First, I want to start off by saying thank you to M for writing this and having the courage to share such personal thoughts with us. It is hard putting yourself out there. It is really a privilege to read your insights.

I found this letter very powerful and moving. However, I am sure that we can never fully understand what it is like to be in prison through reading a letter. In class, we talk about empathy. I can empathize for M and the other lifers. It sounds like life behind bars is empty. It’s human nature to strive for happiness and the best life one can make for one’s self. Being in prison makes this difficult. I feel like it is almost completely hopeless. The only way to find peace is to look within and look to God.

I disagree that M will never find love. He can find love for himself and in God. He can look to God when he wants to feel loved. Being in prison I feel like the most important thing to do is to forgive yourself. Truly forgive yourself. Living on the brink of insanity will destroy the soul.

After reading this letter, I reflected upon my own life. I am so grateful for everything I have. It is so easy to take the simple things for granted. I have the freedom to seek happiness in whatever way that I want to. When I go home I have a whole house full of people who love me and people I love. Just imagining a life without those people is heartbreaking.

Even though M is immensely hindered by confines of his cell, he should still keep striving for happiness and peace. He should forgive himself for getting into jail and should do whatever he can to move on with life. Staying angry does not help anyone. Look to God and look within to find the love that is so desperately longed for. Even in prison life is not hopeless. Never say that life has no meaning because even in prison there is room to move forward.

I feel like discrimination is a never-ending part of life. If its not blacks, women, or gays, it’s got to be this. This is a controversial issue in our country today. I have conversations about it all the time. My viewpoint was once; you can't change your sex. God made you the way he wanted you to be. But people would not go through the pain and trouble of going through that surgery and the humiliation if they didn't think it was crucial to them. Putting myself into their shoes changed my viewpoint.

I couldn't live with life feeling like I was in the wrong body. "Being in the wrong body" can be backed up by the article we read in the first half of our class called "The Five Sexes, Why Two Are Not Enough." If a person can be part man and part woman on the outside who is to say that they cannot be part of both on the inside? We can all agree that there are characteristics and typical ways of living life that are ruled by gender. What if the hormones and feelings of being a man was all present in a woman's body? What if that is just how she is? If people would accept her the way she was she wouldn't feel the need to change her sex from female to male, but that is where sociology comes in play.

I think is absolutely absurd that He lost his job over being accused of being transgendered. The article said that he was asked about it, refused to respond, and then was immediately fired. He is legally a man and that is all the workplace should be concerned about. Rumors and personal beliefs should not come into play here. His job requires him to be male and he is legally male therefore he should not be refused of his job for being a questionably male in the eyes of some individuals. Employers have been known throughout history to discriminate against their employees for the wrong reasons. This type of discrimination should be treated no differently. Once a decision is made about something of moral concern all employers should accept those decisions regardless of their own personal beliefs. If they feel being transgendered is wrong or weird then I suggest to them that they do not get any transsexual surgery. Other than that I feel like they should treat all people with respect and fire people only under circumstances of their performance at work.

The video in class today blew my mind and broke my heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to the soldiers and families in all walks of the military. It is a tolling business to get into and it seems as though once you are there, you are stuck and those experiences in your life will be there to haunt you the rest of your life. It’s so depressing to try to put yourself into their shoes. It almost makes you cry.

Seeing what the marines’ initial response to those who asked for help in the video was infuriating. The article makes it seem as though they are attempting to make progress, but the stigma cannot be lifted overnight. I feel like it would have to be a part of training “not to be a pussy.” When you see death and cause death everyday, its not “being a pussy” needing to let out that pain. It’s pretty obvious that emotional wounds are more deadly in the military than physical ones. Losing your mind to hallucinations and voices other than your own is not curable with a cast or a surgery. Those men need the right kind of help and there absolutely should not be anyone standing in their way and making them feel like lesser men because they need to get better.

This video opened my eyes and heart to a problem I never considered much before. I have a newfound respect for those I know who have served in Iraq and my heart and prayers are now with them. I can’t imagine having to see some of the things they must have seen. No one who is brave enough to serve in Iraq should be disrespected and called “a pussy” because they need to talk to someone about thoughts they are having that are causing them pain. If the military is conditioning its soldiers to feel as though their life does not matter and is killing more of its own than the enemy does, there is a problem and a big one. The article is implying that the military has realized this problem and it taking initiative to fix it but I’m not so sure that the video implies the same initiative. I hope those soldiers get the help they need.

