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| Well seeing that I have quite a few places where I blog, there isn't really a point of keeping this private. Especially since you have to a Xanga member to comment on other people's Xangas. With that said, welcome all those who know me and have stubled on here. Now get out!
~Ams
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| I will post soon, I swear. | | |
| I've noticed that a lot of people nowadays like to say they're open minded. But what does that mean? I get various ideas in my head when I think about the word but if a person has never heard it before they would probably ask "open minded about what?" I certainly do. Does it refer to cultures, languages, ethnicities, sexual orientation, religion, personally created belief systems, height, weight, gender etc.? I don't understand what exactly this term means.
So when people say they're open minded, does that mean they're open to accepting everything including racism, sexism, oppression, exploitation, abuse, bullying etc.? I mean if we're only going to focus on the more socially appropriate things to accept then nobody is really open minded, are they? To be completely open minded would mean that a person has to accept everyone's beliefs and opinions as a possible truth or the proper way to interact and view people. But the truth is that not everything is the truth nor is all types of behaviour appropriate. If I believed in a monotheistic god and another person believed in a polytheistic god, does that make us both right? Either one of us is right or neither of us is right. So is saying that you're open-minded just a politically correct term for saying that you don't care what people believe because you see everything as equal? If so, then that is just utter laziness.
If being open minded simply means you're open to hearing out and respecting others' beliefs or choices without agreeing or condoning them, then I can see how the term can be attributed to such a definition. However, would that also include hostile and violent beliefs, such as mass genocide to purify the human race? At what point does open mindedness become an excuse for saying that nobody is special because we're all equally special? When does morality take a front seat over political correctness? At some point or another all open minded people are going to judge what is acceptable and what isn't. So does that make them a hypocrite because they're supposed to be open?
As you can probably tell, I don't really like the term. It's too open-ended. If you're going to say you're open minded, specify what you're open to so that nobody else draws a blank like me. | | |
| You know what's a paradox in our society? How individualism is promoted through conformity. Becoming an individual who is a strong independent person is constantly encouraged but there is an underlying perception that this will be accomplished through conforming to society.
Firstly this is done through the obvious and over spoken topic of body image. We're all supposed to be individuals with our own unique beauty and yet we're also supposed to fit the mould of beautiful. If women are too small, too big, too flat, too curvy (and the list goes on) then we haven't done enough to become our true individual. There are so many books, magazines, commercials, shows, informercials etc. telling us that we need to work on ourselves but at what point is this enough? I believe that self-improvement should be a lifelong goal, but we also need to make sure that it is healthy and for the reason of becoming better people not better manikins.
Secondly you can visually see individualism through conformity among the youth especially as well as selected parents. I don't understand the concept of being an individual by dressing like your peers. I understand that it's hard to be unique with our wardrobes and styles because everything here is basically prepackaged, but when you look just like your clique members I think that's overdoing it. I remember in high school when girls would call up their friends every night and coordinate their outfits for the next day. I'm not saying that everyone does this, but many people go out of their way to fit in rather every night labeled an outcast. Also, have you seen parents who try to fit in with their kids through wardrobe and style? It's ridiculous! Even if they have the body of a teenager, who will take you seriously as a parent if you hold yourself in that manner. It's the next level of 'living through your kids' I suppose, except this is 'living as your kids'. I think mothers who dress like teenagers just look older because they look like desperate older women who want to look younger rather than respectable older women who look good for their age.
The list goes on, but these are the most recognizable issues. What I find interesting is when people think that Christianity is all about conformity. To a certain extent it is because you conform to the guidelines of Christian living. BUT this is not supposed to be caused by others forcing you to conform but because the Holy Spirit leads you to do so. I say supposed to because I know there are many Christians who think that's what God wants of them when really they're supposed to back off and let God do His work His way. Back on topic, I was reminded of this perception of Christianity when I saw the film V for Vendetta. It was quite obvious what they were trying to say about the church (whether it be the Catholic Church or any other Church, I'm not sure but I will assume they are referring to Christian Churches to avoid pointing fingers). They way the film made it out like Churches force their members to conform to a mould and unite through blind faith and patriotism of their superiors is ridiculous. I have never experienced churches to be like that, and if they were like that I would have a personal talk with the leaders of the church. The Christian faith is not about uniting through blind faith. It's about following Jesus Christ and by all of us doing that, we are united in one faith. Our union is because we believe the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, not because we want to be a huge band of blind edits who listen to whomever is the head leader. That is why there are so many disputes in the church, because authenticity is valued more than conforming blindly. That freedom which our faith allows for has its pros and cons, but isn't it better that people are allowed to speak up rather than be forced to conform to a lifestyle that they don't want? I understand that there are exceptions to this where people don't have a say, but that is not right according to the Bible. My point is that many times people see Christianity giving people a lack of freedom where all they do is follow rigid rules, but really I see society as being the most conforming. The Bible says we are all God's children and He has given us unique gifts while society expects us all to be the best of the best according to their standards. The Bible says we are all one in Christ simply through belief while society tells us that unless we meet certain criteria we cannot be respected members of society. The Bible says take care of the orphaned and the widowed while society says, let the government deal with that so that I don't have to get my hands dirty. The Bible says love your neighbour as yourself while society says sue him/her if they walk across your lawn. I could go on, but then it would just be redundant.
I just want to end by saying that if you believe that Christians are all about conformity and blind faith, then why are there so many highly skeptical people who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Not all of His followers just do whatever He says. On the contrary, most Christians fight with God on a daily basis, but it does not deter from the fact that they believe that His son died for them. I'm not trying to convert people (because most people think that if I ever talk about my faith that, that is what I am after). All I want through this post is maybe changing your perspective of what is the real reality.
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| Why is it that the older I get, the faster time seems to pass by? I remember being in grade school and feeling like a year was forever. Now a year just shoots by. Maybe it's because I've become a weekender...always living for the weekend. My life is divided into what day of the week it is and my only abmition is looking forward to some special even in the near future. Right now, I don't have anything in particular to look forward to and so my summer is pretty crappy. Not to mention that I'm supposed to be studying for an exam which I detest already. I deter...bad habit.
So as I was saying, time seems to be going by so fast. I wonder if my grandmothers think that their life has just flown by and they arrived at their ripe age too quickly. Can we ever be satisfied with all that we have done in our lives? I've always heard that we should try to live our lives to the fullest, but is that possible? I think it's impossible to not look back later and wish I had done more. One of the problems I feel that we have is that we set our expectations for life too high. So what if we have regrets. Isn't that the point of life? When a person lives till 70 or 80 there is something to complain about (ie. they didn't do XYZ in their earlier years), and also if a person only lives till 15 (they were too young to die). I guess it really doesn't matter what age we die, life will still seem too short. So I guess I should stop dreading the last year of university because even if it goes by too quickly for my liking, I should try to enjoy it rather than dwell on it. That is my plan. Let's see if it actually happens.
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