A at rest is a period of quiet contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to raising flags at half-mast, moments of silence are often a reverence, especially in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a tragic historical event. Most commonwealth countries call it minute silence or one minute silence because it is the shortest period of silence they observe after the tragic event.
Silent prayer, including silent moments during other group activities, has been practiced by Quaker for over 300 years. Because silence contains no assertions or assumptions about belief and does not require a language understanding to interpret it, it is more readily accepted and used than verbal prayer or observance when people from different religious and cultural backgrounds participate together. In the colonial period, Pennsylvania Quaker and America worshiped together on several occasions, but both groups thought that this implied that they had changed their traditional belief system in doing so. Over time, the effectiveness of Quaker-style silence for non-sectarian and non-controversial general celebrations has led to its almost universal use in the English-speaking world and other plural societies. This is also the case in many institutions where diverse groups are expected to participate but should not share such beliefs in government, school, business and military.
Many people at the Commonwealth of Nations observe a two-minute silence, at 11:00 am on November 11 of each year (Armistice Day) to remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians during the war. The period of silence is basically an evening ritual impregnated by traditional trumpet calls "The Last Post" and "The Rouse", also called "Reveille" in the US The Last Post is a traditional horn call at the end of the day, and Rouse begins the day military For military purposes, traditional nights keep watch over the slaughtered people not only to make sure they are dead and not unconscious or in a coma, but also to keep them from being mutilated or destroyed, or dragged by scavengers. making the ceremony not so much a remembrance but a promise to keep the progress of the war of death.This action is enhanced by the use of special cenotaphs (literally Greek for "empty tombs") and the laying of wreaths - the traditional way of granting high freedom in Ancient Rome.Some schools and colleges high in the UK often rang the school bell or fire alarm to start and men the end of the period of silence, so too, Israel sounded an air raid siren to mark the two m stills of injust.
One minute is a common timeframe for warnings, although other time periods may be selected, usually connected in some way to the event being commemorated (there may be one minute given for each death that is commemorated, for example). During silence, participants usually bow their heads, take off their caps, and refrain from talking or moving places during the duration. A person who leads or leads a meeting will be responsible for declaring and determining the silence time.
In Israel, silent moments are held to commemorate Holocaust victims, and Jewish holidays to commemorate the fallen soldiers and the terrorists. When silence is marked as a time to live peacefully with other countries. During this time, most of the people of Israel stood in attention, and most of the country stalled because people paid their silent homage to the dead.
Moments of silence are often observed before a sporting event on the grounds of silence ranging from national and international tragedies, to the death of an individual connected to a particular sport or club. The silence usually ends with the referee blowing his whistle. In boxing, 10 sounding bells are usually heard to remember the person who recently died related to the sport; this is done before the main program event takes place.
In recent years, trends in the UK have grown (especially with Association football fans) to fill the traditional silent minutes with a long-standing applause in Italy. Psychologically this is seen by some to celebrate the life of the deceased rather than mourning his death. Recipients of recent applause, including late Jock Stein, George Best, Ernie Cooksey and Alan Ball players. It is often said that the main reason for minute applause that tends to replace minute silence is because of fear that opposition supporters will not respect silence, and spend their time scoffing, scorning, or trying to mess it up; much of the silence has been cut short from the minute that usually becomes thirty seconds or less for this reason.
Video Moment of silence
Origins
The first recorded example of an official silence dedicated to the death of a person took place in Portugal on 13 February 1912. The Portuguese Senate dedicated 10 minutes of silence to Josà © Maria da Silva Paranhos JÃÆ'únior, baron Rio Branco, Brazil, and the executive Minister of the Brazilian government, who had died three days earlier on February 10th. The silence is currently registered in the Senate record on that day.
In Cape Town, South Africa, there is a silence of two minutes each day, known as the Two Minute Pause and then the Silence of the Memorial Day, initiated by day-to-day arms firing at Signal Hill. It was instituted by Cape Town Mayor Sir Harry Hands on May 14, 1918: one minute is a time of thanksgiving for those who have returned to life, the second minute is to remember the fallen. During the silence, a trumpeter played the Last Post and then Reveille to signal the end of silence. A Reuters correspondent in Cape Town sent a description of the event to London and from there it spread to Canada and Australia.
Sir Percy FitzPatrick, a South African-born and author of "Jock of the Bushveld", is credited with suggesting this tradition to King George V, who implements the idea. When Sir Percy read that November 11, 1919 should be officially recognized as the Day of Arms Traffic in London, he thinks it is appropriate that on that day, every year, there must be a two minute silent pause across the Empire, to commemorate the Fall. He experienced the same silence in Cape Town. FitzPatrick's son, Nugent (the oldest and Major in the Union Defense Forces) and Sir Harry Hands's son, Reginald Harry Myburgh Hands, were killed in France and both are understandable by this loss.
Fitzpatrick, writing to Lord Milner in November 1919 described the silence that occurred in the city during this daily ritual. Considering that the weapons of war were finally silenced at 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th month (November), Sir Percy felt that the idea of ââobserving a two minute silence at that time and on that date would give the Act of Homage great influence, that this became an official part of the annual service on the Day of Armistice.
He proposed to King George V. To his delight he read: "The whole World is at stake The wires of every part of the world show how the message of the King has been accepted and interpreted, printed From the forests of India to Alaska, on trains, on ships at sea, in every part of the world where some English people gather together, a Two Minute pause is observed. "Sir Percy states:" I was so shocked by the news that I could not leave the hotel.One hour or two later I received a cable from Lord Long of Wexhall: 'Accept love Walter Long. ' Only then did I know that my proposal had reached the King and was accepted and that the Cabinet knew its source. "
The meaning behind Sir Percy's proposal is stated as:
- This is because the women, who have lost and suffered and been born so many, with whom the mind was once present.
