I am pro life. There are numerous events and circumstances that shaped my opinion. I will first begin by saying that I was not always of this belief. I spent two and a half years of high school constantly struggling against the values I grew up with. My parents and I would argue every night over dinner about religion and friends. However, I was still forced to attend church with my family every Sunday night, even though I claimed agnosticism. This rebellion continued on to the topic of abortion and my stance on it. Both my parents, but especially my mom, are believers in the pro-life cause. This issue came up several times when my parents and I would talk, but only now when I go home and have another great discussion do I actually realize that they were right the entire time. This rebellious phase quickly changed into acceptance and trust in my parents and their beliefs. The base of my stance on abortion comes from three distinct sources: the Catholic Church, my best friend Sara, and my parents and the community in which I live.
I am a Catholic and agree with the stance my church takes on abortion. I do not blindly follow all of the Catholic Church’s opinions or take everything it says as honest and true. I am dedicated to my faith and feel strongly about being known as a person of faith. Therefore, it is important to be educated on the church’s viewpoints. I will research their stance and then make an educated decision on whether or not I am in accordance with the church’s view.
During my junior year in high school, my best friend and her boyfriend made a few bad decisions and she got pregnant. Her initial reaction was one of anger, blame, and turmoil. She debated over whether or not she should get an abortion and decided that she should. She came to me after making her decision, as she did not want to upset me. I will never forget that day when she told me that she had an abortion. At the time I did not have a strong opinion on the subject. I thought abortion was wrong, however, in certain situations it was necessary. After that day, my opinion changed dramatically. The guilt and remorse that still haunts my best friend to this day has led me to the conclusion of supporting life. She was too afraid to ask anyone close to her for advice, especially her parents, thus resorting to drastic measures. My friend is no longer the strong, carefree girl I once knew. I cannot imagine how many other girls have gone through this exact situation and have become overly cautious.
My family and the community that I have grown up in is very conservative. At some point, most children, including myself, rebel from their parents’ beliefs. However, my parents and my social background have influenced my beliefs. I have grown up in a family where both my parents are strong conservatives. In addition to being one of four girls in my family, my mom finds it necessary to tell remind us, on a weekly basis, about the dangers and moral implications of abortion. This was hard for me to accept at first and I was also rebelling against my parents. I needed to experience life on my own and be able to make my own decisions about things before I realized that my parents were right.
I believe that most people make the same decision and share the same viewpoints as their family, friends, and the surrounding community. It is very easy to just follow the ways of your parents or an older mentor. I agreed with my friends who had strong opinion on certain subjects, just because I was unsure of myself. However, the end of my high school career enabled me to see past those loud voices and come to decisions on my own. My church, my friends, and my parents on many subjects influence me.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The How
I am pro life. There are numerous events and circumstances that have occurred, evolving and shaping my opinion. I will first begin by saying that I was not always of this belief. The first two and a half years of high school were spent in a constant struggle against the values I grew up with. The beginning stage of this struggle was a blind disagreement with everything that once seemed right. My parents and I would argue every night over dinner about topics such as school, friends, and religion. They would mostly be friendly arguments, as my parents felt it necessary to debate topics that I found wrong. However, I was still forced to attend church with my family every Sunday night, even though I claimed agnosticism. This is was bothered me the most about my parents, the fact that we could have a stimulating discussion on certain topics, but that I was still forced to take part activities that clearly favored their view point. This rebellion continued on to the topic of abortion and my stance on it. Both my parents, but especially my mom, are avid believers in pro life. So, one can assume on what I had just finished telling you, that I decided that I was pro choice. This issue came up several times when my parents and I would talk, but only now when I go home and have another great discussion do I actually realize that they were right the entire time. This rebellious phase quickly changed into acceptance and trust in my parents and their beliefs. The base of my stance on abortion comes from three distinct sources: the Catholic Church, my best friend Sara, and my parents and the community in which I live.
I am a Catholic and agree with the stance my church takes on abortion. I do not blindly follow all of the Catholic Church’s opinions and take everything it says as honest and true. I have come around from rebelling from the church and opposing all of its viewpoints just because it’s what Catholics believe to making educated decisions about issues that I find are important. I am dedicated to my faith and feel strongly about being known as a person of faith. Therefore, it is important to be educated on the church’s viewpoints. I will research their stance and then make an educated decision on whether or not I am in accordance with the church’s view.
