ISIS Value App

ISIS Value Application

Learning about the Islamic State or ISIS now days can go both ways. It can be shocking to read and watch actions that they have taken on minor things but at the same time, it can interest someone to learn more about the topic. My self had not researched this topic at all before the beginning of the school year when it was mentioned during class. During the first weeks of school, the class had discussed the idea of value and the diverse ideas within value, one of them being first contact. First contact can really connect to the topic of ISIS because the articles someone read on the Islamic State for the first time, can make them be very judgmental right away. This is something that happened to me. Although in my case it did not make me judge the ideals of the Islamic State, but more than that it interested me to research more on them. Having said that, and connecting my research to first contact, I was intrigued by my encounters of some brutal things that the ISIS has done in the past month.

First of all, a lot of people have come to watch on the news and read on the newspaper is the american journalist James Wright Foley being decapitated by the ISIS and them having filmed the moment. This matter is very important towards the idea of first contact. My self and I am very sure that other people in the world must have felt the same discontent towards their actions for something that was not even the reporters fault. The US government initially sent this reporter to Syria a few years ago and from there the rest happened. This was actually the first major thing I read about the ISIS coming from online newspaper called, “Truth Uncensored”,  and it brought my attention to what they are capable of. This means that the first “contact” I have had with the Islamic State, really puts me off guard to knowing what they would do to such innocent people, and I am sure other people and not only my self would have had the same reaction. On the other hand, people who learn about the ISIS for the first time through these news, could immediately feel offended and disgusted to research or learn more on them and would judge their actions. Again, in my case, it just pushed me to find more interesting things on the topic. Like this, I encountered another shocking article on atrocious actions they have committed.

The weapons that ISIS possess are out of this world. They have all types of weapons for all types of situations. Some of the weapons that they hold are unethical as seen in the article from the “National Post”. The title of this article states the following, “ISIS captures major military air base in Syria using child suicide bomber”. From my perspective, it was experiencing the first contact or learning for the first time all over again by reading this article. Just by reading the title of the article, I was already amazed at the actions of ISIS. This article made me think of the all the other things the Islamic State has done, can and will do. Just by the simple fact that they took a newborn child as hostage and used as a suicide bomber is an impacting thing to relate to someone’s first contact towards ISIS. I started off reading something quite strong regarding the decapitation and following it up with this article just raises my amazement towards what they do and how they get away with it. Some of these atrocities are not even captured by reporters so one might wonder what else has the ISIS done? As said by the online newspaper, “The Guardian”, the UN is sending investigators to Iraq, also to find out what they have done. A lot of political parties and citizens of many countries are interested in what the Islamic State is capable of doing. Everyone who is new to the topic and has just started learning about it will surely have the same reaction my self and many other people have had. The human rights commissioner of the UN says that, “Jihadis and Iraqi government forces both carried out 'acts of inhumanity” Generally speaking, first contact or slowly learning about the Islamic State is a shocking yet intriguing topic to discuss.

Having researched quite a bit on the matter and connecting it to the concept of first contact, I think it is safe to say that my reactions are relatable to others. There are so many different variables to first contact and it really depends to the situation and context. This being the Islamic State and so many people reading and learning about at the same time makes it a controversial topic and up for discussion. A lot of people might think differently based on the amount of research they have done and exactly how much they know about ISIS, but at least for me and a lot of people in the world, including people in this class may have the same reaction by learning just now about the topic. As said before, first contact and the Islamic State can make people judge their ideals, it can make someone feel the need to research more and others might just simply not be interested. For me, I was interested by reading many things on ISIS and I researched more on the topic.

Bibliography:

"American Journalist James Wright Foley Beheaded by ISIS in Chilling Video to Obama." TruthUncensored. TruthUncensored, 19 Aug. 2014. Web.

"ISIS Captures Major Military Air Base in Syria Using Child Suicide Bomber." National Post News ISIS Captures Major Military Air Base in Syria Using Child Suicidebomber Comments. N.p., 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.

Black, Ian. "UN to Send Investigators to Iraq over Islamic State 'atrocities'"The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.