Proposition 8

Proponents of Proposition 8 Celebrate
Click here to read LA Times article

"Research and polling showed that many voters were against gay marriage, but afraid that saying so would make them seem 'discriminatory' or 'not cool.'"

If Proposition 8 passed in California, what chance does the rest of the country ever have of establishing equal rights for gays and lesbians? California, which is probably considered the most progressive state in the U.S., passed a measure prohibiting gay marriage by 52% on November 4. While I am ecstatic about Obama's victory, I am also saddened and disappointed by this step back for the GLBTQ community. Although they are determined to fight it, the results of this election show that most people see this as a moral issue rather than a civil rights issue, and as a Christian, I could not disagree more. I do see marriage as a moral issue - committing to remain faithful to one person and doing so is a holy alliance. But I see the prohibition of marriage to certain people as a civil rights issue. Why prohibit someone from wanting to make a lifelong commitment that is respected by the rest of society?

I have not always been as progressive as I am now. I was raised in a conservative homophobic community, by conservative parents (one of whom is homophobic). In college, I would have been skeptical about accepting a gay or lesbian lifestyle, at least as a Christian lifestyle. This was also before I had any gay or lesbian friends. When I moved to Portland, I became friends with a number of people who were gay or lesbian, and I realized a few things: 1) most of them did not choose this lifestyle 2) most of them were not abused in their past and became homosexual as a result (a belief held by many people who see homosexuality as wrong) 3) most of them were just like me - in their 20s, looking for a good time, trying to make friends and find love. Or at least sex, if they couldn't find the other.

I think that heterosexism is still an acceptable form of discrimination in our society. I notice this in Ohio where we live - most of my friends who have grown up in this area, and especially those who still live here, tend to be against gay marriage. Or, as they would see it, for one man one woman. It's not an issue I discuss much - especially with people that go to our church. I would love to be part of a liberal congregation that is against Proposition 8, or at least divided on the issue. But if that issue ever came up for vote around here I know that 99% of the people I attend church with would be hard-core in favor of it.

I included the quote at the top because I think it's interesting that people in California are positioned in opposition to myself; I favor gay marriage, but I'm afraid to speak up because people might think I'm not a Christian, or "uncool." What is this cool factor? I guess all of us want to be accepted and loved - which brings me back to the original issue. Gays and lesbians just want to be accepted and loved in our society; no one is out to destroy marriage or corrupt young children. GLBTQ people just want the same rights as everyone else: the right to get married, to have a family, to be seen as normal, to be "cool."

Al Qaeda Response to Obama

Click to read CNN Article

Wow! Just reading some of the comments on this YouTube video is enough to get me riled up. Don't get me wrong - I am for equal treatment of people from all religious backgrounds. What I dislike are religious extremists, whether they are right-wing Christians or Islamic fundamentalists. In my opinion, both members of these groups share more in common with each other than they do with moderate members of their own groups (ironically, this similarity seems to result in them hating each other MORE!).

These kind of polarizing remarks are made not with the intent of unifying people despite different views but with the intent of creating more divisiveness and hate between different religious and national groups. Ayman al-Zawahiri probably spews these kinds of insults in order to make sure that HIS power as an Islamic fundamentalist isn't threatened by more moderate Muslims who might even see Barack Obama as an American leader who could reach out more to the Muslim community.

I also take major issue with his assertion that the "Muslims of Afghanistan" will defend themselves against the American soldiers. The Muslims of Afghanistan have no choice! They are forced to live under the corrupt and fundamentalist governing power of Al Qaeda, and most Afghanis are incredibly poor and uneducated because they have been deprived of any kind of government that looks out for the needs of the people other than using them as human artillery to fight the evil West. ARGHH!! And it is people like this second-in-command al-Zawahiri who are at least partially responsible for all the bloodshed, not only of Americans but Afghanis and Iraqis. He is NOT trying to be a voice of diplomacy; instead, he is perpetuating his own twisted religious and political agenda because he would rather see the downfall of Western civilization than he would see his own country become more developed by creating a good relationship with the U.S.

