Lister Academy Costa Rica Class - Kristine: 1st Amendment

Welcome

My name is Kristine Tirone. My goal is to do something I never thought I'd be able to do. Meaning, I never thought I'd even get close to having the opportunity to leave the country, or be involved with a class in this way. Setting standards for myself and working towards something is a new thing for me. I'm writing this blog to raise money to send my class to Costa Rica. Our class, as a whole, is trying to fundraise over $15,000. This will fund everything from our food, a place to stay, to our flight.

I'm getting a new understanding of what it's like to deserve what you work for. Before, I would sit back and let everyone do the work and I would take the credit. My personal struggles got in the way of my everyday functioning. My focus on education was lost to my other struggles. Not only was I not understanding the work, but I had an increasingly low work ethic. This all started to change over the summer of 2010. Bryan, my teacher, makes it known that he has an extremely low tolerance for slackers. I didn't want to disappoint him, and this motivation was new to me.

I realize as my interactions with people started to change, I started to as well. Bryan always expected nothing but good things from me, and I've given him nothing but that. I suppose if you feel a certain way or act a certain way, you become a certain way. From there it's history, ever since I've excelled in my school work and always do what I say I will. You're only as good as your word.

Friday, September 17, 2010

George Fox & Quakerism

Walking with Wolf is a book I've been reading with my class , it's a book about families moving to Costa Rica to get away from the wars and to be able to believe in what religion they'd like.In the mid 1600's a man named George Fox founded a group called Friends of the Truth. Friends of the Truth was a group followed by people who had an alternative method of worship. I found Fox to be a very interesting guy because I appreciated his methods and how he presented himself. George believed that you didn't have to go to church or a place of worship to believe in God. He believed that if you believed and if God was real he would be with you anywhere you chose to pray. I'm not a Quaker but I agree with parts of Quakerism. I think it's a very respectable religion.

In 1650 Justice Bennet charged Fox with blasphemy. Bennet called Foxes followers Quakers as meaning the synonym of tremble , because supposedly they tremble at the word of God. Bennet's beliefs were not only offensive to me but outrageous. Just because George didn't believe the same as him he became the total outcast. Fox didn't push any religion or belief upon anyone, so why does anyone have the right to do that towards him or anyone else. This is exactly why we made the 1st Amendment. We all have rights, even if your not an American I believe that you deserve your rights just as much as the next guy. Nobody has the right to take away someones religion. I think Bennet was scared that Fox might have been different than him, and anyone different is a menace.

Fox and his followers were not only beaten for believing differently but imprisoned for not changing their minds about their beliefs. That is so sickening to me, it seems very prejudice. Just because something is different than you, it's wrong or weird. In reality different is change. Friends of the Truth believed in Peace, Equality, Integrity, and Simplicity . I believe that those are all the qualities that it takes to be truly be happy, and enjoy life, those are the values I live by.