Sum Blog 4

Part of the class discussion included watching a part of the Radical Islam Documentary.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AediQLpoGGM I found the clip we watched very interesting, so I found the full documentary and will be relating it to this weeks topic of privilege. The documentary took an in-depth look at a radical group of Islamic people. What I found most interesting about this was how easy it was to believe everything that was said, and how easy it was to immediately react to their positions and agree. One of the first lines in the documentary said 'It's important to remember, most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror.' However the next 70 minutes made it seem like all Muslims are violent. I think this shows examples of discrimination and therefor privilege. It was immediately understood that if you are Muslim, you were categorized and treated differently. It also means that if you were not Muslim, you were given a privilege. You were given a privilege to put in a nice group, a group that banded together over all being threaten by the same radical Muslim group. Years down the road after the documentary came out and after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, you can still find examples of the existence of these two groups. Muslims are still profiled in certain scenarios, and most everyone else still has a negative opinion about Islam or at least a hesitation. It seems that once segregations, descriminations, and privileges are created they are extremely difficult to get rid of.


There is discrimination and privileges all around us in society. They are nearly impossible to get away from. This cartoon shows how the United States is trying to fix them. I will leave it up to your comments to determine if the government stepping in and regulating and encouraging society to be more accepting and equal is the best plan of action. What else could be done?

Sum Blog 3

In class this week we discussed religion and some of the heated topics surrounding it. I want to focus on the extremist church, the Westboro Baptist Church. I don't want to talk about the church it self or any other extremist group. I want to ask questions like, Why are other peoples opinions so important within society? The supplemental reading (Chaves) talked about how people are identifying with their religion. This brings up the question, Why are someone else's religion, practices, or beliefs so important to everyone else? I could write endless blogs on my opinions about the Westboro Church, same sex marriage, or abortion... but what does it matter? I am all for a heated discussion about differences in beliefs. I am a conservative Christian and I have lived with strong Catholics, I have had a gay roommate, and I have supported a close friend when they decided to have an abortion. I bring these up to ask another question. What does their belief or actions really change in my life? I believe nothing and that is why I am still good friends with all of them. Today's society is obsessed with labeling and categorizing everyone. It has become the means to defining people and unfortunately the means to segregate and discriminate. I will be the first to recognize that I don't believe or practice the same things as anyone else, but I also try to be the last person to judge them . The reading talked about 'nones' or people that don't identify with a religion. The fact that this 'none' category even exists proves our need to label everyone. My challenge is why does it matter what anyone identifies with? Take some time and figure out what you believe for your life and why you believe that and nothing else should matter. Someone else's beliefs does not have to have any affect on your life or beliefs. For example I can be pro-life and still recognize a friend that is going to need help going through her decision to have an abortion. I think sometimes the fundamental human elements get lost because people are to worried about what group they are a part of or how everyone identifies.
http://www.kgw.com/news/politics/AZ-law-allows-religious-beliefs-for-no-service-to-gays-246539261.html

This link to an article demonstrates my point. They are attempting to pass laws in Arizona that state an organization that claims a religious affiliation has the right to discriminate against homosexuals. This means that a religious hospital or religious based food pantry would leagally be allowed to withhold medical care and food from someone based on what their preference happens to be. Human decency gone. When did what someone believes in matter to their ability to eat and be treated medically?