmer and clearly definitive meaning.
Count Charles’ Persuasion to Religious Governance In almost every Count that has ever been reigned in the middle ages, there is no leader like Count Charles, who takes a risky approach to governing a land with the idea of religion as an important aspect of his position. Count Charles, aka “Blessed Charles the Good” is well known for feeding the poor, promoting peace and security, but religion is definitely a big influence to his reign as the Count of Flanders. At first, before doing any research on Count Charles’ religious ruling, I would already believe that Charles is a spiritual nobleman that everyone would admire because of how devastated Flanders felt when they heard about his death in 1127. Fortunately, my thoughts on Count Charles
Barbara Diefendorf's book, The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre is a window into the struggle of religion and secular power during the Protestant Reformation. Beyond the social elitism, mob mentality is an ever-present force that is ignited during the Religious Wars. Differences in religion are a contributor to factional tensions. Manipulation by religious leaders and misunderstanding between the two religious sects’ practices create this religious tension. Although Protestants and Catholics share the core teachings of Christianity, a struggle for secular power, feelings of tribalism, and conflicting religious ideals not only solidify the schism between these two sects of Christianity, but escalated these tensions to bloodshed.
The book ‘The Husband's Secret’ by Liane Moriarty was published in 2013. It is a story set in Australia, of three women - Tess, Cecilia and Rachel. The book talks about how their lives are connected in a way they would have never imagined when one of them finds a letter by her husband which is to be opened at his death. The book starts with three stories, one for each woman, and gradually intersects in the middle of the book.
Travers creates a compelling point when she claims that, “(Margery) is accused of heresy in Leicester and York which had active Lollard persecutions” (Travers 2). With general misconceptions occurring regularly during the 15th century, Margery had to protect herself from the false blame that was usually occurred in the life of a Lollard. As the beginning of the 15th century commenced, Travers tells us that if a Lollard was proven to have knowledge of religious instruction then they would be questioned and often punished. Now that it is clear that Margery knew she would get in trouble for understand written texts, this proves the point that Margery knew she had to act illiterate to protect herself against the reprimands the Lollards would have
The purpose of this report is to understand the most probable cause of the structural collapse of the Hyatt Regency hotel, Kansas City on Friday 17th July, 1981. The structure of the 40 story Hyatt Regency hotel was designed by Gallium-Colaco International Inc. (G.C.E. Inc.). The hotel was divided into three main sections: a high-rise tower section, a function block, and a connecting open atrium area. The main attraction of the hotel was the atrium lobby which was spanned by three walkways at the second, third and fourth floors hanging by the roof.
In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, the author’s absurdist views of life are reflected through the main character Meursault. The reader follows Meursault from his mother’s funeral to his own death, as he exerts his indifference to the world around him. Camus’s employment of motifs represent Meursault’s consciousness of absurdity in a world where everything fails to retain meaning. Nevertheless, humans still seek value in their lives from surrealalities; absurdities that are incapable of immortalising humans. The motifs of religion, judgement, and death inspire Meursault’s heroism through his sincerity and rejection of these absurd social norms.
Monument 14 is a book written by Emmy Laybourne in which a post apocalyptic story takes place. The story follows Dean, a teenager, who is stuck inside of a grocery store with other students, including his younger brother Alex. They are forced to stay inside of the store because there is freak super cells developing over them that are causing huge hail storms and other severe conditions. While there they have to overcome many obstacles and difficulties that reveal their true colors. Although this novel is nonfiction, it impacts society by showing how catastrophes can affect people and it also shows how dependent we have become on other people and other objects in our daily life.
“God, one o 'clock in the afternoon...why is it closed?”1 On a hot afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jocelyn Hazelwood Donlon realized she wanted a snack and more specifically, she wanted some yogurt. Hoping for some relief to this craving, Donlon stopped at a local shop, Atcha Bakery. However, as she nears the door she spots a sign: "closed for Friday prayer". Jocelyn Donlon doesn 't yet understand or care to know why this sign exists, she is just miffed that she cannot purchase her snack.
In the article “Dirty Little Secret” it is stated by the author, Simon Schama, that “To see the Revolutionary war through the eyes of slaves gives a better understanding of why so many of them fought for the crown”(Schama). Schama argues that African American slaves chose the right decision to join British forces subsequently for their freedom and wellbeing. The three main points that will be discussed in this paper include why the slaves did not want to stay on the American side, why they joined the British side, and also what their lives were like on the British side. There was hope for the slaves that one day they would be free in America, but they knew that day was far away.
Institution and Character: Duality in Diderot’s The Nun (Prompt #2) In Denis Diderot’s The Nun, the world in which protagonist Suzanne inhabits features no singularly central villain or antagonist, but instead an institution and larger system that oppresses her to the point of an eventual suicide. While several characters serve as persecutors of the inarguably pure Suzanne, they exist rather as mechanisms of a system which Diderot clearly detests.
In the medieval period of 1050-1300, the Kingdom of France progressed and developed along many lines. A new culture developed, a central government emerged and new lines of thought began to come into fruition. With these developments, many problems began to emerge. The issue of violence in general emerged as a problem that needed to be addressed by the government. In addition, greed and corruption ravaged the church questioning its moral integrity, and thus, its authority.
Robert Hough’s, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, is a fictional autobiography based on the professional career of Mabel Stark. As a preeminent tiger trainer, Mabel Stark performed with various circuses for fifty years before working for JungleLand, which is a zoo and animal training facility in California. Mabel Stark killed herself four months after retiring from JungleLand around the suspected, yet, unconfirmed age of eighty. After the disappointing ending (I’ll explain later), the book has a section titled “Research Notes” where Robert Hough states the facts he knew about Mabel Stark before starting his fictional project. Here we discover how Mabel Stark’s personal life before entering the circus was unknown to both historians and to her friends, and from what they did know—which was that Mabel may have had a nervous breakdown prior to joining the circus—was based on rumors.
Society has an established status quo that has a historical context behind its structure. The sociopolitical scene is united with the insistence on a hierarchy of social groups based on unfounded principles. This paper intends to deconstruct accepted false ideas of society through the analysis and historical correlation of sociopolitical issues derived from Stendhal 's novel, Le Rouge et Noir, a pioneering work in realism that chronicles the 1830 Bourbon Restoration. The myopia of the Bourbon Restoration society in exerting its status quo is analyzed based on political inclusivity, interpersonal relations, organizational social responsibility and national identity. These issues were found to mirror numerous sociopolitical aspects of modern