Branch Rickey

The cedar tree has lived on planet earth for thousands of years, watching the evolution which has taken place to bring us to current day. Standing tall at heights of up to 150 feet, the cedar tree takes pleasure in the beauty of it’s surroundings. The cedars are known for their networks of strong roots which go deep beneath the ground, as well as their strong trunks which protect them from anything mother nature has in mind. Cedar wood has also been extremely useful to the people, and has been…

a passing child who asks why the tree branch is being chopped down. The branch symbolizes Melinda because she has a branch that is dead from a disease. She realizes that she needs to cut off those branches, no matter how painful, in order to grow again. Another example of redemption is when Melinda is finally able to complete her art project. “My tree is definitely breathing.. One of the lower branches is sick. If this tree really lives someplace, that branch better drop soon, so it doesn't kill…

I felt the harsh dirt under my feet. Bobbing my head, I swayed back and forth, struggling to avoid hitting my head on the low branches that filled the dense forest. In the background of my thoughts, I heard my friends trying to talk to me, asking me, “Hey, you gonna jump?” “Mmm..hmmm,” I replied. Their question didn’t matter to me. I wasn’t interested in what they had to say, only intense focus filled my mind, about what I was about to do. Distraught about my decision to sneak out with my…

In the children’s book, “The Giving Tree” there are many life lessons displayed. The tree selflessly gave everything she had without taking a second thought; while they boy selfishly took everything the tree had to offer without thinking twice. The boy went the tree and said, “I want…” although he did not say he “needed” the things he received he treated it in that way. He should take life easier, and not let his life be ruled by his wants. If he would’ve let his love for the tree rule his life,…

Monkey Bar Accident “How on Earth are you brave enough to do that?” I asked my best friend Idhaya, startled as she gracefully leapt on to the monkey bars. I was trying to be nice to her, but as many times as she did it, she seemed more and more like a show off. Ugh… I thought in my mind. “Aren’t you scared?” “You are such a scaredy cat!” she replied in her joyful and in a kind of mean way. I rolled my eyes as she did it again. “ Do you ever stop?” I almost screamed. I always hate it when…

Cults use the psychological methods normative social influence, groupthink and foot-in-the-door to manipulate individuals and control their thoughts as seen in the cults Jonestown and The Branch Davidians. Cults are defined as an ideology of religious worship and adherence directed toward a particular figure or object. Cults are everywhere. Some are normal and widely accepted. Others are isolationist and hide from investigation. Some cause great suffering while others appear very helpful and…

suicide or killing, in the name of their religion. Groups such as, the Branch Davidian and the Peoples Temple used religion as their main point to carry…

day standoff, the compound burning to the ground, and the loss of many lives, including 4 ATF agents – but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Lets look a little closer and dig a little deeper into the events leading up to this terrible tragedy. The Branch Davidians were a cult led by David Koresh, a man claiming to be the Messiah. He took many wives, including several as young as the age of 12. The Davidians lived at the Mount Carmel center near Waco, Texas. They were suspected of weapon…

part of the group (Perkins and Salande 387). Most of these members believe that they are a part of something better than what the mainstream society has to offer, thus reinforcing the mindset that they are a part of something. In their article “The Branch Davidians and the Politics of Power and Intimidation” Lawrence Rifkind and Loretta Harper say “the most important rule was never to admit to anything when questioned by outsiders” (70). The followers contact with those “on the outside” was…

The Family International was founded by David Brandt Berg and originally named The Children of God. Berg was a Christian missionary in 1944 and in the 1960s he began to try to appeal to the “lost and confused youth of America.” The new religions appearing at this time period were “a fusion of an evangelical Christian awakening and the youth counterculture of the 1960s.” David Berg focused his preaching on rejecting the old and accepting the new. David Berg was deemed a prophet and…