The past few weeks have been hectic at work. For months we've been scrounging for ANYONE to come in to work as a janitor at American Fork Junior High (so if you know someone who needs a job, we need them.) Anyone who comes in usually quits within the next couple days. We had a "full crew" as of a week ago, fortunately, because with one slacker and one boy with mono, and two girls it was hard to clean the entire school, satellite included. Zach- kid with mono- was gone for two weeks. Andrew- slacker- isn't even allowed on my side of the school when at all possible because of a sexual harassment charge I sent against him. Aleena and I get along fine, but she's got anxiety HUGE which means some days she can't come in because it gets that bad. She's gotten better though. One day Zach and I were the only workers, and Zach's in charge of cleaning the satellite, which meant it was only me in the "main building" which includes everything from the library to the band room. :P Matthew, my boss, cleans the gyms, and Eddy, who I keep forgetting- as does he- that he's my equal, cleans all the hallways. So, you get the picture. We had a short crew. Well, a couple weeks ago, a guy, Corey, decided to give it a try. We gave him two days tops. Well, he's here... but I swear he's only come in six days-- tops. He comes in when he wants to, and when he does come in, we often find his rooms, garbages, or restrooms to be a mess. :P Then, last week a girl named Katie came in to try it out. Seems she had already worked there, had had a mental breakdown, and headed out to Arkansas without telling anyone until much, much later. So, much later, she came back to try work again. Guess what? one day working, and we haven't seen her since... We're guessing she's in Arkansas.

So, a week of cleaning the worst rooms upstairs, and cleaning rooms downstairs, and teachers are ticked. Mrs. Memmott, one of the women i clean for, asked me on Thursday if someone was going to vacuum her room. I said, "I'm not sure. I haven't asked Matthew yet." "Well, it needs to be done." "I know. We're shorthanded right now." "Well, it hasn't been done for at least three days. It's bad." (Liar. I vacuumed it very well two days ago.) "Okay, well, I hope I can clean it today." "'Kay, please do." Jeez. So, that night I cleaned all the teachers' rooms who asked for theirs to be done and one English room that's always trashed, and then headed downstairs to clean the wood and metal shops. Friday I came into work and Matthew said "'Kay, we've got to clean all the rooms upstairs. Robert (his boss) yelled at me today because teachers are complaining right and left." Okey dokey, Matthew. I was ticked out of my skull. I swear I've said "I'm sorry we can't do your room tonight. We're overstaffed." at least 200 hundred times in the past two weeks. Rebecca Underwood, a good friend of mine, and a teacher I vacuum for, spoke with me on Friday. I explained to her that I was angry because I'm getting flak for not having cleaned rooms I never had time to clean, and I was angry at the teachers for complaining continually. Her response was this: "You shouldn't be getting flak for it, and it's too bad you are, but, from the faculty's point of view, when we hear over and over that you're understaffed, we think 'then get staffed!'. I mean, it may be hard, but it's do-able." Okay, so it was good to hear a different perspective, but I was only angrier because I have a STRONG loyalty to Matthew, only the best boss I will ever have, and felt that he had been duly attacked as he is the one who is trying to hire people. As you can see from the situation described in the first paragraph, we have been SCROUNGING, GRASPING, and DYING just to get SOMEONE, ANYONE, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY into our school as the newbie janitor. When I saw Rebecca later, I told her PART of the reason no one wants to be a janitor: the bathrooms.

THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS NOT FOR THE QUEASY OF STOMACH!!! IT'S BEARABLE, BUT NOT FOR THOSE WHO ARE QUICK TO REGURGITATE!!!









NO, I'M SERIOUS. IF YOU'RE WEAK-BOWELED, DO NOT CONTINUE!!









KAY, IT'S YOUR DECISION. WHAT'S TO BE SAID IS QUITE, QUITE BEARABLE, IF, AND ONLY IF, YOU AREN'T EASILY-SICKENED.

