Sophie Scholl Discussion

1. List the ethical positions you observed Sophie take and give evidence of each.

Sophie Scholl demonstrated an extraordinary level of bravery throughout the entire process. The act of distributing the flyers, the accusations, the interrogations, the death sentence. It is possibly the hardest thing to know the severity of the consequences and still be able to keep your composure and maintain your dignity as Sophie Scholl did.

2. Sophie lied to her interrogator. How would you justify (or condemn) her actions from an ethical perspective? What is your view of the importance of telling the truth?

Lying in order to save your life and preserve the message Sophie had to share with the world in my view can be excused. Lying can that result in a negative impact on someones life (emotional/physical) on the other hand not at all acceptable. If the truth incurs unjust treatment and punishment of an individual whom is concerned with the fair treatment of humanity, it is only then alright to tell lies: when it is not only for the benefit of yourself.

3. What impression do you have of Sophie’s awareness of the potential consequences of her actions during the film? How did this awareness impact on her actions?

Sophies awareness of the possible consequences encouraged her to lie to the interrogator (as a natural human instinct). Knowledge of the consequences also allowed her to stand strong and fight for her beliefs; also as a human instinct. Sophie was well aware that she was engaging in acts against her country and the German Nazi ideals, and so she was able answer the interrogators questions judiciously and carefully.

4. Discuss the extent to which Sophie’s ethics guided by her faith. How did her ethics impact on her spiritual journey?

God provide Sophie with the strength to refrain from becoming submissive and rather stand by her beliefs. An example would be her argument that only God had the power to take someone from the Earth and than no other man had power or the right to decide upon the fate of who should be gassed based on mental/physical ability or nationality.

5. What would you do in Sophie’s position?

I dont think i would have the same courage to speak out against such a strong and collective force who were inflicting pain and suffering on people other than the community in which i existed. In saying this, conformity to people ideals is something that really agitates me as an individual so if i was in Sophies position i would investigate in external sources to distribute the flyers containing negative propaganda of Nazi Germany. This would be less suspicious and therefore result in a lesser chance of being caught.

6. What other thoughts, questions or comments do you have as a result of watching this film?

I truly envy the courage of Sophie Scholl and admire her drive and passion to protect the rights of others.

Torture

I believe that people who will inflict that much pain and suffering on others should deserve to be severely punished or tortured. By removing this one person it will save the suffering of millions of other people and therefore such methods can be justified. The world doesn't need anymore terrorists- if this man is left to live, you run the risk of him causing great devastation on a much larger scale than the torture of one man with horrible intentions.

Response to 'Model Behaviour' Article

The article on Kate Moss frequently provides a reason or excuse for unethical behaviour and how it might be 'diluted' so that some of the consequences or guilt that one might feel for being unethical may be decreased. I generally disagree. The extent to which someone engages in unethical activities and demonstrates unethical behaviour is irrelevant. If its unethical, it simply is unethical...despite how much human beings try to convince themselves otherwise for the sake of a clear conscious.

Ethics Exercise

Question: think about a time when you felt anger, or guilt or sadness or were offended by someone or something. Discuss the situation and why you felt the way you did?

Pain in Suffering

Isabelle Allende Interviewed by Andrew Denton

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/elders/

Watch the interview and respond to the following:

How has the author suffered in her life?

Isabelle has suffered through the painful process of losing everything dear to her; her house, her family, her in laws, her dog and most significantly her country (exiled) - where she felt completely at ease and understood every aspect of her culture. She later came to the conclusion that she and her husband no longer had anything in common and so they both came to a mutual agreement as to how their lives would be separated as opposed to involving a layer etc. All of the above aside, the death of Isabells daughter, Paula

How has she coped with the pain and suffering?

She wrote a book whilst she was in exile as an attempt to recover what she had lost. When her daughter passed away, that same night was her grandchild born. She came to the conclusion that life and death is much the same, 'transitioning into a threshold...another world'.

How has she benefited from the pain and suffering?

