Can God and Real Evil Be Reconciled

The battle between the good and evil has always fascinated people’s minds. Millions of books were written on the clash of the two forces, thousands of movies were shot to disclose the scale and the grandeur of this fight. In fact, many religions include a description of the absolute good and the absolute evil, the former being typically referred to as God, while the latter having countless number of names: devil, Satan, Beelzebub, Baal, and so on.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Can God and Real Evil Be Reconciled? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the one hand, the latter seems a complete abomination and, therefore, does not deserve the right to exist, which is emphasized especially strongly in Christianity. The evil embraces a variety of ideas and concepts, yet it is always considered as something to get rid of once and for all. Hurting and destroying evil, however, does not seem to follow the basic pr inciples of Christianity, which is founded on the concept of love and forgiveness. Therefore, there is only one way to handle the concept of evil, which is to embrace it. Despite the fact that God and the Evil are traditionally opposed in Christianity, the only possible way of handling the evil should be viewed through the reconciliation of the two, since the former, as the alpha and omega of the universe, spawned the creation of the latter and is, in fact, related to it. While the existence of the evil is confirmed by the Bible, one might still find it quite controversial that God, who, according to the Bible, represents the most just, the most virtuous and the kindest entity actually allows for the evil to exist. The very idea of God allowing for evil sounds surreal enough. Indeed, according to the basic Biblical premises, God punishes sinners, i.e., the people who do evil things. However, it is still undeniable that evil is an integral part of the universe, which picks the questi on whether the two are supposed to battle with each other or to reconcile. There are several answers to this question. According to one hypothesis, the fact that the evil and God coexist can be explained by the fact that there has to be dynamics between the good and evil; otherwise, the world as we know it would have ceased to exist. As Jacobs explains, most of the misunderstandings concerning the origin of the evil and the relation between God and the Evil stem from the lack of understanding of the true meaning of Good and Evil (Jacobs, 2003, 311).  Another objection against the fact that God has control over the evil concerns the absence of any actions against the evil from God. There is no record of any struggle between God and Satan in the Bible, there is no mentioning of any miracle happening in order to prevent the historical evil doers, numerous massacres, genocides and other hideous crimes against humanity have been committed despite the fact that God Almighty watches over the human race, according to what Christians say.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To solve the given conflict between the Biblical principles and the reality it will be required to explore the specifics of the Christian religion a bit closer. Among the answers to the given problem, Augustine’s Solution is mentioned most often. According to Augustine of Hippo, evil could not come from God – instead, it had to exist as a separate substance. Augustine argues that the goodness is the natural state of humans and that evil is foreign to the natural state of existence: â€Å"Evil is contrary to nature; in fact, it can only do harm to nature; and it would not be a fault to withdraw from God were it not that it is more natural to adhere him. It is that fact which makes a withdrawal a fault. That is why the choice of evil is an impressive proof that the nature is good† (1 1.17). (Schuler, 2008, 33) Therefore, according to Schuler, Augustine’s argument is perfectly viable. As Schuler explained, â€Å"Thus, evil can be identified as that which works against the natural inclinations of human beings, and for Augustine, as for all Christians, humans were created to be naturally attracted to God† (Schuler, 2008, 33). Truly, the given argument deserves to be mentioned as a full-fledged concept of good and evil in the Christian religion. On the other hand, it should also be kept in mind that, according to the Christian religion, Lucifer, who practically is the evil himself, is a fallen angel, i.e., a has-been element of the Heaven and, therefore, the good (Scudder, 2001). As the recent theosophical researches say, the origin of Satan gives a lot of food for thoughts and, therefore, questions the origin of evil, allowing to suggest that the evil was spawned from the goodness. Even though the evidence concerning the origin of the evil in general and the Satan in particular is rather vague, it is still worth mentioning that in most sources that can be defined as credible, Satan is mentioned as a has-been angel, i.e., a former resident of heaven, who decided to use his cunningness to rebel against the Lord. There are many interpretations of the given story; as far as the traditional Biblical interpretation goes, there is no exact statement concerning the Satan being a former angel, yet the following line can be interpreted as the proof that the Satan used to reside in heaven once (according to the King James version of the Bible): â€Å"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!† (Isaiah 14:12). The fact that the Lucifer was referred to as the â€Å"son of the morning,† as well as the mentioning of his fall, proves the idea that he used to belong in Heaven. Consequently, it can be assumed that the Evil was spawned from good ness and virtue; logically, these two must have something in common – and, in fact, they do. Both represent the farthest extremes, both have little to do with anything related to the human world due to their extremeness, and both are magically intertwined in every single person.