Salem Trials: A Modern Metaphor?
Can the same kind of instinctual prejudice and fear that took over a small Massachusetts village more than 300 years ago take over the minds in modern society sparking “witch hunts” to estrange certain members of our society, encourage condemnation of those who may have different beliefs, attitudes and practices and finally, creating separate rules and sentences of alienation for anyone who does not follow the current social mores and fads? If so, how does it do so? If not, why?
Think about our recent class examination of The Salem Witch Trials and compare it to modern issues in politics, religion, school bullying, family values and our American society -at-large. How does our modern media affect society’s attitudes in these cases?
Please write a 150-200 word insightful response to this examination.
I do not think that today’s society is capable of the same kind of instinctual prejudice and fear that happened with the Salem Witch Trials and spark modern society “witch hunts”. I believe that sparking a modern witch hunt is not possible because there are people all over the United States that practice witchcraft, worship the devil, and make sacrifices. During today’s time no one is hunting down people who worship the devil and executing them. Society has changed since the Salem Witch Trials and we as people are allowed to believe and practice what we want.
ReplyDeleteI would compare the Salem Witch Trials to school bullying because if the girls that were pointing out people that they claim to bewitch them how do we not know that they are picking out these people on purpose to try and get them for something that they may have done in the past. Modern media affects society’s attitudes in these cases by giving us information that we choose may be wrong or right and can make a strong debate about it.
After looking into the Salem Witch trials, it is safe to say that type of “witch hunt” continues to go on today in modern times. All of the time different people in the media such as on TV and in newspapers try to persuade the thinking of their audience by telling them what to believe and give them a very biased point of view of news. If people do not follow the so called “norms” or accepted values of society they are shunned and ridiculed for believing something different than what is the so called “norm.” Instead of accepting people’s different beliefs in an appropriate and respectful way, the reaction is to criticize and alienate them because their entire viewpoint is different. After discussing the Salem Witch trials in class, it has made me realize how much of that type of behavior is going on today. We may not be executing people for having different beliefs but people are still being shunned and alienated for their point of view. In Washington DC, politicians alienate and condemn as well the views of the other party by criticizing and refusing to listen to or accept the other party’s arguments. In religion, people alienate other people because they do not believe in the same views as them and believe that other religions that go against them are wrong. Bullying does a similar thing by condemning others and alienating others because they are different than they are. Family values are also changing because mean attitudes, bullying and intolerance are accepted at home by some parents and are shown on TV. Our media also encourages this behavior by the harsh criticisms that we see on television networks, in newspapers, and listen to on radio they make it seem alright to disrespect people in society that do not believe in their beliefs. This practice continues today in many ways, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the ideas and conditions needed to create the mindset of a witch hunt still exist today , thus leading me to believe that it is entirely possible for a modern day witch hunt to take place. The society that we live in has the same elements that the past Salem society had. The citizens of Salem had the same human desire to congregate as do modern day societies. These basics of society include the way that an individual should act and react. In modern times the same exists and the media today accentuates this to a degree far more serious of that in past times. If an individual does not wake up before 7 am, go to work 9-5, then go home to two children in a gated community they have the chance of being ostracized. A modern day event that can be compared to the past witch hunts, can be the general perception of terrorists. When we think of terrorists we usually look for a middle eastern individual with a bomb strapped to his/her chest. This is due to the reports and coverage of the media on this topic who portray them as that and make us believe this stereotype. When in truth the individuals whom we label terrorists are actually just middle eastern Americans. They most likely have a different set of beliefs and a different moral code and do not act to the typical American pro quo.
ReplyDeleteWitch hunts still happen today. Since 9/11 Muslims have been hunted down and harassed. Their houses have been vandalized; their children have been threatened, can’t get jobs, and are considered suicide bombers just waiting for the call. Our country lives in fear everyday of terrorist threats. Since the Muslims had done so much damage and invaded our country, killed our families, and destroyed our landmarks this cannot be forgiven. Anyone that falls into this class of people has now become alienated just because of their origin.
ReplyDeleteThe media creates its own witch hunts. It finds a topic or a person to go after and tells the side of the story that makes the best news. People fall for the hype and believe what they are told. One of the latest witch hunts is Herman Cain and the things he did while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association. People don’t get fair trials like in the OJ Simpson case because there was so much hype the case turned from a murder trial to a discrimination suit. People listen and are swayed by the media this is why we have to sequester juries so they can’t hear what is going on and form a bias. It is all based on what they think the public wants to hear.
I believe it could and in some ways does still happen today. If you look at they way muslims are protrayed after 9/11. We seem to forget that there were and still are many that we born in United States, also I think it adds to the fire when there is something that we don't fully understand and that happens with the differences between all relgions. It may not be going out and burning at the stake but even by discriminating by race or religion it is a form of a witch hunt.