Aleena- who is a good friend of mine, and works upstairs with me- and I were talking about the bathrooms the other day. We decided something: THEY'RE BORING!! I've worked there over a year, and her for about 8 months, and you get so used to them, that the general urine, defecation, brown tampon bags, toilets, and urinals become routine. They're the slowest part of the day. So, when we find abnormalities, we usually joke about it, but rarely exclaim, "Oh my gosh, that's DISGUSTING!!" with a need to leave the room so we don't throw up. For instance, we 'recycle' the Maxi-pad bags. Aleena and I joke about "MAN, these girls had a BAD day today!!", but don't hesitate (quick notice: we have gloves on during ALL of this for a good, healthy reason) to pick up a blood-soaked Maxi pad, or wipe off a bloody toilet, boys' or girls' bathroom. Pictures and profanities on bathroom stalls bother me, but don't shock me as much as they used to. (speaking of which, to any junior-high age girl reading this, PLEASE, if you are in a relationship with a boy, BE CAREFUL HE WON'T SPREAD YOUR ACTIVITIES AROUND, EXAGGERATED OR NOT. You deserve more than that!!) A week ago I did have a situation that shocked and disgusted me. One boy had defecated on the floor next to the toilet, and there was a heaping pile of feces laying where I was to mop. I can't mop it up like that. I didn't know what to do, so I did what I knew I had to. I picked up the pile, and tried to put it in the toilet. Unfortunately, I missed, and had to pick it up again, and put it in. On Friday-in the midst of my frustration- I found a swastika on a boy's bathroom stall written in their own poop along with a gang sig. and several obscenities. Who does things like this?!! Occasionally I'll find a note on a bathroom stall that makes me think, "This girl will slit her wrists tonight." I get to be the one to wipe whatever her statement may be off the wall, as though her pain, as though she herself, didn't exist. A little less extreme, but still saddening, I once found a sentence that said "There is no such thing as love" Below it had ensued a heated discussion. Sans the profanity- which there was plenty of- it went something like this:

"Yes it does! Just because you've never been loved!"
"Yeah, don't be stupid!"
"You brat!"
"How dare you say something like that!!"

The conversation continued. I remember one of the things that disgusted me the most was the boy's urinals. Few days have I NOT found gum, or wrappers, or other trash in the urinal for me to pick up for them. Once in a blue moon, I'll find a chip bag filled with urine and soggy chips. Yum, Doritos... In the girl's bathroom, the bathroom stall discussion will go something like this: "I hate Tyler." "I love Jacob Collins." "Don't touch him, brat! He's MINE! I'm going with him!" "This girl is such a brat." "Oh, I know. She's such a skank." "I hate her!!!! She gets around!" And an occasional smart alec such as myself who writes "Go read a book." (Sometimes I like to leave comments like that last one up for a few days. Hahaha. Once I saw the popular lyrics, "If everyone cared, and nobody cried, If everyone loved, and nobody lied, If everyone shared and swallowed their pride, Then we'd see the day that nobody died." of Nickelback.

My point? After a couple days in this job, nobody wants this job. So, teachers, faculty, counselors, administration, be a little more patient when your janitor tells you they can't vacuum your room because they're understaffed. When you start feeling frustrated, ask your high school-age sibling to start working at your school as a janitor. This will ease up their burden and allow for more time to clean your room. The bathrooms aren't fun to clean, but you'll get used to it for the most part. And when you're not, you pick up the poo, and move on. Hey, you get paid for it.

The Few, the Bold, the Proud, the Janitor.

 

Shirley Mason was, among other things, forced to endure a nightly object rape and enema from her mother. We know her as "Sybil Dorsett." We also know her as the remarkable 16 personalitied miracle! Through the counseling of Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, Sybil was able to re-integrate the selves into a new "Sybil." The book about this story, by Flora Rheta Schreiber, and the movie, with Joann Woodward and Sally Field, are two of my favorites. They are both emotionally wrenching, and difficult to read/watch. They extract a vast amount of pain, memory, anger, and empathy from the reader/viewer. I would definitely say that this is a difficult story. Friends who have watched the movie in psychology (thank you, Mr. Wagstaff), are horrified and believe that the movie is an unnecessary retelling of a story we can only learn pain from. While I cannot agree with a publication of a story, whose sole purpose is a retelling (*koff A Child *ahem* Called It *koffkoff*), there are many things that can be learned from the story of Sybil Dorsett.


First of all, in the psychological stance, Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) can be cured, or at least dealt with. Sybil was one of a few case studies that led us, as psychologists, solidly to the conclusion that victims of such a mental disorder are not helpless cases. Through extensive counseling, and possibly medication, they can integrate, like Sybil, the other selves, as to become a more complete being. As a note for those reading this post, MPD was renamed DID because of the misconception it created. The personalities are not separate people altogether. Rather, they are fragments of the core personality. Two of Sybil's personalities, Peggy Lou and Peggy Ann, were parts of the original Sybil. They were the parts of Sybil that were angry, and that were afraid, because Sybil, as a child, could not handle the intense fear and anger that she was feeling. Putting them into separate identities (or so it seemed) made it "safer" for her because she did not have to deal with those emotions. The personalities of someone with DID are a kind of barrier, usually put up to deal with the extreme stresses of life.


