Obedience At All Costs Essay - 1376 Words

Following orders unquestionably is one of the traits that the military wants their soldier to have; this quality, however, has caused controversy throughout time. Rob Reiner captures this struggle in his film A Few Good Men. In this film, two men, Lance Corporal Dawson and Private First Class Downey are charged with the murder of fellow Marine, Private First Class Santiago. Dawson and Downey claim that they did not commit a crime but rather, were following orders to perform a â€Å"Code Red†. A â€Å"Code Red† is defined as a disciplinary action performed inside the Marines by Marines. Stanley Milgram’s article, â€Å"The Perils of Obedience† delves into the issue of obedience. His experiment consisted of subjects being told to electrocute other people†¦show more content†¦Many military personnel believe that certain aspects of the military should stay inside the wall of the military. When Colonel Jessep shouts, â€Å"You can’t handle the truth,† he demonstrates that civilians and outsiders of the military would not be able to grasp why certain actions are taking place and the needs for such action (Reiner). Soldiers in the military know the consequences to not following an order issued by a superior. According to Ron Powers, a man with 22 years of service and has been awarded many medals, states in his article â€Å"To Obey or To Not Obey† that soldiers are trained from recruitment to deployment to follow orders unquestionably. Soldiers are also told that willfully disobeying orders can result in a dishonorable discharge, or in a time of war, death (Powers). This leaves soldiers a minimal amount of ability to allow himself to follow his own morals. The thought of disobeying an order will usually bring disgust to the face of a soldier. This is because a soldier is merely performing his job in following order. Also, according to Kelman and Hamilton, the only time for a soldier to declare a complaint about an order is after it has already been followed through, thus causing the complaint to be moot (271). The military produces a difficulty for soldiers to follow their own morals if they conflict with the task at hand. Another factorShow MoreRelatedThe Grace That Leads to Death Essay1319 Words   |  6 Pagesfamiliarity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer sees grace, costly grace, as the summary of the true Gospel. In Bonhoeffers day, such costly grace had been exchanged for a cheap imitation of grace that was little more than empty religion, demanding little effort and no obedience. Bonhoeffer, who was eventually martyred, knew intimately that , â€Å"When Christ calls a man [sic], he bids him come and die.†1 For Bonhoeffer, then, death is the mark of true discipleship and is a manifestation of the appropriation of costly graceRead MoreObedience, By The Crucible Essay1419 Words   |  6 PagesObedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where obedience is automatically learned from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent yea rs, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although theseRead MoreObedience Essay1044 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish 1310-04 28 October 2011 Obedience as an act can be traced back to the very beginnings of human history. The common belief has always been to obey authority at all cost. This act has never been questioned because authority corresponds to the common belief that respecting authority and obeying them will lead you to success in all aspects of life. Obedience is not defined to specific situations and its context can be portrayed in various ways. For example, Erich Fromm writes in his essay,Read MoreObedience Equipment : Safer Communities996 Words   |  4 PagesObedience equipment: safer communities In today’s world, security is important for many reasons. The security officers of today not only deal with property protection they also deal with protection of people. Most people do not see all the work they do. Safety measures are a huge part of the job; reporting lights out, contacting persons, and blocked fire doors are just a few things these professionals do. There are many dangers in the line of work too. Contacting people that are drunk, fightingRead MoreThe International Human Rights Regime Has Its Weaknesses And Flaws1093 Words   |  5 Pagesweaknesses are due to inescapable aspects of our disordered global society, especially the principle of state sovereignty. At the end of World War II there was a change in the internationals view towards human rights. In spite of the large human cost of their failings, these enforcement mechanisms are fit for a purpose and that the strongest enforcement mechanism is simply the fact that human rights are codified in interna tional law. When discussing the topic of compliance and legal strength ofRead MoreSafety Measures Should Not Be Mandatory With All Security Personnel990 Words   |  4 PagesIn today’s world, security is important for many reasons. The security officers of today not only deal with property protection they also deal with protection of people. Most people do not see all the work they do. Safety measures are a huge part of the job; reporting lights out, contacting persons, and blocked fire doors are just a few things these professionals do. There are many dangers in the line of work too. Contacting people that are drunk, fighting, or vandalizing property can lead to theRead MoreI Am Called Into Vocational Ministry1181 Words   |  5 Pagesperson’s call from God, and from that we can accurately discern whether it is God’s calling. Today, we are all called into ministry, but only a few are called into vocational ministry, such as the pastorate. This specific type of calling, although tantamount to the former, uniquely demands those called, and the cost must be realized (Titus 1:5-11). However, the rewards for following God in obedience far outweighs the price to be paid. There is no better place to be than in God’s will and call for ourRead MoreObey At Any Cost?1223 Words   |  5 PagesObey at Any Cost?- Research Study 1. The researcher in this experiment was psychologist, Stanley Milgram. The study took place at Yale University in the year 1963. The researcher’s hypothesis was that if there is a demanding authoritive figure, then the other person will obey that authoritive figure just because of their position, even if it violates their morality and their ethical beliefs. He based this of his theory that people who would never hurt someone purposely, would if told to do so byRead MoreThe Effects Of Deceit : A Look At The Stanley Milgram Experiment1201 Words   |  5 Pagesstudies, for example the Stanley Milgram Experiments, are falsified and irrelevant. In â€Å"The Perils of Obedience† Stanley Milgram, an experienced psychologist at Yale, explains how the human mind reacts to commands when placed under extreme stress. However, Diana Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist, disagrees with Milgram in her article â€Å"Review of Stanley Milgram s Experiments on Obedience †; she opposes Milgrams use of unsuspecting participants in his experiment. In opposition to BaumrindRead MoreComparative Analysis Of Stanley Milgrams The Perils Of Obedience1461 Words   |  6 PagesComparative Analysis The purpose of Stanley Milgram writing his â€Å"The Perils of Obedience,† is to show to what extent an individual would contradict his/her moral convictions because of the orders of an authority figure (Milgram 78). He constructed an experiment wherein an experimenter instructs a naà ¯ve subject to inflict a series of shocks of increasing voltage on a protesting actor. Contrary to Milgram’s expectations, about sixty percent of the subjects administered the highest voltage shock. (Milgram