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Can God and Real Evil Be Reconciled? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hence, it will be reasonable to assume that, when intertwined, the two neither clash, nor annihilate; instead, they represent a human being, with his/her faults, assets and moral principles. Therefore, the good and the evil cannot be considered completely incompatible; on the contrary, they mix into a peculiar meld of sin and virtue. Hence, evil should not be fought against until it finally vanishes without a trace, for it is a completely unattainable goal; instead, the good and the evil should be reconciled.  Hence, admitting t he existence of evil, one will inevitably ask oneself a question concerning what the evil is needed for. There are many ways of determining the role of the evil. From Jacobs’ point of view, the two primary roles that the evil plays in the Biblical stories are 1) the concept that serves as the foil for the Goodness to evolve; 2) the concept that helps one define the line between the moral and the immoral. Without the evil as an element of the human world, it would be impossible to figure out what is good and what is bad. The evil serves as a reference point for people to draw the line between the moral and the immoral, thus, becoming able to turn into virtuous believers (Pachuau, 2007). Without the evil, one would not be able to define the concept of good actions and virtuous behavior. As a result, evil actions would be carried out eventually. The evil can be considered an element that the world needs to have as a marker for the territory that must not be trodden (Browning Re ed, 2004). Even if there was no evil in the world, people would have eventually discovered it, for the humankind needs to know where the boundaries between what is allowed and what is prohibited lie.  It would be wrong to assume that, due to the relation between God and evil, the former possesses an evil element as well. Instead, the two should be viewed as two opposite entities, one of which stems from another one. Instead, it should be assumed that the evil must coexist with the good, since without the former, the latter cannot be defined. While absolute virtue is considered the ultimate goal of the Christianity, it is necessary to admit that the given goal is hardly attainable, which means that the humankind needs both the idea of the good and the idea of the evil in order to define the basic principles of morality and virtue to follow. Reference List Browning, R. L. Reed, R. A. (2004). Forgiveness, reconciliation and moral courage: Motives and designs for Ministry in a troubl ed world. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Jacobs, M. R. (2003). The conceptual dynamics of good and evil in the Joseph story: An exegetical and hermeneutical inquiry. Journal of the Study of the Old Testament, 27, 309–338. Pachuau, M. (2007). Construction of good and evil in Iris Murdoch’s discourse. New Delhi, IN: Sales Office. Schuler, S. J. (2008). Augustinian Auden: The influence of Augustine of Hippo on W. H. Auden. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Scudder, P. (2001). How Jesus reconciled mankind to God. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. This essay on Can God and Real Evil Be Reconciled? was written and submitted by user Sp1der-Ham to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Uruk - Mesopotamian Capital City in Iraq

Uruk - Mesopotamian Capital City in Iraq The ancient Mesopotamian capital of Uruk is located on an abandoned channel of the Euphrates river about 155 miles south of Baghdad. The site includes an urban settlement, temples, platforms, ziggurats, and cemeteries enclosed in a fortification ramp almost ten kilometers in circumference. Uruk was occupied as early as the Ubaid period, but began to show its importance in the late 4th millennium BC, when it included an area of 247 acres and was the largest city in the Sumerian civilization. By 2900 BC, during the Jemdet Nasr period, many Mesopotamian sites were abandoned but Uruk included nearly 1,000 acres, and it must have been the largest city in the world. Uruk was a capital city of various importance for the Akkadian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Seleucid civilizations, and was abandoned only after AD 100. Archaeologists associated with Uruk include William Kennet Loftus in the mid-nineteenth century, and a series of German archaeologists from the Deutsche Oriente-Gesellschaft including Arnold NÃ ¶ldeke. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to Mesopotamia and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Goulder J. 2010. Administrators bread: an experiment-based re-assessment of the functional and cultural role of the Uruk bevel-rim bowl. Antiquity 84(324351-362). Johnson, GA. 1987. The changing organization of Uruk Administration on the Susiana Plain. In The Archaeology of Western Iran: settlement and society from prehistory to the Islamic Conquest. Frank Hole, ed. Pp. 107-140. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. - 1987. Nine thousand years of social change in western Iran. In The Archaeology of Western Iran: settlement and society from prehistory to the Islamic Conquest. Frank Hole, ed. Pp. 283-292. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Rothman, M. 2004. Studying the development of complex society: Mesopotamia in the late fifth and fourth millennia BC. Journal of Archaeological Research 12(1):75-119. Also Known As: Erech (Judeo-Christian bible), Unu (Sumerian), Warka (Arabic). Uruk is the Akkadian form.

