My opinion doesn't change. Sorry, it just doesn't. I don't even think it's an opinion, I know it's truth. Sam quoted Scripture, this isn't the first time he's done it, and this isn't the first time he's been wrong. What he quoted in Corinthians was true of course. “ Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” I wholeheartedly believe that verse, it's hanging above my bed. But so is the very next line which states "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Do you know that verse is saying Sam? It's saying that we all are these things. We're human and God knows that. We screw up life daily. God saw that and wept, so He sent His Son to die for our sins. He sent Jesus to wipe our slate clean. I'm guilty of so many of the things in that verse. It's just the truth. We all are. But I'm clean. The context of that verse isn't to condemn, it's to show that without accepting Christ and still living in this sin you're not going to getting into heaven. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. If you really look at that verse though, it's saying there's a way out. There is a way into heaven. It's through accepting Christ. Accepting Christ doesn't mean that the next day you're going to be able to give up all these things but accepting Christ means that he can help you give up these things. Homosexuality is just another sin.

I don't hate homosexuals. Contrary to popular belief, I don't know a single Christian who does. We hate the sin the same way we hate pre-marital sex. We understand it's difficult and we know it's hard to give up, but living in your sin isn't how you get out. Renouncing your sin and handing it over to God is how you get out. I have plenty of sins I struggle with, but I gave them to God. I'm free from condemnation, but not from the sin. That's what Sam failed to mention and that's why my beliefs haven't changed. We choose sin.

As a Christian, I know that we can't choose God on our own. We naturally chose sin. Whatever form it takes, we learn it and chose it. No one is born with a natural desire to steal things. We chose to steal. No one is born with a natural desire to have pre-marital sex. We chose it. No one is born a homosexual. You chose it.

I love this idea of a third option. I think it's a great way to look at it. I personally believe that homosexuality is a choice. I do. Yes, people are born with more of one hormone or another but that's not enough evidence to be born gay. A perfect example is identical twins. I had a set of friends in high school: Kevin and Kyle. I was great friends with both of them. Kevin was straight and quite a bit of a player. Kyle was totally gay. There wasn't anything straight about him. They were identical twins. They have the exact same DNA. How do you explain that? The only thing I can think of is that Kyle chose it. Now, I think people who argue against the choice opinion have it all wrong. I don't mean Kyle woke up one day and said "Whoa, I think I like boys now." What I mean is Kyle woke up one day and decided "I don't like playing with boy things, girl things are much more fun." That's not my hypothesis, that's fact. It's what happened. He will tell you himself. When he was 8 he realized he had more fun playing with girl toys with his sister than he did playing with boy toys with Kevin.

Is there anything wrong with that? No. But, because of it he became way more into girl things. He hung out with his sister and her friends and before he knew it he developed their desires. That's where this third option comes into play for me. Kyle's parents never cared that he played with his sister's things. They thought it was a phase so they were relatively accepting of it. I know his parents and they aren't necessarily anti-gay but they don't approve of his life style choice.

His brother Kevin was raised in the same household but decided to play with his cousins and therefore grew up way more into boy things. Again his parents just let it slide. Kevin and Kyle are absolute best friends and share the same DNA. Explain how one turned gay and the other didn't? They weren't born with it. If Kevin and Kyle were exactly the same and possessed some 'gay' gene then Kevin would've desired to play with his sister too, right? Exactly!

I do think this third option makes plenty of sense. It's evident here. These brothers grew up side by side. With equal opportunity. Equal acceptance. Equal DNA. How on Earth can someone argue that you are born gay when the evidence points so heavily against it?

Now I know that Sam spoke in class about the two twins who grew up in different environments, but still have the same sexual stance when they were older. Sure, that seems legit, but that doesn't prove anything in my mind. Had they grown up in the same environment then maybe I'd think differently, but I don't know.

I have seen the proof with my own eyes. I heard Kyle say he chose this lifestyle. Those are his words, not mine. I don't know what else people need to hear.

So, I actually have a few friends with gay parents, some that turned out straight and some that turned out gay. I also have quite a few friends with straight parents who are Kinsey 6 gay. For my one friend, Emily, she was raised by lesbians. She turned out gay and when she came out to her parents, it wasn't even a big deal. She didn't even worry about it, she just mentioned it at dinner one night that she was going on a date with a girl. Her moms both were more happy about the date then the gender of her partner. A lot of that has to do with their own struggles though. One of Emily's moms, I know for a fact, has absolutely no contact with her parents because of her coming out. Now, you can imagine why she'd never ever want the same fate thrust upon her daughter. Also, considering both of them are gay it's not like they can condemn her. That would ridiculously hypocritical which they aren't in the least bit.

