en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/6199668 Comments by breckenh http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-305/#IDComment625013755 Thursday’s lecture was one that actually provided some insight, which I haven’t gotten from many of the lectures. One thing that popped out in my head was when the girl walked up and down the aisle and picked out the white people who were “down with the brown”. What was interesting was that she walked right past me, my boyfriend, and my friend. She literally looked us right in the eyes and kept walking. I’m not offended that she didn’t choose us specifically, but more so at the fact that she only chose males who didn’t look “pale white”. Now, I’m pretty much white as paper, and I look like the whitest person you could possibly meet. My friend is similar, in that her parents are straight from Ireland, and my boyfriend is pure Dutch. We’re all pretty white. And I think, because we’re whiter than the others, she chose other people as opposed to us “whities”. So anyways, this girl chooses men who didn’t have all of the typical white traits to them – in that their skin could be considered olive. I think you can take this as a lesson in that people of all races judge others based on the color of their skin – this black girl judged lots of people in the audience and didn’t deem them “black friendly” because we looked whiter than the others. Of course, there are white people who judge blacks for the darkness of their skin, too. It’s just interesting that there is more judgment from EVERYONE than people normally think. It’s also interesting to note that when the one white girl in the audience called out this girl for only choosing olive-skinned males, the girl immediately backtracked and said “Oh, but you look down with the brown too, don’t worry.” Obviously she doesn’t, since she completely skipped over this audience member. Anyways, another thing I took from Thursday’s lecture was that there were different stages of being okay with race. I didn’t know that, to be honest, and it helped me understand things better. I’m sad to report that I was once the stage 2 person (or is it 3?) in which I tried to be too politically correct. Now, from a mixture of simply being in college and from this class, I think I’m comfortable enough in which race just doesn’t exist for me anymore – if you’re a good person, I like you, and if you’re not, then I don’t. Simple as that! There are still many people stuck in the overly-politically correct stage, though, and I’ll openly admit that occasionally I fall back into it. But no matter what, we need to expose ourselves to lots of different people, races, cultures, whatever in order to move up in the stages. Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:24:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-305/#IDComment625013755 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/28/voices-from-the-classroom-286/#IDComment608520954 Though I’m going with the really unpopular opinion, I thought that Tuesday’s lecture with Jasiri X and that other guy was, hands-down, one of the strangest and weirdest lectures I will probably ever attend. It was cheesy, ignorant, and essentially promoting a rapper’s album that was going to be released in the near future. Really? A class on race and ethnic relations is now having rapping lectures with album promotions in between? Come on. Seriously. So no, I did not empathize with the lecture at all. It really pisses me off that the entire lecture was Jasiri X essentially blaming white people for EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong in the history of America. Yes, white settlers obviously had slaves, discriminated against blacks up until the Civil Rights Movement, and so on. We all know that – why dwell on an unfortunate past? More importantly, why push the blame onto college students that were born in the 90s and have NOTHING to do with the situations? They’re over now. What we need to focus on is uniting for a good cause – whatever that may be – and working together instead of picking each other apart for events that happened decades ago. I’m probably one of the most accepting people out there – if you have a good personality, I like you, and I’ll be a loyal friend. I have friends from all different ethnicities and countries – Germany, India, Spain, Nigeria, and the list goes on. Race means nothing to me. You’re either a person who happens to have darker skin than I do or lighter skin – what’s the big deal? What really bothers me, though, is that there are many people in this soc class who separate races even more than they were in the first place. There is a “black section” up front in the class, and white kids normally sit in the back. This didn’t happen in the beginning of the semester – it was only changed when Sam started blaming white people for every problem on the planet and blacks started agreeing with him because they didn’t know what else to think. There are black people on twitter who insult whites, and vice versa – it’s disgusting, frankly. I remember one tweet from a black who said that slavery in Ireland cannot be compared to slavery in America. REALLY, DUDE? Slavery is the same no matter what color is being enslaved. It’s an awful thing and you just made it worse by somehow making it appear that enslaving black people is worse than enslaving typically white Irish people. Jasiri X pretty much continued this conversation on the whole class by blaming me, an 18 year old girl, and my peers for kicking Indians out, killing Trayvon Martin, and creating a wealth gap. Those are all problems but I sure as hell had nothing to do with it. I get angrier and angrier with this class as the days go by because it isn’t bringing people together, it’s separating them via Sam’s ignorant, bullshit, egotistical words. Mon, 