Another thing we can learn from Sybil is bravery. Not only through her early years as a child under her mother's thumb, but later, dealing with the disorder, she was a brave woman. She would not have thought of herself as it, but what would it take to continue to live, even though you don't know what will happen tomorrow, or even if you will be 'awake' for tomorrow. (When another self would 'take over', Sybil would not be... there. It was as if she hadn't lived during that time. She may wake up in a place she feels she's never been before. When she was in third grade, her grandmother died. She "left" at the funeral, and "woke up" two years later, when she was in fifth grade. During those two years, Peggy Ann had 'taken over.' This later caused many problems with Sybil's math skills, because she had not been present to learn many basic skills.) A barrier such as this one, does not indicate that Sybil was running away from a horrible reality, rather, she was protecting herself from it, so that she could better endure it.


There is a third thing we can learn from Sybil's story. Not all mothers were meant to raise children. Sybil was an only child. Before Sybil's birth, a doctor told Willard and Hattie, Sybil's parents, that Hattie was schizophrenic and unable to raise a child. Willard was an extreme traditionalist, and believed that all women were born with the genes to raise a child, and that the woman must do so. Hattie had grown up underneath her father's discouraging thumb, and gave in to Willard's insisting. She would raise the child. Although all women were originally made to have children, and many have the ability to raise a child, it is important to remember that, due to mental or emotional health-- as well as physical-- a woman may not be able to be a "successful" mother.


As a fourth and final lesson of what Sybil's story can teach, I'd like to speak on reality. Reality is not bad; it is not good. It is elation, and it is depression. It is the devil, and it is God. It is everything that is true. Everyone has their own reality. I will see Sybil's story different than any of you reading this post will see her story. Neither of us are completely right, yet, because we are both coming from completely different points of view. But Sybil's story is a part of reality. Abuse happens. It happens all around us. As a victim of abuse, I know it does. It happens in Chicago, in L.A., in Detroit, in Salt Lake City, in Happy Valley, and, for Sybil, in a little town in the middle of Wisconsin. This is a part of reality. As we focus on reality, we can change it. If we never look for what is wrong-- with the intent to change it into the better-- then it will never change.


Sybil has a lot to teach us, as does every story of all the people that surround us. Shirley Ann Mason went on to serve a successful, happy life. That's the true, final lesson. Things get better, as things get worse, if we stick to God's precepts. Heal for you. Find the truth. Find reality.

 

