Friday, September 24, 2010
Human Spirit
The Call was upon him now. Feeling the spirit which first drove man to stand upright and roar in defiance at the heavens, he regained his feet and tightened the helmet on his head. Only seconds ago he wept for his life. Now the sheer emotional exhaustion drained from him, and was replaced by the golden light of valor and purpose. For a moment he gazed at the Sun in the sky, drinking in its beauty and wondering at the complexities of the universe. But the moment soon ended. Sighting the Sun with the length of the sword he now gripped firmly in his hand, he let forth a cry and charged into the frothing tide of oncoming enemies.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Mock Letter to the Editor
This is a mock letter to the editor which I wrote for an exercise in critical thinking and writing. It is supposed to be in response to a an article printed in the university newspaper which advocates preventing Muslims from entering the country because they are all intent on destroying America.
I am deeply disappointed by your decision to publish the article which advocates denying Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. The article, which is highly offensive even to non-Muslims, relies on false logic and assumptions, primarily the assumption that all Muslims bear ill intent to the United States, to promote discriminatory action. While the First Amendment grants the freedom of speech and restricts the ability of the government to control the press and other forms of media, the Supreme Court has ruled that “fighting words,” those intended to injure or provoke violence or discrimination, are not covered by this amendment.
I can only assume that you decided to publish this article because you believe that all people have a right to express their views in a public forum. While this is true, you, as an editor, must make decisions regarding what does and does not get published based on both the accuracy of the material, its relevance to your readers, and whether or not it promotes healthy discourse. In this case, you have decided to print information which is both inaccurate and offensive, showing extremely poor judgment. Whether or not your readers agree with this article is irrelevant here, because you are supposed to promote academic honesty and healthy discourse above the number of copies distributed.
This article cannot promote a healthy discourse because it was clearly written with the intent of causing harm. The lack of logic and heavy reliance on assumption shows that the author of this article did not think critically about his/her argument, but instead wrote entirely from his/her own heavily biased point of view. Anyone who actually took the time to research both sides of this argument would see that the writer's claims are invalid. After all, the very same amendment which grants citizens the freedom of speech also grants freedom of religion, making it unconstitutional to discriminate against any particular faith.
For you to print this article despite its many logical fallacies makes me think that you either prescribe to the writer's point of view and are using your position as editor to promote not discourse but your own biased opinions, or that you do not exercise your authority as editor at all and simply print anything that comes across your desk. You have seriously harmed the reputation of both this newspaper and the university which it represents, and as such will likely lose many of your readers, myself included, unless a retraction is printed.
Sincerely
-Chris Griglack
To the Editor,
I am deeply disappointed by your decision to publish the article which advocates denying Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. The article, which is highly offensive even to non-Muslims, relies on false logic and assumptions, primarily the assumption that all Muslims bear ill intent to the United States, to promote discriminatory action. While the First Amendment grants the freedom of speech and restricts the ability of the government to control the press and other forms of media, the Supreme Court has ruled that “fighting words,” those intended to injure or provoke violence or discrimination, are not covered by this amendment.
I can only assume that you decided to publish this article because you believe that all people have a right to express their views in a public forum. While this is true, you, as an editor, must make decisions regarding what does and does not get published based on both the accuracy of the material, its relevance to your readers, and whether or not it promotes healthy discourse. In this case, you have decided to print information which is both inaccurate and offensive, showing extremely poor judgment. Whether or not your readers agree with this article is irrelevant here, because you are supposed to promote academic honesty and healthy discourse above the number of copies distributed.
This article cannot promote a healthy discourse because it was clearly written with the intent of causing harm. The lack of logic and heavy reliance on assumption shows that the author of this article did not think critically about his/her argument, but instead wrote entirely from his/her own heavily biased point of view. Anyone who actually took the time to research both sides of this argument would see that the writer's claims are invalid. After all, the very same amendment which grants citizens the freedom of speech also grants freedom of religion, making it unconstitutional to discriminate against any particular faith.
For you to print this article despite its many logical fallacies makes me think that you either prescribe to the writer's point of view and are using your position as editor to promote not discourse but your own biased opinions, or that you do not exercise your authority as editor at all and simply print anything that comes across your desk. You have seriously harmed the reputation of both this newspaper and the university which it represents, and as such will likely lose many of your readers, myself included, unless a retraction is printed.
Sincerely
-Chris Griglack
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