Milk (Movie with Sean Penn) Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Milk ( with Sean Penn) - Movie Review Example Therefore, he was able to alter and strive for achievement of human right. However, his ambitions were short-lived by his death in 1978 (Sandhu, 1). This paper will review the movie "Milk" and it outlines changes in attitudes that has occurred since late 1970s after assassination of Harvey Milk up to the present. Attitudes have changed significantly since 1970s and this is evident assessment of the transition from the combustible and cynical period in the history to the present (Sandhu, 1). For instance, it was not common for people hear or talk about gays; in fact, there were attacks of the equitable-right litigation. However, this transition was evoked by Milk’s activism, despite being hampered by his death in 1978 due to political rivalry; this led to gradual change of attitude towards gays, which is seen today (Jones, 1). Moreover, Milk’s activism to promote equitable gay rights as has been substantially associated with the civil rights, which were supported by Mart in Luther King. Therefore, as presented by the movie, there is a significant role played by Sean Penn, whereby he presents a character, mediocre comic strips of battered manliness. Moreover, he presents a moderate, demonstrative masquerade of the extrovert businessmen operating from Wall Street (Travers, 1). The changes in attitude as introduced by this movie can be attested to by Milk’s reinvestments and political people’s imagination, who were not gays. Moreover, this acceptance of gays by other members of the public has continued from 1970s to the present. This movie presents Emile Hirsch, who becomes an activist, together with Diego Luna, who is Milk’s lover (Jones, 1). Moreover, this movie presents a good reason for change of attitudes towards gays, whereby Milk is both attractive, and has a perspective attributes. On the other hand, there are proponents of same-sex marriages such as California’s Propositions eight. However, due to the changed attitu de there are few politicians, who have been working hard to support legalization of same-sex marriages. The movie presents resentment towards gay people, which was portrayed by Dan White, who shot Harvey Milk and George Moscone in 1978 (Ebert, 1). In addition, their death was the forty-eight among the crusader for gay rights in San Francisco. Dan worked with these victims in the city’s board of supervisors, and he decided to shot them in the City Hall (Travers, 1). Nonetheless, cases of death among gay people due to the negative attitudes and heated from other members of the society have greatly reduced since 1978. It is evident that "Milk" offers pertinent ideas regarding transformation of lives among gay people since the death of Harvey Milk and his pursuit for achieving equitable rights (Travers, 1). Therefore, even after his death other that succeeded him was able to achieve prosperity, which was inform of freedom over state persecution, political and social cause. In thi s case, the movie indicates some decisions made by people despite their emotional devastation. In addition, this memorable situation is presented at the end of the movie, where Harvey Milk is considered a hero (Ebert, 1). Milk is also depicted as an ordinary man, who has a range of attributes such as being idealistic, humorous, inconsistent, insightful, optimistic, and

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Leadership - Essay Example Large-scale organizational transformation is a developing art that has yet to produce any clear formulas for success, but more and more attention is being turned to executives as the principle agents of change and adaptation. It is increasingly common to assume that leadership plays the crucial role in an organization's successful adaptation to a changing world. Power and politics are a part of organization life in my organization. It is possible to determine thee types of power: expert, referral and coercive power. The most important factor of success is that the leader uses consultants and professionals as guides and teachers. With fewer vested interests and less baggage, they are also in a good position to help managers challenge their own worldviews and routines. Yet the use of consultants must be approached with caution. Often they have only a superficial understanding of the situation at hand, not being a long-term member of the organization. Because they frequently move on to new opportunities before the change is completely implemented, they may assume more of a short-term perspective than executives and managers do (Charan et al 2001). In order to balance the increasing demands placed on an individual, the leader introduces new ways of work and tries to establish informal communication between employees. In many respects, these are difficult to separate from the role of leadership in the change process because they either explicitly or implicitly make key assumptions about the leadership style of the organization.

