preview

Cultural Relativism: The Earth Liberation Front

Good Essays

INTRODUCTION: Terrorism is a feared word in every country it is stated. The act of terrorism is a vile thing and mournful due to its traumatizing impact on peoples lives and the stigma that goes along with the term. People identify the term with the objective of harming people living in the country the reside in. The objective of helping a good cause is not feared. The objective of helping a good cause by force is not appreciated, this would be for example being pressured into signing a petition. But, the act of helping a good cause with the use of force and violent acts is considered terrorism. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) have the goal of saving the earth, stopping deforestation, etc., but the way they go about doing it is not acceptable …show more content…

The ELF is a subculture, their morals lie around the benefit and wellbeing of the earth. Their actions through cultural relativism are demonstrated in the history of the group. 1997 the Eugene, Oregon Council announced they were building a parking lot for Semantec, but a historic "heritage tree" was in the way of the plan. (Curry, 2011). One can only imagine what they had in mind when they decided that cutting it down was the only way to make the parking lot happen. 11 Activist decided to climb the tree in protest which had the impact of influencing another hearing, it is part of activist culture to demonstrate where their moral lies without any violence. (Curry, 2011). Their first amendment right states that they have the right to freedom of speech if no one is hurt, but the city officials decided not to obey the first amendment, they wanted to take them down by force and cut the tree anyways. (Curry, 2011). The activist's rights were not respected, and the officials did not get the punishment they deserved for such heinous acts against …show more content…

And that is why these changes in laws and regulations must be made. The President of the United States must be the person to declare this given that they have the greatest influence and are the representatives of the U.S.

References:
ACLU. 2018. How the USA Patriotic Act Redefines “Domestic Terrorism”. ACLU. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/other/how-usa-patriot-act-redefines-domestic-terrorism
Barnard, Jeff. 14, December 2006. Two plead guilty in 1998 ELF resort fire. The Seattle Times.
Retrieved from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/two-plead-guilty-in-1998-elf- ski-resort-fire/ Curry, Marshall. 2011. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front. Oscilloscope
Laboratories.
Potter, Will. 2016. Trump Supporter Promises Legislation to Label Protest as “Economic
Terrorism”. Green Is the New Red: Terrorism Legislation. Retrieved from http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/
Potter, Will. 2011. Lead ELF Informant Jake Ferguson Arrested on Drug Charges. Green is the
New Red. Retrieved http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/jake-ferguson-drug-arrest- elf/4653/ Potter, Will. 2016. Violence against environmentalists is now at an all-time high. Green is the new red: Government Priorities. Retrieved from

Get Access