During my junior year in high school, my best friend was impregnated by her boyfriend of six months. Her initial reaction was one of anger, blame, and turmoil. She debated over whether or not she should get an abortion and decided that she should. She came to me after making her decision, as she did not want to upset me. I will never forget that day when she told me that she had an abortion. At the time I did not have a strong opinion on the subject. I thought abortion was wrong, however, in certain situations it was necessary. After that day, my opinion changed dramatically. The guilt and remorse that still haunts my best friend to this day has led me to the conclusion of pro life. She was too afraid to ask anyone close to her for advice, especially her parents, thus resorting to drastic measures. My friend’s entire personality has changed since this event. She is no longer the strong, carefree girl I once knew. She questions her every decision and constantly needs reassurance that she is doing the right thing. I cannot imagine how many other girls have gone through this exact situation turning out to be insecure and afraid women.
The family I have grown up in and the community that I have lived in is very conservative. At some point in time, most children rebel from his or her parents’ beliefs. I was part of the “most” kids. However, my parents and my social background have had very strong influence in what I believe today. I have grown up in a family where my dad is strongly conservative and has been his entire life. My mom, on the other hand, was a liberal working for Senator Ted Kennedy in her youth, but as she gets older she has progressively become more conservative. As this may be the case with most adults, my mom completely opposes all things she once advocated. In addition to being one of four girls in my family, my mom finds it necessary to tell remind us, on a weekly basis, about the dangers and moral complications on abortion. This was hard for me to accept at first and I was also rebelling against my parents. However, now that I am a little bit older and more experienced in life, I believe that my parents’ views and my own views are very similar. I needed to experience like on my own and be able to make my own decisions about things, before I finally realized that my parents were right.
I believe that most people make the same decision and share the same viewpoints as their family, friends, and the surrounding community. It is very easy to just follow the ways of your parents or an older mentor. Most people can be easily swayed by a strong voice or a compelling argument. I was part of that many in high school. I jumped on the bandwagon, as they say, with many topics. I agreed with my friends who had strong opinion on certain subjects, just because I was unsure of myself. However, the end of my high school career enabled me to see past those loud voices and come to decisions on my own. My church, my friends, and my parents on many subjects influence me.
I am a Catholic and agree with the stance my church takes on abortion. I do not blindly follow all of the Catholic Church’s opinions and take everything it says as honest and true. I have come around from rebelling from the church and opposing all of its viewpoints just because it’s what Catholics believe to making educated decisions about issues that I find are important. I am dedicated to my faith and feel strongly about being known as a person of faith. Therefore, it is important to be educated on the church’s viewpoints. I will research their stance and then make an educated decision on whether or not I am in accordance with the church’s view.
During my junior year in high school, my best friend was impregnated by her boyfriend of six months. Her initial reaction was one of anger, blame, and turmoil. She debated over whether or not she should get an abortion and decided that she should. She came to me after making her decision, as she did not want to upset me. I will never forget that day when she told me that she had an abortion. At the time I did not have a strong opinion on the subject. I thought abortion was wrong, however, in certain situations it was necessary. After that day, my opinion changed dramatically. The guilt and remorse that still haunts my best friend to this day has led me to the conclusion of pro life. She was too afraid to ask anyone close to her for advice, especially her parents, thus resorting to drastic measures. My friend’s entire personality has changed since this event. She is no longer the strong, carefree girl I once knew. She questions her every decision and constantly needs reassurance that she is doing the right thing. I cannot imagine how many other girls have gone through this exact situation turning out to be insecure and afraid women.
The family I have grown up in and the community that I have lived in is very conservative. At some point in time, most children rebel from his or her parents’ beliefs. I was part of the “most” kids. However, my parents and my social background have had very strong influence in what I believe today. I have grown up in a family where my dad is strongly conservative and has been his entire life. My mom, on the other hand, was a liberal working for Senator Ted Kennedy in her youth, but as she gets older she has progressively become more conservative. As this may be the case with most adults, my mom completely opposes all things she once advocated. In addition to being one of four girls in my family, my mom finds it necessary to tell remind us, on a weekly basis, about the dangers and moral complications on abortion. This was hard for me to accept at first and I was also rebelling against my parents. However, now that I am a little bit older and more experienced in life, I believe that my parents’ views and my own views are very similar. I needed to experience like on my own and be able to make my own decisions about things, before I finally realized that my parents were right.
