What Sam is trying to do is not say that Christians are trying to take over the world. What he is trying to get people to do (and unsuccessfully in your case) is to look it at this topic from their point of view. It is extremely easy to be surrounded by our bubble as Americans and just eat whatever the media and politicians feed us. It is as a lot harder to actually take a deeper look into the topic and see what is really going on.
As Sam mentioned in class and the video, George Bush called the war in Iraq a crusade. If the Muslim world didn't already believe that America was out to kill all of them, now they had direct proof. I cannot believe Bush or his speechwriters could ever be so stupid as to use the word crusade. That word right there gave them more than enough ammo to recruit more terrorists. Another reason the terrorists have been expanding there recruiting is because of torture. It was specifically outlined in the Geneva Convention that you cannot torture prisoners of war. Somehow Bush claimed that these prisoners didn’t apply under the Geneva Convention, but I can definitely see how leaders could use this as ammo to get Muslims mad at America.
Please don’t be so shortsighted and think that Sam is trying to blame Christians for the war and the reason that terrorists are so mad at America. He is just trying to make people look it at it from their view. I totally agree with him. If some country with people who didn’t look like me, talk like me, or worship the same God as me came into my homeland and started killing my people I would sure as hell be fighting them. I think it is in our basic human nature to try and protect our own. If I felt that my family was in danger, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect them, even if that meant fighting American soldiers.
When it comes down to it, we as a country are trying to do what is best for us. The same thing has been repeated throughout history under many different names. The English, French, and most of the rest of Europe did it to Africa, and now we are doing it to the Middle East. The sad truth about life is that if you want to get ahead, someone else has to fall behind. We are fighting to secure oil for our future. Is this wrong? In my book it is. Then again, we are protecting our “American way of life.” People can spin the situation any which way and give any number of false reasons for us going into these wars, but the fact is we are fighting so our children can have the same luxuries as us.

I have to say that this video really got to me. I can truly say that I was completely unaware of the sort of self hatred black and brown people had in their youth, and possibly later on in life. Watching the video actually reminded me of a story that my mom always told me about when I was younger. Apparently during the time that cabbage patch kids were all the rage my parents took me to the mall to go get one. Instead of picking the doll that looked like me, (white, very white) I choose a black boy doll. Since I was so young, I do not remember this decision and the process I went though to select this black doll.
It is really astonishing to me that when the observer asked which doll the black and brown kids would like to play with, that they chose the white doll. It was even more disturbing that they said the “nice” doll was the white doll. I had always assumed that kids would pick the doll that looked most like them. I just figured this was human nature, and partly the reason why people became friends with other people who looked and acted like them. I really had no idea that the media and society trained us at such a young age to view white as better than black. Like Sam said, it was really painful to watch them make a decision, and then try to justify the decision when questioned by the researcher. They weren’t sure why they had chosen the white doll and said it was nice while the brown one was bad, but they for sure knew it was the “correct” answer. The children said their answers with such confidence it was frightening. I found myself asking “how the hell do these kids already have such clear bias AGAINST THEMSELVES?”
Are the media and other established institutions really that biased? The answer must be yes. How else would such clear racism come about at such an early age when they have not been influenced by their peers or teachers?
As the week went on after viewing this video, I found myself taking a deeper look at media in all forms. TV, magazines, and movies all became little experiments for me. I wanted to see how such a phenomenon could happen. I found that it really is true, media most of the time does favor whites. In a society where whites are more and more coming the majority, ads and television portray white people as the end all be all race. Then I found myself asking, why is that? May be it be that white people have most of the buying power in the US, so naturally marketers will try and target them? Perhaps. I truly believe that it is the long held institution of white society that has ingrained these children into believing what they do. Hopefully in the coming years these institutions will be knocked down and more self worth will be held in the youth of black and brown people.

I understand this analogy and what Sam is trying to get at. However, I don’t agree with analogy in the least bit. There are some things that just don’t HAVE to be discussed. Is it such a shock that people don’t want to hear about other peoples bowl movements or periods? I don’t think so. Do I share that I just farted or puked? No. I believe the reason for this has less to do with sexism and more to do with what people are grossed out about. Taking a dump or changing your tampon are not pretty things and one of them smells bad. We all know that everybody does these things, but I don’t think that they must be openly talked about. Sam may say that I am holding on to this constraint that society has taught me, but I just think the reason I don’t like talking about certain bodily functions is because they gross me out. Just like some people are grossed out by blood or have a fear of heights , I don’t like periods or poop. That’s just the way I am.
One reason I think that society has put periods into this hush category is because it happens in the vagina. Almost everything that happens around the “bathing suit” area seems to be taboo in most countries. I believe it was first the church that taught us that this is a “bad” area. The Catholic church made it a sin to touch or pretty much do anything with our private parts, and this tradition has continued for a long time. Just like erectile disfunction is a hush thing to talk about, periods are in this same category.
I will not put down girls for talking about their periods because I know it is a natural function of life. However, it does gross me out and I wouldn’t like for them to describe their flow to me in detail. I know it happens to all women and it is something that none of them can change, just like pooping, but it does gross a lot of guys and girls out, so I would appreciate it if women kept their bodily functions to themselves. I don’t think the correlation between race and periods is relevant. On one hand we have something that none of us can change, and on the other we have a social institution that we put in place and that is fluid, meaning it can and has changed. I do agree that you can’t fault women for having their periods, just like you can’t fault anyone for their race. However, periods are a bodily function and they are gross in my opinion. Race for some people can be gross if they are racist, but for most people it is seen as a boundary that divides us.