Now, I also have a friend named Justin. He was raised by his grandmother and father and has known he was gay since he was 6 years old. He's the most flamboyant man I've ever met. I love being around him because he just exudes happiness. However, his father still doesn't know. It's pretty hard to hide, but his father has no clue (so we believe). Since his father is in the military Justin only sees him once or twice a year and when he does we have to play dress up with him. I mean that. All of us have to help him dress like a straight guy. I mean real macho. Considering his father's military standing, nothing else will work. I know it tears Justin to pieces that he can't be who he really is around his father. It would tear me up too if I were to say I were gay and have my parents totally reject me. Whenever we bring up the topic of him coming out to his father he immediately shuts it down. For him, it's not even a thought.

That must be hard. I'm a Christian, homosexuality is strictly against what I believe. If I had a gay son or daughter, I am going to love them just the same. I will pray for my children constantly and will hope that this sin doesn't fall upon them, but if it does it's no different than watching pornography or stealing a candy bar and I won't treat it differently. If my son was a thief it doesn't mean I stop loving him. Yes, it would be a hard pill to swallow because of my faith and also because I'm straight and I don't know what it's like to have those desires and i don't know what it's like to feel that way.

Will I always love my children? Of course! If I came out to my mother would she love me just the same? Yes, she would. Does that mean we accept it? No, it doesn't. If I called my mom and told her I was dropping out of school would she accept it? No, why would she. Would she love me? Of course. That's how I think of how parents should handle a child coming out. Granted those aren't the same circumstances, but a love for a child is unconditional.

If you're gay and your parents aren't -- tell them! If they hate you, then guess what, they lost out on a great kid, you didn't lose out on a great parent. A great parent would say "I don't agree, but you're my child and I love you just the same."

I just read this article and can honestly say I don't even know what to think. I'm disgusted. I'm offended. I'm hurt as a woman. I feel like the justice system has yet again failed. I know that there are plenty of people, like Sam said, that disagree that the situation would be different if Zimmerman had been black and Trayvon had been white, but this is concrete proof that it would've. Yes, the two situations are different for sure. But, if anything Ms. Alexander had more of a reason to respond and should be protected by the judicial system. They should be locking her husband up. Keeping her protected and watching her children. Instead, they have her behind bars while Zimmerman waltzes around, gun in hand, and no one says a word.

I'd like to point out another thing. Not only is this more of an injustice that the Martin-Zimmerman case, but there is a media injustice as well. Why isn't this making headlines? Why aren't people defending her? This is not to say that I didn't sport my hoodie for Trayvon, because I did. This is to say though, why is his story touching thousands and not hers? Is it because it's black on black crime? Is it because she's a woman? Is because the media is protecting the judicial system? I'm not entirely sure. It stinks because if I could give an answer I would.

I am just so appalled right now with this story. This woman had rights and in accordance with Florida state law, is more in the right than Zimmerman. She had a permit, was provoked, and fired her weapon as a means of intimidation not murder. Zimmerman on the other hand was told not to attack, was not provoked, and now we're void one less young man in this world. Who's wrong here? Who are we to blame? Do we immediately place blame on Zimmerman for his actions? Do we scream at the legal system in the state of Florida? Maybe we chalk it all up on the media for once again failing to bring news forward. In all honesty, I think we need to blame ourselves. We allow this to happen.

As a nation of people, race set aside, we have the power to change things. We can change the way the justice system handles situations such as these. We have the power to eliminate racism. No, unfortunately we cannot change every individual, but we can change the system. Our generation is already doing it. We're already bringing about change. If I look back at my grandparents they would've never talked to a white person or a black person. Then I look at my parents who didn't mind but were very, very reserved. But look at me, I could care less what you look like, you can't control that.

The truth is, your race doesn't determine your life. What does is how you're treated in response to it. We can all walk around hating the world, scared of the unknown, or we can stop being stupid. What happened to Trayvon Martin was tragic. His race isn't why. If he were Hispanic, White, Asian, or whatever, the fact is he died before he got a chance to experience life. What is happening to Marissa Alexander is just as bad. Her race doesn't play a factor. She defended herself, and would've done so regardless of her race. Wake up and smell the coffee here people. Race is defined by us. We give it power and take power away. Maybe we should all stop caring. Follow the golden rule and treat people the way you wanted to be treated. It's really not that hard. I promise.

