This whole issue, while upsetting, does not come as a shock to me. It is people like these extremists who threatened the writers that give the rest of the Muslims bad name. As many people said in previous posts, South Park likes to push the buttons of every issue out there. There lovely show on “gingerism” is the only reason that people make fun of me for my hair color, which I happen to love. I still love South Park, and they will always continue to make fun of every religion, political issue, person, etc, that they can. I just do not see how two writers should deserve to die because they made fun of a god. How does the airing of the show affect anyone’s relationship with their god, if they have a problem with it, then do not watch it. Obviously, I am not a Muslim so the whole image of Mohammad thing just seems absurd to me.

I have never had any experience with “lifers,” but unfortunately I feel pretty strongly about this issue. I have really tried to open my eyes to the statement that some of these people are “quality people” as Sam or Laurie said in class, but I just can make myself believe it. I cannot get past the fact that these “lifers” did something so terrible that would even require a life sentence. They obviously destroyed a life, and that has caused an entire family, group of friends, and community to have lost someone they care about. I know that some of these people are remorseful, but that does not change the fact that they ruined the lives of so many people. I personally do not care how sorry you are or how well you write a letter, someone is now gone from this earth who did not deserve to be.

I think it is hard to say that people “don’t care” about what happened in Haiti, because you do not know the thoughts that go through people’s minds. Of course I care that these people’s lives have been absolutely turned upside by this terrible natural disaster, but short of flying to Haiti to lend a helping hand, I do not believe there is all that much that I could do that would actually make a difference. Yeah, I could donate money, and I did put in some money when Sam was collecting it, but do we really know where the money is going? Of course I know Sam would not steal our money, I am not trying to imply that, but is the money that anyone donates really making a huge difference in the relief effort? I obviously have not been to Haiti so I am just pulling this stuff out of the air, so call me naïve. If you are a student at Penn State, chances are you have had a pretty damn good life. That being said, it is hard for many people to open their eyes to what is actually going on down there. Most of us have not seen extreme poverty, we have not lived it, we have not experienced it. We cannot relate in any way, shape or form to what is going on in Haiti so it is hard to emotionally grieve. Of course, anyone with any human compassion will stare at the television while thinking how terrible things are and how horrendous those conditions are and how tragic it is that so many people are displaced, lost, or dead, but then the program ends and the news coverage is halted. Then we go do our homework, cook dinner, call our parents and we forget what those Haitians can never forget. I cannot mourn someone who I never knew, but I can mourn the situation. And I have done that, as I am sure many others did as well, but considering my life was not altered by the earthquake, I will inevitably forget because in my little world, I have other things to do. That sounds really harsh and ignorant, but my life goes on, and believe me I know how lucky I am that my life goes on happily.
Now if a family member died, like one of my parents, then I would mourn and my every thought would be consumed with that. My mother, in particular, is my best friend, she is someone I can count on no matter what, and if I did not have her my life would be 100% different. That would impact me, that would change my everyday routine, that would change my life. I think that is a main reason why people do not seem to “care” about over 300,000 people dying, because our lives go on unchanged.

I am glad that this perspective was shard on this website. I mean, most of us know that that is not what Muslims represent, the extremists, etc. But there are a few ignorant people out there that see bin Laden and group every Muslim to be like him. Hell, people even group all brown people to be like him, ignorant people, that is. One of my best friends is Muslim and of course I know how she practices her religion, and it is not by blowing things up. Your husband should be comforted by the fact that there are people out who do not have their heads up their asses and they know how real Muslims practice their religion.

You don’t really hear about female suicide bombers too much. I feel as though the most common suicide bombers are men. If you also look at how men and women typically commit suicide in America, men tend to use more definite approaches, like hanging themselves or shooting themselves. Women tend to take the riskier options, like popping pills or slitting their wrists. So the fact that there are more suicide bombers that are men than women can probably be related to that statistic. It is just so sad to see that this woman felt that killing herself was her only option. If a loved one of mine were murdered, by any means, including being a victim of war violence, then I would want to avenge their death. But I would most certainly never kill another innocent person just because I was angry. That is just doing the same thing to another family that had been done to yours. So I don’t know how accurate it would be to say that these people are avenging their loved ones, but who knows, maybe they feel that is the only way they can make an impact.

If you are raised to believe a certain thing, you most likely will believe it. If you are born into a family that hates Americans and everything we do, you will be bred to believe that fact. Without the proper information, how are you to know any different? An unprovoked epiphany about why Americans say they are invading your country is not going to just pop into your head. And I believe that was the point of today’s lecture. We were supposed to step into the shoes of average people living in Iraq and see things from their point of view. Why is their country being turned into ruins? Because the Americans are being selfish pigs. They do not want to do any research to justify what is happening to their country, all they know is that there are foreign people here and they are making their lives harder. So of course there will be angry people who will fight against the Americans. As the poll in class revealed, so would most of us if we were in their shoes.