1 Apr 2013 00:27:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/28/voices-from-the-classroom-286/#IDComment608520954 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/16/voices-from-the-classroom-273/#IDComment598158117 While the history of Haiti’s troubles was news to me, the topic of providing aid to foreign countries has been a source of debate for many years. Should the United States continue to provide aid even to war-torn places and very impoverished countries? Recently there have been rumors that if North Korea fired a nuclear weapon and it either a) backfired upon them due to lack of technology, or b) hit us or an ally and we subsequently attacked with our own arms, that the United States would provide financial and other forms of aid to the very country that has vowed to attack us. Is that even a good idea? Call me out all you want, and call me dumb and uneducated if you so please, but I think giving financial aid to other countries is an absolutely terrible idea. Though I identify with many Democratic ideals, but consider myself more along the lines of a Libertarian, I don’t follow the Democratic idea of providing aid to everyone. America has enough problems of its own, from the increasing financial gap that we have read about in our quiz readings to the fact that we literally have no money at all. So why create a bigger hole in our pockets by sending countries money and aid? We need to work on ourselves and create stability within our own environment before we can provide aid elsewhere. It’s just common sense. While that may cause conflict and hurt feelings, there honestly is no other option for our country. We must put ourselves first and become nationalistic for just a little bit. Strangely enough, I hold a negative view of America and don’t support what we do, our attitudes, etc. at all. We’re dumb and dig ourselves into a gigantic pitfall every day. Yet I’ll pull a bit of patriotism out and say that we need to wave our own flags and focus on OURSELVES before anyone else. I know I’ve said that about 50 times already, but it’s true. I think the Haiti Initiative is great and all, and it’s wonderful that students go down to provide assistance to Haitians. That’s the type of aid we should be giving to Haiti all the time – aid from our hearts, and good old volunteerism. Not money. Private donors could donate aid to Haiti and other countries, but not our government – they are so far in debt that we should probably be the ones receiving aid for ourselves. By teaching Haitians English, helping them learn how to farm, giving them water filtration systems and all that other jazz, we’re providing aid that will last much longer than money. There’s an old saying that says “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime” (or something similar). THAT’S what we need to do. We must aid other countries by providing non-financially draining support that will help their economy in the end – we simply cannot afford to keep supplying endless amounts of money. Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:35:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/16/voices-from-the-classroom-273/#IDComment598158117 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/01/voices-from-the-classroom-266/#IDComment592003254 I think that the stigma against reincarnation has a few influences. First of all, most Americans identify as Christian whether they attend church or not. Even a lot of people who were never raised under a religion hold generally Christian beliefs, or at least something similar. Namely, there is one all-powerful, all-knowing God, and when we die, or souls ascend to heaven or descend to hell after being judged. Christianity permeates all throughout American culture, whether it’s specific or more subtle. Whether it’s true or not, many people claim that America is a Christian nation. This definitely has some truth to it, seeing how many Christians live here. The point that’s important to this discussion is that our culture is more Christian than anything else, and the idea of reincarnation simply clashes with American culture. Most Americans probably believe in some version of heaven or hell, which precludes one soul to each person that spends its life in the human body and moves to heaven or hell after death, a concept that is mutually exclusive with reincarnation. If souls are simply reincarnated after death, heaven and hell serve no purpose, and thus probably don’t exist. Since this is at odds with most Americans’ beliefs, they will sooner discount reincarnation rather than Christianity. Another factor is the “crazy” factor. That is, most people would say you sound crazy if you claim to be another person or a dog or a tree reincarnated. The idea just sounds silly to most Americans who see a soul as something with strong ties to its one body. Many people probably imagine a soul looking like a ghostly form of the body it once inhabited, so a soul going from a human body to a tree doesn’t make a lot of sense and seems silly. Claiming such a thing has happened is enough to earn anyone a “crazy” label, which most Americans take quite seriously. Anyone labeled “crazy” is automatically and completely discredited, deemed an unfit member of society, and excused of all crimes due to insanity. This seems dramatic, but it’s actually quite true. Nobody who is labeled crazy is taken seriously in America. People treat them like they aren’t human. Reincarnation is also a very Indian idea, which may or may not be a factor. There seems to be a subtle bias against India in America, similar to the subtle bias against reincarnation. There are other Indian ideas that clash with the beliefs of most Americans, such as polytheism. When it comes down to it, Indian culture is very different from our own, and reincarnation is an artifact of that culture. This helps explain why it is such a difficult concept for Americans to swallow. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:01:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/01/voices-from-the-classroom-266/#IDComment592003254 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-257/#IDComment578735688 I have been raised without a religious affiliation for my entire life, and my parents never forced me to accept and follow their views. Instead, while we didn’t go to church, I was allowed to go with friends if I wanted to, and of course I could read about the Bible. This combination led to me being a theistic agnostic, if that’s even a proper term – meaning, I don’t really know if there is a God and I think I’m way too ignorant to make a definitive opinion. However, I like to hope and am cautiously optimistic that there may indeed be one. However, my views can change every so often; if someone makes a good argument whichever way, I’ll follow it. Many times I have considered myself either atheist or Christian. With that being said, no matter what news I may receive regarding if there is a God or not would not affect my life in a huge way, but would make me either content (if there is a God) or a bit disappointed (if there wasn’t). I’ll address each answer separately. If there was an announcement that proof of a God exists, I would definitely start to pray and try and make up for not going to church. I’d like to think that I’m not a bad person and God would forgive me, but you never know. Essentially, I would convert to full on Christianity and try and live my life in that way, while still keeping my values close to heart (such as marriage equality, pro-choice, etc). It’s a possibility like this that keeps me on the “theistic” end of the agnostic spectrum, because what’s the hurt trying to believe? If there is a God, then I’ll be one step closer to going to Heaven. And if not, well, it’s not like I wasted my whole life going to church. On the other hand, if I received news that there wasn’t a God, I would be not devastated but maybe a bit disappointed. I think it’s a really incomprehensible idea to have a higher being rule over us, and while I am all for evolutionism and scientific stuff, I think it would have been neat if there was a God guiding the Earth’s development. There’s so much out there that we still have to learn, and if there was proof of no God, then I feel like the path of science would change. While religion and science typically don’t get along, there may be some new scientific studies that come from a different angle if there was definitive proof. In all, my life wouldn’t change drastically either way. I know of others whose lives would change drastically – for example, my best friend who has a very strong relationship with God, or my boyfriend, who is a very hard atheist. It would be interesting to see their answers to this question. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:17:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-257/#IDComment578735688 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-249/#IDComment573673870 As a person whose parents have traveled almost everywhere in the globe, I have always wanted to explore the world and see what it has to offer. Whether for a good cause of not, exploring another country provides a world of insight and culture that can’t be found anywhere else. More specifically, simply by Skyping with an international friend from Iran opened up a world of surprises and possibilities for Penn State students interested in studying and traveling abroad. In my own personal example, I have always wanted to visit Iran or another country in the Middle East. There is a famous photographer located in New York City who runs a Facebook/tumblr – based blog of photos of fellow New York Citians and other fun images. Recently, the photographer traveled to Iran to take a series of pictures to prove to the majority of the world (and his own viewing audience) that Iran was not all about war and destruction like the media has led us to believe. Instead, there are beautiful people, sceneries, and much more to be explored. Our friend Maziar of Iran Skyped with us and, in my opinion, helped to break down that barrier of reluctance many people have over travelling to the Middle East. He was actually surprised when Sam told him that many people are afraid to go to Iran in the fear that Americans are hated and could possibly be killed. In fact, most Iranians LOVE America and all of the fun pop-culture trends we have. Maziar loved the TV show Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. Indeed, we also watched a video called “Persian Nights” highlighting the glamorous life of the rich and famous in Iran. Before I continue to utter out complete nonsense and strange words, just know that I haven’t slept in over a full day so the reason why I may sound a bit strange is because I am DEFINITELY not all there. To go back to the original question, the Skype and videos inspired me to travel to Iran even MORE. It did make me sad that, for example, in my discussion group there were some people who didn’t want to travel to the Middle East just because they had heard from out media that it was harmful and dangerous. I wish people read and saw the HONY Iran mission, and also talked with natives such as Maziar. Just by breaking these barriers of communication and taking a peek into the “normal life” of an Iranian can help someone’s xenophobia by that much. I do hope that one day I can travel to the Middle East with a guide and an open mind. Every country deserves to be explored as fairly and unbiased as possible. There is so much our world has to offer, and I am excited to explore it more and more! Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:49:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-249/#IDComment573673870 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-242/#IDComment568334934 Since we live in a society where males are supposed to be 100% masculine, tough, and unable to cry, there’s the stigma where a man complimenting another man is considered homosexual in nature. Compare this to a female complimenting another female by saying “Wow, you look so hot”, and it’s considered a kind and non-sexual act of friendship. This is because females are sort of molded to become a very affectionate and emotional human which is the complete opposite of what society makes to be “the ideal man”. I don’t think there is and should be a difference between both genders complimenting the same sex. Everyone deserves to feel good and be complimented, and if a friend compliments you, that’s totally okay. Now, if it were a stranger (whether male of female) telling someone of their same sex that they looked hot, that’s a bit different. Even as a female I would feel uncomfortable if someone I didn’t know called me hot. (Just to point out, this does NOT mean I’m a homophobe. Sam called a guy who was uncomfortable with one of the gay men’s advances a homophobe, and that is so unbelievably wrong. He was uncomfortable, not homophobic. And that made me extremely angry, but that’s not the point of this blog). Looking at a guy’s perspective, I think that the reason why there is purportedly a difference between males and females is that men aren’t taught to outwardly mention someone’s physical attractiveness, or even their personality. While you do hear parents tell their sons that they “look handsome,” you much more often hear the parents tell their daughter how pretty they look. Since women have been groomed since the beginning of mankind to look their best for mating purposes, whereas men simply have to be fit and “a survivor”, women are constantly wrapped up in their looks while men don’t need to worry about that. In a sense, I suppose this could contribute as to why it’s “weird” when men compliment each other’s looks because they’re simply not aiming to be told that and to make themselves “hot.” In my personal opinion, if you find someone attractive (and you know them and they’re not a stranger!!) you should be able to (comfortably and non-creepily) let them know without a social stigma placed against you. I know I compliment my friends all the time, both male and female. It goes both ways, as well. However, I have never seen a man compliment another guy just because of the idea that it will make them seem gay. I honestly don’t think that should be an issue. When someone’s attractive, let them know. It will make everyone feel good and can simply be accounted as an act of kindness, not of seduction. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:10:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-242/#IDComment568334934 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-235/#IDComment562206799 To struggle with something is one of the most universal conflicts that a person could have. I’ve suffered and struggled through things; my friends have, my parents, professors, and acquaintances all have, as well. Earlier this year I went through severe problems that prompted me to go on medication and require therapy. I took solace in knowing that I was not alone, no matter how bizarre and unique my situation seemed to be (and believe me, it was). At the risk of sounding a bit conceited, I feel like I’m a good person to give advice and I understand a lot of what people are going through. Based off of what my therapist told me, I would tell anyone going through a personal struggle to get help. Right away, no exceptions. What saddens me is that many people – especially young adults like myself – view therapy as something only for “crazy people” and involves the “crazy person” lying on a sofa while their therapist smokes a pipe and shows them ink blobs. And to be honest, I sort of looked down upon therapy until I was at rock bottom and I NEEDED it. It’s not something to be ashamed about and really, truly did help me a lot. Using what we learned in class, I would also make sure to tell someone that they’re not alone in their struggles. While that may not be the most ideal thing to hear, simply based off of teenagers’ personal fable effect, it’s true and needs to be appreciated and understood. There’s more than one person out there who has broken up with their significant other, had their parents divorce, and so on. It’s no longer a personal struggle and now more so a public issue. After getting over that initial hump of discomfort in thinking, “Oh, I’m now just like everyone else and still no one understands me”, eventually they’ll realize that if someone else made it through, then they can, too. That’s exactly how I was after 2 or so months of therapy. It takes time and effort, but afterwards I felt really good, which hadn’t happened in a long time. The most important thing to do helping someone get through a rough time is to listen and not to ask too many questions. If the person wants to talk and discuss everything, then they will. If not, then they won’t. They might be processing the fact that they are indeed not alone, and it’s just a matter of time as to whether they want to share or not. No matter what, know that whoever you’re helping out most likely really appreciates you being there for them. It’s also important, if you yourself are struggling, that once you’re okay you talk about your experience. That helps spread the word of your “public issue” and will help even more people. Mon, 4 Feb 2013 03:30:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-235/#IDComment562206799 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-232/#IDComment557199824 In one of the lectures the class learned that a large percentage of Americans would not want their children