When her daughter died- she had lost the fear of death. When her grandchild was born- she lost the fear of life.

Is pain and suffering always a bad thing? Explain.

Isabelles desire to pass on what she had learnt to her daughter Paula was unfulfilled due to her death. She then explains that she is always looking out for young women and in a sense adopts them as her daughters to pass on the knowledge and resources that she has. She says, "so i have these other daughters, that are not blood-related, but the daughters of my soul'.

Some Christian Perspectives on Pain and Suffering

• Much suffering in the world is a result of human activity and sin
• God can intervene via miracles; however, generally, he doesn’t interfere with human activity and the consequences of sin
• God has given human beings free choice because he wants them to freely respond to his offer of a relationship
• If God were to interfere all the time humans would be less free, therefore less human and respond to Him for selfish reasons rather than out of a genuine quest for a relationship with him
• God’s is more concerned about human growth and development than its happiness
• Happiness is determined by circumstances; whereas, joy can be experienced at all times by humans in a relationship with God, even during times of the most grievous pain and suffering
• God promises to use the pain and suffering of those in a relationship with him for good
• God has experienced suffering in the extreme in both its physical and spiritual domains via the cross
• This world is far from perfect and this imperfection is related to the disharmony that has always existed between human beings and God
• This world is not all there is; in the course of time this earth and heaven will be renewed, so that pain and suffering will be a thing of the past and resurrected human beings in a relationship with God will enjoy its bounty
• God is active in the world through His believers; in many disasters and tragedies God is active through the hands, feet and skills of His people
  Student Task:

  Consider each of the above discussion points and indicate what resonates with you and what you still struggle with in relation to pain and suffering.

  
  

  I can both truly and comfortably say that i believe all of the above perspectives regarding the reason for pain and suffering listed above. I am a true follower of God and try to live by his word each day :)

  
  

Questions in relation to the DVD ‘Shadowlands’

1. What are the sources of the pain and suffering depicted?

2. What are the sources of the joy depicted?

3. How are suffering and joy related in the video and in the broader sense for everybody?

4. How can people ‘grow’ through suffering?

5. Perhaps the crucial period in Jack and Warnie’s early life - that bound them so closely as brothers - was the death in 1908 of their mother. C. S. Lewis later cited this trauma in explaining his own emotional reticence; the person he loved most in the world was taken from him. How does Jack describe this time in the film ‘Shadowlands’?

6. How is the pain of losing a parent “re-lived” for C. S. Lewis in ‘Shadowlands’?

7. How does Lewis say he copes differently with the death of Joy than the death of his mother?

8. What are the responsibilities of a parent to the children he or she is leaving? What does Joy mean by “old enough to hurt”?

9. In the film, what key lines from the C. S. Lewis speech below are used repeatedly to express his attitude to God’s plan in allowing suffering?

“When a loved one dies we think of this as love cut short; like a dance stopped in mid-career or a flower with its head unluckily snapped off - something truncated and therefore lacking its due shape, whereas it is really a universal and integral part of our experience of love. It follows marriage as normally as marriage follows courtship, or as autumn follows summer. It is not a truncation of the process but one of its phases; not the interruption of the dance but the next figure.”

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1. The death of his wife, Joy

2. Joy in fact brings joy/happiness to jack in conjunction with his interaction with others. The peace he finds in Christianity

3. Joy helps bring happiness to jack whilst she also brings him great pain knowing that she is soon to pass away.

4. Suffering can allow people to become more sympathetic, understanding and grow/develop.

5.-

6. His mother's death

7. Unlike his mothers death, Jack was prepared for the death of Joy making it that little bit easier to deal with.

8. I believe that it is a parents responsibility to allow the child to know of the situations so that they may also cope with the inevitable tragedy. They too can become stronger through such tragedy. Keeping the truth from them could cause them the most suffering of all. This may be what Joy means by 'old enough for suffering'.

9.'God allowing suffering' vs Love cut short