This whole issue, while upsetting, does not come as a shock to me. It is people like these extremists who threatened the writers that give the rest of the Muslims bad name. As many people said in previous posts, South Park likes to push the buttons of every issue out there. There lovely show on “gingerism” is the only reason that people make fun of me for my hair color, which I happen to love. I still love South Park, and they will always continue to make fun of every religion, political issue, person, etc, that they can. I just do not see how two writers should deserve to die because they made fun of a god. How does the airing of the show affect anyone’s relationship with their god, if they have a problem with it, then do not watch it. Obviously, I am not a Muslim so the whole image of Mohammad thing just seems absurd to me.

I have never had any experience with “lifers,” but unfortunately I feel pretty strongly about this issue. I have really tried to open my eyes to the statement that some of these people are “quality people” as Sam or Laurie said in class, but I just can make myself believe it. I cannot get past the fact that these “lifers” did something so terrible that would even require a life sentence. They obviously destroyed a life, and that has caused an entire family, group of friends, and community to have lost someone they care about. I know that some of these people are remorseful, but that does not change the fact that they ruined the lives of so many people. I personally do not care how sorry you are or how well you write a letter, someone is now gone from this earth who did not deserve to be.

I think it is hard to say that people “don’t care” about what happened in Haiti, because you do not know the thoughts that go through people’s minds. Of course I care that these people’s lives have been absolutely turned upside by this terrible natural disaster, but short of flying to Haiti to lend a helping hand, I do not believe there is all that much that I could do that would actually make a difference. Yeah, I could donate money, and I did put in some money when Sam was collecting it, but do we really know where the money is going? Of course I know Sam would not steal our money, I am not trying to imply that, but is the money that anyone donates really making a huge difference in the relief effort? I obviously have not been to Haiti so I am just pulling this stuff out of the air, so call me naïve. If you are a student at Penn State, chances are you have had a pretty damn good life. That being said, it is hard for many people to open their eyes to what is actually going on down there. Most of us have not seen extreme poverty, we have not lived it, we have not experienced it. We cannot relate in any way, shape or form to what is going on in Haiti so it is hard to emotionally grieve. Of course, anyone with any human compassion will stare at the television while thinking how terrible things are and how horrendous those conditions are and how tragic it is that so many people are displaced, lost, or dead, but then the program ends and the news coverage is halted. Then we go do our homework, cook dinner, call our parents and we forget what those Haitians can never forget. I cannot mourn someone who I never knew, but I can mourn the situation. And I have done that, as I am sure many others did as well, but considering my life was not altered by the earthquake, I will inevitably forget because in my little world, I have other things to do. That sounds really harsh and ignorant, but my life goes on, and believe me I know how lucky I am that my life goes on happily.
Now if a family member died, like one of my parents, then I would mourn and my every thought would be consumed with that. My mother, in particular, is my best friend, she is someone I can count on no matter what, and if I did not have her my life would be 100% different. That would impact me, that would change my everyday routine, that would change my life. I think that is a main reason why people do not seem to “care” about over 300,000 people dying, because our lives go on unchanged.

I am glad that this perspective was shard on this website. I mean, most of us know that that is not what Muslims represent, the extremists, etc. But there are a few ignorant people out there that see bin Laden and group every Muslim to be like him. Hell, people even group all brown people to be like him, ignorant people, that is. One of my best friends is Muslim and of course I know how she practices her religion, and it is not by blowing things up. Your husband should be comforted by the fact that there are people out who do not have their heads up their asses and they know how real Muslims practice their religion.

You don’t really hear about female suicide bombers too much. I feel as though the most common suicide bombers are men. If you also look at how men and women typically commit suicide in America, men tend to use more definite approaches, like hanging themselves or shooting themselves. Women tend to take the riskier options, like popping pills or slitting their wrists. So the fact that there are more suicide bombers that are men than women can probably be related to that statistic. It is just so sad to see that this woman felt that killing herself was her only option. If a loved one of mine were murdered, by any means, including being a victim of war violence, then I would want to avenge their death. But I would most certainly never kill another innocent person just because I was angry. That is just doing the same thing to another family that had been done to yours. So I don’t know how accurate it would be to say that these people are avenging their loved ones, but who knows, maybe they feel that is the only way they can make an impact.

If you are raised to believe a certain thing, you most likely will believe it. If you are born into a family that hates Americans and everything we do, you will be bred to believe that fact. Without the proper information, how are you to know any different? An unprovoked epiphany about why Americans say they are invading your country is not going to just pop into your head. And I believe that was the point of today’s lecture. We were supposed to step into the shoes of average people living in Iraq and see things from their point of view. Why is their country being turned into ruins? Because the Americans are being selfish pigs. They do not want to do any research to justify what is happening to their country, all they know is that there are foreign people here and they are making their lives harder. So of course there will be angry people who will fight against the Americans. As the poll in class revealed, so would most of us if we were in their shoes.

