Pretty impressive for a rockstar… September 7, 2009

This is a speech that Bono gave at the World Prayer Breakfast in 2006. I never knew about this whole thing until one of my professors showed it in class today. I have to say I was really impressed by Bono. His speech was passionate and he was just nervous enough that you could tell his words were genuine, that this was not just some publicity stunt. I admit I don’t really know much about Bono but from this speech I think there need to be more “celebrities” like him.

Mr. President, First Lady, King Abdullah, Other heads of State, Members of Congress, distinguished guests …

Please join me in praying that I don’t say something we’ll all regret.

That was for the FCC.

If you’re wondering what I’m doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I’m certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It’s certainly not because I’m a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I’m here because I’ve got a messianic complex.

Yes, it’s true. And for anyone who knows me, it’s hardly a revelation.

Well, I’m the first to admit that there’s something unnatural… something unseemly… about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the South of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert… but this is really weird, isn’t it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind. .

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It’s very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned—I’m Irish.

I’d like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I’d like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws… but of course, they don’t always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you’re here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here—Muslims, Jews, Christians—all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it’s odd, having a rock star here—but maybe it’s odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was… well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays… and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land… and in this country, seeing God’s second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash… in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment…

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical… not about God, but about God’s politics. (There you are, Jim.)

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick—my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the Millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world’s poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord’s call—and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic’s point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

‘Jubilee’—why ‘Jubilee’?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lords favor?

I’d always read the Scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)…

‘If your brother becomes poor,’ the Scriptures say, ‘and cannot maintain himself… you shall maintain him… You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.’

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he’s met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he’s a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn’t done much… yet. He hasn’t spoken in public before…

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,’ he says, ‘because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.’ And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord’s favour, the year of Jubilee. (Luke 4:18)

What he was really talking about was an era of grace—and we’re still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate—in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn’t a bless-me club… it wasn’t a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions… making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called A.I.D.S. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The one’s that didn’t miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children… Even fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself Judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet… Conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS… Soccer moms and quarterbacks… hip-hop stars and country stars… This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened—and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even—that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying… on AIDS and global health, governments listened—and acted.

I’m here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. “If you remove the yolk from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places”

It’s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. [You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.] ‘As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.’ (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here’s some good news for the President. After 9-11 we were told America would have no time for the World’s poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it’s true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have double aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund—you and Congress—have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here’s the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There’s is much more to do. There’s a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it’s not about charity after all, is it? It’s about justice.

Let me repeat that: It’s not about charity, it’s about justice.

And that’s too bad.

Because you’re good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can’t afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drugstore. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality.

Because there’s no way we can look at what’s happening in Africa and, if we’re honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn’t accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the Tsunami. 150, 000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, “mother nature”. In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it’s a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It’s annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren’t they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, “Equal?” A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, “Yeah, ‘equal,’ that’s what it says here in this book. We’re all made in the image of God.”

And eventually the Pharaoh says, “OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews—but not the blacks.”

“Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man.”

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than two million Americans… left and right together… united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King—mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market… that’s a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents… That’s a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents… that’s a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That’s why I say there’s the law of the land… and then there is a higher standard. There’s the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it’s OK to protect our agriculture but it’s not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that’s what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won’t, at least. Will yours?

[pause]

I close this morning on … very… thin… ice.

This is a dangerous idea I’ve put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God… vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town—Washington—that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the Scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.’ (Luke 6:30) Jesus says that.

‘Righteousness is this: that one should… give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.’ The Koran says that. (2.177)

Thus sayeth the Lord: ‘Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.’ The jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: ‘The Lord will watch your back.’ Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea…

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.

Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what He’s calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to ten percent of the family budget. Well, how does that compare the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than one percent.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:

I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing…. Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional one percent of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is one percent?

One percent is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

One percent is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. One percent is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. One percent is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. One percent is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This one percent is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

One percent is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism towards Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than one percent now. Were asking for an extra one percent to change the world. to transform millions of lives—but not just that and I say this to the military men now – to transform the way that they see us.

One percent is national security, enlightened economic self interest, and a better safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, one percent is the best bargain around.

These goals—clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty—these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a Globalised World.

Now, I’m very lucky. I don’t have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don’t have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don’t have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give one percent more is right. It’s smart. And it’s blessed.

