Invisible Children

      Some things really just make you stop and think.

  
  It can be such a humbling experience to be reminded of  just how insignificant my own day to day 'problems' are, especially compared to some of the real suffering going on in the world. One thing that helped me to really understand that was the group Invisible Children.

    This is the second year in a row that the organization Invisible Children has  come to visit my school, and it was also the first time I was actually able to see what they are all about (last year I was out of school sick). But when I came back in everyone had this excited buzz around them, and I knew something big had gone on. 

When I asked around to my friends about what had happened and who the Invisible  Children were, they tried to explain it to me. I felt empathy for the poor children that they told me about in Africa. The ones who were dragged off, out of their homes, and forced to become soldiers. Yet, I still didn't fully understand what it was all about. 


After seeing and listening to the Invisible Children myself now I do, and I feel empowered to make a change. 

O-kaayy, well that's very nice and all, you might be thinking, but are you going to tell us about them or not? 
Why of course, thank you for reminding me! 

 To start off it might help to get a little familiarized with some background information on the conflict:

    Many people aren't aware of the ongoing war that's happening in northern Africa, as we speak. It is actually the longest war in African history, and has been going on for more than 23 years. 


    It's 'roots' can be traced back to the country of Uganda in the 1980's, when Alice Lakwena claimed that the Holy Spirit ordered her to overthrow the government because they had been unjust to the Acholi people. This movement gained popularity with the Acholis and became known as the Holy Spirit Movement. But then, Alice Lakwena was exiled and no clear leader of the group was left standing. 

Joseph Kony

     That is when Joseph Kony took over and transformed the movement into the Lord's Resistance Army (otherwise known as the LRA). Ever since then, war has been waging between the LRA and Government of Uganda with millions of innocent people caught in the middle. 


However, the Acholi people have never given their support to the LRA like they did to the HSM. With approval and forces dwindling, the LRA resorted to the abduction of children.

     




Now it is estimated that up to 90% of LRA's troops were abducted as children. 

They are forced to do gruesome, unimaginable things that no one should ever be subjected to do, least of all mere children.  



(It makes me sick to just think about it.)

One of Joseh Kony's child soldiers

 

  



 The Ugandan government reacted in response to the LRA and its abductions by forcibly removing people from their homes and into overcrowded camps, in hopes of better protecting them. This has just ended in even great suffering in itself (with no means of earning a living or raising food these camps have resulted in poverty, disease and starvation). 

Despite such harsh conditions and circumstances, this conflict has been the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world to date. 

Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole; the co-founders of Invisible Children

Movement to Change: 

Outside responses to the LRA were lacking until fairly recently. It started out as an exciting spring trip in 2003 to Africa to find a story for three young filmmakers, but turned out to be a life changing experience for them when they discovered the horrors of the LRA. 

The extreme injuries this  person has suffered from are courtesy of Joseph Kony

After returning back to the U.S. they made their documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut" to help expose the LRA and create awareness in people like me and the other students in my school, except on a nationwide scale. 
Besides their documentary, these three visionaries have made other great strides to help the victims of the LRA. To learn more about what Invisible Children is and what it does, and also about what you can do, go to this site: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/homepage  

"Discover the unseen" and help make a change

So, all of this is why I feel inspired to make my mark on the world and its going to start by making a difference, a difference with something like this. 

Are You Seriously That Prejudiced?

    I know that sometimes certain members of Christianity can be a little....narrow minded, but seriously, this is ridiculous.

    

    The Westboro Baptist Church is a congregation that was started in Topeka, Kansas sometime in the late 1960's. Some of their hobbies include: picketing and protests. And what are these protests and pickets about, you may ask? Oh nothing much, just their Anti-Semetic, homophobic, and other cynical views. People who are of the Jewish faith or gay community aren't the only ones that they pick on from their "bully pulpit." (that is taken from an actual quote said Shirley Phelps Roper while she was on the Tyra Banks Show. However, she was referring to normal society as the bully and was trying to portray WBC as the victim.) They also enjoy condemning soldiers, alive and dead alike, for fighting for a country as corrupt of the U.S.

    At their protests, each member carries multiple signs that say things like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," "Thank God for IEDs," "Thank God for 9/11," "Pray for More Dead Soldiers," "9-11 Gift From God," and even "God is Your Enemy." 

In addition to the signs, sometimes they even disrespectfully step on American flags.

  

    In their eyes, America is apparently doomed because it endorses and supports sodomy and abortion, among other sinful things. They think that our soldiers deserve to die because they are protecting such 'corrupt' country...

   

    I don't think that I have ever seen a view so prejudiced, so delusional as that of the people of the WBC. They use passages from the Bible to justify their message of hatred, but if I'm not mistaken, didn't Jesus teach that the greatest of commandments to follow was to love God and NEIGHBOR with all your heart? Clearly, they don't understand that concept and are suffering from extreme cases of moral ambiguity. They think that God is pleased with the things they are doing because they say they are following His will and rules. God would be more pleased, I think, if these people would start respecting the human dignity of their fellow mankind, instead of twisting and manipulating His word (the Bible) to fit their immoral outcries.They should be doing good deeds of charity, as well.