ReplyDeleteI do think that we have the same issues that had happened in Massachuttes with the trials and salem sisters. Today there is school bully's that pick on kids that look funny or dress funny and talk or think differently then them. These bully's get other kids to be on their sides so everyone will pick on that child. It also falls in with many people in America deal with "Hate Crime" when it comes to race, religion, or having a different opinion on something political. This has all become worse since 9/11. Even though "witch hunt" is not the term we use or say we are doing, It still means the same with going by what others say. Its almost like we are being brain washed by what everyone else is saying or doing.
ReplyDeleteSara Hilton
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if they are just a thing in the past. I don't think it would happen to that extreme now a days. But, something of that context might. I don't think civilization would fracture so much that we'd go around hanging people. However, once hysteria hits in any situation its like all common sense goes out the window. People do crazy things when faced with danger. When everything's going fine everyone can live at peace with each other. But when things get out of control people start accusing and and stuff gets messed up. I'd like to think not but human tendency when faced with immediate danger one will protect themselves over another.
I believe that the same prejudice and fear not only can but does go on in today’s society. Look at religion, many people believe if you do not agree with them what they believe you will go to hell. They condemn people all the time for either not believing at all or believing how and in what way they believe in. I do not believe that a witch hunt would happen, because there are too many people to stop it. Actually if anything today is more about people doing it to themselves because they feel they are possessed or cursed. I do feel that people condemn others all the time for not believing, dressing, acting, talking, etc. a certain way, or more like them. If I was to compare the Salem Witch Trials to religion, than it is exactly like I stated above. If you do not always believe what another person believes, even family and friends, than those other people can maybe not punish you, but in a way, make your life miserable to where some people start to question themselves. Or as simple as not being allowed in a certain church because you were baptized a different religion, or are not baptized at all. The modern media affects society’s attitudes in these cases, because they do not really fight against it they feed into it. What I mean by that is the media not only tells us and shows us what we want to see and hear, but they hide what they believe would alter viewpoints on certain topics. In today’s media you never know what the truth is, lies are, or exaggerations consist of.
ReplyDeleteAs our society moves forward into the modern world, we have put the instinctual prejudice in our modern history such as Salem witch trial in the past and hoping that history will not repeat itself. Although, we may not see the instinctual of witch hunt in our next door neighbor today but there are the attitude of condemnation against different beliefs. America has been recognized by many nations and highly respected by many parts of the world. America is also known as one of the blessed nations in the world, because of whom we are as a Christian country, we believe “In God we trust” which made our nation strong. As our technology become more modern, the American society had a different perspective about our traditional value in our religion, in fact we are trying to push God away from our society. As we examined our public places today, we tried to remove the word “God” out of the pledge we even tried to remove prayers from public school because we afraid that we might offend somebody. Today, we can see the results of our rebellious nature; our society recognizes less blessings from God that we once greatly value in our tradition.
ReplyDeleteThe Muslim community is an example of a modern day witch hunt. There are prejudice and fear that come associated with this group. They have different beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Some of their clothing is different and the way they worship is vastly different then the way the majority of us do. Many have encouraged condemnation of these individuals. Some have gone as far as burning their places of worship and homes, to physical violence. In our military camps they are treated differently. If you are of Muslim descent you are treated harshly in the eyes of the law, you are detained longer, and there is racial profiling. Modern media affects society’s attitude by placing value on what they believe is important to report, not the truth. They do not considered both sides of the story and are very bias, though they should not be. They do this especially when it comes in dealing with politics.
ReplyDeleteSince learning about the Salem Witch Trails, I think that to some degree, witch hunts still occur in modern times. They are not performed in the same way that they were in Mass., but now a days, people of certain ethicities are targetted in some cases. The most common example would be the hits against Muslims after the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Even if the people were born in the United States and are concidered US citizens, a select group of people still had issues with such people. It is sad to me, but even in modern times, there are still hate crimes that occur. We are all humans, living, breathing, human beings, just because we have different beliefs or different skin tones, makes us no different from the next person.
ReplyDeleteYes the same kind of prejudice and fear can take place in our modern times. For example, look at how some people responded after 9/11. Quite a few people disliked and even hated people that were of Arab descent. The hatred was directed toward a race of people because of religious beliefs, not just the individuals and groups responsible for the terrorist attacks on our soil. Since 9/11 our nation has stepped up security measures at airports and other transportation terminals, put into place more regulations for obtaining hazmat endorsements for CDLs, and put into place government departments such as Homeland Security. This has enabled a wider accepted use of racial profiling. I do not believe that our actions will ever become as severe as the actions that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials. Our current society has a lot of checks and balances that help protect us from going overboard with reactions. More people think critically, therefore less individuals follow along in blind ignorance. There is always the chance that a very charismatic individual, such as Hitler, could come along and people would flock to the new banner.
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