Compare and contrast men and women in taking responsibilities Essay

Compare and contrast men and women in taking responsibilities - Essay Example As the report declares as adults men and women take up several responsibilities such as family responsibility, parental care, caring for the elder people, working towards the financial security, and above all the job responsibilities. Men and women have different outlook towards these responsibilities and handle them differently. This report stresses that while men compete for powerful positions, women are concerned with developing personal relationships and helping others. Men value gaining status by following "the rules," i.e. achievement over attachment. Where as women value being sensitive and maintaining good relationships, i.e. they give preference to attachment over achievement. Men are considered to be physically stronger than women. As a result, the physical duties of a household always seem to be a job for the man of the house. Parental care is one of the most important issues concerning the society today. In general it can be seen that men take active role in parenting by providing for more of the physical needs of the child rather than the emotional needs, such as providing good education, materialistic needs etc. Men's commitment to their children is a key to the quality of family life and the prospects of the next generation. Women play an active role in providing for the emotional need of the c hild and less towards their physical and materialistic needs. For instance, they take active role in teaching children, looking into their personal hygiene, feeding them with good nutritious food etc.

Accounts of Evacuees in WW2

Accounts of Evacuees in WW2 When and how did evacuation happen? Introduction Evacuation was a key wartime strategy to protect the civilian population and minimise panic in areas that would likely be enemy targets, but the plans for evacuation were started well in advance of World War II. Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor, and the devastation of aerial bombing campaigns during the Spanish Civil War, served to alert the British government to the threat on war and particularly the need to be prepared for air strikes on major cities (Ross, 2001). The Anderson Committee served to divide Britain up into areas based on risk of air strike, designating areas as being for evacuation, neutral, or reception areas. In September 1938, the British government announced its plans to evacuate 2 million people in the event of war and had found accommodation for up to 4 million people. The official evacuations started in earnest in September 1939, with ‘Operation Pied Piper’. The objective was to evacuate priority groups (children, mothers and children, the pregnant, the disabled, and teachers – as outlined in source 2) from the major cities. During this phase, 3.5 million people were relocated to reception areas, mainly by train, and often on a first come first served basis. The haphazard nature of the evacuation meant that groups were sometimes split, reception areas over-subscribed, and evacuees placed with families who were expecting to receive a different priority group or evacuees of the same social class. After the fall of France, and the onset of the Blitz, further waves of evacuations continued until September 1944. The priority groups now included the elderly and people were also relocated from coastal towns and ports. In this phase of the evacuations, approximately 200,000 children were relocated including children who had been earlier evacuated to these areas from the major cities. The government also provided free domestic travel to those who wished to make their own arrangements (Brown, 2005). Experiences of the evacuees From our knowledge of the evacuation process, particularly with regard to the haphazard nature of the allocations to reception areas and host families, we might infer that the experiences of evacuees could be quite traumatic. This is the case for Mrs Preedy, who recounted her experiences of being an evacuee over 45 years later in her book based on her wartime diary (source 7). She was evacuated with her close friends but was separated from them on arrival at the designated reception area. She was billeted with another girl who was not a friend and â€Å"foisted† upon an older and childless couple, which tallies with our understanding that evacuees were often placed with hosts who were expecting a different priority group – in this case, possibly an adult. The household that Mrs Preedy describes is working-class, with the woman having previously been in service, and the house lacking in heat (as well as emotional warmth), and dimly lit. We can infer that Mrs Preedy is most likely from a middle class background, unused to assisting regularly in household chores, and used to a warmer and brighter environment. This experience again tallies with our understanding that many evacuees were mismatched with host families on the basis of social class. Mrs Preedy’s account of her wartime experiences is useful as she has based her account on her own contemporaneous diaries. The diaries will, however, likely be dominated by the discomforts she experienced (being separated from her friends, with ‘cold’ hosts, in their cold home). We are not told how old Mrs Preedy was at the time of her evacuation or how long she was evacuated for but her unhappiness with the experience is palpable. For one 10 year old (source 11), the contemporaneous account we are given is very basic. After enquiring as to her mother’s health, she says that she doesn’t like her hosts’ faces but refers to not having seen the lady in daylight. We might infer from this that the letter was written soon after a night-time arrival