Oscar Romero spoke often about the need for all of us to fight injustice. He believed that God was with those who suffered and stood by and supported those who took a stand for what was right. Romero gave his life for those suffering in El Salvador, but his words about justice ring true in America's own struggle with civil rights.
The 8th graders of the Arrupe Division have learned about Romero and his steadfast faith in religion class and now they are connecting his words to the American Civil Rights Movement in social studies class. By examining these case studies we can all deepen our commitment to fighting injustices thereby drawing us closer to God.
"We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us."
ReplyDeleteTo me this relates to the black panthers party very well. I translate this quote as every change in society to desegregate blacks and whites, even when it is so full of violence and hate, is an effort that God blesses, wants, and demands us to stay strong and not give up. To me this is what the black panthers were all about. They wanted to show the whites that they weren't going to back down and they were developing and taking part in this party to fight for their rights dispite what everyone is saying.
Thomas Blakely
ReplyDelete“We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us.” – Oscar Romero
This quote says that whenever we make an effort to improve society, our effort is blessed by God, and is wanted by God. When related to my topic, which was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, key people such a Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as all of the black people that supported the boycott by walking the distances to their destination made every effort to improve society. They made every effort for justice. They stood up against discrimination as the minority, and fought for what was legally, morally, and spiritually right. Oscar Romero stood up against discrimination for what was right which in his case was working toward ending the reign of terror of the government of El Salvador. Oscar Romero was disliked because he spoke against the government. Civil Rights leaders were disliked because they spoke out against the government’s segregation laws. Both events show us that efforts toward justice are blessed by God, even when society is full of injustice and sin.
"We know that every effort to improve society, abouve all when society is so full of injustic and sin, is an act that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us.
ReplyDeleteI can relate this quote to many things in my topic of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. One of the things I can relate this too is that people of the movement of desegregation succceded. Because this was an act of justice God was behind them and they succeded. In El Salvador Romero worked tirelessly for eequal rights and to have a greater sense of equality in the wartorn country. In both cases of the civil rights leaders and romero they were ridiculed by people and heavily disliked. In El Slavador the goverment went as far as to kill Romero for speakin out. As seen in both of these endevours God was behind the leaders of these civil rights leaders and gave them courage to speak up and alter society for the better.
"Brothers, you came from your own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'thou shalt not kill.' No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No on has to obey an immoral law. it is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders.
ReplyDeleteI can relate this to Emmett Till's murder because it says you do not have to kill because of what you are told. In this time if a African American did something seen as wrong they would be punished. This says to me that you do not have to do something like murder some one just because it is the way it was done at the time. Also, I think this quote says that you should not listen to other people but instead your conscience. I think this means that even if someone says that you have to do something if you don't good about it on the inside then you shouldn't do it. Finally, it says you should not do anything to break the law of God. I think this means if there is something that you think would disappoint God then you should not do that thing.
"Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says 'Thou shall not kill.'No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consequences rather than sinful of others.
ReplyDeleteThis quote realtes to the sixteenth street church bombing in Birmingham becuase it says that you do not have to kill or do somthing injust when you are told. This quote also says we are all the same and that we came from one person. Therefore we are all family. When you kill someone you are killing your own kind or your brother. The law of God states "Thou shall not kill." People must obeye this law and do as it says. However, some people choose not to follow that law such as the people who decided to blow up a chuch in Birmingham. This is symbolic becuase it shows that people at the time had no respect for what the church says.
"If we are worth anything, it is not because we have more money or more talent, or more human qualities. Insofar as we are worth anything, it is because we are grafted on to Christ's life, his cross and resurrection. That is a person's measure." – Oscar Romero
ReplyDeleteI can relate this to my topic, The Freedom Riders, because what happened to them was they came from the north and took the bus down into the south and went to ‘whites only’ waiting rooms, bars, and drinking fountains. This was technically legal because of the Boynton v. Virginia Supreme Court case. The case said the Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional. However, this was not enforced, so they were imprisoned for doing so. This is related to the quote because it says, “If we are worth anything, it is not because we have more money or more talent, or more human qualities,” and we are simply choosing to ignore that because when we do this we are basically saying that all of us are worth nothing because he said if we are worth anything it isn’t because… we have more human qualities. And they were saying that whites do have more human qualities, so in effect they were saying no one has any value.
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Chris Johnson
Mr. Kiely 8-6
(Brett D’Alelio 5/22/2011) Social Studies Blog Post
ReplyDelete“We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us".
This insightful quote from Oscar Romero certainly relates to the freedom riders because the freedom riders themselves were on a noble quest to “improve society”; an action that Romero said was blessed by God. One very specific relationship between Romero’s quote and the freedom riders was the phrase: “above all when society is so full of injustice and sin”. I find that this part of the quote shares a relationship with the freedom riders in the way that during the time of the freedom riders, it became quite evident to most that society was indeed full of injustice and sin. The freedom riders committed their audacious actions during a time in American history known as the Civil Rights Movement. At this time in history, there was a great deal of dispute and controversy over segregation and the rights of minorities, specifically African Americans. Specifically, the freedom riders were on a bold mission to protest against segregation on busses. They fought against the discrimination of others, and worked towards improving society, an idea promoted by Oscar Romero.
Scottie McGlone 5/22/11
ReplyDelete“We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us.” – Oscar Romero
This quote shows how in order to make change and to make the world just, someone has to step in and help. This is often what Remero did. He was devoted and willing to make a change, so he stood up and spoke out. What Remero did was almost exactly what the NAACP has done for such a long time, and that is standing out to make a change. The NAACP helped a race that was not understoud and not equal to the whites. They faught for the blacks equality and rights just as did Oscar Romero with the Mexicans. Because of the NAACP's dedication and devotion to equality they were able to get and hold on to it. Without the NAACP standing up and making a change blacks would not be free and equal. In this quote it says to make a change for God, because God loves all and wants all to live in equality.
