In October of 2011, the United States claimed the Lord's Resistance Movement, lead by Joseph Kony, to be a terrorist group. Since then, people all around the world have been aware of his atrocities and have tried to take a stand against him; this movement is called "Kony 2012." Hilary Whiteman of CNN claims that, when she met him, Kony was a man "very afraid of meeting people." But she explains that his "shyness" was more paranoia and anxiety than anything else. The story of Joseph Kony goes like this: He was an Ugandan guerrilla group leader, who lead the Lord's Resistance Movement (LRA). He was also a spiritual leader, known as a healer to the Acholi people in northern Uganda. He gained much of his power from a spirit-medium called Alice Lakewena. This is when people started believing in him. Those who believed in Lakewena and Kony, believed that smearing Shea butter in crosses would result in protection from bullets, and also believed that "stones would explode like grenades" (Whiteman). Lakewena fled to Kenya after the government chased her out, but Kony remained and took up the remaining supporters of Lakewena and used it for himself. Many believe that Kony recruited people through his "mystical powers" but then had them captivated by fear. Kony captured children all throughout Uganda; he took in small boys and turned them into child soldiers, and he captured girls and used them for sexual slavery. He conducted brutal attacks on many just to show the that government of Uganda wouldn't be able to protect them. Around the mid-2000s, Kony fled to Sudan and as far as people know, hasn't returned to Uganda yet. Though he is not present in the country, his followers are probably terroizing a group of people all over the country.
Kony claims to be a "spiritual leader" half the time he doesn't pretend to be a "military leader." There are many corrupt governments around the world stealing money from its people, use it for themselves, and live luxurious lifestyles, but I believe that none of that compares to the way Kony has treated innocent people. He stripped innocent children of their childhood and has turned them into deceitful, immoral human beings. He has destroyed lives of those pure, good citizens of the world. Though all these things are disgusting to think about, Kony took advantage of those who believed in him. Whiteman explains that there were many mesmerized by his words and truly believed him to be a leader. There were many who looked up to this disgusting and inhumane man because they thought he would be able to make a difference in the world in which they were living in. They looked up to him to change their lives and help those who weren't able to help themselves. But instead, he took their beliefs as a weakness and terrorized innocent people. Instead of helping them, he turned them into his minions and sabotaged them. After learning about Kony's misdeeds, I can say that I'm proud to have a corrupt government; I would never want to put my freedom in the hands of a man like Kony.
Number of Words: 527
Kony claims to be a "spiritual leader" half the time he doesn't pretend to be a "military leader." There are many corrupt governments around the world stealing money from its people, use it for themselves, and live luxurious lifestyles, but I believe that none of that compares to the way Kony has treated innocent people. He stripped innocent children of their childhood and has turned them into deceitful, immoral human beings. He has destroyed lives of those pure, good citizens of the world. Though all these things are disgusting to think about, Kony took advantage of those who believed in him. Whiteman explains that there were many mesmerized by his words and truly believed him to be a leader. There were many who looked up to this disgusting and inhumane man because they thought he would be able to make a difference in the world in which they were living in. They looked up to him to change their lives and help those who weren't able to help themselves. But instead, he took their beliefs as a weakness and terrorized innocent people. Instead of helping them, he turned them into his minions and sabotaged them. After learning about Kony's misdeeds, I can say that I'm proud to have a corrupt government; I would never want to put my freedom in the hands of a man like Kony.
Number of Words: 527
No comments:
Post a Comment