and these first impressions are from a child searching for signs of friendliness in her hosts, and only finding it in their dog. While the letter is not detailed, there is significant value in this child’s immediate response to her new environment. Mr Kops’ autobiography, written almost twenty years after the end of the war, recounts his awe at the cleanliness and lavishness of his new surroundings (source 10). Mr Kops was evacuated from a poor district of London to a Buckinghamshire village, making the transition from a poor working class household to a middle class home. Mr Kops does not describe his hosts, or the other evacuees he was billeted with; his recollections are solely on the material benefits of his new environment (such as hot tap water and an indoor loo!). While Mr Kops’ autobiography is not based on notes he made during the war, his account reads as though the unadulterated joy of discovering this new lifestyle is still very much fresh in his mind. Further, his transition from a working class to a middle class home appears to have been as wondrous as Mrs Preedy’s transition from a middle class to working class environment was traumatic. Experience of the host families Having seen two very different reactions from evacuees to their experiences, we shall now turn our attention to the experiences of the host families who, as with the evacuees, could be expected to find the haphazard allocations system to have been traumatic. For many, there was a feeling of horror about the condition and behaviour of the children who had been placed with them. One extract from a contemporaneous report published in 1940 (source 14), describes in detail the concerns about the children’s lack of hygiene, poor health, poor clothing, and also describes both mothers and children being in the habit of soiling their beds. While this extract undoubtedly describes the views of some, it has been taken from a wider report and it is unclear if the rest of the report is in the same light. Some of the comments made appear almost hysterical, such as the assertion that â€Å"one child was suffering from scabies and the majority had it in their hair† [this could have simply been itchiness due to nits] and that the â€Å"school had to be fumigated after the reception†. While the veracity of some of the comments may be disputed, the excerpt is useful as social commentary as it gives a good insight into the reactions and possibly prejudices of people towards the influx of children and some of their mothers from the inner cities. For one boy (source 16), having two evacuee children sharing his home didn’t appear to be such a traumatic experience. In an interview in September 1939, the boy describes being disappointed that the evacuees were girls, as he’d expected boys, but sounds relaxed and cheerful about â€Å"showing them around†. The billeting of girls rather than boys to this home may have been a mismatch in the allocation or the child (and his family) may simply have assumed that other boys would be placed in the household. The interview with the boy was made by the BBC in the first month of Operation Pied Piper and was presumably intended to reassure the families of the evacuated, the prospective evacuees, as well as possibly encouraging further host families to come forward. The radio interview is also accompanied by a photograph of the boy, leading a small child on a donkey; as it is unlikely that all radio interviewees were routinely photographed, we might infer that the there w as a propaganda aspect to this interview and that the photograph was reproduced to promote both the interview and the evacuation programme. In considering the impact of evacuees on host families, some historians writing almost fifty years after the end of the war noted the disparity in the living conditions between the urban poor and the rural middle-classes (source 18). There is a sense in this account that there was a strong class divide in Britain during the war and that the rural middle class had been oblivious to the living conditions of those in industrial areas. The exposure to the evacuees was considered to be a shocking experience, but one that had united people into a commitment to improving living conditions after the war. Conclusion In our consideration of this topic, we have accessed only a few accounts, representing the experiences of child evacuees and their hosts. That said, we are still able to conclude that evacuation had a profound effect on both evacuees and their host families. For the evacuees, there was undoubted upheaval as they were wrenched from their families and placed in unfamiliar surroundings. Being placed with host families who may not have been expecting a child (but rather an adult), or were from a different social class may have been added to the stress of the evacuation. For the host families, evacuation brought an insight into urban and industrial life that was unexpected and in some cases unwelcome. The condition of the children was for many quite shocking, with wide-ranging concerns about the children’s health, attire and conduct. Historians have access to a wide range of evidence in order to find out about the effects of the evacuation. There is contemporaneous evidence, reflective accounts, and also the works of other historians. Assessing the value of these sources is a matter of judgment as most material is produced with a purpose in mind: determining whether that purpose enhances or undermines the credibility of the source is one of the tasks of the historian. Bibliography Assignment sources 1-18 (as provided by client) Mike Brown (2005) Evacuees: Evacuation in Wartime Britain 1939-1945. Sutton Publishing Stewart Ross (2001) Evacuation (At Home in World War II). Evans Brothers Limited.