There is a continent—Africa—being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did—or did not to—to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all

Trip to D.C. September 3, 2009

So my husband and I went to DC this weekend with some of my family. One of my cousins, Winston Duncan, was recognized at the Kennedy Center. He started a non-profit program called Wheels to Africa where he collects used bikes from people and ships them over to Africa to be distributed to those in need of them. (Btw, his next collection date is Dec. 5)  The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the social and economic issues of Africa, was the host of the event in which Winston was honored. It was a black tie event that dignitaries and ambassadors attended. Not a function you would have likely seen a bunch of folks from Pickens, SC attending if it weren’t for Winston. Anyways, it was pretty awesome except for the fact that I looked like I was high because of an allergic reaction to my contact solution.

After the function we spent the rest of the weekend on a fast paced tour of Washington, DC. It was a lot of fun even if we barely got any sleep and were sick and tired of certain members of the family by the end of the trip. Andrew, my husband, had never been to DC before so he got a crash course in sight seeing. It is great that all of the museums and tours are free. Although security at the capitol building kinda sucks.

We get to the doors of the capitol and they tell us that we can’t have any food or drinks, not even water. So we all empty our water bottles, after a few swigs, in the bushes and come back. “No, ” they tell us, “you can’t bring empty containers into the capitol either.” Why they didn’t tell us that to begin with, who knows. So those of us with cheap plastic water bottles throw them in the large garbage bins by the door, placed specifically for this purpose. My cousin, Viv, has a really nice water bottle she is understandably reluctant to toss. So she decides that she will just place it on the ground by the garbage and pick it up on the way back out. “That’s littering!” the guard at the door informs her. After a brief argument between my aunt and the guard, who threatens a ticket and a fine,Viv is forced to throw away her perfectly good water bottle. Stupid national security.

While we were in DC, Sen. Ted Kennedy’s funeral took place. We got to see the processional from outside the Natural History Museum and then later at the gates of Arlington. The procession took at least an hour. I thought it was kind of neat that the people in the limos were hanging out the windows waving and extending tearful thank yous to the applauding crowd. It was an interesting experience. I don’t know how I would feel about my funeral procession being turned into some kind of parade, even if the crowd was only respectfully applauding. Then again, I’m not a Kennedy or a Senator.

Been a while… July 27, 2009

So it’s been quite a while since my last post, in which I declared Obama to be the Anti-Christ. I dk… I still don’t like the guy and I still think he’s an idiot and he definately hasn’t helped us out too much but I’m not sure I think he is the anti-christ. Obviously he could be but how the heck do I know?

Anyways… Thought I’d just say how things have been going and what I’ve been up to since October 2008.

November passed without anything too much to talk about.

December was pretty good. I got my new puppy Rascal He is a Miniature Pincher and Jack Russel mix. He is just over 9 months old. My puppy, Lilly, ran away about a week before Andrew and I got engaged (Sept). It was really sad but Rascal was an abused puppy just like Lilly and I couldn’t not adopt him. Andrew tells me that I’m overprotective but I don’t see how that is a problem seeing as I’d just lost my other puppy. Anyways, Rascal is an absolute joy and has been a wonderful dog. We went to see Andrew’s family in Kansas and his step-dad wanted to keep Rascal lol. I turned 21 on Dec 31 and had my first legal alcoholic beverage. It was a Blue Lemontini and it was really good. I hardly ever drink alcohol so I got a tad bit tipsy.

January, February, March, and April all passed without too much to talk about.

We finished the school year in May and a bunch of my friends graduated. I started feeling the stress of the upcoming wedding but was glad to be done with classes and Yearbook so I could concentrate on plans and getting a tan.

June 7th, 2009 was the date of our wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding at my grandparent’s lake house out on Lake Hartwell. There were less than 100 people I think so it was a fairly small wedding, which was fine with me lol. I was more nervous about standing up infront of everyone than I was about getting married. Andrew looked amazingly handsome, of course, in his tux. Our puppy Rascal was the ring bearer. A friend of ours held him in the back row until the best man picked him up on his way down the aisle. Rascal was growling at people as they walked by lol. Not loud enough for anybody but the closest few people to hear though.
We went to Florida for our honeymoon and visited Busch Gardens and Seaworld. I liked Seaworld the best. We had a great time. My camera had died the morning of the wedding so we had to buy a new one on our honeymoon. ~Thanks to all of the guests who helped us buy it!~
After the honeymoon we came back home for about a week and then we left for my family’s annual beach trip. It was so cool to be married on that trip. It was weird being a “grown-up” lol.

