Believe

       Growing up, I never really had a strong belief in a religion. Both my parents are Buddhist, but only my dad is extremely religious. No, I'm not an atheist; I do believe that there is a God. Don't get me wrong, I respect people who have a strong faith or who are atheist; I think that having a religion is a very personal choice.
       From the outside looking in, it often frustrates me that people try to impose their religion on other people. This is seen in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God which we read this week. Edwards not only tries to impose the Christian faith on the people, he threatens them with the idea of hell and how all of them are doomed. I think that religion shouldn't be imposed on a person, and you can't make people believe in something that they don't understand. I think it's people like this who overanalyze the values in a religion when it was supposed to be a simple, working towards a "good factor". The extremists take the religion to far and corrupt it.
       One event that will always stick with me is something that took place in 2nd grade. One of my best friends came up to me one day and said "If you aren't a Christian then we can't be friends anymore. I'm bringing a bible for you tomorrow, ok?" Yes, a 7 year old was forcing a religion upon me. Being naive at the time, I just kind of stared at her not being able to comprehend what just happened. I got frustrated that I didn't really have a religion and I questioned my parents why that was the case. Now looking back at it, I wish I could've told my 2nd grade self that it's completely fine not to strongly believe in a faith. As long as you pertain the good morals that a faith has, then you will be fine.
       All the wars and controversies over religion also frustrate me. Every religion should be respected. If you think about it, they are all connected in the matter that they all believe in a God/Gods. Most of them ultimately just want people to have good morals and be cleansed of "sins". Why should one religion be superior than another? Like Ms. Valentino said with Democrats and Republicans actually wanting the same goal in the end, I think religions are like that as well. They are all intertwined in one way or another but some beliefs or values may be different. Often, I think of the movie Life Of Pi, and I think about how the main character says he is a combination of many different religions. I find this very interesting and compelling because I think if we could all just see the good values in each religion and connect them, our world would be a much more peaceful place.

*Please note that this was in no way intended to offend anyone, I'm just putting my opinions out there.

Skinny Eyes and Stereotypes

       Nerdy. Anti-social. Small eyes. Over achiever. Straight A's. Don't lie to yourself, you just thought of an asian didn't you? Whether we admit it or not, these stereotypes have been implanted into us by society. We all want to say that we've grown past the racism in the past, but that isn't true at all. In Sherman Alexie's novel, he explains how all Native Americans are stereotyped as being drunks, criminals, and uneducated. They're forever bounded from accomplishing much just because they think that they can only live within their stereotypes, but they just need to escape them and be proud of their ethnicity. This is true for asians as well. Yes, we do study for the vast majority of the time. Well, yeah we have small eyes, you don't have to point that out(if it wasn't obvious enough). Do you think we can change any of that though? Do you think we LOVE studying 24/7? I think that many people don't realize the pressure that we're under from our parents, or just expectations. We're expected to get straight A's. We're expected to go to Harvard. We're expected to be a genius and get perfect scores. Well, sorry to break it to you, but 99.9% of the time none of that happens!

       I'm not going to lie, sometimes when asians live up to the stereotypes it bothers me a lot. For example-I cannot stand when I see asians pull out the peace sign in a picture. I don't know why, it just seems like they're just craving for that stereotype to be a spotlight on them. At the same time, I just wonder why white people aren't judged for those actions, and I realize that I'm just being hypocritical. If even someone who is of the asian race is judgmental of their own race, how are other people supposed to get over the stereotypes?! This brings me to this one occurrence I had recently at Troy Daze. A girl that I had just met told me a story of when she was out west this summer. She explained that while in the Grand Canyon, many asians were there and they would pose(and pull out the peace sign) with random, insignificant statues. She said that to mock them, she copied their "ridiculous" poses right in front of them. On the outside, I just smiled and laughed along with her, but on the inside I was just thinking, "DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO AN ASIAN YOU IDIOT!? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I SAID THAT ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE?!" I went home with all hope lost in the world. But then again, I realized that she probably didn't realize the situation and didn't mean any harm.

       Personally, I'm a pretty white washed asian-I'm a golden oreo ;). I've noticed that the majority of my friends aren't asian. I don't play the violin, piano, etc. I don't spend all my time studying. I'd like to think that I have a social life. Yes, I have constant pressure from my parents to get straight A's, and high scores on standardized tests. No, I don't have straight A's, but my grades are pretty decent. In the past, I got made fun of a lot by my friends about how I'm crazy for taking so many rigorous classes, or that all I ever do is study.  I've also had times where I'm so ashamed of my ethnicity because of the stereotypes it brings along. I've even hated it. Especially for colleges, asians are compared to each other, so if you're not some Einstein then you're basically screwed-I'm sorry that I have a life outside of studying? I only have one life so I actually want to do something with it? Although there are many downsides, I've recently learned to embrace the culture, heritage, and values that come along with it. Recently I came to realize that I'm thankful that my parents push me. I'd rather have parents who care too much than not at all. I'm thankful that they're there to remind me that I can reach my full potential if I work hard enough. Whenever I notice that someone is stereotyping me, I just think, well, at least I'm going to make something out of myself in the future. 

       I now understand that stereotypes will always exist and there's nothing that can be done about it, but you have to see past the downs and embrace your heritage and the morals that each ethnicity has. You need to exceed the expectations and stereotypes. 

A video that never fails to make me laugh:

The Devil/Angel Inside

What is the basic nature of people: Good vs. Evil? 

        Although I have some doubts, I'd generally agree that all humans are good inside. I believe that all humans are born good but it's the events that take place in their lives that can change their nature. It can be the way that their parents teach them, or horrible events that morph them. A person's environment can either teach a person to continue to have that good nature, or obtain an evilness. When we are born, we are just innocent souls-a blank page. We have no knowledge about anything. We don't even know what evil is. Everything we adhere is learned, and the innocence is destroyed. Why are most people selfish? We learn to be selfish, since the corruption in this world forces us to act that way. We learn that in this world, the only person you can truly depend on is yourself. Why are people racist then? Nobody is born racist, it's our families or community that teaches us those beliefs. 
      
       Even if someone is evil and they harm someone else, deep down they will feel some sort of guilt, whether it be small or big. Guilt represents the good that's inside all humans, because if we were truly evil then we wouldn't feel bad about anything. Yes, there are those cocky people who say they don't care what anyone else says, but that's a lie. Whether we like to admit it or not, we base a lot of our decisions on how people will judge us, so we always care about how people view us. I believe that in our world we see way more people doing charitable things rather than evil. When a horrible event occurs, such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, etc, so many good people come together to benefit the society. I'd say the ratio of good to evil is very high. Everyday, we see good in people's nature, whether it be holding doors, offering a seat, smiling, or helping a friend out, we are basically good. Often, we hear people say that they would die for a loved one, or even strangers. I recently read a study where 50% of Americans say they would donate a kidney to a complete stranger. We see goodness everywhere- habitat for humanity, locks of love, relay for life, etc. We all feel a million times more happy when we do good things rather than bad, so it proves that we are truly good inside.           

       In Huck Finn, Huck demonstrates this goodness when he repels society and helps Jim. Although society chastises him for going against the status quo, his gut tells him that helping this man to freedom is the right thing to do, and he feels much more satisfied with himself that he's doing a good thing. He knows that he will get criticized for his actions but his friendship with Jim is much more important to him. He sets an example of how humans are truly good inside.