   Here are another few examples of some of the WBC's picket signs: "God Hates You," "God Hates Fags," "God is Your Enemy."

   It is true that the Lord was more of a vengeful God of wrath in the Old Testament, but it is also true that with the sending of the promised Messiah in the New Testament, He is portrayed more as a loving and forgiving God by Jesus. 

Maybe it's not from the New Testament, but it is still a good example of my point

    Now once again, if I'm not mistaken, going against what Jesus taught can be considered going against the word of God, right? And showing contempt for those teachings should very well be considered blasphemy. The very thing they so adamantly oppose in other groups.  (Just to clarify here is the definition for blasphemy by the Catholic Encyclopedia:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02595a.htm and from Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blasphemy?show=0&t=1319058493).

    These people are just walking contradictions. As you very well know by now, the WBC strongly opposes the ethics and beliefs of 'doomed America.' However, they have no problem hiding behinds its laws. While they are protesting against the evils of the  U.S.A they wield their right of freedom of speech to continue to do so. Now that makes complete sense to be doing, huh?

   

    -"Can we really be saying these things, Shirley?"

    -"Oh, no problem we'll just use one of the best and greatest of rights that America gives to its citizens to our advantage, then we can condemn it!"

(This is just a completely hypothetical conversation, by the way.)

   

Other people agree about the WBC's ignorance

    One thing that I found today that made me extremely angry with the WBC was their sign that said: "Thank God for Breast Cancer." It's not that all of the other horrible things they have been saying don't make me mad too, but I can really sympathize with the families of and the people who suffer from any form of cancer. Breast cancer especially, because someone very near to me in my family fought through it. Having to watch someone battle through cancer, and then seeing the WBC condemn those innocents just because they have a frightening illnesses that they have no control over, is just more proof of the ignorance of the overzealous Westboro members. I personally don't think that God would ever punish someone with something so bad, it's something that just happens, unfortunately. 

This is the sign that I was referring to above

    

    The way to deal with the WBC is not with reciprocating hate, like is the usual response. (Like sensible people with good morals, the typical response to the WBC is instant disapproval. Sometimes they argue with the WBC members or flick them off, but sometimes it goes a little too far, and they damage property and lash out to harm the WBC members themselves.)

    Instead, I think that a good tactic to use when broaching the subject is to use humor, like some anti-WBC protesters do. There is a video I found with a group of people that get together across the street from a WBC protest, and protest against them with witty jokes and logic. I would post it here, but a few people in the video felt it necessary to use a few choice swear words. Another way people often 'fight back' is by making funny signs to make fools of the WBC. 

Example of said signs. My favorite has to be the "God Hates Kittens"

   

    

    However, I think the best way to get rid of the WBC is to just ignore them. They are only attention hungry and are thriving on all the media attention and, just like elementary school bullies, their ego's thrive on making people feel negative. I believe that God will forgive them, if they ever truly repent for their hateful words, but He ultimately will decide their fate. So eventually, they will get what they deserve. And with this in mind I refuse to write another word about them. ;) 

Some links used in research:
 http://www.godhatesfags.com/
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Ck4m9EXeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50r0CnKq7_k&feature=related

Cyber Bullying

    My last post was primarily about bullying and its effects, but also about how it needs to be stopped. However, stopping bullying in today's world is much more hard than it can initially sound, and that is because of one thing. Cyber bullying.

     Cyber bullying is a relatively new form of bullying that previous generations didn't have because it incorporates today's technology. Anytime a hateful message is sent via text or the internet, that counts as bullying. But the one crucial difference that sets it apart from 'traditional' bullying is the fact that there really is no escaping it. Computers and cell phones and all of their assets have become such an incorporated part of people and their daily lives that once someone starts to become cyber bullied, they see it everywhere they go. At school, at home, at a friends house; the possibilities are endless and that person can keep going back and seeing it written there over and over and over again. Someone can send a hateful message just once and it  can have the same effect of face to face insults that are received daily.

    That is another problem with cyber bullying though, it isn't just a one time thing. Otherwise it wouldn't really count as bullying would it?

Maybe not the perfect example of how cyber bullying is just as hurtful as other forms of bullying, but it gets the point across

    It seems to me that a lot of kids today are being given too much free reign to do whatever they want online, and they really aren't ready to use it-or anything else for that matter-responsibly. Because their actions aren't being curtailed, they are starting to feel entitled and powerful. The wall that separates the bullier from the bullied (via cyber bullying) makes them more bold and empowered to say things that they would possibly not have the guts to say in person. In my humble opinion, these are the most cowardly and spineless kind of bully there is, not that all bullies aren't cowards. 