“We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants- that God demands of us."
ReplyDeleteOscar Romero spoke out against the inequalities and injustices in his country, and of the senseless violence that the US essentially tolerated. The Freedom Riders were no different. Their journey through the South was a statement against discrimination, segregation, and unequal treatment received by many racial groups at the time. They faced hardships while carrying their message of peace; the buses were firebombed, protested, and even unloaded in order to arrest their passengers- yet they knew that this was the message God wanted the world to know, much like Oscar Romero knew up until his death in March 1980.
-Kevin Koulopoulos
Brendan Evitts
ReplyDelete"we know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands."
This quote relates to the Montgumery Bus Boycottin the perspective that of us needing to make society fair and unjust and those people who took part in the boycott, including Rosa Parks, did just this in making transportation just. The people of the boycott felt that they were being opressed and that they weren't being treated fairly so they took the cue to improve society. THis is what God wants from us as people and it is our duty to do as he wants because we are his children. Rosa Parks along with other members of the boycott went out of their way and made a very large effort to get the transportation to be just. They had protest and were arrested from the police just to make a point in saying that this was not fair. I am very moved by the lengths that these people went to make transportation fair. Romero in El Salvador wanted to make his society just and this is just what these people did in MOngomery during the bus boycott.
" Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says,"Thou shalt not kill." No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders."
ReplyDeleteI can relate this to the murder of Emmitt Till because he was killed becasue of somebody saying something he did becase he was African American. This was basically what happened to every African American person at this time. This quote is saying that just becasue someone has a hate for a certain type of person and orders you to harm the other person, you don't have to do it. We are all people under God no matter what the color of our skin is and nothing should be done to change that. If you even have the slightest thought about whether it's a bad thing to do, don;t do it. If this were announced during this time, many of lives would have been saved and violence would have been reduced.
"Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says 'Thou shall not kill.'No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consequences rather than sinful of others.
ReplyDeleteThou shalt not kill is one of the Ten Commandments and the bombers broke this commandment. The quote states that you should not obey sinful orders, but they should only obey the orders of God. The quote by Romero also states that we are all brothers and when you kill you are killing your brother. Romero wants all killing to stop because we are all brothers and no one should kill their family. The quote says that we should listen to our conscience and do the right thing rather than listen to sinful orders and do the right thing. No one has to kill or do wrong; it is their choice to do so. This quote helps me better understand my civil rights topic because it tells people to not to do wrong, but also shows that people in fact do wrong. It amazes me to see that people will act stupid and kill people before taking a step back and realize that they are killing their own brothers and sisters.
Christian Dallas
ReplyDelete"Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, "Thou shall not kill". No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders."
This quote relates to the NAACP very closely because what is explained in this quote by Oscar Romero is essentially what the NAACP is fighting for. The connection that I can make between the NAACP and this quote is when Oscar Romero says, "You are killing your own brothers." What he means by this is that there are people out there killing their own kind. The only thing that separates the one kind from the other is their appearance or native tongue. This is what the NAACP is also trying to make people realize. That everybody is really the same. So, everybody should be treated the same with no problems. Just like brothers.
Steven Ohanesian
ReplyDelete"Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders."
The first sentence in this quote says, "Brothers, you came from our own people." This almost sums up what the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People stands for. The NAACP started In order to balance society, and give all people an equal chance where their efforts and passions will actually reward them. In the Brown V Board of Education court case the NAACP fought for a fare chance and to make the education of all students equal, and also give the ability to black students to advance themselves in society. This is similar to the situation in El Salvador because they to are fighting for freedoms and the chance to succeed, and develop. “You are killing your own brothers.” This quote relates to the civil rights movement because during the time period people who are in fact equal in almost every way are hurting each other for no good reason at all. “Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God.” This quote shows that people listened and almost directly responded to a few leaders’ ideas and beliefs. They were “taking orders,” to do harm unto their own brothers of the human race. For example, the Little Rock Nine were shown violence hatred and cruelty possibly due to the governors’ original act of calling in the National Guard. He showed anger, so why would the people who voted him into office not do the same? This quote opened my eyes to exactly why the NAACP was so important. They fought almost so that the rest of America would stop fighting with each other over a ridiculous topic.
Seamus lewis
ReplyDelete"We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us."
This quote really reflects the goals of the Black Panther Party. When Oscar Remareo says, "We know that every effort to improve our society," This is what the point of the black panthers was to improve the black community. They wanted to stop poliece brutality towards blacks and make the society more just.The Black panthers efforts to make the society have justice reflects Oscars quote, "Above all when society is so full of injustice and sin." The poliece would brutalize black people so the Black panthers were there to make sure people were treated right. When oscar Romero says, "God blesses: God wants; that God demands of us." this shows that the Black panthers wanted to be treated as equal as whit people and to be accepted.
"We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us."
ReplyDeleteI think really sums up what the black panther party was all about. Both Bobby Seale and Huey Newton created the black panther party so the black community could have a safer environment. The black people at this time were getting assaulted by the police for no reason, this is what Oscar Remareo meant when he said " when society is so full of injustice and sin." Oscar also says " every effort to improve society." this is what the black panthers did. The helped out the black community by helping the sick and feeding them. They also fought to stop police brutality which would improve society.