I've often been told my biggest vice is my naivety. I trust things easily unless I know for a fact it's not true. For example if you tell me the grass is purple I will obviously question you, but if you tell me that the rate at which old men are impregnating young women is going up I wouldn't question you. I have no reason to. I like to trust people. I like to believe what they say. Unless you give me a reason not to trust you, I think you deserve a shot.

I wasn't raised this way, actually quite the contrary. I'm a cop's daughter. I was taught to question everyone. Not to trust a single soul. I was taught that trust was something earned after years with a person. As I got older, I realized I didn't like living that way. I realized I wanted to trust people. Like Sam said on Tuesday in class, the world is not a bad place. People are normal. They don't want to hurt you. Why should we live like they are trying to? I know they're not. But when I hear something and have to question validity -- why shouldn't I believe it.

I know for a fact that people lie. I lie. It's easy to lie because we trust people. In all honesty, we're more likely to trust people than not trust them. It's just our innate belief. I just don't understand why we have to lie. It's not really nice. It's not really necessary. We all have a story to tell. No one story is better than another. I just think that if people were just willing to open up and tell then truth, regardless of opening themselves to hurt, they'd be inviting others who feel the same to say so.

For me, the only authority I do question is when someone tells a story they heard from a friend. Not because I don't trust them, but purely because facts get lost in the process. Isn't that the exact root of gossip? Behind every lie there is a bit of truth that got lost on the way. It happens all the time. Our memories store what they think is important. Sometimes we can retell a story and have an entirely new message come from it. Not because we're rude but because we didn't value the parts of the story that the original teller of the story values. It's not a good or bad thing, it's just how things happen.

I don't know why, but people are self-centered. We just care about what we want to, that's not always the truth. Take people in court for example. Perjury happens all the time. Most of the time it's not intentional, but when you put someone on the stand they're going to say what they believe to be true. That's more often than not, not the way something happen, but if you pine someone against someone they love they won't do anything to incriminate them. It's just how we view the world. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we protect those we love.

When we were in class and had to answer this question I actually refused. I just sat there and thought for a really long time and didn't really know. I was really stuck between a rock and hard place. I had no idea what to say. I just stood there. Who would I save? After much deliberation and calling my mom for advice, I can still say I'm torn. I know that we're supposed to innately choose our child, but I don't know what that looks like because I don't have children. I would honestly choose my mother. No one can come before her because I am a part of my mother. I just don't know what I'd ever do without her, and if I could save her why wouldn't I?

When I spoke to her about this she kind of yelled at me for it. I asked the same question and she said she'd save me and my sisters in an instant. My father said the same thing. I understand where they're coming from, but I just don't see it that way. I see it that I can have another child. I can marry another man. I can never get a new mother, ever! I just don't know what I'd choose. I just think it's an unfair question right now. I'm not married nor do I have children, how can I make this decision without knowing either. Right now, all I know is my mother. She's been the constant in my life. She always will be. She's my mommy. She gave me life, how can I not give it all back to her.

Now, if I was married and head over heels in love with a man and I didn't have a child yet, I think I would pick him. Not because my mom doesn't deserve to live, but if I really love this man, then I know my mother would want me to spend the rest of my life knowing love which I wouldn't get to if I let her live over him. My mother is still amazing in that situation because she'd give herself for my happiness which she always did. She's just the best, and now I understand why it's so hard to let her go over two strangers. To me, my husband and child are invisible, not real. My mother is the only tangible thing in my life of the three that I can hold. She's gotten me through everything, who would get me through making the decision if not her?

Even still, I think everything will change the day I give birth to a child. I can already see the innocence in the eyes of my own creation. The single most beautiful love is between a mother and a child. It's a woman's creation, and I think once I get to experience the love my mother has for me then I will change it all. My husband is replaceable my child isn't. No, my mother isn't either, but she lived. She knew life. That child didn't. I wouldn't be giving it the chance of living. I would be robbing it of everything that my mother and husband will have already had a taste of. I know that if they love me, and they loved this child they understand and would die with a smile on their face knowing I made the right choice.

After processing through it, I know it's the right decision too.

When I was in class, I thought the same thing. I think though this speaks a lot to what we're learning about in class. I think it's solid evidence that the world isn't changing because every semester 700 students take this class. I would like to think it is, but it's not. I'm not saying all white people are bad because that's simply not true. What is true though is that we're blind to injustice. If you asked me if the roles were reversed and Trayon was the guard and called the cops saying "Oh, there's a cracker coming" I would defend him to the end of the earth. I know that's not right, but it's how we are. People defend their own kind because no matter how advanced people are we stick to those who loo like us. We have no real reason for it aside from "They look like me, they must be right"

My father is a retired Corrections Officer and he said the other C.O.s were often torn between inmate fights. If it was an us against them they could care less about race, but the second that the fight was Spanish against Black the Black officers supported the Black inmates and the Hispanic officers supported the Hispanic inmates. There was no real reason for it. My father put it simply "They're criminals, but they're my people. If I don't stand for them -- who will?" I mean that's not right, but it's honest. My father honestly says this divide exists even if we pretend not to see it. Look around campus -- who are you friends with? 9 times out of 10 you hang out with those who look like you. It has nothing to do with being racist and everything to do with a this-is-safe mentality. All of us are guilty of it.

