Thesis Paragraphs
War-prayer
The short story ‘war –prayer’ conveys the message of a religious community exhibiting hypocrisy in their action—a prayer to bless the soldiers before going off to war. The depiction seeks to relay the hypocrisy that the community beholds, deeming themselves righteous without consideration of their enemies. The author uses the older man and a priest to create a debatable contention among religious followers. It is a concise ideology of the hypocrisy within the human race, deeply rooted within religious morals yet fail to consider the plight of their enemies.
Mark Twain conveys the message using verbal irony in his story. In a concept of pro-imperialism against anti-imperialism, the story brings forth a theme of betrayal within the religious beliefs. The words of the priest ooze a more evil approach rather than the religious one. “…drown the thunder of their guns with shrieks of their wounded” (Twain, p.6). Indeed a prayerful message pleading to the heavens to destroy the enemy and set the army for glory. In a somewhat critical element when it comes to religious concepts. The perceptions of the church, “love thy neighbor as you love thyself,’ eludes the misunderstood notion heralded within the story. The congregations’ faith of the church and prayer igniting a hypocritical aspect.
The older adult takes up the pulpit and claims to be Godsent, he tramples upon the evil prayers aimed at maiming the enemy. “If you pray for the blessing of rain on your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse on some neighbor’s crop…” (Twain, p.8) True to his words he talks of a farmer praying for the other farmer crops to fail for his benefit. The authors create a theme of hypocrisy held by the church. They claim to serve the Lord and even have faith He will fail the enemies. He confronts their ideology of foraging for their survival rather than seeing the world as a whole. One-sided prayers are not prayers rather just hypocrisy within oneself. Every individual is morally concise with the religious ante and chose to lead a path that conforms to righteousness.
Discussion
Current societal setups exhibit hypocrisy within religious settings. The human race is now using faith to portray the evil that the mortal races possess. The aspect has churned a figure of speech, “preaching water and drinking wine.” The symbolism within the statement attempts to exhibit the evil within churches, masking themselves within religious beliefs. A contentious aspect of being morally righteous drives their personalities and deeds. A shared understanding of the religion is that they are against evil; however, presently, this is not the case. Various religions hold the misunderstood concepts of religion being right and thus use it as a tool of evil.
Some members of the Muslim religion forming cults; jihads, that are oriented to religious aspects. These cults are used to create mass hysterias and terrorist acts. Incensed by the other faiths, the religion: under the rationale of being righteous and other religions are not, use it to persecute the different denominations. Notably, these elements deem themselves holier and more righteous than the other religions. A rather misguide notion heralded by these elements creates evil angling towards other religions. Jealousy and pride within churches highlight hypocritical themes. The evils within churches are present thanks to their ideologies of rightfulness. This disregards the other people as being less righteous and thus not better than them. Hypocrisy is a deeply rooted element within the religions presents globally.
The Emperor’s new clothes
Hans Christian Andersen, in his story, portrays a king obsessed with the clothes before falling into the hands of two con men. The story seems more of a tale or children’s fable attempting to bring forth certain teachings. However, a more in-depth look into the account creates an understanding of mass thinking and materialistic perceptions.
Drawn by materialism, the king falls into the path of clever conmen. Materialism pushes the king to fall into a trap. Clothes are what he desires, yet they are invisible. He is forced to accept that the attire is visible because he deems himself to fit the job. They manage to fool the masses by considering the attire only visible to the wise. “The clothes made from this wonderful cloth would be invisible to everyone who was unfit for the job he held, or who was very simple in character” (Andersen, p.91). They tapped onto the psychologies of the masses and with the notion of them not being appointed rightfully. Intelligence trounces mass psychology, making the people doubt themselves. Pretense within the masses aimed at pleasing the king and also to feel conformed to others. It coerces them to see the invisible attire despite its absence, and they seek to exude themselves as being true within their positions. The author conveys the thinking of masses being wrong and quickly diverted from what is right. The pretense of the population makes them question their true being and afraid to confront what is right. The king wants to be seen fit to the throne; thus, he believes in the presence of the clothes. “But the Emperor has nothing at all on!” said a little child” (Andersen, p.93), a child’s words. A depiction of innocence that the children possess. The author uses a child to elicit honesty and truth. Children do not pretend but act themselves. This ideology presents children to be pure amidst all the pretense that is present in their environments.
Discussion
The pretense is part of personalities across the world. Whether doing it for good or for the worst, it is present within our societies. Various elements shape our lives and case them to elicit pretense to conform to the demands of the communities. Mass element creates a sense of dishonesty within oneself in society. The lifestyles present within the societies are more of pretense, without any element of truth. The public holds a bearing in various lives, and this pushes the people within such environments to take up ways and pretend to be part of such environments.
Materialistic elements within the societies are common, always seeking to hold on to the best and most modern material things. Often pushed by the changing times and emerging material trends, the material goods emerge to add up to those in existence. However, the pretense has etched itself within our societies and made the populations orient to it. Notably, the presence of honest individuals is a concise representation of the innocents within the community. Children signify the pure souls within our societies, and despite the increasing pretenses, they signify the good within our societies.
Works cited
Andersen, Hans Christian. “The Emperor’s new clothes.” Stories and Tales. Routledge, 2003. 90-93.
Twain, Mark. The War Prayer. Morning Sun Printers, 1891.