Twenty Questions

Author: Jack

I recently heard the song “Damaged” by Plumb. The song is a narrative from a woman's point of view. She had been sexually abused as a child, and is now dealing with misplaced ideologies, controversial emotions, and actions she knows she now has to take. As I listen to the song, a solemn feeling goes through my mind, and questions wash over my aching brain. The first, and almost cliché, inquiry is “Why would this happen?” Questions lead to more questions. “Does this happen because the victims need to better themselves?” “Why does someone's choice create negative consequences for so many people?”
In the song the woman says that she's working towards “forgiveness for a man who was stronger.” In the physical aspect, I'm sure this man was much stronger than she was as a “little girl”, but the fact that she's alive, thinking, and trying to sort out questions, has me wondering “Who is stronger, the perpetrator who forces physically, or the victim who endures emotionally?” “What is strength?”, I begin to ask myself, and “Do I have strength?” “Is there a difference between being strong and having strength?”
One of the focuses of the song is that the woman strongly believes she is “damaged”, and can be of no help to others now because she's so hung up on being stuck where she is. I strongly believe there is immense value in the knowledge we can acquire from our experiences. This leads me to ask “When is a person sincerely damaged? Is there anything we can do to heal them, if they are damaged?” When we know we can not go back and change the initial event, does the event itself aide in “damaging” us? Is it the experience itself that damages people, or is it having to live with the consequences of the action that “damages” us? If it's the nightmares, or the flashbacks, or the rampant, intrusive emotions that eventually 'kill' a person's will to try, what can be done to prevent those? Can they be prevented? Should we prevent them, or should we allow a learning experience to take place?
In part of the chorus, she says “I'm scared, and I'm alone. I'm ashamed, and I need for you to know I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say, and you can't take back what you've taken away.” Many times, I've felt like my emotions would never change from where they were at that moment. It can be very scary to think that you will always feel alone, enough so, that you eventually begin to be convinced that you are alone. I wonder who could open up, and connect with this woman so she feels less alone. If we were to get all the junk out of the closet, stereotypes could dissipate. We might feel more accepted and normal. We all have our backpack full of 'stuff'. Should we show it to the world? How could that change attitudes concerning abuse victims?
A verse near the beginning of the song, states that “healing comes so painfully and it chills to the bone.” She goes on to ask “Won't anyone get close to me? I'm damaged, as I'm sure you know.” How patient do we need to be with healing to see that, though painful, it puts us in a more complete state? Are there times where we need to say 'hurry up', or should we let ourselves take it one step at a time, the entire time? Is there a social insecurity towards insecurity, particularly abuse? Why is it that, when people discover someone's past, they wonder if they want to be a part of their future? Are there valid reasons we ought to be 'afraid' of making contact with people like this, or are those reasons stereotypical, and harsh? Is it the events or the people that should be generalized?
In the end of the song, the narrator is adamant about not 'looking back' but still 'going on'. I wonder if it's possible to 'go on' sufficiently without 'looking back', and learning. Is looking back more destructive or helpful? Does the future need the past? How can we change the future by observing the past? Can we change our observations of the past, as we use our current observations to change the present? She sings that 'true love is a fairy tale', and yet sings 'I'm damaged; how would I know?' If she could look at true love differently than what she was taught, could it have a difference on her future as a wife, as a mother, as a woman, as a human being?
She's obviously second guessing herself. I wonder how constructive that is for her. Do our second-guesses of our own decisions affect those around us? When we're parents, if our children see us second-guessing ourselves, they could see that it's a natural thing to do. The earlier they begin to second-guess themselves, the worse. Do our second-guesses encourage and spur others' second guesses?
From the song, I get the impression that the woman would almost like to feel numb to the situation. She would like to have it over with. Do feelings buried alive, die? If so, are there only certain personality types who can do that, or is that option open to everyone? If feelings are buried, did they ever truly exist? Is it the same with trespassing-events? If someone is not affected by the heinous abuse suffered as a child, and yet another is psychotic, purely from mild abuse as a child, should the first offender be punished less than the second because the consequences weren't as horrific? Do we judge in America by the choice or the consequence? Concerning abuse, are the courts keeping up with justice? Is justice a forgotten dream?
Sexual abuse and rape are increasingly rampant. 'Though never spoken of, rarely pointed out, and only occasionally questioned, this is a problem that affects us all. The shame and fear may be evident, but what can we do to aid those who feel afraid and shameful?

 

Sock Drawers

Author: Jack

Mr. Johnson says that if we were to take all our "junk out of the closet", then stereotypes and other things would slowly disapparate. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. If people were more open about their problems, wouldn't people with similar problems feel less alone and more accepted? Wouldn't that problem seem more normal? Maybe if people were open so that we could understand a little better, then we could find solutions to the problems! But there's another side to this that would be crucial for this to be carried out effectively: Acceptance. The only way someone would be willing to say that they're anorexic or depressed is if they weren't verbally stoned after saying so. But what about murderers? Are there things that shouldn't be spoken of? Should the evil things of the world seem more acceptable, more normal? No! This encourages those things. BUT what if, after knowing these things, we viewed them as wicked, and attempted to bring them to a different path. Hmmm... But what about murderers? Yes, try to bring them over so that they won't continue with those actions, but what would we do for our security/safety? Punishment? If there was no punishment to hinder (or even discourage) improper action, then why would they stop? And if people knew there would be a punishment, then they'd be discouraged to talk about what they did if they did it. He told us later that his class was a place where we didn't have to think about the junk. That made more sense, but it was so comforting it got me thinking. Is it better to reveal the junk? Or to hold it inside? Is this a continuum or a dichotomy?

 

Red Light. Green Light

Author: Jack

Y'know, for every red light, there's a green light, and for every green light, there's a red light.

Your red light is someone else's red light.

Your green light is someone else's green light.

Your red light is someone else's green light, and vice versa.


Red lights aren't bad! We might have to wait for what seems like forever for that green light, but be grateful that they got their green lights!

What's been a red light in your life? A green light? Does this analogy work, or are people going to be cutting into the intersection when they want to? Is the only way to make a perfect society is to force everyone onto a one-way street? Onto a "my way or the highway" philosophy? Is that even ethical? Is it ethical to force someone to believe the way you believe if what you believe is morally "right"? Who decides what's morally correct?