We can state plenty of facts about the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman can get on stand and outwardly state that he hates black people and there will be people who aren't racist that support him. Even if we know he's guilty, people will blame Trayvon for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And honestly he was. This was definitely an act of hate, but it still isn't only Zimmerman's fault. There are three sides to every story: Zimmerman's, Trayvon's, and the truth. None of us were there and no one can say what the truth is. All I know is that Zimmerman is guilty as anything. People who really try to say that there isn't substantial evidence against him, what exactly is your evidence? He told 911 that he was going to shoot Trayvon. Trayvon doesn't exactly look intimidating to me. He looks pretty harmless. He seemed like he was a pretty upright kid.

I just wish people could imagine an alternate universe where the minorities were white and they were discriminated against. Imagine in that world Trayvon was your son and Zimmerman was a Black man who could shoot because he felt like it. Now imagine that your son was just getting Skittles and Iced Tea. You tell me that it wasn't a hate crime then. You tell me that race played no factor in it. You and I both know race played everything in this case. If it had been a white guy with a hood instead of Trayvon, that guy would still be alive and we would've never heard of this story. Just think about that!

To be honest, this is a question I debate a lot. My mother and I watch "What would you do" every time it's on and the people who appall us the most are the people who refuse to stand up. I think it's something that deserves talking about. What is working in your heart that causes you stay quiet and who's side are you really on? I think that something we need to really look at is who these people are individually though and not as a whole. If we're looking at them as a group it's easy to say "Oh, those people are just spineless assholes." Here's the thing though, we have NO idea what's going on in their heads. For all we know, they're desperately dying to say something, but maybe last time they did speak out the repercussions for them were dire. I know that doesn't sound like an excuse, but the honest truth is that we don't know these people.

Now, if we want to look at everyone on a whole and talk about what motivates these people to keep their mouth shut, it's one simple word "fear". In my section, we spoke about fears of being judged. Everyone fears it. Not just judgment of the two parties involved but of everyone around, including their friends. If they speak out against it they have no idea what the consequences are against them. If they speak for it, it's the same situation. I'd like to wholeheartedly believe that the majority of the silent bystanders wanted to badly to speak out but were scared. I think we'd all be. I know that lots of us would want to, but would we?

My mother always asks me "What would YOU do?" I never know how to answer it. I don't think any of us can condemn these people because we don't know what we would do. Surveying a situation from the outside is easy to do because it's us on the outside looking in. In all honesty though, when someone throws you into a situation you go with your gut. If your gut says "Stay quiet and keep your head low" then that's what you're going to do. The truth is most of us would do just that.

How many times have we watched idly as someone bullies someone for something? For me personally, it's quite a lot. I'm not afraid to say something, I'm afraid of getting involved. I'm afraid I don't know the whole story which is true. I have no idea what the whole story is .And I can't judge the people who didn't say anything because I don't know their whole story. It is as simple as that!

The topic of names on a resumé is not something I'm foreign too. In high school, I was apart of this group that paired students with mentors in the workplace. Since I went a predominantly Hispanic/Black school everyone in the group was either one or the other. They prepped us all up on how to perfect our resumés, gave us interview techniques, walked us through writing a perfect cover letter, and then someone asked about their name. Now, don't get me wrong not everyone in the group had stereotypical names. Most of us had fairly "white" names like Ashley and Amanda. However, there were a few names Shaniqua and Tyreek. So, when we talked about it everyone in the room got silent. I know it was particularly uncomfortable for our mentors who were all white and all had experience hiring people for their company. Finally, one of them said, "Well, the truth hurts but names that are like that stand out and you have to wow me to get an interview." I remember this moment so well, it 's kind of scary. When Sam started talking to us about it in class I already knew where he was going with it. In my opinion, it's complete crap. I mean, my name is Ashley but its not Lashaynay. My name is pretty unique though. It doesn't reflect my heritage in any way, but it strikes up conversation because no one's ever heard it before, which works to my advantage most of the time, but again it's pure crap.