Not being involved in an organized religion isn't necessarily a bad thing. Being uninvolved with an organized religion leaves you free to interpret God in anyway that you feel. Instead of being told what to feel and do and think, you can figure it all out on your own. I think organized religion is on its way out because of how judgmental and hypocritical it can be. Like Christianity for example, they tell you God loves all his children, and then they hold protests screaming, "God hates gays! God hates gays!" That doesn't seem very "Christian" to me. Examples like this one could go on for days.

Lots of people consider themselves Christians, but don't practice in a church. I disagree that religion itself will altogether be forgotten because religion is necessary for humans to cope with life. Religion is what gives us answers to those unanswerable questions. Like: What happens when we die? How did we get here? Is someone/something watching over us? Voltaire said, "If God didn't exist it would be necessary to invent him." Which is completely true. But that statement brings on a completely different question: does God exist or did we invent him?

Organized religion is probably on its way out because of the sociological effect just a few people becoming unaffiliated can have on the rest of the population. If a child grows up in a home with parents who are unaffiliated that increases the possibilities that the child will be unaffiliated. Like the article said, if someone has a few friends that do not go to church then they themselves are more likely not to go to church too. It’s a psychological and sociological effect. People will go with the majority.

If you look back in history you can see that people have become less and less serious about religion over time and its only logical to predict that it will continue to get worse. I agree that religion is on its way out but I don’t think God will ever be out. All you have to do is look around and you can see God’s work everywhere. There is no way this beautiful planet just sprung up out of nothing. I think the world will hang onto God for as long as time goes on.

I want to start off by saying that B is a really good writer and very enjoyable to read. I also want to apologize if I was one of the people that wrote on an earlier post and irked him in anyway, I can't remember if I was or not. Being in prison for life and NOT taking a life must be horrible. I am not condoning the kind of felony he did commit, but when you think about it the sentence does not really seem fair? Being is jail is very similar (but not any where near as bad) as killing someone. If I were to ever go to prison life as I knew it and dreamt of it would be over forever. Its absurd that someone else's actions can lead you to life in prison. How can you tell what the people in your company are thinking?

It seems as though a lot of things shaped this person's life. His household that he happened to be born into, the neighborhood his house was in, the area surrounding his house, the city surrounding the area all contribute to the day that changed his life. All of the factors and forces were shaping the outcome of all the events. I will use the example of robbery. I knew and was close to people who have robbed a house before; all of these people carry switchblades on their person. I am no longer associated with these people, but I can see them finding themselves in a situation where someone dies and they go to prison for it even if they don't kill the person. It horrifies me.

People in prison are absolutely there for a reason, but no one is in the position to judge any one man’s situation based on the whole. This class is at large about being open to other perspectives and trying to understand the sociological impacts that shape our decisions. Getting mixed up in the wrong crowd turns good people into criminals. It’s a horrifying truth about life. Reading about the lifers has taught me to be wary but to not be too quick to judge. Everyone has a story and the most important thing is to take time to listen to it before I make my judgments.

I have had a strong opinion about this topic before we discussed this in class, and now it is even stronger. Of course gay/lesbian couples should be allowed to raise children? I see absolutely no reason what-so-ever why they should not be able to, and I never have. This video, along with the video showed in class, should be more than enough evidence to anyone who disagrees that having "two mommies" or "two daddies" has nothing to do with raising a child. If you want to propose the argument that each child should have one mommy and one daddy, then you are suggesting all children who are raised by one mommy and no daddy are at the same risk. What about the kids raised by one mommy and one grandmother or any of the other combinations of caregivers?

Modern families are all different and there is no such thing as the "right" family. What makes up a family is a group of people who love each other and help each other through life. We discussed the fundamentals of families in class on monday, and concluded that the vast majority of the functions are fulfilled by the gay/lesbian couples. The argument most used by those who oppose gay/lesbian parenting is that the children will end up gay because they have an example right in the home. This assumption is absurd to me because your sexual orientation is not determined by your surroundings, it is determined by something within just like straight children. I never sat down and decided to be straight and I can't imagine that gay people sat down and decided being gay would be a beneficial decision for them to make.

Bad parenting is probably much more likely to take place in families with straight parents vs those with gay parents. Like the man said in the video showed in class, "All straight parents need to do is [have sex], and we need to be grilled with every question in the book." This is absolutely true! Everyday drug dealers/addicts, abusers, homeless, and uneducated people have children everyday. I would say the focus of concern should be on those children not the children of gay/lesbian couples.

What makes up the stereotype of white people? When a white athlete makes a slam dunk a common phrase would be "white boy got hops!" or when a white girl pulls off really good dance moves people might say, "that white girl can actually dance!" These of course are only two of the examples I've heard in my own life. Other things are being cheap, greedy, selfish, and physically/socially awkward.