I consider myself to have compassion for all forms of human life. One exception to that would be for murderers. I do not care how “cool” they are or if they are “quality human beings,” they killed someone, and for that I hope they wake up everyday as miserable as possible. I do not care if they are “changed.” That one person whose life they took will never be able to come back, and that is that. Whew, anyway…my original point was to say that I really have a hard time with the death of civilians. I will tell you right now that I am not nearly educated enough about the war in Iraq, so I will not take sides either way because I do not have the knowledge to. But for me, personally, I do not believe I would be able to take another humans life (unless they deserve it, anyone watch Dexter?) I am not saying that I am against war, I am just saying that I could not imagine losing my family to violence. Especially violence that I do not fully understand. Innocent people are dying every day in Iraq, and again, I am not saying it is because of Americans, I am just saying that people are being victims of violence that does not have to exist.

As for the Christian aspect of this whole thing, I personally am not a fan of religion. That should be enough of an explanation. The Christians that I personally know are very, very religious people. Christianity is their life, and that is really not an issue to me. One of my very best friends is a very, very hardcore Christian, and I love him to death. I just find it hard to believe in the same things that he does and I could never live the type of life he lives. But that is how he was raised so he is fine with it. Bottom line, I like to do what I want to do, not what God (if there is one) wants me to do. I feel as though I lead a very good life and I do not think religion needs to influence me, or anyone. But, to each his own. I know I really did not directly answer the question, but oh well.

This is a great question. Honestly, many of the things that Sam has said I have already considered in my 19 years of living. If you have not thought about the stuff Sam says, well you must live in a hole. His opinions have not changed my thinking in any way, but that is not the point of the class. Sam has said that he does not want us to think like him, he just wants us to think. There are some lectures were I will nod in agreement with something Sam says, and there are other times where I will glance around the room to see the angry look on people’s faces. I do find it odd that with 20 plus years of teaching, Sam still has insane revelations once a week. Some of the things that he finds so profound, I really find uninteresting. But, to each his own. I am no sociologist so my interests are obviously in another category.

This student was actually in my race relations discussion group the other week so I got to hear what he had to say first hand. I must admit when I first saw him I just assumed he was white, but when he started talking he stated that he is not white, and he identifies with his Hispanic side of the family. I did not think much of it because that is the case for many people around here. But to see the turmoil that it is causing him is upsetting. I do not think people should be asked to pick a “team” if they feel uneasy about it. If you do not know what to identify with, or if you feel you identify with a race that society does not put you in, then go ahead and do so.

I think it is nice to have someone who is so comfortable talking about “bleeding” so freely. I personally do not mind talking about it, but kind of only with girls. It is not that I MIND talking about it with boys, but I just…don’t? I do not really know a better way to put it, and I am sure many girls out there understand where I am coming from, even if they do not agree with it. Anyway, as a side note to guys: hormones are crazy things. They can really alter the way a girl feels in so many ways. Personally, the week before my period I usually get really angry at certain people, whether it be my roommate or my best friend. I just want to be left alone and I withdraw, and I sit there thinking to myself “what is wrong with me?” Then I make the connection that my period is starting soon and this stupid PMS is really affecting my life. It is much more annoying to us then it is to you.

I still have yet to receive my very first census, so I also have yet to experience this very important form filling event for myself. I do not really even know what type of questions will be on the census but so far there is just a serious amount of hype about it. I know why it is so important, and I plan to fill it out accurately. I just think some people are thinking too far into the issue of what race they are. I personally know my race is white, it is not very hard for me to figure that one out. If you are black, then mark whatever box you want that corresponds to being black. If you do not identify as a “negro,” then do not check the damn box. If you are multiracial, then fill it out accordingly! Of course, most of the people here at Penn State will understand the concept of the different terms, because I would like to think that Penn State is a generally well educated and intelligent group of people. Unfortunately, there are many, many, many people out there who are very uneducated and either do not understand how to fill out a census or get offended by certain terms on there. They just assume that the people who wrote the census are white, racist idiots. As Sam stated, they do not realize the amount of time, effort, and money that went into deciding whether to keep the particular term were to be kept on the census or not. I would assume that the reason it was kept is because there is still a very large amount of people who solely identify themselves as “negroes.” Also, as Sam said, these people are the older generation of black people. The younger generation of black people are probably the ones being offended by this term and they do not realize that there is a large amount of people who identify themselves that way. Of course, there is no way to educate every single offended person as to why this term exists.
I actually feel bad for the people who wrote the census because they put so much effort into doing this and trying to make it less confusing as possible, only to have it ineviteably end up in confusion and frustration. Some other people mentioned in their posts, it is interesting about the lack of distinction for white people. I personally do not care, because I identify as white and that is fine by me, but I can see some white people getting offended just like black people get offended and mixed race people get offended. You can not satisfy everybody though.