- This is because the children they know to whom they owe the freedom of the struggling struggle.
- This is because men, and from them, as men.
- But far and far, above all, it is because those who give everything, do not seek rewards, and with whom we will never be able to repay - our Supreme and Eternal Death.
Sir Percy's letter was received by Lord Milner on November 4, 1919, reviewed and accepted by the War Cabinet on 5 November, and immediately approved by George V. A press statement from the Palace said:
The next Tuesday, November 11, was the first anniversary of the Armistice, which remained a worldwide massacre for the previous four years and the victory of Rights and Freedoms. I believe that my people in every part of the Empire really want to perpetuate the meaning of Great Liberation, and the people who set their lives to achieve it.
To provide an opportunity for the universal expression of their feelings, it is my wish and hope that at the hour when the Truce comes into force, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, there may be a short space of two minutes, the complete suspension of all our normal activities.
Maps Moment of silence
Controversy over church and school prayer in the United States
The US Supreme Court ruled in 1962, in that the official organization, sponsorship, or support of school prayer was banned by the First Amendment of the US Constitution in public schools. Teachers and school officials may not lead classes in prayer, but prayers are permitted in voluntary religious clubs, and students are not forbidden to pray alone. Other decisions prohibit the public, organized prayers in school assemblies, sporting events, and similar school-sponsored activities.
The moments of silent publicity in the United States emerge from and contribute to the debate on prayer and separation of church and state. The moment of silence has no particular religious formulation, and has therefore been presented as a way to create reflection and respect without authorizing certain sects.
President Ronald Reagan is a supporter of silence in American schools. In 1981 Reagan formally proposed a constitutional amendment permitting organized prayer in public schools. In his address at the union's address, 1984, Reagan called for the congress, which begins their day with a prayer: "If you can start your day with a member of the clergy standing here leading you in prayer, then why can not the freedom to acknowledge God enjoyed again by children in every school room across the country? "The Lubbeux rebble, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is a strong supporter of the moment of silence every morning in public school. Citing many polls as evidence that it reduces crime. Colin Powell, an old advocate, has recommended a simple moment of silence at the start of every school day. Furthermore, he states that students can use this interval to pray, meditate, reflect or learn.
However, critics often see the moment of silence as a prayer that supports the public "in disguise". This issue is primarily raised by atheist and support groups, who argue that no non-religious purpose is served by designating official silent moments. They show, for example, that many schools have whole class periods dedicated to silent learning, which can both be used for prayer or meditation. The moments of silence indicate the tension in the US Constitution and the society between accommodation and support. Religious accommodation is to ensure an environment where a person or a student can practice their religion. A question with the "silence" law is whether accommodation has been achieved by the fact that a student can pray or reflect on himself without official silent moments. Barry Lynn of the United States for the Separation of Church and State said, in the "moment of silence" of the case, "Students are permitted to pray, meditate, or reflect under the law before it is changed.Addition of 'praying' where not required clearly indicates that legislators are meant to promote religion, and that's not their job. "The court has declared in moments of this silent event that secular goals are needed and according to Wallace v. Jaffree , a "law should be refreshed if it is entirely motivated by the purpose of advancing religion."
Although since 1976 Virginia state law allowed the school district to impose silence for 60 seconds at the start of every school day, in 1985, the US Supreme Court ruled that the "silence or voluntary prayer" law in Alabama was unconstitutional, in this case Wallace v. Jaffree . In April 2000, a new law emerged; requires all public school students in the Virginian to observe a moment of silence. Also, in 2005, a law was passed in Indiana that required all public schools to give students the opportunity to make a pledge of loyalty and observe the moment of silence on a daily basis. In October 2007, Illinois enacted a law to require public schools to provide students with silence early in the school day, a law currently challenged in Illinois state courts. According to the National Conference of Legislative States, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia also need quiet moments in class. In more than 20 other states, teachers are allowed to decide whether they want a time-out of such a class.
In October 2000, US District Judge Claude M. Hilton ruled that the "silence" law is constitutional. Judge Hilton states, "The court finds that the Commonwealth's daily observance of a minute of silence is constitutional: it is applied for secular purposes, neither promoting nor impeding religion, nor any exaggeration with religion... Students may think as they want - and these thoughts can be purely religious or purely secular, all they need to do is sit still. "Her daughter is enforced on the 4th circuit. There is disagreement despite the law being enforced even for secular purposes because of statements made by legislators. State Senator Charles R. Hawkins (R-Pennsylvania) stated that silence is "a very small measure to deal with a very big problem." He also said, "Prayer is not a bad word in my vocabulary." Kent Willis, Executive Director of ACLU Virginia, said lawmakers "at least put Virginia law right on the line of separation of church and state or they crossed it... the country is playing with fire here."
The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the constitutional amendment proposed by Newt Gingrich in the early 1990s that would set aside a moment of voluntary prayer during the school day, which was then independently described by President Bill Clinton as "a moment of silence". They regard this as a stealth support from prayer at school.
See also
- Two minute silence
- Civil religion
- Contemplating
- Anniversary
- Silent Minute
- Quiet oath
References
External links
- Nothing Really Matters, an article about the moment of silence by the Chabad rabbi
- Quiet lawsuit in Texas
Source of the article : Wikipedia