The second week of July marked the start of my new job… well, internship really. My “title” is Web Intern. I have been doing more graphic design stuff though and I think I have decided that I would rather do graphics than web production as a career. I like my job though and I love that I have my own office, even if it is down in a basement that smells a bit like feet lol.
Our friends Adam and Jennie got married on the 25th. My dad was a groomsman so Mom, Dad, Andrew and I all drove up to Pannsylvania (13 hours, except my mom is recovering from surgery so it took more like 15) for two days. It was an ok trip but it was a long way to go for a wedding even though the wedding & reception lasted 6 hours. And it was rainy all before and after the wedding although God held off the rain up until the last hour of the reception. But we had to set up and clean up in the mud. It was… fun…

So that brings me to today… I’m at work. Yeah I should be working but I am done with all of the projects I have been assigned so far. I am supposed to get some more to do tomorrow so hopefully I won’t be bored enough to sit here and blog about my boring life lol.

Well, until next time…
kristinmarie

Me and Politics… well… October 16, 2008

Ok, so my honest opinion about the upcoming election and the candidates is that Obama is the anti-christ and Oprah is his false prophet. I said it in the beginning as a joke but now I’m pretty sure its possible. Of course I have no idea if it’s really true and I won’t know until he reveals himself at the appointed time but there is some evidence out there already…

Even if he isn’t anti-christ, he still is not presidential material. Seriously people, how can you vote for someone who will not salute the flag, say the Pledge, or even wear the American flag pin as is tradition for every president. How can we allow, no – PLACE someone like that at the head of our government?

Not to mention he is for the murder of innocent infants and the legalizing of unholy unions. How can this man say he is a devoted American when he has no respect for the greatest symbol of our country? How can this man claim to follow God when he supports two acts that are openly detested and forbidden in the Bible?

How can we, without conscience crying out, elect a man like this into office?!

I’m engaged… and this is how it happened… September 15, 2008

This is for everybody who wants to know how my fiance (I love saying that!) proposed;

We went to Biltmore estate -one of my favorite places ever! – Saturday September 13, 2008 and he suprised me with a rooftop tour, a behind-the-scenes tour, and a trail ride. I was kinda of expecting him to do it on the roof top tour but some other guy proposed to his girlfriend so I knew Andrew wasn’t going to do it there. Then there wasn’t really a good place for him to do it on the behind-the-scenes tour or the trail ride so I had kind of given up. Right before we left we went up to the top of the hill opposite of the house to get a picture of us with the whole front of the house in the background. So i set the camera up on a tripod and set the timer and made Andrew go stand where we were going to be in the picture so that I could focus the camera. I pushed the button and ran down to him to get in the picture and right when I got there he dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him So needless to say his timing was perfect and I now have a picture of him on his knee and me with my mouth wide open. When he stood up and I hugged him we had an audience cheering for us lol. So thats the story…

Love & Romance May 2, 2008

Here are the six different types of love;

1. Ludus; playful love
2. Eros: passionate, intense, erotic
3. Storge; friendship based, stable
4. Pragma; practical, deliberate, methodical
5. Mania; jealous, dependant, obcessive
6. Agape; selfless, combination between Storge and Eros

I think I am mostly Ludus with some Eros tossed in there

Stages of Romance;
1. Individuality
2. Initial Communication
3. Explorational Communication
4. Intensifying Communication
5. Revising Communication
6. Commitment