I have a friend who is constantly referred to as the "whitest black person alive." This boy played baseball and volleyball in high school, had really good grades, wore glasses, spoke with a proper accent, and always dressed in a way that would typically be considered "white." People would always say the only "black" characteristic he had was his ability to dance. But, why do we separate characteristics into "white" and "black" categories.

The reason the man in the video is considered "white" is because of his demeanor. He has constant awkward and short body movements. I felt uncomfortable watching him. He tripped over his words frequently and paused awkwardly after his only joke. He could also be considered white because of what he is explaining. He is explain how to conceal a weapon in the crotch of his pants and speaking as though someone would need to reach a weapon "quickly" to fight attackers. He also insinuates that you should wear your concealed weapon all the time like when you are playing with your kids and watching TV on the couch. This almost suggests that white people have so many enemies to fight off.

Every race has stereotypes, so why should white people be any different. I feel like the difference between stereotypes against white people and stereotypes of other races is whites are not as offended by the stereotypes. I am white, and I never gave much thought to the stereotypes against me. I have never been offended by anything a person of another color has said to me regarding my race because I just took it in as something normal to say. I guess white people learn to look past snide comments, but should we?

This presents an interesting idea. However, I believe the government should let women make their own choices about their body and their babies. If a woman decides to breast feed that is fine. If she does not that is fine too. Why should something so small be of the government's concern? I was not breast fed and I turned out just fine. I'm not entirely sure how this issue is relatable to the over all well being of our country. We should not reduce ourselves to the point where the government needs to make all of our decisions. What if a woman is uncomfortable with the idea of breast feeding? Formulas, although not as good for babies, work just fine and the difference is minimal.

Before seeing this video I had never heard of polyandry. I am slightly familiar with polygamy and I disagree with it strongly. However, I am not entirely sure how I feel about polyandry. If the people practicing polyandry were in an environment where they geographically did not need to practice this, I have to say that I disagree with this practice too. But within the circumstances that this practice arose I understand the need for it.
I would like to say that I believe marriage is meant to be between two people only. I also would like to say that I believe my beliefs have been shaped by the culture that I live in. That is to say, if I were to have been raised in a different culture, it is highly likely that I would have different beliefs. Factors and forces outside of our control affect morals and spiritual beliefs. In this case, the specific needs of the whole created a system effective enough to fix the over all issue of dividing land and having a high population.
Something like this could be considered a “culture shock” to most people and possibly even to me before I started taking this sociology class. But I have learned to have an open mind about why people do the things that they do. Sociological factors and forces have shaped this culture into this practice. To them this practice seems normal. What is weird is that none of the brothers seem to have ever questioned this practice. I feel like it would be impossible for jealousy not to be an issue or the sibling rivalry on some level.
I am not sure how I feel about the idea that Chinese women will begin to have multiple husbands. That strict culture does not seem likely to change something as dominant as marriage. I feel like the Chinese would resort to marrying non-Chinese women before they would share a wife with another man. I know very little about Chinese beliefs and morals, but I think that they are too proud of people to share a woman with another man. But you never know how relationships can evolve when faced with a public issue.

I'm sure it is safe to say that nearly all people have done something regrettable and considerably stupid at least once while under the influence of alcohol. The grandfathers of stupid drunken decisions are the ones that leave you or someone else hurt or killed. This man is not a cold-blooded murderer. He made a mistake that could not be washed away with a cold shower in the morning.

This poem is heart felt and leaves me emotional after I read it because I know how common driving under the influence really is in the world. One second you are driving only thinking about avoiding police and getting home and the next you have killed someone. No one ever got any time to think that one through. In society we do not feel any pain for those who have committed the crime of driving while under the influence because it is repeatedly beat into our heads not to. We simply think, "he got what he had coming to him." But now that I read this I feel so terrible for this man, because he does not get any love anymore from anyone except his mother. His friends, his wife, his pride, and his hope have been peeled away one by one throughout his years in prison and it will be more than difficult to get them back if he ever leaves that prison.

I am not saying he should not be held responsible for what he did. He was taught just like the rest of us not to break the rule of driving while under the influence. He broke it, and when he broke there were real consequences for it. However, I want to point out how many people break that same rule and make it home without suffering the consequences. We do not approach those people in the same way would approach this man. I am happy to know that this man feels God’s forgiveness in his heart even though society will never forgive him for what he did. I hope he can learn to remember the good things in life.