Over the past three years, nearly 32,000 Iraqi refugees have arrived in the U.S. to escape persecution back home, but many find a whole new host of challenges here in America where jobs and resources are becoming scarce.
Government-funded resettlement agencies that provide medical care and cash assistance to arriving Iraqis are overwhelmed by the large number of refugees, and there are fewer entry-level jobs because of the recession.
Answer the following questions in your post:
1. What is a refugee? What kinds of challenges might refugees face trying to create a new life in America?
DUE FRIDAY @ MIDNIGHT
2. What would it be like to be a refugee from Iraq, where America is currently fighting a war?
3. What did you learn from this video?
3. What kinds of challenges do you think refugee families face besides finding money and jobs?
4. In the video, Jeffrey Kaye talks to a 17-year-old Iraqi who is worried her parents will make her go back to Iraq. How would you feel in her situation? What would you want your family to do?
5. In a time of budget cuts and economic hardship, should the government spend more money to help these refugees? Why or why not?
6. How has the Catholic Church attempted to resolve these issues?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Minersville School District v. Gobitis
Facts of the Case:
Lillian and William Gobitis were expelled from the public schools of Minersville, Pennsylvania, for refusing to salute the flag as part of a daily school exercise. The Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses; they believed that such a gesture of respect for the flag was forbidden by Biblical commands.
Question:
Did the mandatory flag salute infringe upon liberties protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
Conclusion:
No. In an 8-to-1 decision, the Court declined to make itself "the school board for the country" and upheld the mandatory flag salute. The Court held that the state's interest in "national cohesion" was "inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values" and that national unity was "the basis of national security." The flag, the Court found, was an important symbol of national unity and could be a part of legislative initiatives designed "to promote in the minds of children who attend the common schools an attachment to the institutions of their country."
Source: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/1939_690
In your post, answer the following questions:
Should Billy have the right not to say the Pledge because of his religion?
Aren't we all Americans no matter what our religion?
Everybody else has to say the Pledge! Is that fair?
What are the arguments on either side of this case?
Do you agree with the Supreme Court? Why or why not?
DUE FRIDAY @ MIDNIGHT
Facts of the Case:
Lillian and William Gobitis were expelled from the public schools of Minersville, Pennsylvania, for refusing to salute the flag as part of a daily school exercise. The Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses; they believed that such a gesture of respect for the flag was forbidden by Biblical commands.
Question:
Did the mandatory flag salute infringe upon liberties protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
Conclusion:
No. In an 8-to-1 decision, the Court declined to make itself "the school board for the country" and upheld the mandatory flag salute. The Court held that the state's interest in "national cohesion" was "inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values" and that national unity was "the basis of national security." The flag, the Court found, was an important symbol of national unity and could be a part of legislative initiatives designed "to promote in the minds of children who attend the common schools an attachment to the institutions of their country."
Source: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/1939_690
In your post, answer the following questions:
Should Billy have the right not to say the Pledge because of his religion?
Aren't we all Americans no matter what our religion?
Everybody else has to say the Pledge! Is that fair?
What are the arguments on either side of this case?
Do you agree with the Supreme Court? Why or why not?
DUE FRIDAY @ MIDNIGHT
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