At this point, especially after a semester of sociology 001, videos like this only serve to annoy me and help me to realize how much bullshit propaganda is out there. This is what humans do when they want you to see your point, find the worst images, skew the statistics, and just generally make everything seem worse. That being said I can understand why Muslims fear Americans after seeing certain videos and publications and why Americans fear Muslims or middle eastern after seeing something like this. Not knowing better or even knowing and still being sucked into the ominous music or scared by the signs and the pinpoints on the maps or the cryptic words running across the screen it becomes easy to imagine that all Muslims are like this, that all Arabs are like this, that everyone in the middle east is out to get America, which is certainly not true.
I do not even know how we begin to separate ourselves or rise above these types of things. Is it enough to realize that “Oh this is what they see, no wonder they fear us” or vice versa. Is it even possible to stop this or must we accept it as something that serves a sociological purpose and therefore will be around forever? I just really wish we could see the best in people, or not even the best just an accurate representation. I am too tired of videos like this, on both sides of the war.
When I see videos against Christians I get upset and I am sure Muslims get upset at videos like this against their people. Even reasonable people who know better can be swayed by these types of videos, I got a little scared and I am not even an American. After a second I realized I was being ridiculous but these are some very well strategized videos aimed to put fear into people and it works a lot of the time. I hope that something is there to counteract these videos and mentalities. One day we will all watch videos like this and be able to laugh at their ridiculousness

I definitely think that an injustice was done against this man. Transgendered people have the right to be identified as whichever sex they prefer. I also believe that once they have made this decision it should be protected by the full extent of discrimination laws. However I do see where his boss was coming from when she made her decision. That to me is where the problem lies. When there are no laws in place or protocol for what to do in situations like these. Our people and more importantly our government needs to acknowledge transgendered people and afford them the same opportunities of everyone of the sex they identify as.
Unfortunately for situations like this it usually takes someone to speak out greatly on the situation. The man in the article values his privacy which is his constitutional right; however that may mean that nothing will change. As mentioned in the intersections book there is such a small percentage of people that identify as transgender and even more few of them are open about their journey. But that does not mean that they do not have just as much rights as every other American citizen. Also mentioned in the intersections article is the fact that we may not know how many people actually do identify as transgender because it is still such a taboo subject, that some people who are transgender will never actually come out and say it. I really think the only thing to be done at this point so that what happens to the man in the article never happens again is education. People need to realize what being transgender means and the more and more they are exposed to it, the more accepted it will become and the less and less accepted discriminations like the one in this article will occur. It will also take people who identify as transgender t o step forward and volley for their own rights. Like the man in the article who at least reported his discrimination, I hope that transgendered people all over the country and the globe have that same courage and even more.

I am trying to think about the constant struggles that soldiers face every day, but unless you have actually been there it is unimaginable. The video in class gave us some sense of what was going on, and that was bad enough, accidental murder of innocent people and things of that nature. How is it even possible to NOT be affected? I think some psychiatric consultation should be required for all soldiers who have been deployed, those in the field as well as those returning.
I honestly do not know what can be done about the stigma surrounding post traumatic stress disorder. I hope that SOMETHING can be done because it definitely needs to be done. Too many of our soldiers are suffering: committing suicide and those who do not commit suicide are still suffering in many ways. With the stigma it may be impossible to find out exactly how many soldiers actually suffer from PTSD or similar mental illnesses. My solution would be that we stop sending our citizens to war but that may never happen so hopefully we can have the courage to address this issue head on.]

Post Traumatic Stress disorder is a very serious issue affecting our troops. As someone who opposes war, especially the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, I just think it is another strike against it. But in actuality it is something we need to address as a country and within the army itself. If we continually send our citizens to war we must be prepared to deal with all the consequences of that, including the mental ones. War is a serious business mentally and physically taxing it should go without saying that veterans need treatment in these areas. And as with the video we watched in class it is appalling that there is a stigma attached with seeking psychiatric attention during or after deployment. Taking a life, even in the name of one’s country, is a difficult thing. I really do not understand why it would seem cowardly or weak to have some sort of reaction to doing that over and over. I think that those who seek help must have extreme courage to face their mental demons.

