Live or Die?

Occupy is a movement that I think everyone has heard of by now. But it is losing support across the US. People are not satisfied with where this movement is headed. So will it be strong like “The Civil Rights Movement” or will it crash and burn like “The Tea Party?” Obviously, only time will tell.

I think that this movement has the ability to be the movement of our time; The movement that creates real change. People are angry and for the first time in my life, they are trying to do something about it. The people of the movement continue to say there is not a leader and it is not political, but damn it, why the hell not? I think the time has come for some leaders to emerge. We need some people who can articulate what we want and can be spokesmen to the rest of the country on how we plan to get it. Each city that is occupying is meeting every weekend for a general assembly. But what is so wrong with having that every Saturday, then having the spokesmen from each of the cities meet or speak on the phone on Sunday and figure out what they want to do.

 I think we need to get people on the inside of congress to get real change as well as continue the fight from the streets. We don’t have the leaders in congress who listen to us; they only listen to their wallet. As much as we may want to avoid playing their game, we may have to. People don’t listen to a guy who sleeps in a tent, they listen to the figure on TV. We need some people who stand with us to get in there and fight. Because if that doesn’t happen, I believe this movement will die. Without fighting the political battle, all we will accomplish is breaking into smaller fundraising and activist groups and fight the small battles. We need to act now. We need people on the ballot for 2012 that are sick of the status quo. We need people who think like we do. People who are the 99% and fight for the 99%. It is time to fight the big battle. The war was waged on us, and it’s time for us to win!

What Would Jesus Do?

This blog is not going to be very smooth because I have so much to say on the topic that I tried to shorten it so people will actually read it. So here we go…

I have made this clear in every blog I have posted-- I am a liberal. Being a liberal, I am pro-choice, for immigrant rights, against war, for equal rights for everyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, etc. But being an open-minded person, I can understand why people are against abortion, are for wars, etc. But I cannot understand why anyone fights so strongly against homosexuals having the same rights as everyone else.

The only argument I ever hear is that it is a sin. It is called an “abomination” in Leviticus and is preached against by Christians on a daily basis. But do these people really understand the history of the bible?

Let us start with the word abomination. Today’s definition of abomination is “a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc.” But the original meaning of the translated word was not used to show such hatred as today’s word. The original word would translate into something closer to the word taboo, rather than abomination. But I know that this will not be close to convincing.

So let’s look deeper into the history of Christianity and the history of the world. Before the 11^th century, gay people were married and no one thought it odd. In fact, in the 3^rd century, there are two saints that were married-- Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Sergius and Bacchus were soldiers who were commemorated as martyrs by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches.

The other argument I hear is, “it’s a choice, not genetic.” But I assure you, no one would choose to be ostracized like that. But what do I know right? I’m not an expert. So let’s look at what the experts have to say shall we?  According to http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/33:

In the March 2004, Health and Medicine Week, research findings from the study of homosexuality in rams was published. Scientists at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine had looked at the biological foundations of a male sheep's homosexuality.They used the animals since they had been consistently and thoroughly studied in the past, and provided for a controllable experiment. They studied the oSDN, "an irregularly shaped, densely packed cluster of nerve cells in the hypothalamus of the sheep brain." The hypothalamus is an important part of the brain that regulates body temperature, blood pressure, as well as sexual behavior. Researchers found that the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN) was larger and contained more neurons in male- oriented rams (1). This information is important in several different ways. While it is solely a study on ram behavior, it is believed that homosexuality can be found in many different species, not limited to humans. This is also important because it is the first study to show a relationship between variations in sexual partner preference and brain structure in an animal, which could provide insight into how humans are studied and what should be looked for in humans to unlock the clues of biological causes of homosexuality.

While the rams are an interesting case study, there are also research findings directly relating to humans. The prenatal hormone theory is a provocative explanation of the link between biology and homosexual tendencies. It is based on the idea that hormones can affect a fetus in the womb and can influence brain development. Studies on the neuroendocrine function in homosexuality has shown that while levels of testosterone and estrogen do not typically vary along the lines of homo and heterosexuality, it is one's response mechanisms to these hormones that can play a role in sexual orientation. It is far too basic to attribute homosexuality with a lack of testosterone in males and a lack of estrogen in women, and many studies have negated this idea. However, the central nervous system, which mediates behavior and physiological responses, can be heavily affected by the level of hormones present (2).

