Well, Am I An American?

On paper and by law, yes, I am an American. Born and raised in the USA, I am a certified citizen. And even though I may not agree with every decision the leaders of our country make, I am still an American. But do I take pride in that fact? America is a big melting pot, the very symbol of freedom for those who wish to come here, or at least, that's what the United States started out as. But unfortunately, the lawmakers have changed, and the immigrants coming here have changed. Society has changed. Whether I like it or not, I'm American. N0 hiding it either with that trademark accent.

But the moment I knew I was an American? My family is not extremely patriotic nor are we anti-America. Perhaps the moment I knew I was an American was on one Independence Day, the Fourth of July. I must have been around nine or ten and my dad and I went down to Lake Michigan to see the fireworks go off. We had a nice-sized American flag and so I brought that. Seeing the crowds upon crowds of people decked out in their red, white and blue finery by the lake was a new sight for me, having never been allowed to go out this late on Fourth of July before. I felt a sense of true belonging with these people: even though we were so different, we were all able to bond over the anniversary of our country's freedom. There was an almost palpable feeling of unity and pride and the atmosphere was just so positive. And maybe some people at the lake was just drunk or looking for an excuse to party and that's why they were so happy, but little Nina didn't understand that yet, and ignorance is bliss sometimes. But I'm pretty sure the other half of the people who came to the lake that night were proud to be Americans too.

Us vs. Them- To Conform or Not To?

Ah, the age-old situation of the individual and the community. We've all had to deal with this before, whether it be a cool band or a political opinion. Do we follow the crowd and conform to fit in? Or do we stand out to be our own person and live our own life? Of course, people are going to stay stand out, but really, honestly, would you make a decision for yourself if it ruined a friendship but kept you from being the person you were?

It's a tough question, for sure. I'll give an example. You are not very religious, but you are a feminist and believe strongly that women should have the right to choose. Say you go to a Catholic school where even the choice of abortion is pretty much banned. If asked, would you state your truthful views? Would you not answer? Would you pretend to believe in something else because your friends might act differently toward you? If we were being totally honest here, I wouldn't answer it. My religious views should not get in the way of a perfectly fine friendship. If two people have different opinions, they should be able to state them or not state them and get along just fine.

So is it possible for two friends with different opinions to get along after both views are out in the open, and both feel passionately? I guess it depends on the person, if no one conforms [not to say I'm encouraging conforming]. But thankfully, we live in a free country, where we can believe and say whatever we want. Don't take freedom of speech for granted, and be yourself and state your beliefs, because if you aren't you, then who else is?

Before I leave, I would like to offer you all a few words of advice. Don't be that one guy who loves the same bands, dresses the same and does the same things as everybody else. Dare to be different.

John Proctor, Hero or Stooge? [better late than never...]

Before I start, yes, I do realize this is Sunday, and yes, I realize the blog was due Friday. I'm not going to waste time with my excuses because they are irreleveant. However, even though I may have already gotten a zero on this assignment, I'm still going to do it (of course!) even though I am two days late. So without much further ado, I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the ever controversial John Proctor.
The place is Salem, the time 1692. You are an upright Christian man living with a pious wife and three children, and farming for a living. All is well in your small town: everyone gets along most of the time, everyone is a righteous, God-fearing Christian and nothing really eventful ever really happens. Not too bad, right? Until your life is turned upside down when three girls accuse your wife and you of being a witch (including the underage girl you had an affair with) and after a long trial and several more accusations, you are finally put to death. What a life.
So did John Proctor die a hero or a stooge? Both sides can make valid arguments, however, I believe he was a hero. It cannot be denied that he had an affair with seventeen year old Abigail Williams, who is in my opinion, a terrible flirt with some newfound power. When Abigail basically asks him to leave his wife and marry her, Proctor defends himself and says that, "...I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again." He realizes that he made a huge mistake in this one-time affair and now knows that he must be loyal to his wife and his family. But then Abigail softens and asks, "Do you tell me you've never looked up at my window?" And at the crucial moment, John says, "I may have looked up." So he does realize his weakness in that maybe he is not completely over Abigail, but after all, he is only human. He is vailiantly trying however, to resist this temptation and stay loyal to his family.
When Abigail claims to be possessed by the Devil and accuses John Proctor's wife Elizabeth of witchcraft, he doesn't react with shame or embarassment, instead he stands by her in time of need and does everything in his power to protect her. When he made the decision not to go back to Abigail and stay with his wife instead, he made the right and just one. But then Abigail, immature and hell bent on getting her revenge, accused his wife and it all went downhill from there. John Proctor was the bigger person in the end, and even though this one unfortunate bad decision cost him and his wife their lives, he remained a loyal husband and father until the day he died. For this reason, John Proctor is most definitely a hero.

Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God

Jonathan Edward's sermon of the same name struck me as a very one-sided way to view the world. Actually, Puritanism itself seemed like a very one-sided religion. It basically stated that anything different was bad, anything remotely material was bad and if you didn't fear God, that was bad. If you did any of those things you were considered a sinner and, for sure, going to Hell because you broke the Puritan I-get-a-free-pass-to-heaven "arrangement." They disliked progress and anything that was not somehow related to their faith and the Bible. But I am not one to judge how they thought. Still, these people gave the words "God-fearing people" a new meaning.

Why do we have to fear God in the first place? I'm not sure which religion, if any, I believe in right now but I do believe that God created the Earth and life. Yes, those are the key words: God gave us life. Why would the one being that created us in the first place, created this wonderful and unique and intelligent thing called a human, why would God want us to fear him (her?)? If anything, I think God would want us to praise him for bringing us into this world. The religion I am born into, Judaism, does not teach us to fear God. But however, one thing that is brought up over and over again in the Bible and the Torah, is this: "I am Adonai, your one true God." The Jewish God only wants us to believe he is there, and that he is the only one. Moses was given the Ten Commandments and this god chose us as a people to... be the god of. So he picked us, and so we are grateful and sacrifice things, or at least we did back in Biblical times.

Like I said earlier, I'm not sure if I actually believe in this religion, but I do believe that people shouldn't fear God, that God is the being that created life, he is loving and caring for the most part. Puritanism is all about fear. If you are scared, you will get into heaven because you will fear God and are afraid of going to Hell, so you will obey all these Puritan rules. Just because you are scared. Call me crazy, but I don't think fear is the healthiest way to get someone to participate in your religion. All God should want is for you to be happy in life. In the end, I hope there was at least some joy in it for the Puritans.

There Goes The Neighborhood.

Perhaps one of the most famous instances of two cultures coming together is the Spanish conquistador Cortez encountering the Aztec people in Mexico, some 500 years ago. Obviously this was a relationship that did not end well for a few reasons. Cortez came to the New World not knowing what he would find, but looking for land to claim and conquer for his country and to spread Catholicism. He met the Aztecs and when he attempted to convert them, they refused. Cortez fought them with more advanced weapons and killed or enslaved them. Also, unbeknownst to the Aztecs, Cortez and his crew brought European diseases (mainly smallpox) over from the other side of the pond and wiped out a huge amount of the Aztec population. The conflict eventually ended some years later with a large decrease in Aztec numbers and Cortez conquering the land for Spain.

But of course, not every time that cultures collide do conflict and tragedy occur. For instance, the early Paleolithic peoples (nomads) were able to trade peacefully with each other for thousands of years, often relying on staples the other cultures had and therefore could trade for the necessary supplies. Granted, different Paleolithic cultures were a lot more similar than Cortez and the Aztecs, but still, the lesson is still there.

You'll have to forgive me about all this random history, I just finished studying for AP World and I guess I'm still thinking about it. The point is, when cultures come together, they definitely don't always get along. Sure it worked out for the Paleolithic tribes, but more recently with Cortez and the Aztecs, they fought and they fought until one side eventually won. It's very interesting to see how different peoples and different cultures react to each other. And no matter how it turns out, at least I'll be able to put in my two cents about it here :)

Introductions

I'm Nina Posner, a sophomore at Whitney Young and I'm 15 years young. Writing is one of the things I like to do in my spare time, both poetry and prose, about any topic that comes to my mind really. I'm also on the cross country team. Although I'm not particularly good, I like to run because it's truly a mental sport and shows you that positive thinking and a good outlook can really make a difference. I read in my spare time and some of my favorite authors are JK Rowling, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Anthony Horowitz and more. I'm open to any book recommendations. However, my favorite thing to do is listen to music. I'm open to hear to anything and I listen to my iPod almost all the time. Some of my favorite bands are Vampire Weekend, Coconut Records, Miike Snow, Pavement, Jackson Browne, U2 and The Police. I'm an optimist by nature, I think, however I've learned that life is short so you should live it to the fullest. I'm very loud once you get to know me and am always smiling. I look forward to reading, writing, learning and discussing in class this year.