The wealth disparity lecture was disconcerting to me but it was not particularly surprising. Of course the wealthy want to stay wealthy and become wealthier. There is not really much that the working class can do about it. In an ideal world we could all share wealth communally, but we do not live in an ideal world and there are greedy people, dishonest people and looks out only for their own interest. I also feel that some of the elite rich believe that they deserve to have this much wealth and thus deserve their immense wealth. I honestly believe that there is little that one can actually do to deserve THAT much money. Most people do work hard in their live and are still in the poor or middle class. That is bad enough but what makes it worse are those people in those rich, high positions who make it easier for themselves to become richer and richer and keep everyone else in perpetual poverty. And of course the more money you have, the more money/power you are able to get. Just as we saw in class, the rich oil used their money/power to get tax breaks that benefit them. And with such a lack of transparency on these things it is hard for the people at the bottom of the pyramid to even understand what is going on. I really do not think that most people think this gross disparity in wealth is fair. I think that most people do not actually understand it. I know that I did not understand just how much wealth was controlled by this elite class. And you also have to be paying good attention to realize how impossible they make it for this to ever change. We just accept what is without really having in-depth knowledge on the nitty-gritty truth. There is an attitude of deserving, when one has been successful at something. I deserve this salary because I worked hard in college, I deserve this job because I rocked the interview. I deserve…….. which I think a lot of people have. But as Sam says most of it are those invisible strings. And while the elite don’t realize that they have that exact attitude, which coupled with billions of dollars is a dangerous thing.

Even with the statistics and the mentality of many people, I don’t really think that religion will die out. I think that there are too many people searching for meaning and structure in their lives and sometimes religion is a good place to start with that. I feel that religion does have some benefits but I do not think that it is truly needed. I also feel that most people who are spiritual or religious have some type of religious journey that involves at least one particular religious denomination. Not to say that organized religion is just a stepping stone for everyone but I do think that it serves that purpose to some people and always will.

Also I think that education is the enemy of organized religion. I know that when I was younger I believed everything I read in the bible and took everything that my religious leaders as true and accurate. But as I learned more about history and the inaccuracies in the bible, I began to question my beliefs. And as we become global citizens and learn more about other religions and see the merits of them it becomes even harder to take on faith that your religion is the correct one. Especially in western countries with a melting pot of religions, we see people that we believe to be good and righteous who do not follow our religion and refuse to believe that because they do not have the exact beliefs as me that they aren’t going to heaven or reap afterlife rewards.

I personally do not care if religion disappears. I am someone who does not identify with any particular religion, although I do believe in God and am a deeply spiritual person. I firmly believe that most, if not all religious institutions have corrupted the spiritual message and do not really serve their purpose anymore. I do believe that you can find God in church but not anymore than you can find him in a park or in your own house. He is wherever you choose to look for him. As more people realize that God is not a concept or being unique to their church or their particular religion then they may be less inclined to identify with it.

The law would only provide them with the equal right they deserve in order to live their lives in a more equal fashion. Some people think that homosexuals should not be married because of the religiousness of marriage and of what certain religious texts say about homosexuality. But personally I do not believe in any of those text because they probably got it wrong. Also it doesn’t even matter now because in today’s world, marriage is more like a secular agreement that allows certain rights. Many non religious people get married everyday, some in secular or civil ceremonies and if we really had church/state separation then we would see that homosexual rights are being fundamentally infringed upon.

Children are mean and although I wish the world were more accepting, the fact is they are not and I would never want children to suffer because of that. But I am definitely hopeful that one day it will not be this way and we can all live in harmony. But I also think that it is steps like these that help along that road. If we do not care about it enough to amend our laws for it then it will never change. I truly commend the guy in the video and everyone else who is in the fight for the equal rights of the LGBT community. It is definitely true what he said, homosexual couples already function as married couples, as family.