It is also believed that birth order has a direct relation to whether or not one is gay. It is possible that a woman's fetus builds up certain antibodies in her first pregnancy, if it is with a male, to male antibodies, and these affect the development of male fetuses in subsequent pregnancies (4). For each older brother, humans are believed to be approximately 33% more likely to be homosexual. In other studies, it has been found that homosexuals are 39% more likely to be left- handed than heterosexuals (3).

I do not expect to be believed. Don’t believe me. But have the courage to look outside what you were told your whole life and research it for yourself. The evidence is there. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for your religion; because Christianity will not survive if it continues the hatred. Let’s end the bigotry and return the Christian message back to love and tolerance. What would Jesus do?

Show Me What Democracy Looks Like

In class this week our topic is the future of Democracy. Unlike last week, I am not going to wait until after I have been met with opposition to state my view because I think it is very clear… Today’s America is still waiting to see what a democracy looks like.

When I talk about democracy, I always get the ‘know-it-all’ who says, “We’re not a democracy, we’re a republic” but cannot explain the difference; so I will. Our republican government is based on democratic values but put in place so common people do not have to be deeply involved in order to have a voice. They vote in representatives who are there to represent a group’s wants and needs.

Unfortunately, we have a republic, but one that represents their financial backers, not the people. But can American’s survive by revamping the system? When we look at OWS, we see that they believe in the process. They believe in democracy. Every Saturday they have a general assembly and vote on how they want to handle issues. They don’t have representatives. They don’t have a leader. Each one has a voice.

I think this is the vision of the future. I think we need to revolutionize our government and bring it up to the speed of today. Get rid of these out-of-touch politicians because we don’t need them. We can move to a system more fitting to today. We are still a busy bunch, so I am not suggesting the government has the people walk down to the polls every Saturday to vote on the issues. I’m suggesting that we move towards technology. We do everything over the internet weekly, monthly, or even bi-annually, and we get the money and corruption out of our politics and back into the people’s hands. Anyone can put a bill up to vote, it goes through a month of interpretation and scrutiny, and then to the people to vote.

Yes my plan is radical. Yes it may have flaws. But what we are doing now no longer cuts it. We are being controlled by a minority who does not have our interests at heart and it is evident that people have had enough. We want to be heard and this system keeps us silenced. We need a fundamental change. It is time to finally see what democracy looks like.

Remember, Remember...

Just wanted to make a quick point about one of my favorite movies V for Vendetta. It has become one of the symbols for the OWS movement. V is the symbol for what may become of things if peaceful change is made impossible.

OWS is peaceful, and should remain so. But if congress does not get behind it, who knows what may come.

"Die! Die! Why won't you die?... Why won't you die?"
"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof"


Image:
http://rolosfilmreel.wordpress.com/

Quotes:
V for Vendetta (2006)

The Bully or the Hero?

In class this week we have been discussing America's domestic and foreign policy. We have discussed what our policy is, what we think it should be and how domestic and foreign policy should align.

This got me thinking about what we value as a country. Are we a just country that sets up its policy for the greater good, or are we a selfish, unjust country that sets up its policy for our greater good? I tend to lean towards believing that we are a selfish country that looks out for number one.

We claim, as a nation, that we want everyone in the world to be free and have equal rights. But domestically, homosexual people and transgender people still lack the same rights as everyone else, women are still making far less money than men, and minority groups are still being looked at as second class citizens. Abroad, we claim to stand for women’s rights, but when a country like Saudi Arabia treats women poorly, we turn a blind eye. Why is that? Because they have something we want— Oil. And as long as they hold that power over us, we will not step in and do anything.

We are a nation full on injustice and we call other nations terrorists while we spread the most terror. A fellow classmate of mine said, “There's collateral damage in any war. With the countries in the Middle East, it's true that you have only a small population of fanatics that pose danger to our country. And sometimes bystanders get killed when our forces go after them. Notice I did not say innocents though. I said bystanders. Remember when 9/11 happened and Al Jazeer showed the parties in the streets of Afghanastan and Pakistan? The majority of the population allows for terrorists to stand in their midst and do little to stop them....” I argue that we are just bystanders as well, and watch our leaders spread terror around the world for oil, power, and money screaming that it’s patriotic. I do not stand as that type of an American. I no longer want to tolerate the blood spilled in my name. I no longer want to listen to the propaganda spread throughout our country. I’m tired of being the bully. We must be better. We need to become the hero we claim to be.