This is going to come off strong because, as I mentioned in discussion, I am extremely strong in my faith. But I digress. The story of Adam and Eve is the foundation to this question. God created Adam in the image of himself (Genesis 1:26) and Adam was perfect. He was pure and fulfilled God’s hope for the human race. At this point in time, free will didn’t exist but everything God created was good; that is repeated six times in the first chapter of Genesis. When God created Eve, he did so because Adam needed a mate to further the species. “They were both naked and they felt no shame.” –Genesis 2:25 They were both comfortable with how they looked and how their bodies were formed.
Most people know what happens next; Eve screws over man-kind because she eats the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and then persuades Adam to do the same. When they do so their eyes are “opened” and they are ashamed of their naked bodies (Genesis 3:7). Sin has made its way into their lives. The only reason we, as children of God, have free will is because sin is present. If Adam and Eve had obeyed God and not eaten the fruit, the human species would still be good and pure.
Fast forward about 7000 years and Jesus, the son of God according to Christianity (and my beliefs), is born. Thirty-three years into his life, Jesus is crucified so he can take away our sins; the sin that “ruined” the human race millennia before.
When we pick apart our appearances, that is sin entering our lives; no human can live without sin. Because God gave his son to take away our sins, if we accept God into our lives and repent, no act we commit will damn us. Every day we “thumb our noses” at God, not just by picking apart our appearance, but by simply living…and you can thank Adam and Eve for that.
The comment Sam made about not knowing so we should “just pray about it” really offended me. To me, praying isn’t something you just do to be enlightened; it isn’t weed or shrooms. Praying is an intimate conversation with your heavenly father. You can’t pray for a better job, a new nose, or someone to love you. God has the power to change all that, but he chooses not to because, then, we wouldn’t have our free will. They way Sam said that comment made me feel like something I cherish and honor was met with skepticism and distain. I am trying to keep an open mind and take everything with a grain of salt. However, something as serious as religion, so serious that people are willing to die to defend their beliefs, shouldn’t be the butt of a joke.

I have no problem with black people, Hispanic people, Asian people or any other minority. With that said, I don’t think I would ever date someone who isn’t the same race/skin color as me. This in no way makes me racist or an advocate of white supremacy. I just believe that because I grew up in a predominately white community, I have grown to be attracted to white men; more specifically blonde hair, blue eyed, slender, and tall white male. I am attracted to the stereotypical and politically incorrect All-American boy. I think black men are extremely attractive (Usher, Chris Brown, my friend Lucardy) but I don’t find myself attracted to them. I have a friend that grew up in inner city Baltimore. She was one of seven white girls in her school and she is extremely attracted to black men. White men have no appeal to her.
I think everyone is genetically wired to be attracted to a certain type. Some people are wired to like tall people; some people like short. Some people like blue eyes while others like brown. Some men like other men and some women like other women. People are born that way and are encouraged by their surroundings. If I brought a black man home, my grandparents would throw a fit. I hate that about them and I would be appalled by their behavior. Luckily, I don’t think I would ever have that problem.
If I had grown up in a big city, with a large amount of black men or Hispanic men, I would have developed an attraction for the demographic I was most exposed to. Tolerance also plays a role into attraction. Had my grandparents also grown up in a culturally diverse city, they would also be more tolerant of me dating men that are not the same race as me, assuming I would be attracted to a non-white man.
As for adopting a child that is not the same race as me, I would be beyond ok with that idea, assuming I couldn’t have one of my own. Would having a white baby make my family look more “picturesque” and “real”? Of course it would! Would I love my son or daughter just the same regardless of their race or cultural background? Without a doubt. If I was given the OPTION, I would have to see both babies and see which one is “the one” via the feeling I get, the interaction we have and the energy between me and the babies. If I couldn’t do that, I honestly would think I would want the white baby. That sounds terrible and racist but a part of me would want that child to look like mine.

In the past few months, I have learned about blind devotion/faith. The Penn State community has so much pride in their school that the second someone speaks out against it, they become defensive. I’m not saying I don’t love Penn State; I’m just saying that love has to be within reason. Rewinding back to November and December, the reaction of the students after Joe Paterno was fired was extremely misplaced. It sucks that such an amazing and inspirational man was fired, but that is no reason to flip a media van, knock down light posts, and make the student body look like a bunch of maniacs. Granted the chaos was probably ignited by some drunken idiot doing something stupid but acting like animals, while “supporting” Joe, was a blind action of idiocy.
Furthermore, after the media van was flipped and the light posts were broken, how many people continued to create chaos? At that point in time, doing so was not showing our disagreement with the Board of Trustee’s decision; it was the student body taking something too far. Blindly following. No one had the intention of tearing apart College Ave. that Wednesday night. One person’s actions created a ripple that lead to destruction. This happens all around the world and is the cause of some horrific events. Nazis blindly followed Adolf Hitler and, in doing so, created one of the most studied and horrific genocides of the modern world.
The idea of blindly following/blind devotion is most evident in religion. As a devout Christian, I have found myself thinking about all the rituals and prayers done during a service. Half of the time, I have no idea why I am saying the words coming out of my mouth or doing what I am doing. To not, would mean sticking out in the congregation and, as drilled into my mind since I was a child, would be offending God. My Jewish friends are finding themselves not participating in religious holidays and I find myself wondering how important their religion is to them. Even people of Islamic faith blindly follow what they assume is their God’s will. No person in their right mind, regardless of their devotion to their God would willingly die without some type of hesitation and regret. This idea can be applied to members of the West Borough Baptist Church. Children as young as three years old can be heard shouting “God hates fags.” Three year olds don’t have the mental capacity to form their own opinions so from a very young age they blindly follow their parents and the elders of their church. This kind of devotion is how radical groups continue to thrive and keep support.

I have always identified myself as white; I have blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin that can sunburn really easily. Growing up in Dutch country of Pennsylvania, I have been exposed to very closed-minded views on African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. My father once told me that when he went to my high school, there were three black kids in the student body of 1,500 and no Asians or Hispanics. When I graduated, a third of my class was a race other than white. One of my best friends growing up is African American, and at a very young age we started identifying our races. In elementary school, when we had to draw self portraits in art class, I would color my skin with a yellow crayon while she would use a brown or black crayon for hers. My entire family loves my friend but my grandpas have very different views on black and Hispanic males. They would always “joke” about what they would do if I ever dated a man that was not white. I have absolutely no problem dating a man of color but I was raised to respect my elders, so I was not allowed to give my opinion on the matter. I was reading ahead in the textbook and the topic of Sundown towns came up. After some extra research, I found that the area I live in had many of these towns. To me, that explains my grandparents’ rude comments; they were raised before the civil rights movement so they don’t know any better. The old saying you can’t teach an old dog new tricks definitely applies to this situation. My hope is that the future generations in my hometown can move away from this “old world” mindset and not judge a person based on their race. Obviously the race identification will always be present. There is a section of my hometown that all the Hispanics live in, not because they aren’t welcomed elsewhere, but because it is where the “cultural grocery store” is located as well as the Spanish-speaking church. This section was “formed” years ago, when the mindset of my parents and grandparents was more prominent. People become comfortable in their situation and don’t want to relocate so the Hispanic section remains. I believe that is why people of the same race stick together. In the past, it was a survival technique; there is safety in numbers. Now, even though most of the danger is gone, that idea remains, creating racial boundaries. These boundaries are not made out of necessity anymore, but rather human nature and success in the past. Human nature can’t be changed overnight, so racial identification is going to be a tough habit to break.