The 12 Articles of the German Peasants, 1524

This reading selection was written with the purpose of requesting new freedoms for the Christian peasants in Germany. The author of the document also wished for it to serve as proof that the Bible, mostly the Gospel, was not the cause of the peasant revolt because the Gospel teaches of "love, peace, patience, and concord." He says that any people who live by these teachings could not be the cause of any uprisings or difiances.

The second paragraph says, "Thus all who believe in Christ should learn to be loving, peaceful, long-suffering, and harmonious." This line stood out to me because it is saying that all Christians should take what they have at face value and accept it, when the rest of the document is full of complaints about the situation and requests for treatment which they believe would be better and make life easier for them to stand.

This creates the idea that not all Christians then were happy with the way things were and that they were willing to take action in order to change their circumstances. Although they were wanting to change the way things were, they wanted to do so in a peaceful manner. They wanted to maintain peace while activating change.

This parallels to many modern day protests. While these protests take place in the hopes of bringing about a change in the way things happen, they do so also with the hopes of achieving that change peacefully. Often times, those searching for a new way wish to do so without causing too much a an uproar.