to marry an atheist. This, to me, is very shocking; for my generation, at least, it seems that a large majority of people are either atheist or agnostic, or some other form of a skeptic/non-believer. To answer the question posed in this video, no, I do not believe atheism is a bad thing. Atheism is, I guess you could say, a “religion” just like Christianity, Buddhism, or Hinduism. Each religion comes with a distinct set of beliefs that is to be respected and not judged by others. A few religious people I have talked to/overheard have the belief that Atheism is essentially Satanism. That is not true at all! Just because someone doesn’t believe in a God doesn’t mean they are a horrible person. My brother, for example, is an atheist and is a fantastic person. He’s my role model and constantly does much good for his community. The Americans surveyed most likely have this stigma against atheists in that they are wild, chaotic, and forsaken. And that angers me greatly; everyone deserves to be respected no matter who they are and what they believe in. I personally consider myself as agnostic, yet I have many friends with a wide variety of religions. If everyone could respect the fact that there are many, many different religions in the world, we would be much better off. As long as someone isn’t shoving their religion down others’ throats I don’t mind what they believe in, as long as they accept and respect what others think. I may seem repetitive, but not wanting a child to marry an atheist is just mind-blowing to me. I would love to interview some of the people surveyed and just ask them why. What would they say? There’s absolutely nothing at a face-level that distinguishes a Christian from an Atheist. In this country, where there is supposed to be a separation of church and state (but that can be debated, for another time), the last thing someone should be judged on is for their lack of belief in a God. That leads me to believe that America has, unfortunately, many selfish people who believe their religion is superior to all others, which is just not true. No religion is “confirmed” as the ultimate truth, so why must we act as such? To answer the second part of the girl’s question, ye, I would allow my child to marry an atheist. I would hope, though, that their potential child would be allowed to explore different religions and make their own minds up as what to believe in. My parents did that for me – allowing me to go to church with friends, do my research, etc. – and I feel more well-rounded because of that. I hope more people will start to become more accepting, because that’s something America desperately needs. Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:15:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-232/#IDComment557199824 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/18/voices-from-the-classroom-228/#IDComment549460690 After so many years of segregation, racism, and discrimination, America voted in the nation’s first black president, Barack Hussein Obama. Yet a change of the times brings controversy; many citizens questioned a black man’s ability to run the nation, and targeted Obama’s birth certificate, religion, and skin color. Despite Obama attending a Christian church and outwardly stating his religion, many still believe that Obama is Muslim. As a result, people target our president as a huge source of conflict and hate, and he has become the largest scapegoat in America. The belief holds that a “Muslim” president could not properly run the country. Why do so many people believe that Obama is Muslim? For starters, not many people like change. Every single president before Obama was white and Christian; these older men (with the exception of some, such as JFK), were distinguished, stoic, and thus ingrained themselves in the minds of Americans as the one and only presidents, the only men who could lead America forward. And yet in 2008 a black Senator from Illinois came forward, a young, good-looking man with young children and big dreams. So many people were shocked by the fact that, once Obama was elected into office, there was no longer a gray-haired white male in office. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. This change presumably scared lots of people and so instead of accepting and adapting to change, people decided to attack Obama in the image of the Civil Rights Era – using derogatory terms, for one, but also questioning his religion. Because Obama’s middle name is “Hussein,” Americans associate that name with radical Middle Easterns, namely Sadaam Hussein. This emphasizes many citizens’ close mindedness in that we associate a foreign sounding name such as Hussein with a terrorist, a Muslim, and, consequently, a bad person. Ever since then, the whole “Obama is a Muslim” thing has become a sort of domino effect; people who believe (or want to believe) such a statement teach it to their children, who then keep that in mind and follow in their parents’ footsteps. It’s a vicious cycle, and this spread of falsity can’t be stopped and probably never will. As long as there are people who are opposed to the name “Hussein”, are racist, xenophobic, or just very old fashioned, there will be people who believe that Obama is Muslim. Personally, I couldn’t care less what religion our president is. Even if he would be Muslim, as long as he separates church and state and doesn’t nosedive our country into turmoil, I’m set. The idea that religion has such an important factor on the effectiveness as a president is, frankly, ridiculous. Regardless, the idea that some Americans believe that Obama is Muslim is something that will sadly be around for quite a while. Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:23:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/18/voices-from-the-classroom-228/#IDComment549460690