Let me just start off by saying that I know I will be getting a lot of flack for my stance on this topic. I am ok with that. I played football throughout high school, so I believe I have some experience on this topic. It is my personal opinion that a woman usually isn’t right for the position of head coach. I believe for one, that you must have played high school football in order to coach. Just like a commander in battle, one must have been presented the same obstacles and overcome them in order to accurately lead a squad. Furthermore, football is an extremely male dominated sport. I doubt if Calvin Coolidge High School has ever even had a female on their team. As young men, we naturally seek guidance from older males. I personally had and still do have a very close relationship with my high school football coach. I just really don’t believe that a great connection can occur between a male and a female.
Another reason a women might be an inferior head coach is because of the locker room. There are things that happen in a high school football locker room that a woman would most likely not want to see. Purely based on sex and sexual organs, I don’t think a woman would be able to establish a connection with the players in the locker room. When I was in high school I would go to my coach with problems like home life, grades, my future, and girls. The last thing on my list is especially important. Stupid things like not being able to talk to your coach about girls, or always watching what you say around her might actually have more consequences then one might think. Going back to my reference to a battle commander, the players on a team must have complete faith in their leader just like an army must trust their general. Not having a connection with your coach could cause serious problems on the field and at practice. A player must not second guess his coach, whether it be because of a lack of a connection, or lack of faith in her coaching ability due to inexperience.
I really don’t want people to think that I am sexist, or have it out for women. I really don’t. I actually love girls, except when it comes to leading a high school football team. Besides from a lack of a connection that I believe would occur, by far the most important aspect that a woman football coach would lack is experience. I just don’t see how the team as well as the other coaches could trust a person who has never (or rarely) ever been in the same situation as them. I just don’t believe you can tell someone to have complete faith in what they are saying when they have never actually been there themselves.

I really don’t agree with pretty much anything this girl said. As a member of the greek community, I have been to a lot of theme parties. It is true we dress up like idiots from time to time and that occasionally we do make fun of different ways people dress, but we do make fun of EVERYONE. We have themed socials ranging from white trash trailer bash to gangsta. In no way shape or form do we try to single out a group to make fun of. If you cant make fun of yourself, than that is a real shame. Since we have plenty of different types of people in my fraternity, everyone gets their turn to get made fun of. The “ghetto” kids get their turn on gangsta night and the Jersey kids get made fun of during guido night. The people getting made fun of don’t get mad about these themes because they know that its all in fun and nobody is trying to put them down.
As far as specifically for targeting out the black community, besides the “gangsta” theme, I have never seen this while at Penn State. It may happen at some parties, but as for me specifically, I have had no experiences with this. I think that the black community at Penn State sometimes think that everyone is out to get them. Maybe it is because I’m white and from a very racially diverse area, but I don’t see a reason to be so apprehensive about white kids at Penn State. It might be that they have had bad experiences with kids from the country part of PA. If this is the case than I can feel for them because that is truly sad in this day. However, this does not mean that they should be suspect or suspicious of all white kids. I think the girl in the video really over-generalizes the white community at PSU. It is true there are a lot of stupid white kids who might have racial issues, but these kids are ignorant and I honestly feel bad for them. However, for the most part I believe the white community at Penn State is pretty open minded and tries to respect other cultures. This class has really opened my mind to how far we have to go, but in general I think we are doing pretty well. You hardly ever see a fraternity or sorority with all white kids in it. Looking at our pictures from years back, I can tell you this was not always the case. With time there has been many more people from different races involved in the greek community. Hopefully in years to come we can build on this and we wont need all black fraternities or sororities, and we can just have groups of people who look past each others skin color or ethnicity, and just look at their common bond.