One Life To Give Essay example -- Legal Court Essays

One Life To Give On December 9, 1981, a white Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot. On July 3, 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black man, was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. On May 22, 1996, he received a second trial and was again convicted of the same charge. He is sentenced to die on December 2. The hours grow short until this man, who has promoted through his writings and speeches an image of himself as falsely accused, is ushered into the record books as one more name dealt justice by the American people. But who constitutes the American people? Is it a judge in a courtroom, or the thousands of people who have protested Abu-Jamal's death as the death of an innocent, an intellectual, and above all, a black man in a white man's system? The validity of the conviction has been widely questioned in the press. Stuart Taylor Jr., who covered the case for Court TV, states that Abu-Jamal "received an unfair trial, tainted by . . . flagrantly biased judging and, in all probability, police fabrication of evidence and intimidation of witnesses." However, more interesting and more important than the legal aspects of the trials is the emotional aspect, the outpouring of support for Abu-Jamal. Bill Bickel, after having recently made an extensive survey of the opinions voiced about the case, found literally hundreds of websites protesting the death sentence and only one website supporting it-created by the police officer's family. It has been pure gravy for Mumia, a wealth of public indignation for, as the organization Refuse & Resist dubs him, "an unrepentant Black political prisoner who is the voice of the voiceless." This near canonization of the man goes beyond anything which can be attributed to charisma or ... ...it can potentially undermine the only means we have to attempt to effect equal justice. The protest signs of angry crowds call for "Justice for Mumia," and in effect justice for all black people. But how can we achieve this if the very means of justice are dismantled to save one man? Works Cited Bickel, Bill. "Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Murder of Daniel Faulkner: Using the Internet to Search for the Truth." 16 Nov. 1999 <<http://crime.about.com/culture/crime/library/weekly/aa070698.html>> Davis, Angela Y, June Jordan, and Alice Walker. "The Life of a Black Man." The Nation. 15 Nov. 1999 <<http//www.thenation.com/>> Refuse and Resist. Home page. 16 Nov. 1999. <<http://mojo.calyx.net/~refuse/mumia/index.html>> Taylor Jr., Stuart. "Jamal's Last Stand." Court TV Casefiles. 11 June 1996 <<www.courttv.com/casefiles/mumia/analysis.html>> One Life To Give Essay example -- Legal Court Essays One Life To Give On December 9, 1981, a white Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot. On July 3, 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black man, was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. On May 22, 1996, he received a second trial and was again convicted of the same charge. He is sentenced to die on December 2. The hours grow short until this man, who has promoted through his writings and speeches an image of himself as falsely accused, is ushered into the record books as one more name dealt justice by the American people. But who constitutes the American people? Is it a judge in a courtroom, or the thousands of people who have protested Abu-Jamal's death as the death of an innocent, an intellectual, and above all, a black man in a white man's system? The validity of the conviction has been widely questioned in the press. Stuart Taylor Jr., who covered the case for Court TV, states that Abu-Jamal "received an unfair trial, tainted by . . . flagrantly biased judging and, in all probability, police fabrication of evidence and intimidation of witnesses." However, more interesting and more important than the legal aspects of the trials is the emotional aspect, the outpouring of support for Abu-Jamal. Bill Bickel, after having recently made an extensive survey of the opinions voiced about the case, found literally hundreds of websites protesting the death sentence and only one website supporting it-created by the police officer's family. It has been pure gravy for Mumia, a wealth of public indignation for, as the organization Refuse & Resist dubs him, "an unrepentant Black political prisoner who is the voice of the voiceless." This near canonization of the man goes beyond anything which can be attributed to charisma or ... ...it can potentially undermine the only means we have to attempt to effect equal justice. The protest signs of angry crowds call for "Justice for Mumia," and in effect justice for all black people. But how can we achieve this if the very means of justice are dismantled to save one man? Works Cited Bickel, Bill. "Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Murder of Daniel Faulkner: Using the Internet to Search for the Truth." 16 Nov. 1999 <<http://crime.about.com/culture/crime/library/weekly/aa070698.html>> Davis, Angela Y, June Jordan, and Alice Walker. "The Life of a Black Man." The Nation. 15 Nov. 1999 <<http//www.thenation.com/>> Refuse and Resist. Home page. 16 Nov. 1999. <<http://mojo.calyx.net/~refuse/mumia/index.html>> Taylor Jr., Stuart. "Jamal's Last Stand." Court TV Casefiles. 11 June 1996 <<www.courttv.com/casefiles/mumia/analysis.html>>