I consider myself to have compassion for all forms of human life. One exception to that would be for murderers. I do not care how “cool” they are or if they are “quality human beings,” they killed someone, and for that I hope they wake up everyday as miserable as possible. I do not care if they are “changed.” That one person whose life they took will never be able to come back, and that is that. Whew, anyway…my original point was to say that I really have a hard time with the death of civilians. I will tell you right now that I am not nearly educated enough about the war in Iraq, so I will not take sides either way because I do not have the knowledge to. But for me, personally, I do not believe I would be able to take another humans life (unless they deserve it, anyone watch Dexter?) I am not saying that I am against war, I am just saying that I could not imagine losing my family to violence. Especially violence that I do not fully understand. Innocent people are dying every day in Iraq, and again, I am not saying it is because of Americans, I am just saying that people are being victims of violence that does not have to exist.

As for the Christian aspect of this whole thing, I personally am not a fan of religion. That should be enough of an explanation. The Christians that I personally know are very, very religious people. Christianity is their life, and that is really not an issue to me. One of my very best friends is a very, very hardcore Christian, and I love him to death. I just find it hard to believe in the same things that he does and I could never live the type of life he lives. But that is how he was raised so he is fine with it. Bottom line, I like to do what I want to do, not what God (if there is one) wants me to do. I feel as though I lead a very good life and I do not think religion needs to influence me, or anyone. But, to each his own. I know I really did not directly answer the question, but oh well.

I agree with a few other posts in the fact that this guy is just expressing his opinion. I do not think he really meant to offend anyone, what he meant was to try to make our nation a better place (in his words.) He just wanted to be heard by people. But just because he expressed his opinion does not mean everyone or anyone has to agree with him. If you do not, then feel free to express your own opinion in return. I did agree with the fact that we need to try to put a stop to illegal immigration, but it seems like that is already in the works. I do not know enough about the government as I should, so I cannot really touch on this issue with enough knowledge.

This is a great question. Honestly, many of the things that Sam has said I have already considered in my 19 years of living. If you have not thought about the stuff Sam says, well you must live in a hole. His opinions have not changed my thinking in any way, but that is not the point of the class. Sam has said that he does not want us to think like him, he just wants us to think. There are some lectures were I will nod in agreement with something Sam says, and there are other times where I will glance around the room to see the angry look on people’s faces. I do find it odd that with 20 plus years of teaching, Sam still has insane revelations once a week. Some of the things that he finds so profound, I really find uninteresting. But, to each his own. I am no sociologist so my interests are obviously in another category.

I was one of the numerous people who ate the second piece of chocolate, and I will tell you why. If I did not eat the chocolate, where would it have gone? In the trash can. I am not saying that it is better off in my stomach than the trash, but the fact of the matter is that the chocolate was already out of its bag and in my possession. It was already purchased and distributed, meaning the unfair trade of that piece of chocolate was a done deal. Not eating the chocolate would really not make a difference in the slave trade, because by Sam providing our class of 800 people with 2 chocolate chips each, a higher demand was already made for that chocolate that’s beginning was at the hands of slaves.
I can say that the lesson today had just as much of an impact on me as it did on other people, so what is the difference if the chocolate wound up in the trash or someone’s stomach? And quite frankly, why would you want to waste a piece of chocolate that people slaved over? The reason chocolate is made is to be eaten, not to be looked at and then thrown in the trash. That is the chocolate’s sole destiny, to be in someone’s stomach. That is the reason it is being made, so if someone worked so hard to produce something and I just throw it away, I would say that is way more of a slap in the face than using it for its predestined purpose. It is already made, I cannot help the fact that it is sitting in front of me. And to the girl who asked the question, did you eat the first piece of chocolate? Did you eat it happily with no second thoughts? If it is so revolting to you that people in the class ate the second piece, then why did you not go and throw up your first piece? Doing that would be the equivalent of throwing the second piece in the trash. Just because you are now educated on a certain topic does not mean that the world will come to a stand still while you look down horribly upon chocolate eaters.

As Sam has pointed out on many occasions, lots of the clothes we wear, phones we talk on, and products we use were made by slaves. How do you dare to bring yourself to talk on a cell phone? That is the world we live in, and it is a sad, sad world indeed. But just because 800 people are more educated on one of the many tragic topics in the world does not mean that we can cure this problem. Sure, a few of us will remember this in a week’s time, but many of us will forget this and go on with our naive lives. There are many terrible things that go on in this world, and many of them we are not educated on. You are now educated on the issue of chocolate, it is slightly hypocritical to look down upon those who did exactly what you did 5 minutes prior.

This student was actually in my race relations discussion group the other week so I got to hear what he had to say first hand. I must admit when I first saw him I just assumed he was white, but when he started talking he stated that he is not white, and he identifies with his Hispanic side of the family. I did not think much of it because that is the case for many people around here. But to see the turmoil that it is causing him is upsetting. I do not think people should be asked to pick a “team” if they feel uneasy about it. If you do not know what to identify with, or if you feel you identify with a race that society does not put you in, then go ahead and do so.