The End of Capitalism?

What is happening to the U.S. auto industry is truly sad and devastating for many U.S. workers. Although Detroit is not that far geographically from Northeast Ohio, I have felt rather isolated from the economic impact of many of these car manufacturers potentially going under - until listening to this Michael Moore interview. He has a way of bringing things home and making them "real" for the average American listener/viewer such as myself (which is probably why he is such a brilliant documentary maker).

Michael Moore makes a good point that the people who are suffering as a result of this economic crash are not the people at the top - not the CEOs who are making 15 million a year. Rather, the people who are suffering are those who worked for these companies for 30 years and are depending on their pension and healthcare plans from these companies in order to retire comfortably. He also makes an interesting argument that those at the top don't really believe in capitalism at all, but socialism - because they are taking handouts for themselves even while their companies are sinking further and further into debt.

I think this disparity between the average auto worker and the CEO of an auto manufacturer demonstrates some of the growing socioeconomic inequalities in our nation. While McCain defines the upper limits of middle income as 10 million, most people in our country scrape by on less than one percent of that - and in many other nations, the lives of Americans living at poverty level looks luxurious. I wish I had a solution to the auto industry crisis - I don't even understand enough about this issue to know what all is at stake. But I am sure of one thing - that if these companies do not survive our economic downturn, even my life in Northeastern Ohio will be effected.

Racist Aftermath

Barack Obama

Click to read about a store in Maine that places bets on Obama's assassination

Frankly, I wish I were more surprised about this than I am. One of my first thoughts when I heard Obama was elected, aside from the elation that we now have a president elect that I respect and admire and trust, was a concern that some crazy nut-job would want to assassinate him. I expressed this fear to my husband even as we were watching Obama give his acceptance speech.

Part of the reason I felt this fear (overlooking the obvious factor that I am a complete worry wart who will obsess about anything - just ask my husband) is the amount of hope and joy that the election of Barack Obama has brought to so many Americans, and specifically so many African Americans. Before the election we were all hush-hush about the issue of race because 1) liberals didn't want the Bradley effect hurting Obama's chances and 2) conservatives didn't want to appear prejudiced by playing the race card. But wow! After Obama won, in a surprisingly short amount of time, the fact that we have an African American president elect became huge overnight news - as well it should have.

Another reason I felt this fear is that Obama reminds me of so many great charismatic leaders in American history who, you guessed it, have been assassinated: JKF, MLK, and Lincoln to name a few. Obama also aligns himself with these kinds of leaders, quoting from MLK and Lincoln in his speeches. Granted, I love the fact that our country has a young, intelligent, liberal, revolutionary (somewhat) leader. But this also reminds me that for all the good he has to offer, there are people in this crazy world who would love to snuff out this hope for our country.

This shop keeper in Maine is just one example - I am sure there are many more. He's just one person who was stupid enough to put up a sign saying "Let's place bets on the assassination of Obama - and hope it happens." How many other freaky racist right-wing fundamentalist nuts are there out there who aren't going to say anything, but secretly plot something? The thought of this scares me. Not just for the loss of human life involved, but for the sake of our country, and all the hopes of countless people that would be crushed. I think loss of hope is one of the most dreadful things - and this is why Obama is so good for our nation; he brings us hope at a time when we need it the most!

Sexual Harrassment in Egypt

Click here to read 400 Teen Boys Arrested for Flirting

How would you like to be arrested for flirting? It seems like there is a hard-to-define line between sexual harassment and "boys being boys." In the case of this article, which takes place in largely Islamic Egypt, I see this as a huge victory for women who, for most of their lives, have to put up with this sort of treatment without any kind of recourse.

On the other hand, it seems that the police jumped from one extreme to the other - going from few sexual harassment convictions to 400 arrests is a pretty broad leap! I would be curious to see where all these charges came from so suddenly, but the article doesn't provide much background information, other than to say many men were arrested on a Muslim holiday.