Growing up in a family where my father is in the oil industry, and my uncle is in the timber industry; I have had a skewed sense of environmentalism. These industries have funded a complete side of my family and for the most part, and have gotten me to where I am today.
It is really both easy and hard to insult the oil industry to me. Like casinos, I can see the good and the bad. Oil is present in all parts of our economy. We have used oil to advance our country on so many levels. During World War 2 we used our oil supplies to defeat the axis powers. Even now we fight wars to secure our oil supplies for years to come(not I do not agree with this).
On the other hand I can completely see where oil has lead us to a bad place. It is not only bad for our environment, but also affects us directly. Like the article well put, oil refineries cause cancer in the surrounding areas along with many other bad consequences.
I can really see how this aspect of oil is causing serious harm. Like many others, I have unfortunately had to deal with the harmful affects of cancer. My mother had breast cancer, and I believe that if there is any way possible, that we should not cause this horrible disease on anyone.
It is really a double edged sword when it comes to oil refineries. Like casinos, it can cause great wealth to accumulate in a place where industry is hard to come by. On the other hand, these oil refineries are both dangerous to the people who work on them, and the citizens who live in the surrounding areas. It is really a shame that these are the only two industries available to the Native Americans who are just looking to establish themselves. It is very apparent that these are the last of the forgotten and misused people in the United States. I really with that the rest of us,who pretty much stole their land could give them something back that doesn’t harm them.
So when I think about the oil refineries that the Native Americans have, I think about the god and the bad. They are doing a job which many other Americans share. However, they are also doing something that harms a group of people that doesn’t need any more harm. They are doing these jobs not because it is there choice, but because it is one of their only options. I really wish there were better options available to these people who we have caused so much harm, but there are not. It is a cruel world, and I wish it were different.

Like prof Richards I have also thought about sexuality in the bible. Growing up Quaker, I was encouraged from a young age to read the bibles, and was “forced” to attend Sunday school. We learned about most of the stories of the bible. This is what I thought. After reading books on scripture, I realized that I had not been told ALL of the stories. There are many tales in the bible that would go against many bible-belt’s morals. It seems so ironic that the people who take the good book to be completely literal are the same ones who protest against some of its ideals. It seems that the bible embraces sexuality, and the religious fanatics who love the bible it seem to hate it. I would really like to sit down and have a discussion with one of those people and see if they have actually read the bible. Although I guess it is easy to simply read something and not understand it. I could read a book on mechanical engineering and be no wiser. It takes a certain level of education and higher thinking to comprehend what is read.
It is also very interesting to me that right wing religious fanatics teach abstinence only. In the article, it quoted the bible when god told adam and eve to be fruitful and multiply. It seems as if god wants us to have sex and recreate. Even in the New Testament, Jesus’ closest friend was a prostitute. Many scholars actually believe Mary Magdalene wasn’t actually a prostitute, and that later Christians made this up to cover up the fact that Jesus was married. Whatever the case, in many instances in the bible sexuality is not frowned upon, but rather accepted as a part of life.
The last comment I made actually came up in our discussion group this week. I argued that we are all animals and that sex is just another basic human instinct. Some of the other members of the group were saying that sex is not influenced by our instincts, but rather by our gender roles. I agree that this helps shape our sexual “structure,” but I really do think that when it comes down to it, we are all animals. Men are hunters and we like to catch our prey. Women are supposed to be the selective ones, picking out a mate who is strong and will create healthy children. Whether we know it yet or not, I think when push comes to shove; we do what we do because it is engrained in us from birth.
So am I going to go up to my religious friends and yell TOLD YOU SO.. no. It would just be nice if the people who were doing the preaching (ie the Willard preacher) would take a minute to research the things they are talking about every single day. It is still a great book and can teach us many things, but maybe we shouldn’t base every single action we take on something that is morally questionable and a bit outdated.

I chose to respond to this article because it is something I feel very strongly about. I have always had a strong interest in politics, and after taking a media and democracy class last semester I have many strong feelings. I strongly agree with the author of the article. It is a sad truth, but most voters base their decisions on feelings rather then facts. If a politician is able to simplify a topic for voters, then they will most likely vote for him/her over the competition. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that most of the population isn't as educated as they should be, or that they truly don't care enough to research it. In my media and democracy class we talked about sound bite news. I feel like this is very relevant, because the American people tend to have a very short attention span. If a topic takes more then thirty seconds to explain, then the people will not be interested in it. Watching the news, it is very evident that the media executives have discovered this secret. A lot of times they show news clips that are almost completely insignificant, but that play to peoples emotions. A news story that hits the viewers in the heart is almost always more effective than ones that hits viewers in the head. It is as if the American public works hard all day and comes home not wanting to think anymore. It could also be that emotions are just the name of the game. We have all seen the great success of reality shows in this country. People want something that they can emotionally react to instead of something that they have to think about and evaluate. I really hope that over the years the American people will learn to research topics instead of basing their voting decisions on emotions only. This is my dream, but I highly doubt things will change any time soon.

It is amazing to me that in 2010 we are still dealing with such blatant racism. Before reading the article I was aware that there were far right wing groups in europe, however I was not aware that these groups expressed there "opinions" in soccer stadiums. I really feel sorry for the players who have to deal with those idiots. Being an athlete, I can definitely see how racist chants could get in a players head and throw them off their game. It is really unbelievable to me that nothing has been done about this problem thus far. Its not like drastic measures are needed to help solve this problem. Simply don't let people in with signs or loudspeakers. This would probably cut the problem in half. I do think that fifa is taking a step in the right direction. The president really took a hard stance when he said that he would stop playing in a stadium whose fans were representing racist behavior. I think its steps like this that will help to curb the problem. I really hope that the president backs up his big statements. This problem is long overdue and needs to be addressed asap. Its unfortunate that we have to deal with these problems in 2010, but hopefully it is the beginning of the end.

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