 

Is Wealth Worth It?

Author: Jack

My mom has been watching a show called The Secret, which talks about how we can "accept" money into our lives by not attracting what comes into our lives- through our thoughts, which then transfer into actions. So, she's been talking about how it'd be great if we could just be a little richer. A little richer? We own 3 cars and a the biggest house on the block! Heck, a little richer? What is it about wealth that doesn't let us believe we have it?

 

I finished the book Race to Eden by Alma Yates. It was amazingly sad, but a very good book. In it I found a quote that hit me to the core, and I wanted to share it with you. Two brothers are talking. Brad is an amazing football player, but before his first game, he breaks his arm so he can't play. He's deciding to go on his mission (football had been a huge distraction), when he talks with his brother Chris.

He says, "Sometimes things like that happen, things you never would have chosen, and they end up being the best thing that ever happened in your life."

What do you think of that? Taoists believe that, though there are right and wrong actions, there are not good or bad happenings. Bad can come from good, and good from bad.

 

A Sense of Deity

Author: Jack

God must have a sense of humor; he throws snow at us, and we can't throw it back.

 

In Alma 34:22, we are told to pray against the "power of our enemies", and in 3 Nephi 12:44, we're told to "love your enemies." This way we can pray for both ourselves and our enemies- protecting us, and protecting them.

If we pray for our enemies, do we eventually not consider them our enemies anymore? They might consider you an enemy, but that doesn't mean have you to consider them one, does it? Also, if there is no present/past/future for God, if we were to pray for someone in the past, wouldn't he have known that at the time they were going through whatever, and bless them?

 

Fear

Author: Jack

Fear... What are you afraid of? What is it about fear and pain that makes us fear them? Why do we convert fear or grief into anger? Has anger become so prevelant in our life, that we find ourselves feeling "immune" to the effects of it? Is it "easier" to deal with because we experience it so often in the world today? Why are we afraid? Is fear easier than faith? Sure. But not in the long run- the effects are dramatically separate. Are we so distracted that we can't sit down and realize that if we took a breath and looked around and actually thought about what we were about to do, then we could face it WHILE we're "down to earth"?

 

So, let's say you have a basically White personality- one who strives for peace, hoping to avoid contentious situations. Would he rather a)contend with someone and get it over with, or b)wait until the situation builds up until it can't be avoided and blows up with a Gargantuan blast? What thinks you?

 

Filled with logical fallacies of every kind, but check out this link if you haven't seen this movie yet. :D


http://video.freevideoblog.com/video/AAC7FA18-2DDC-4D3E-B1BB-9D6CBD83E27F.htm

 

Wanna get to know me? I wanna get to know you. Tell me what you think. Four interpersonal questions that perhaps aren't asked enough:

1. What is something close to your heart?
2. What do you have undying faith in?
3. What is your deepest regret?
4. What has been your life's greatest pain?


My answers? Hmm... fun, fun, fun... :)

1. I'd have to say that one thing close to my heart is my ability to learn. I love to learn, and will do what I can to know more than I should. ;)

2. I have undying faith in the fact that life is always changing.

3. I'd like to be like so many of those out there and say "Well, I have no regrets", but I do have on regret. I wish I had learned sooner that it was okay to be who I wanted to be.

4. My life's greatest pain... Probably it's been hardest to have to learn to love myself. Yeah, still working on that as we all are.


So, tell me. I'm here.

 

Integrity?

Author: Jack

If I were to ask you, "Are you honest?", how many of you would say "Why, yes, thank you. I most certainly am." Perhaps the better question would be "Are you integretous?" (Yes, I know that's not a word- don't worry about it.) What would you say then? Are you true to yourself? What does it mean to truly hold to your integrity?
We live in a world of masks, personas, and allusions. I spell "illusions" with an 'a' in this case because that is just what they have become. We are master Allusionists, alluding to the world who we "really" are. 'Dramaturgy' is the idea stating that we all have a role in life. We're actors. We have costumes, lines, and dress rehearsals. When we mess up, we know it, and are set back into line.

True integrity includes showing and being comfortable with who you are in truth, now who you appear to be.

This is why I am, as we all are, an "allusionst". Not only am I an illusion, but an allusion. I show you what I want you to see of me.