Everyone has the power to help and stop cyber bullying.

    The reason I oppose this bullying the most out of all other kinds of bullying is because the person who is being bullied, in every essence of the word, has no escape from it. And other kids are really starting to recognize this and either are trying to speak out against it are use this to their advantage. Now if only the adults would see this too and help us do something about it.

To Love Takes Courage, Hatred Is For Cowards

    Bullying has been a serious issue around the area recently with the death of Jamey Rodemeyer. Within the past week the Democrat and Chronicle has published numerous articles pertaining to bullying. 

   

    The first article deals with a girl in high school who goes out and does her own thing instead of following the other girls. That's right, that means that kids actually started bullying her for not conforming to their 'cult.'  But then again isn't that a common reason why kids start bullying in the first place; because other people aren't like them? For some sick reason people don't accept diversity and difference, probably out of fear and ignorance, but isn't it said that God has made everyone unique and in his image? Everyone is made to help better this world, but some people need help in understanding that so that bullying of every sort can come to an end.  

      

    Luckily, for this local girl it did, but only after she spoke up and got help and continued to fight through the bullying. 

    The second article that I read was about a boy who got bullied all of the time, until he was diagnosed with Asperger's. After that he found a peer group, his social skills were bettered, and he has stopped being bullied. The same logic works with this case as well as the first. It is understandable that maybe some kids would be a bit apprehensive about approaching him sure, but bullying him because they didn't understand is unacceptable. Children need to be taught how to treat others who have medical conditions, and that is to be nice just like they would be with anyone else. 

    The third and final article concerned a girl who didn't agree to go on a date because she wasn't allowed to. She didn't do anything wrong, and actually did the good thing by following her mother's rule, but after that other kids started physically abusing her. At one point her mother had to pull her out of school because it had escalated so much. It is sad to think that someone should be denied the right to go to school and receive a good education because some bratty pre-teens were threatening her well being. 

     Now as I mentioned earlier, the reason that bullying cases such as these have been in the media, is because of the recent suicide case of Jamey Rodemeyer. Jamey was relentlessly bullied by classmates on countless social networks. Although Jamey was tormented himself, he encouraged others on the It Gets Better project on Youtube to fight off bullies. Jamey's suicide makes it so much more hard to accept because of this fact. 

     From everything that I've seen about Jamey, he seemed like such a sweet and caring person, not one who deserved to be harassed at every turn. No body deserves that. So RIP Jamey, you have made more of an impact than you'll ever know.

    As for the connection between him and Lady Gaga, she was his idol. After his death, Lady Gaga dedicated a concert to him, and because of him Lady Gaga met and talked with President about anti-bullying with past weekend. Her hopes are to get a law passed against bullying in Jamey's honor. 

    For some other opinions about bullying I asked some of my friends what they thought on the subject. Alicia R. said, "Bullying kills. I think everyone should do whatever it takes to stop it." The second quote is from Melanie W. and she said, "If you bully a person, and that person commits suicide, you're basically a murderer." Lastly, my friend Danielle C. said, “Bullying is for losers, and it needs to be made illegal before more people commit suicide.”

    First of all, let me say that I agree wholeheartedly with every single one of those views. However, one thing that disturbed me that I observed to be a trend in all three of my friends' opinions was that they immediately related bullying to death and  suicide. Something does need to be done to stop bullies, and that first step is you. Help educate people between right and wrong and spread awareness. 

    In my opinion, bullies are just people who are insecure of themselves and are narrow minded. They are intolerant of views outside of their own, because they are learning that kind of thing is okay from politicians and other adults  around them, because that is who influences them. For a different future without bullying, these kids need to be taught that, as Americans they are entitled to their opinions, but they need to be open minded towards other people and their opinions, personalities and lifestyles.

    At Bishop Kearney, the hand book says about bullying, "The student will receive disciplinary consequences including but not limited to suspension or dismissal, depending on the severity of the incident." This means that Kearney has a zero bullying policy, which is great and the way it should be everywhere. The only trouble is that it is hard to tack down bullies and prove that they are bullying other kids, especially when it is cyberbullying. As soon as this is fixed, I think that the number of kids being bullied might not drop, but the number of bullies caught definately will improve. 

    As a final word about bullying-in case you haven't learned anything yet-don't do it. Because kids: "Bullying is for squares." -Mr. Miller 

Links used for information in this post:
 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110925/NEWS01/109250359/Hateful-texts-voicemails-end-after-visit-school-psychologist
 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110925/NEWS01/109250357/It-wasn-t-fear-kept-bullied-teen-from-talking
 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110925/NEWS01/109250354/Bullying-leaves-tormented-students-helpless-parents?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/jamey-rodemeyer-suicide-ny-police-open-criminal-investigation/story?id=14580832
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/27/jamey-rodemeyer-bullied-after-death_n_983926.html