Author: demarsh.8

Text Review – American Sniper

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American Sniper tells the story of Chris Kyle, a Texas-born patriot who enlists in the Navy SEALs. The book details his life in Odessa, Texas, and how it shaped him into the man he was while serving overseas. American Sniper not only depicts his life stateside but also in explicit details his four tours in Iraq (1999-2009) and his combat experiences overseas.

 

Identity plays a huge role in this book. It’s a constant struggle for Chris to establish who he is in the world around him. At home, he struggles with being a husband and father, while being home on leave. This struggle leads to an internal struggle of duty to country vs duty to his family and it rips him apart at the seams. The book does an incredible job describing his experiences in marriage counseling and his struggles with grief, regret, and PTSD.

 

Power is depicted in the novel as well, through the lens of Chris as he combats evil while serving overseas. Chris Kyle, along with the United States military are depicted as guardians of the free world by eliminating threats to both active military members and civilians. This power struggle between good and evil, savage and savior.

 

This compares chiefly to the concept of The One and The Other. While overseas it seems like conflict only arises when the U.S military gets involved or antagonizes a cell of insurgents. This relationship is quite uncanny to that of The One and The Other, it seems they cannot mutually exist but exist exclusively in opposition to each other and can’t be justified without the other. The war in the Middle East is one of good vs evil which each believing they are on the right side thus allowing for the relationship of The One and The Other to live on simultaneously within each faction.

 

Some questions and ideas I think the author/creator wants the reader to take away from this literary work are can a civilian objectively analyze a situation like the war in the Middle East and make a distinction between good and evil. Another question would be, is Chris Kyle the prototype patriot people believe defend our freedoms, or was he larger than life beyond belief?

 

I wholeheartedly believe that this literary work inspires a conversation around identity and power because this is an issue as old as a time not just in the Middle East but worldwide, classifying conflicts and situations as good vs evil and establishing the line in the sand and seeing who stands on each side of that line. This is a phenomenal book and a captivating read I cannot recommend it enough.

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase

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The story I want to reference today was published by The Blaze on March 11th. The article is titled Editor of Prestigious Medical Journal Fired for Denying that Structural Racism Exists in Medicine. Why I’m writing on this article today is because I am appalled at the behaviors of the individuals on the political left. That these individuals are not open to dissenting opinions other than their own and are willing to forcibly make people retire (or get them fired) than have an honest discussion about a topic. Taking all of my political beliefs and opinions out of this diary and just ruminating on the simple nature of this article; there is no such thing as freedom of speech, freedom of thought, or free will in the majority of this country anymore. It’s either you comply or get steamrolled by the mob.

 

Edward H. Livingston, MD

 

The activists that called for Dr. Livingston’s resignation weren’t concerned with just his podcast. They wanted their onlookers to boycott the entirety of the Journal of the American Medical Association, for one comment on one podcast. That is unfathomable to me, you can’t even hold yourself accountable for your own actions, you must be representative of the entirety of your organization or company. This logic only applies though if you speak in opposition to the mob. Your expertise or background in a certain field will not protect you and even your employers are willing to hang you out to dry just to save face. Dr. Livingston said and I quote “I think taking racism out of the conversation will help. Many of us are offended by the concept that we are racist” (Livingston 3rd Paragraph).

These people believe that Dr. Livingston couldn’t have thought independently for himself and had a unique opinion. It has to be encapsulating of the whole American Medical Association and be boycotted and canceled for harboring a free thinker. This is truly a systemically unjust act and is one of many in a long list of egregious crimes against humanity.

I have included a portal to the Twitter thread below (just click the image below), as well as the link to the news story (under Works Cited), so a more diversified lens can be used when analyzing this story.

https://twitter.com/AmandaLuvsRoses/status/1368735492406132738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1368735492406132738%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnews%2Fjama-editor-structural-racism-fired

 

Works Cited

https://www.theblaze.com/news/jama-editor-structural-racism-fired

Context Research Presentation-Martin Luther King & Senator Lewis

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In reading Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Prison” one thing kept resonating with me as I did. It was his pledge of nonviolence and the ten commandments he included with it (linked below). It spoke to a higher power of thinking. Dr. King knew the movement was bigger than any one man and spoke for over 100 years of misrepresentation of Colored Americans in the US, and that the main objective for this movement wasn’t victory but to showcase the brutality and injustice done upon Colored Americans. Dr. King was arrested for participating in nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. The letter was in response to a public statement airing concern and caution by white religious leaders in the South. They characterized his actions as unwise and untimely, that it was the work of a coward. But I think it takes more courage to stand for what you believe in than to engage in the same unjust activities that are done against you. That to me is the true showing of a coward. Bending the knee in the face of adversity effectively discredits what you stand for and your movement. 

 

As I concluded reading, another set of steps stuck in my brain, that according to Dr. King, classify a movement (specifically the Civil Rights movement) as non-violent. They are “the collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action”. This to me means that this movement is not only timely in the eyes of the public but incredibly wise in the eyes of the law. By allowing for these steps to be pursued and obtained legally, it shows that these protesters and activists were just in their movement in the eyes of the law. This shows not only patience and resolve (that is highlighted numerous times in this letter) but also courage and determination for the assertation of the truth and justice.

 

 

References:

 

https://cla.utexas.edu/coretexts/_files/resources/MLK_Commitment_Card.pdf

 

https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/mlk-pledge-of-nonviolence?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1