Cult Leaders And Their Abuse Of Power Essays - Manson Family

Cult Leaders And Their Abuse Of Power Although power should be used with virtue by those with those with good intentions, many of the world's most powerful people use power in ways that purposefully harm other people, the most famous example of this case being Adolf Hitler during World War II. More generally, this includes some past (and present) members of the Royal families, some political leaders as well as a few religious leaders who have used their power to manipulate those lower than them in social status. An example of a power-abusing religious leader is Reverend Jim Jones who initiated a ritual suicide to protest racism and fascism. Although in his own mind he had food intentions, to save the world from the Armageddon, he was insane and in the overabundance of power, he was able to kill more than 900 people. It is unclear whether Jim Jones had committed suicide at the ritual or was shot by another, so it is uncertain to say that he had any intentions to die also. Although his protests were for good moral purposes, it was wrong of him to use his status as chairman of the Housing Authority and award receiver to gather extra followers to join the suicide. Here he had overstepped the line to abuse the power he was appointed by putting other people's lives at jeopardy. Being in his position, he was most likely aware that he had many supporters believing in him who would gladly follow his lead. It is at this point where he chose to abuse his power by taking advantage of the people who had the most respect and admiration for him. Charles Manson is an example of a cult leader who abused his power, however with intentions very unlike Jim Jones'. Charles Manson wanted revenge for all the wrong he had encountered which is much more selfish and very different from Jim Jones. Charles Manson had experienced a very bumpy childhood being the son of a teenage, bisexual, alcoholic prostitute. Being shuffled between homes of relatives and orphanages, it is not surprising to see that his criminal activity sprouted from a very early age. Manson's incredibly charisma attracted many hippies and he managed to earn himself s reputation as god-like in the eyes of many beautiful girls. When Manson and his Family settled down in Spahn Ranch he was able to sleep with a different girl each night. Not only this, but he had the power to make his Family members murder whomever he was unhappy with. In fact, the Family members were often more than happy to commit murder is it pleased Charles Manson. The Family used particularly gruesome methods of homicide and one woman had even contemplated carving an unborn baby out of the body of a murdered woman, as it would have made Manson proud. Charles Manson managed to brainwash his followers and make them worship like a god. He abused power severely by ordering his Family members to kill people, often random, for his satisfaction. Being in his position, he could have prevented all the murders however he chose not to, and never hesitated to even discourage them. Social Issues

Duc de Saint-Simon and The Court of Louis XIV essays

Duc de Saint-Simon and The Court of Louis XIV essays In 1746 Duc de Saint Simon finished work on his Memoirs. In this document he gave a detailed account of life in Versailles under the king Louis XIV. Saint-Simon described Louis XIV as a man whose natural talents were below mediocrity. He claimed that Louis made up for his natural shortcomings by affiliating himself with the most proficient people of both sexes in all areas. According to Saint-Simon Louis XIV real talent was that he was able to assimilate what was best in the minds of others without slavish imitation. In Saint-Simons document he states that Louis XIV greatest weakness was his vanity. This love of being flattered often caused Louis to engage in serious wars; for he was easily convinced that he had a superior aptitude when it came to war than any of his Generals (Saint-Simon). He also loved to tell stories about his campaigns which he expressed ... clearly in well chosen language (Saint-Simon). One example of his vanity is the symbol he chose to represent himsel f. Louis XIV dub himself the Sun King, claiming that the sun represented the duties of a Prince (Sendlessly promoted life, joy and growth and that the sun was the most dazzling and most beautiful image of the monarch (S It was not until 1682 that Louis XIV officially moved his court from Paris to Versailles. The motives behind him moving his court were mainly due to security issues. Louis did not feel safe in Paris due to a series of revolts against the monarchy known as the Fronde, also being away from the large crowds in Paris allowed him to keep a more watchful eye on the member of his court. By removing himself from the city he could more easily detect the movements and temporary absences of any of ... members (Saint-Simon). According to S&S Louis striped the member of his c...

Comparative analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparative analysis - Essay Example This poem is a very deep poem, one has to read it over and over again to understand its hidden meaning. Life is really complicated and we need to understand our aim and to do that we need to sit down and introspect. Many a time we come across situations in life where we have to make difficult choices and these difficult choices also decide our future, this poem is all about choosing the road which is less travelled, it also goes to show the courage of the poet who decides to take a path which is less travelled and there is a possibility of him getting lost but he is brave enough to try something different from others. This is what life is all about, we must be brave enough to trot a path less travelled, it may prove to be a wrong decision or it may prove to be a right decision, it is all about making choices when you are at the crossroads, this is what the poem is all about. At the very end the poet ponders over his choice, his life would have been much different had he taken the oth er road and this is very true. Our life would also be different had we made different decisions and had we taken the road less travelled, life is all about making the right, the most successful people often make the right choices. Thesis Statement: The poem has hidden meaning in it; the literal meaning of the poem is very easy to understand. A traveler reaches a fork in the road and is discombobulated because the road shows the traveler two choices, the traveler after much thinking, chooses the road less travelled by people. The figurative meaning of the poem reflects upon the choices that we make in our lives. We can either choose a road which is very frequently chosen by other people or we can choose to walk on a road which is hardly chosen by other people. After making our choice, we would always have regrets because the road not taken would always force us to think about the endless possibilities. This is what the poem is all about and this poem is really popular, Robert Frost b ecame a household name because of this poem. Literary Devices: Antithesis is quite conspicuous in the poem, the traveler has to make his choice and he soon realizes that he can only choose one path, the traveler wishes he could travel both but soon realizes that this is not plausible. Another literary device in the poem is personification, the road has been personified. â€Å"All sensible people know that roads don't think, and therefore don't want. They can't. But the description of the road wanting wear is an example of personification in this poem. A road actually wanting some as a person would. However: some believe this to be incorrect and believe "wanting wear" is not a personification, but rather older English meaning "lacking". So it would be "Because it was grassy and lacked wear;" (The Road not Taken) The tone of the poem is gloomy, words like â€Å"sorry† and â€Å"sigh† have been used and these words reflect gloom. Verbal irony is also another figure of sp eech in this poem, the speaker knows that when he looks back and recollects, he will have to tell his story with a â€Å"sigh† and he would also have to throw light upon the differences the second road would have made had he chosen it. Conclusion: The road not taken is a poem with a hidden meaning, it tells us how our life presents two choices in front of us, when we make our choice, after a few years we more often than not ponder over the options we would have had, had we chosen to trot on the road not taken. The poem is very tricky and requires immense concentration to