 

Hiding in the Dark

Author: Jack

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", a segment from his Republic, he addresses a key problem in society. Reality, particularly painful realities, have become taboo. Most citizens today live on in an optimistic world of illusionary pleasure and false protection. Few know that the only way to defeat a problem (because problems do arise when reality is ignored) is to look it straight in the eye.
Plato begins his allegory by explaining to his audience where the greater portion of humanity lies: in a cave, chained to a wall, only glimpsing shadows- reflections of an outside world. Those chained pass their time arguing over, analyzing, and describing the shadows, assuming that 1) because they are the only thing they have seen with their own eyes, the shadows are as real as the rocks of the cave, that 2) by analyzing the shadows, they are attacking reality, or the problems the shadows represent, and that 3) because everyone is talking about the shadows, the popular opinion is correct, making the shadows all the more real.
Society has held down humanity with its chains, fettering our heads and necks, limiting our peripheral vision. But what if something happened to break the chains, jolt the neck braces, and cast off our blinders? There are those who will then stretch their joints, and follow the source of the shadows. Others will continue to sit and stare, not realizing they are free to roam, while still others, with a panicked understanding, will frantically jam metal to metal, attempting to lock the chains back together.
Those who do stand to walk away, will not all discover the source, for the moment they 'round the corner of the wall, a jolting pain will seize them. Some will go on. Some will go back, screaming of the terrible pain that lies around the wall. Not all who can stand and peer around the side of the wall will continue. Very few indeed will be able to have the endurance, courage, and strength to continue. The pain comes from the fact that they are unaccustomed to such an uncomfortable change. Few have the patience to wait for a better time.
So much truth at one time will blind, disorient, and confuse. Where before they could see shadows, now they can see nothing. When one has the courage to press forward, creaking their still stiff joints, they begin to slowly come into focus. A resilient leader knows that the knowledge that comes after a time, however, brings much joy and much confusion. It is rarely an unhappy moment when we can finally face reality in the eye, ready to take on whatever. Those who discover such knowledge will be eager to share it with the brotherhood of the cave.
Unfortunately, often the only way to convince those staying in the cave that what they've known is an illusion is to yank them out into the light, blinding them momentarily. Confusion and pain abounds when one discovers that all he has been taught is as useful as a wisp of smoke. It is hard to realize that everything you thought you knew was a lie.
As they press forward together, into the midst of reality, or the problem itself, it becomes all the more irritable. "He will require to grow accustomed to the light." He will need time. And finally, when he can see the sun, when he can see pure reality, he can see himself truly for the first time. Once again, he'll want to help his fellow cave-dwellers, bringing them into a painful, joyful existence- a life of potential. With a lack of knowledge, however, he alone would understand what the shadows represented. The cave dwellers would say he was a fraud and foolish, blinded by the light, or that the pain was too great, and that those who forced this pain upon another ought to be punished, perhaps even killed.
I see that this has happened with the subject of rape. It has become so taboo, that those who do talk about it, speak of it in code, not really attacking the problem. We pretend to fight it by creating the shadow called "self defense for women classes." This shadow doesn't address the root of the problem. It avoids it, pretending we didn't dodge it, giving us the opportunity and excuse to feel good, as though we actually helped, when in reality we did very little. If we were to create a prevention course for men, and a stricter rule on rapists in prison, we would be closer to attacking the root of the problem- the men. But this would cause pain; this would require us to move into the light.
Our society has turned back from the light as well on this topic. In 1987, America began to address the problems of date, acquaintance, and campus rape. The news coverage grew heavily concerning it. People were beginning to talk. By 1993, however, magazines such as Newsweek and Time were coming out with new articles with headlines such as “Rape Hype” and “Sexual Correctness”, arguing that rape was nonexistent, and that it was only a result of a prude woman and overreaction of the female. One woman
even wrote a book called The Morning After, arguing a similar concept. Society has slowly begun to emerge from its nervous chrysalis, but for the most part, we are scrambling to connect the chains of society together again.
Thinking comes at a price. We have been taught not to think. Those who fight are called dirty names, and become “bad boys” and “bad girls.” It is tough to take your time thinking, but it must happen! It must happen for our world to progress. Our leaders must think, but they cannot think for us.

Our leader- a true leader- must be one who can lead us into reality with patience, wisdom, courage, and strength. He must allow his people to think for themselves as they come to the truth, remembering the common ignorance, but still holding strongly to them in order to bring them into a better lifestyle. A more honest lifestyle.

 

My Tunes


Where Are You From?