Societys Influence On Morals Essay -- essays research papers fc

Societys Influence on MoralsThe atrocities of the Holocaust have prompted much inquiry byresearchers to understand how humans disregard behave so cruelly toward their fellowman. Theories have been formed that cite the men of Battalion 101 as exceptions or men with faulty personalities, when, in fact, they wereordinary men. The battalion who attempted to perform a genocide were the same batch as you and me with the only difference being the environment in whichthey worked. The look of the men in Battalion 101 was not abnormal humanbehavior, rather, their actions atomic number 18 testament to the premise that when humansare exposed to certain environmental and psychological conditions, utmost(prenominal)brutality is highly apt to occur.The members of the Police Battalion 101 had the same ideas andinfluences as the rest of the German citizens. Because of the racist teachingsproduced by the German government, the entire German ordering was uniform underthe belief that they were th e master race. The German were taught that anyonedifferent from their own kind (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) needed to be aloof from their society in order for it to prosper. The Police Battalion menshared the same beliefs as everyone else, but they had to perform the dirty workof killing almost 83,000 Jews. Christopher Browning states in his book,Ordinary Men, that, ...the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, like most ofthe German society, was immersed in a deluge of racist and anti-semiticpropaganda (Browning 184). Unless placed in the Battalion mens situation, onecan not fathom how a population of people can so evilly bring against another.People in every culture are susceptible to the ideas and beliefs broughtupon them by propaganda. Whenever an idea is accepted as the norm, peoplewill find a expression to justify it and constitute it despite the evil implications itmight entail. Humans have faced these situations throughout the last twocenturies numerous times. For exampl e, the American buckle down concern was totally pleasant to the southerners because the blacks were perceived to be lesserhuman beings. The slave owners did not mind controlling and abusing a slavelike it was an animal since in their mind the slave was comparable to an animal.This was true in Germany with the only diffe... ...gs book, Ervin Staub made the assertion that cruelty issocial in its origin much more than it is characterological...most people slip into the roles society provides them... (167). Evil ideas and beliefsare molded onto a person by their surroundings rather than inherent in theirpersonalities. With such a strong influence on our behavior, propaganda can make a society to think and belief the unimaginable. The men of PoliceBattalion 101 are a testament to the idea that people are equal to(p) of not onlythinking the unimaginable, but they can act upon it.Works CitedBortnick, Rachel Amado. Dallas Honors a Righteous Nation. Dallas Jewish LifeNov. 1993.Browning, C hristopher R. Ordinary Men. refreshful York Aaron AsherBooks/HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc., 1993.Fogelman, Eva. Conscience and Courage. parvenue York Anchor Books Doubleday,1994.Jacobs, Mike. Speech to Class. Dallas, 31 Mar. 1997.Reich, Walter. The Men Who Pulled the Triggers. The New York Times 12 Apr.1992.Weapons of the Spirit. Writ./Dir. Pierre Sauvage. The Friends of Le Chambon.1988. Societys Influence On Morals probe -- essays research papers fc Societys Influence on MoralsThe atrocities of the Holocaust have prompted much inquiry byresearchers to understand how humans can behave so cruelly toward their fellowman. Theories have been formed that cite the men of Battalion 101 as exceptions or men with faulty personalities, when, in fact, they wereordinary men. The people who attempted to perform a genocide were the samepeople as you and me with the only difference being the environment in whichthey worked. The behavior of the men in Battalion 101 was not abno rmal humanbehavior, rather, their actions are testament to the premise that when humansare exposed to certain environmental and psychological conditions, extremebrutality is highly apt to occur.The members of the Police Battalion 101 had the same ideas andinfluences as the rest of the German citizens. Because of the racist teachingsproduced by the German government, the entire German society was uniform underthe belief that they were the master race. The German were taught that anyonedifferent from their own kind (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) needed to beremoved from their society in order for it to prosper. The Police Battalion menshared the same beliefs as everyone else, but they had to perform the dirty workof killing approximately 83,000 Jews. Christopher Browning states in his book,Ordinary Men, that, ...the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, like most ofthe German society, was immersed in a deluge of racist and anti-Semiticpropaganda (Browning 184). Unless placed in the Bat talion mens situation, onecan not fathom how a population of people can so evilly turn against another.People in every culture are susceptible to the ideas and beliefs broughtupon them by propaganda. Whenever an idea is accepted as the norm, peoplewill find a way to justify it and follow it despite the evil implications itmight entail. Humans have faced these situations throughout the last twocenturies numerous times. For example, the American slave trading was totallyacceptable to the southerners because the blacks were perceived to be lesserhuman beings. The slave owners did not mind controlling and abusing a slavelike it was an animal since in their mind the slave was comparable to an animal.This was true in Germany with the only diffe... ...gs book, Ervin Staub made the assertion that cruelty issocial in its origin much more than it is characterological...most people slip into the roles society provides them... (167). Evil ideas and beliefsare molded onto a person by their surr oundings rather than inherent in theirpersonalities. With such a strong influence on our behavior, propaganda canlead a society to think and belief the unimaginable. The men of PoliceBattalion 101 are a testament to the idea that people are capable of not onlythinking the unimaginable, but they can act upon it.Works CitedBortnick, Rachel Amado. Dallas Honors a Righteous Nation. Dallas Jewish LifeNov. 1993.Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men. New York Aaron AsherBooks/HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc., 1993.Fogelman, Eva. Conscience and Courage. New York Anchor Books Doubleday,1994.Jacobs, Mike. Speech to Class. Dallas, 31 Mar. 1997.Reich, Walter. The Men Who Pulled the Triggers. The New York Times 12 Apr.1992.Weapons of the Spirit. Writ./Dir. Pierre Sauvage. The Friends of Le Chambon.1988.