As a woman, I feel privileged and grateful to live in a place like the U.S. where people are made aware of injustices like sexual harassment and women are given many opportunities to succeed - in education, professionally, and personally. I see a very stark difference between our society and an Islamic society which often tries to keep women in narrowly defined roles with limited opportunities to pursue things outside of these roles.

So, given my limited background knowledge on this article, I have to say that overall I want to say "Yea!" to all these men being held accountable for actions that they probably have been perpetrating for years and never been disciplined for. As a teacher, I see it as an important part of my role to establish clear boundaries and define the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior for my students.

Internet Suicide

Yahoo Article on Teen that Commit Suicide Online

I can't believe that we live in a day and age when this kind of thing can happen. There are two things that I see as very wrong with this picture: 1) the fact that anyone would want to broadcast their own suicide to an audience, and probably more disturbing, 2) the fact that people would WATCH said suicide live and not report it or do anything to prevent it from happening.

Since Abraham Biggs was being treated for a bipolar disorder, the fact that he was a candidate for suicide is not what makes this such an interesting story. Rather, the fact that he chose to televise the suicide over the Internet is what makes the story noteworthy. In many ways this typifies the urge of teens in modern society (and not just teens, but people of many ages) to broadcast any and every iota of their lives online.

I just joined Facebook a few weeks ago, and so I can testify firsthand to how addicting it is and how much it can govern your lifestyle, instead of the other way around. In my opinion, creating relationships and forging bonds over the internet should be SECONDARY to forming friendships with real people - as apparent in this article, many of those online "friends" are not going to do anything to help you in real life.

That brings me to the most disturbing aspect of this article: how could you watch someone kill themselves by ODing on medication, and then write something like, "he he" or "LOL" when the police show up? Does our society not have good Samaritans any more? I know I am not a saint, and I know that I have turned a blind eye to suffering, but I hope that I would NEVER watch someone die - at their own hand or anyone else's - and not do something to stop it. Unfortunately, I think that this story is most disturbing because it illustrates some ugly aspects of human nature; our self-centeredness and our apathy to suffering, not to mention our modern addiction to entertainment in any form.

Three Cups of Tea

I just finished reading this book - what a powerful read! I don't want to give away too much here because I'll also be talking about it for my end-of-semester presentation, but I'll give a short summary and touch on some of the themes that relate to what we've talked about in class.

Greg Mortenson started out as an ordinary mountain climber - his mission in life was to summit K2. He failed in his attempt and instead ended up lost and struggling for survival in Korphe, a small village in Northern Pakistan. After the residents of this village helped to nurture him back to health, he vowed to build a school to repay them. The rest of the book is about his quest to fulfill this promise, and the doors that opened for him through his determination, perseverance, and vision.

As an avid reader and writer I have to make a disclaimer that the writing is not the best part of this book. I think Relin, the writer, gets bogged down in too many unimportant details that slow down the reader. But the story itself and the unflinching character of Greg Mortenson compel you to keep reading.

The themes in this book relate to much of what we have talked about in class. One of Greg's strongest beliefs is in the power of education to dismantle poverty and inequality in society. In conservative Islamic cultures such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, this belief is truly radical, especially as it relates to women. Greg also believes that providing education to girls is the key to helping these impoverished village communities develop; he focuses especially on infant mortality rates, which are shown to decrease if girls are educated.

After the rise of Al Quada and the 9/11 attacks, you think that Greg is going to get out of this region as soon as possible: instead, he does the opposite. He decides to expand his school-building to Afghanistan, and he becomes an advocate for rebuilding there at a grassroots level even as the military is pouring millions of dollars into the war.

Obviously, Greg Mortenson is an example of one of those rare role models we have talked about in class: he is someone who sets out to make a difference, and he does. He doesn't succeed through luck or easy breaks, but through hard work, tough times, and lots of determination. Reading his story gives me hope that I, too, can make a difference as an ordinary person if I follow my vision and don't give up.