I believe that most people make the same decision and share the same viewpoints as their family, friends, and the surrounding community. It is very easy to just follow the ways of your parents or an older mentor. Most people can be easily swayed by a strong voice or a compelling argument. I was part of that many in high school. I jumped on the bandwagon, as they say, with many topics. I agreed with my friends who had strong opinion on certain subjects, just because I was unsure of myself. However, the end of my high school career enabled me to see past those loud voices and come to decisions on my own. My church, my friends, and my parents on many subjects influence me.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Holocaust Revisionism
After searching the web for about twenty minutes trying to find a site that denied the holocaust, I hit jackpot at www.codoh.info.html. The Committee for Open Debate of the Holocaust (CODOH) has many interesting articles and accounts of what "really" happened during WWII. There is a very interesting question and answer page that allows viewers to ask a question about anything Holocaust related and have it answered. The question and answer that I found most intriging was titled What happened to Europe's Jews. The "anwerman" as he so calls himself claims that during the WWII era, 1930-1940, "hundreds of thousands of Jews left Germany." This is saying that the Holocaust did not cause the murders of these hundreds of thousands of Jews, but that they did not get murdered at all. They simply moved away.
Another very intersting thing I found was that they tell the readers that the Simon Wiesenthal Center airbrushed in smoke for the picture showing the Auschwitz -Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1944. They stated that the crematoria does not emit such smoke and that it was not used to burn bodies. They further go on to say that, "In this ludicrous and fraudulent artwork the "smoke" appears to be coming from a fence post."
Another very intersting thing I found was that they tell the readers that the Simon Wiesenthal Center airbrushed in smoke for the picture showing the Auschwitz -Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1944. They stated that the crematoria does not emit such smoke and that it was not used to burn bodies. They further go on to say that, "In this ludicrous and fraudulent artwork the "smoke" appears to be coming from a fence post."
Monday, September 10, 2007
UFO Believers
http://www.ufo-blog.com/ufo-blog/index.htm
As I was surfing the web trying to find a believer in UFOs, I stumbled upon this UFO Blog that allows bloggers to give her first hand account of a UFO sighting. After the blogger shares his account, the website founder responds to their account and provides credibility with past experiences and years of research. There were numerous accounts on this site in places all over the country, all with similiar reports. However the one that struck me the most was of a siting in Bondad, Colorado.
The believer claims to have been driving home from a day at work in Aztec, New Mexico and his car was suddenly pushed down by intense "wind pressure" from the object outside. He slowed his car down from 60 to 35 mph to get a better look at the "bright light" that flashed above his car. He said it could not have been a jet as he drives a 2500 Dodge Diesel truck and that it is not an easily affected car. His truck "literally almost bounced" as the flash of light flew overhead feeling as though "it went through a huge ditch." However, he later states that the road was new and did not have any ditches. In addition, he claims that because of its speed and the fact that no noises were made, it could not have been a jet.
I have always thought that UFO siting were humorous as I am a skeptic. This is just one of hundreds of first hand accounts of strange happenings. The reader has nothing to base this on except the word of the blogger. I don't know the believer's name, background, education, or anything that can prove his credibility. As of now, I am still a skeptic.
As I was surfing the web trying to find a believer in UFOs, I stumbled upon this UFO Blog that allows bloggers to give her first hand account of a UFO sighting. After the blogger shares his account, the website founder responds to their account and provides credibility with past experiences and years of research. There were numerous accounts on this site in places all over the country, all with similiar reports. However the one that struck me the most was of a siting in Bondad, Colorado.
The believer claims to have been driving home from a day at work in Aztec, New Mexico and his car was suddenly pushed down by intense "wind pressure" from the object outside. He slowed his car down from 60 to 35 mph to get a better look at the "bright light" that flashed above his car. He said it could not have been a jet as he drives a 2500 Dodge Diesel truck and that it is not an easily affected car. His truck "literally almost bounced" as the flash of light flew overhead feeling as though "it went through a huge ditch." However, he later states that the road was new and did not have any ditches. In addition, he claims that because of its speed and the fact that no noises were made, it could not have been a jet.
I have always thought that UFO siting were humorous as I am a skeptic. This is just one of hundreds of first hand accounts of strange happenings. The reader has nothing to base this on except the word of the blogger. I don't know the believer's name, background, education, or anything that can prove his credibility. As of now, I am still a skeptic.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Encounters I Didn't Understand
I was at Six Flags Magic Mountain over the summer with three of my friends. It was 98 degrees and disgustingly hot. As we were standing in line buying tickets a bus pulled up and about 20 people dressed as clowns got out of the bus. They had the face paint, the huge shoes, the works. They got in line to buy tickets as well. We asked them why they were dressed as clowns and they simply replied why not. My friends and I saw them at least five other times during the day and the last time we saw them all their face paint was coming off and they look tired and wore out. I didn't understand why anyone would want to spend a day at Six Flags as a clown.
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