When the religious leaders of Nicholas Copernicus’ time excommunicated him for his radical studies, they ignorantly dismissed a brilliant idea. The idea that the earth revolved around the sun inherently brought controversy upon the traditional styles of science. A controversy our leaders need to examine is the medical use of marijuana. Instead of banning marijuana and ignoring the public voice, our representatives need to examine the facts and effects of marijuana for medical use. Like Copernicus’ idea that revolutionized science, changing the way we treat our sick and suffering will benefit our society. The effects of legalizing marijuana for only medical purposes will stop unnecessary legal action and it will change the way doctors treat a number of serious ailments.
At the turn of the century, rumors equated marijuana “as a substitute for the opiates and alcohol”, thus leading to The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. It was instated with little public notice and without research on the effects of the drug. The Act led to further myths such as the “gateway” term, which describes marijuana as a drug that leads to more dangerous drug abuse. Since the time our representatives took the uneducated initiative to ban the drug for medical purposes, it has been tested and found innocent of addictive qualities (Bonnie and Whitebread 4).
“The best established use of smoked marijuana is an anti-nauseate for cancer chemotherapy. During the 1980’s, smoked marijuana was shown to be an effective anti-emetic in six different state-sponsored clinical studies involving nearly 1,000 patients” (Randall 217-243). According to Peter McWilliams, an AIDS and cancer patient, marijuana gave him the most rel…
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…nd Consulted
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The Utopian Vision of Mother Teresa
The Utopian Vision of Mother Teresa
In August 1948, at the age of 38, Mother Teresa decided to adventure into the poorest neighborhoods of Calcutta, India, in order to live out her utopian dream by providing food, care, education, and shelter for the poor. Feeding people the Word of God; clothing them with dignity; educating them with knowledge, peace, truth, justice and love; nursing the mind and spirit; and sheltering them with a heart that understands. (“servants”) I believe that a utopian vision is any vision that follows natural law, creates happiness in the community, and is feasible. Mother Teresa’s visions are, in fact, effective utopian visions. Mother Teresa’s visions included living a simple life, serving the poorest of the poor, treating everyone as equals, suffering cheerfully, and loving all until it hurts. In this paper, the ideas and visions that Mother Teresa cherished will be evaluated and questioned based on my three defined criteria of a utopian vision.
“The theory of natural law is the view that moral values are fixed features of the universe which all humanity can discover through reason.”(Fiesner) The Golden rule is an example of natural law. When you do onto others as you would want done onto you, you follow natural law. Equality provides for natural laws to thrive. Mother Teresa always strove for the equality of all people, but many would say that she felt superior to others. It is stated that the greatest flaw in the Mother Teresa’s teachings “is the belief that as long as a sister obeys [Mother Teresa] she is doing God’s will.”(Adams) This is inherently a downfall, but it is only natural for the person who creates something to want to control it. “There was brazen hypocrisy in Tere…
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