Moral Controversies from Virunga Documentary Paper (Essay Sample)

Moral Controversies from Virunga Documentary
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Virunga documentary focuses on the controversies that happened in "Virunga Park" as various groups tried to achieve their interests. The warfare scares animals like gorillas making them huddle together in fear of extermination. A lot of human killings take place as different parties show their superiority in conquering the park. The routine activities of the park no longer take place due to the interruption (Baxter). The media takes a central place in the scenario as it is the one that informs the public how the controversies are taking place. As such it has a lot of impact in the public opinion.
From the acts of drilling oil from the Virunga National Park, some moral controversies are evident. Animal rights are a very contemporary issue especially on the side of morality. A lot of steps to make the animals receive the same treatment as those of human receive a lot of advocation. In the documentary, if the exploration of oil takes place, then there will be the relocation of animals in the park. That means animals will not enjoy their environment so as to benefit human beings with the natural resources. Arguments on whether the interest of people should be a priority in comparison to those of animals are still debatable with no conclusive suggestion.
Another moral issue involves the influence of media in the society. There are a lot of roles played by media that includes informing, entertaining and enlightening the public on various public policies. However when it comes to issues of reporting violence and conflicts in the society a moral controversy arises. Media should keep off the use of reports that can generate violence and public aggression in the community.
Other moral issues include the sanctity of life due to killings of various people in the park and marginalized citizens such as the police officers. Such groups play a significant role in the society and should not receive mistreatment. They need more respect and protection of their rights. Maintaining cultural values is very vital in any society. There are a lot of controversies on whether sending a spy to another person to obtain information is moral or not. It is an issue that has moral aspects but remains controversial. From the documentary Einsiedel uses hidden camera so as to capture an army officer attempting to bribe so as to spy SOCO, the company permitted to drill oil. There no compliance with proper methods of legalizing a company to conduct the exercise. That is the reason SOCO received the authority to drill the oil. To be line with the cultural values compliance with the legal procedures is an important aspect. However, there are controversies on whether or not compliance is a moral issue.
The philosophers Baxter, Taylor, and Schmidt, will have a different perspective concerning the issue of drilling oil from the Virunga National Park. The statement is: Although the oil company in the film decided to end its efforts in the park, it seems possible that the same company or another company might try again in the future. And, closer to home, there is current attempts to open up areas of the Grand Canyon to mining. The following segment analyzes each of the philosopher’s argument on the issue.
According to Baxter, any matter raised in the public should have a defined objective. That will make the public avoid questions especially "why" which shows how generalized the statement is. The questions act as an implicit demand to prevent the general handling of the issues. Baxter gives criteria for evaluating statements that are: Spheres of freedom, no waste of resources available to human beings, and every person should be a means rather than act as a way of betterment to others and both the incentive ...