I know we don't live in a perfect world. I never expected that, but it's still upsetting. No one should have to work extra hard on something because they were given a name that sounds "ghetto". I'm not going to ignore the obvious issues, because that's it. The issue is no one wants to hire someone ghetto, but I never thought a name had anything to do with who you are. If someone is named Brad, does it mean he's automatically going to the captain of the football team in high school? No, it doesn't. If our parents were able to predict the future when they named us, then we'd have a lot more Brads and a lot less Lindsays. I mean, a name is nothing more than something by which you are addressed. It has no weight on who you are as a person. People shouldn't act as though it does.

Now, there is going to be a day, hopefully, where I get to sit in a position where I can look over applications and call people in for interviews. I don't know what kind of employer I'll be to be honest, but I sincerely hope that I'm not one who makes such idiotic decisions. Shakespeare said, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Maybe employers need to read more and learn how to throw judgments where they belong, the trash.

So, first off, this is a bit of a loaded question. It deals with my own personal faith, the faith of my parents, and the beliefs of those around me, along with scientific evidence "against" my belief. So to answer the first question in short, yes, I have read literature about evolution. I believe in a theistic creation story. I believe that God started it all and through adaptation and sexual selection the world is what it is today. Why do I believe that? Well, because before I get into reading any literature, if you look around you and you see all the natural things in the world, you've got to stop and think there is more than just science at play here. Yes, there is a very scientific way of looking at the formation of rocks and mountains and trees and animals and me and you, but come on. Take trees for example, trees sole purpose is to take in water from the ground while defying gravity and take in carbon dioxide (which is harmful to use) and produce oxygen (which we need to survive). Okay, that alone is a sign that there is something bigger, I have a faith that it is an all-knowing God, but even if I didn't I'd still say that there was more than just science and numbers. Now, to get into why I believe what I believe and not naturalistic evolution, well that's faith. Faith is more than people think. Faith has three components: knowledge, belief, and trust. I know that there is a God in Heaven who created this world for me, I believe that He created this world for His glory, and I trust that His plan is greater than I can fathom.

Now, I didn't always live life this way. I wasn't a die-hard Christian before college. If anything, I believed that science held the answer to everything and that maybe there was a god but I didn't think that he did everything. So yes, I know the scientific aspect of it. I've read all of my history. I know that the reason some ignorant people say that humans come from chimps is actually because somewhere along the line we had a common ancestor and then somehow half of us evolved into chimpanzees and the other half evolved into the human beings we are today, but I don't believe that that particular theory discounts my belief. If anything, I think it strengthens it. The Biblical story of creation says that God created the world in 6 days and on the 7th He rested. However, God is outside of time. He is eternal and everlasting. He doesn't live within the constraints of our concept of time. He is who He is because He created it all. So, who's to say that a day for the Lord isn't over a million years in our time? No one. There is no proof of the clock that the Lord uses because He is above that. Knowing that and seeing things through that eye, only strengthens my faith. With that knowledge I now think and believe that the Lord created science too. Science is so beautiful. The fact that combining two elements makes something is amazing. Why are we looking at this as a battle and not as proof of the everlasting, eternal, all-knowing, awesome God that created the heavens and earth. He created philosophy and science, math and language. There is nothing about evolution that points away from God, but instead evolution glorifies the God in heaver and shows that His will for our existence is traced back to the beginning of time.

To answer Sam's final question, I do not believe what my parents believe because I blindly follow them. I will agree with him though. The majority of people believe what they believe because of their parents. Certainly I believe what my parents believe as do most of my friends, but that means nothing. I love that my parents raised me in the church but didn't spoon feed me Jesus. They let me make my own choices and because of that I'm a better person. I saw the world through the eyes of choice and free will. I chose to live this way because it was proven to me, not because my mother said believe or be disowned. I can't say the same for everyone but a lot of my friends say the same thing as me. Yes, our parents laid out great foundations for us and gave us a great background. We thank them for that, but we make our own choices. Who's to say we made the right or wrong one? Well, that's where my faith in Christ is found. I know, believe, and trust that one day Christ will come and everyone will be in awe of the Master of creation Himself. The beginning and the end.

So yeah, I may get weird looks when I tell people that I have full faith that adaptation and evolution are part of God's plan. That's life. I'm not going to be accepted by everyone. I'm going to stand out like a sore thumb, but you know what, I like it that way. I'm happy with who I am and with what I believe. No one can tell me that I'm wrong because I have evidence otherwise. If people chose to not believe, well, I can't do anything except pray that they can accept Christ as their Saviour before it's too late.