Breakfast Club May 2, 2008

This is basically my movie project in essay form;
Parents’ Effects on Children’s Self-Image
There are many elements that attribute to a person’s self-image but the most evident in the movie The Breakfast Club is the parental element. This movie shows how the different characters’ self-images are affected by the parenting styles with which they have been raised.
At the beginning of the movie the characters are introduced as they are being dropped off for Saturday school. Also seen are the short interactions between the characters and their parents. First we see Claire in her father’s expensive car complaining about having to be in Saturday school, which is meant for the “defectives.” Her father tells her that skipping school to go shopping does not make her a defective. This is an example of permissive parenting, where the parents relate to their child as peers rather than authority figures. Claire’s parents do not get along and try to get at each other by showering Claire with gifts and contradicting each other. This causes rules and punishments to be inconsistent and confuses Claire as to how she needs to behave. Claire feels the need to have some structure in her life and so she hangs out with the popular crowd who has strict standards such as apparel, extracurricular activities, and attitude. In this crowd she also feels a sense of belonging whereas at home she feels like a tool that her parents use “just to get back at each other.”
The next character seen is Brian. He appears in a middle-class vehicle with his mother and sister. His mother insists that Brian use his time in Saturday school to study even after Brian explains that studying is not allowed. Brian later talks of how he is unsuccessful in shop class and had planned on killing himself in order to escape the shame of an F. He states, “Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I’m still only a ‘B’.” This suggests that Brian’s parents have pushed him into believing that his worth is defined by his grades. This is an example of mild authoritarian parenting style. Brian’s parents are extremely strict when it comes to his studies and they keep pushing him to do well without encouraging him.They seem completely uninterested in his life aside from his academics. They failed to ask why Brian had a gun in his locker and perhaps would not have understood if he had told them. Brian’s parents may want him to succeed but because they do not show kindness and encouragement as well, Brian surely feels as though he can never be quite good enough for them.
Next seen is Andrew. He is clearly a jock as he is wearing a letterman jacket with several patches. His father is telling him that there is nothing wrong with what he did except that he got caught. However, he is also telling Andrew that he cannot let little things ruin his chances to excel in sports. Andrew’s father is trying to relive his high school days through his son while Andrew is too afraid of not living up to his expectations to say anything. This parenting style is between permissive and authoritarian because when it comes to sports Andrew’s father is strict and unforgiving but when it comes to Andrew getting into trouble he dismisses it and only worries about the effect it may have on Andrew’s sports. Andrew quotes his father saying, “Andrew, you’ve got to be number one! I won’t tolerate any losers in this family… Win! Win! Win!” This causes Andrew to try to make himself feel like a “winner” by putting down those around him. The reason he is in Saturday school is that he played a prank on someone weaker than him. He states that all he could think about was his father and how he couldn’t tolerate weakness.
After Andrew comes John Bender who walks slowly across the parking lot ignoring the car that almost hits him. As soon as Bender gets into the library he begins confronting anyone who will argue back. At one point he provokes Andrew, who says, “…if you disappeared forever it wouldn’t make any difference. You may as well not even exist at this school.” This statement shows how most of the student body probably views Bender. He is replaceable and unimportant. His home life, which he acts out for the other characters, reveals his parents to be text book authoritarian ones. Not only do both of his parents call him names like “worthless” and “stupid” but his father beats both he and his mother. Even Mr. Vernon threatens to beat him, calling him a “gutless turd.” Bender’s seemingly unconcerned and careless persona is really a cover and a defense mechanism to protect himself from being hurt by others.
The last character introduced is Allison. She is dressed in all black and does not speak for the first twenty minutes or so of the movie. The driver of the car that drops her off is never shown and when she walks to the window to say something, the car pulls away. The only time Allison talks about her parents is when she tells Andrew that they ignore her. They are obviously uninvolved and uninterested in Allison and this causes her to feel invisible to others in a way. She is torn between feeling like she does not deserve to be seen or talked to and her desire to be noticed. She says some profound things once she begins to open up but most often she is lying or saying something bizarre to catch everyone’s attention.
All of these characters project an image of themselves trying to either protect themselves or live up to expectations. Bender, the “criminal,” projects a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude because he feels that if he shows vulnerability then he will be taken advantage of. Claire, the “princess,” goes along with everything her friends say because she feels she has to in order to fit in. Brian, the “brain,” makes good grades to try and live up to his parents’ expectations and to feel worthy of their love. Andrew, the “jock,” does what he is told in order to fulfill his father’s expectations as well as those of his coaches. Finally, Allison, the “basket-case,” tries to remain invisible but also longs to be noticed. Each of these characters’ parents’ have conditioned them to act the way they do and portray themselves in this way.

Standards May 2, 2008

While in London, we visited a Muslim Mosque. This was one of my favorite events of the trip mainly because I learned so much in such a short time. The Muslim faith intruiques me and I would like to learn more about it. The part about their faith that I find most interesting is their strict standards. The Koran outlines pretty much their every move and every belief in black and white. Because of this they are unified not only in the way they believe but also in the way they live. I kind of like this about them. I don’t like that you have to follow the rules exactly in order to gain favor from “Allah” but I do like that when they say they are Muslim, people know that they are going to be firm in their faith and stick to the standards that are outlined in the Koran. I suppose that every faith has those that are hypocritical but it just seems like they are more steadfast in their standards. In a way I wish Christianity would be more like that.

The Old Testament was kind of that way, there were strict rules that were to be obeyed without question. I read a little about this in my Ethics book, Moral Choices. It says that in the Old Testament there are three types of law; Moral Law (God’s Commands), Custom Law, and Political Law.

The Internet and Reputation April 5, 2008

I’m sorry if this offends anybody but seriously, how can anyone think that if they put something online that could incriminate them, no one will use it against them?

 Not only will people use everything and anything to put you down but people are stupid enough to think that they will not get into trouble for things they do and say. Having freedom of speech does not mean that you can tell on yourself and not get into trouble for what you did.

Movie Project March 27, 2008

My movie is going to be The Breakfast Club.