Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Things to Post

Hi,  If you want to post videos and recipes, or anything else fun, please do!

5 comments:

  1. How do we post things?

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  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdcB6_RFICo
    My grandmother loved tarot reading and I never understood it. I found this very helpful with learning on how it works. I hope you enjoy it. I couldn't figure out how to post so I put it in here.

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  3. Hey Guys! While I was reading "Wicca" I thought about how Cunningham wrote about other religions with a sense of respect and he didn't seem like he wanted to degrade, or downplay those who follow other religions. This got me thinking. Would people at say, Fox News be so openminded about the religion of Wicca? Probably not. So, I looked up any sort of video about Fox's perspective on Wicca and I found this gem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J22mI-P0a1M.

    After watching the video I just couldn't help but be...well not surprised. The shear sarcasm and disrespect that came from the man on the left was just sad, and uncomfortable for the woman in the middle as you can clearly see at 2:42. And this video is from one year ago. There doesn't seem to be a progression in acceptance at Fox and honestly I didn't expect there to be. But, then things got really weird when the man who was making the worst comments had to offer an apology on the air. See it here (sorry for the quality): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFtVhpZMdxM.

    Is it just me or does this seem like the most rehearsed, insincere apology? I just thought this video was interesting because while Cunningham mentioned that many Wiccan's today don't practice outdoors or make it clear what there religion is due to judgement. It's incredibly disheartening that they feel this way, but at the same time this video just goes to show that the judgement some fear is legitimate.

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  4. So I watched this movie over the weekend called Devils Knot, it's streaming on Netflix right now, and it was actually incredibly interesting and had a lot to do with the readings. It's about the true story of the West Memphis Three, who are three boys accused of murdering three eight-year-olds for a sacrifice because they were Satanic worshipers. The one boy claimed over and over again that he was a Wiccan, and while the film does tend to take a more generic approach in representing Wiccans as frightening people, they do mention what the true beliefs behind this religion are and it was still striking to watch because it was basically a witch hunt in the 90's. A lot of evidence was ignored, but the Wicca religion was blown out of proportion and emphasized so that the boys would be found guilty even though they didn't really do it, or so the movie leads on. So check it out if you want, there are some big names in it and it just goes to show how Wiccans are still treated terribly just because they claim to be a certain religion.

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  5. Hey guys, it's me again on this same post haha. I was reading The Four Agreements Companion Book by Don Ruiz (which I am starting to think may be the wrong book because it says companion book), but anyway, I found something pretty striking on page 107 in the second paragraph. Ruiz wrote about how it may not be fair that someone should suffer for the rest of their lives if they made a major mistake and were judged by everyone around them. I am sure I can't be the only one whose immediate thoughts went to: well if someone murders someone in a fit of rage or something of that nature (like Oscar Pistorius allegedly did to his girlfriend when he shot her in the bathroom), I think they should be punished. And often that punishment is jail time for a good duration of the guilty persons life or even their entire life.

    The punishment that Ruiz speaks about is more on the psychological level. Should the person accused of the crime live the rest of their lives in a mode of self destruction because of one terrible mistake they made? Where do the feelings of shame and guilt come from?

    Obviously not every murder is a mistake, but many times the accused says that it was an accident and that they didn't mean to do what they did. Whether it was a faulty weapon or a lapse in judgment, does the person truly believing it was a mistake make it any less punishable? Or any less horrific?

    I saw a news story recently about a mother hugging her daughters murderer in court and saying she forgave him for what he did. I could not imagine what would prompt such an action from a mother whose child was murdered, so I read further. Jordyn Howel, 16-years-old, brought his fathers pistol on a school bus. He was showing it off to his friends when the gun misfired and hit Lourdes Guzman-Dejesus, 13-years-old, in the neck and killed her. Lourdes' mother helped Howe to avoid any jail time by agreeing to a plea deal, which said Howe would spend time in a juvenile rehabilitation center. He will later travel the country with Lourdes' mother and talk to schools about the dangers of guns.

    This instance of murder was clearly a mistake because Howe and Lourdes were actually friends. But Howe did not make a mistake when he took his fathers gun and began showing it off on a school bus full of kids. Because of his decision to bring his fathers pistol with him to school and as a result an innocent girl died, Howe was harshly judged by many. Ruiz pointed out that this can lead to feelings of guilt, shame and worthlessness. This process of thinking about the mistake you made and that leading to self criticism could go on forever. I would not be surprised if this happened to Howe. But the victims mother's decision to forgive Howe could have saved his life in the bigger picture. The guilt he felt was so clear on his face and who knows what he could have done if he received a prison sentence. I just thought it was so moving how something as simple as a hug and a few words could change someone's life.

    This mothers choice to forgive the man who took her daughter away from her is something so unbelievably selfless and also unimaginable to many. I began to think about what Ruiz said about how the guilty person needs to think about the action that led them to feeling such pain and hatred towards themselves. It isn't the mistake made, but rather the action of self judgment that takes place afterwards. So I think Lourdes' mothers choice to hug and forgive Howe impacted this process of self criticism tremendously.

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