week: 5
1033 words by lhale
This picture is sad but true. This is the attitude most uninsured citizens have about the government’s actions toward the lack of affordable health insurance in America. I chose this picture because it makes a strong statement: ‘Our National Health Plan: Don’t Get Sick.’ It is evident that an increasing number of United States citizens have no medical insurance. Members of the government may refute this statement with saying there are available programs provided by the government, specifically for health insurance for the less fortunate. They fail to state the strict stipulations on receiving this health insurance and how everyone who needs government aid for health insurance may not obtain it. Many severely ill people are forced to take out loans are get a second mortgages just to be able to keep up with the hospital bills, and sometimes even that’s not enough. Sometimes the priorities of our government are questioned. Most of the 40 million Americans who lack health insurance pay for our political leaders’ health insurance premiums through taxes. Not to mention how we also spend billions of dollars a day on the war and rebuilding the Middle East, but we cannot extend the budget for the national health plan. In choosing this topic as my project, my hope is to open some eyes on the terrible situation; eyes that have more power than I do. It saddens me to know millions of children are not attending regular doctor and dentist visits. How is a single mother of two making $30,000 a year, afford health insurance. And her job says she does qualify for the health insurance they provide, but this implements a $5,000 pay decrease annually. The New York Times reads we are now living in what George W. Bush has called the “era of personal responsibility”: if a child chooses to have parents who can’t afford health care, that child will have to accept the consequences. This is an issue America! People are dying and suffering just because they cannot afford the necessary medical attention to improve their health. I am adamant about shining light on this dilemma. I was always told, ‘closed mouths don’t get fed.’
A patriarch is defined as man who rules a family, clan, or tribe. A matriarch is a woman who rules or dominates a family, group, or state, specifically a mother who is head and ruler of her family and descendants. I do believe that both the patriarchs and matriarchs are good role models because what they do is what builds a path for others to follow. Patriarchs and matriarchs are like good parents. There main duty is to care for and educate their youth. In a sense they are good role models. I feel the patriarchs and matriarchs listed in the Bible are not good role models, they do not fit that ‘good-parenting’ role. They are quite disappointing. The patriarchs in the Bible were: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Esau and Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph and Benjamin. They were the leaders of the Israelites. The patriarchs’ individual stories are stories of deception. The matriarchs in the Bible were Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, Rebekah wife of Isaac, and Rachel and Leah wives of Jacob. In the Bible, Abraham tries to kill his son Isaac, Isaac wrestles with an angel thought to be God, and Jacob lies to his father so that he may receive the blessings rightfully his older brother’s. The patriarchs do not exemplify good role models because they are filled with deceitfulness, deception, and wrong-doing. This begins with Abraham after he tells Isaac that they will perform a sacrifice for God with the usage of an animal, but it turns out that the sacrifice will be Isaac himself. After being saved by an angel, Isaac grows up and is engaged in a battle with God in the form of a human. After growing old he has two sons, one who is known as Jacob. Jacob deceives Isaac and the deception continues down the family tree.
The matriarchs of the story are Sarah, Rebeccah, Leah and Rachel, all of whom are the wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as well as the mothers of Israel. However, just as the patriarchs deceived those around them, their counter do as well. In the Bible Sarah is disrespectful to her maid Hagar, and forces her to be the concubine of Abraham. Rachel loves Jacob more than her older son and gives him hints that allow him to steal Esau’s rightful belongings. Although apart of the Bible, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Bible are not good role models to the reader, because they lack the good in people that everyone in the Bible should be taught to have. The lack of good role models in the family tree caused the continuing flow of treachery which in turn leads to their continuing negative spiral as a whole.
Out of all the commandments from the Decalogue, I’d have to say that the fifth commandment is my favorite: “Honor your father and mother.” I feel that parents are the most vital ingredient to a child’s survival. After being raised and nurtured into the young woman I am today, I would have to say that I would not have made it without the love and care of my parent. I feel that everything that I have been thought has been for the betterment of my life. Without them I would be lost and I feel that the only way to repay them for all they have done for me would have to be to show them respect. Parents are sinners too, so I know they are not perfect. Though they may have made some poor decisions in their parenting skills, I will always love, respect, and appreciate my parents. Fortunately, I was blessed with two parents who are active in my life, for that I am grateful and I give them honor.