An Ode to Old Age

It's 2014 and we're off to the races! This is my first week as a permanent employee and it feels great. This chick has BENEFITS! What whattttt! Big girl high five.

I am also now 25 years of age. A whole quarter century. Five times five. I haven't been an age squared in 9 years. My love of symmetry is satisfied. I love to tell people at the office that I'm old now - mostly because they throw me hateful expressions and I'll only be able to say it sarcastically for so long.

On my birthday Jason said, "It's been a good 25 years." So I casually started listing some of my favorite things - and, ya know what?, there are a lot of them. Life's been good.

And it made me think. Lord only knows if I've done it right or wrong. Which leads me to my generation. I'm fascinated by opinions of the millennials, understanding that whatever generation is coming into the workforce at any time will be looked at as rascally rabbits. Oh, those kids. They think they know so much.

And then those people write articles explaining "20 Things 20-Somethings Think They Know But They Don't" or "20 Rude Awakenings Coming at Every 20-Something."

People. Calm yo'selves.

Because even if you think you're riddled with genius, there is someone 10 years older than you that could write a list of "30 Things I Would Tell My Numbnut 30-Something Self."

Here's the thing: There will always be someone older than you and chances are good that they will always think they're wiser than you. I do believe that I am wiser than my 15-year-old self. Kinda how life works. You can't un-experience things soooooo you gain experience over time. Are we surprised?

If I wrote a list of things I would tell my 15-year-old self, it would go like this:
1. Be a decent person
2. Don't do anything too stupid


I imagine if I wrote a list in 10 years to my 25-year-old self, it would look very similar.

My list to everyone writing lists to 20-somethings includes one thing: Stop giving us advice. It does not come from a good place. We will figure it out. Just like you figured it out. And if a millennial does something really stupid at work, you know what will happen? The same thing that would have happened to you. They'll get fired. And probably won't do that thing again. Because that is how people learn - it's how the baby boomers learned to make fire, it's how Gen Y learned to operate a pulley system, it's how Eve learned to stay away from fruit (hence the obesity epidemic).

This is not the first generation to have entitled, drunk, late, overly-ambitious, materialistic, or lazy individuals. And we won't be the last. We also won't be the last generation to write condescending lists of "advice" to those younger than us. I mean...kids these days are addicted to technology when they come out of the womb - will they ever learn to hold a real conversation face-to-face?

Which, of course, was a concern about the invention of the telephone. I'm sure Gen X remembers.


And now, for your eye-rolling entertainment, here are some actual articles about my generation:
Dear Millennials: You're ok. You'll survive. Really.
Why Millennials Can't Grow Up
A generation of idle trophy kids

Put Simply.

In honor of Dan Cathy's... let's say "strong"...statements, this is what I have to say to people against gay marriage:

Another version of the dream

I've been thinking a lot about Martin Luther King, Jr. in my last four nights of insomnia. Partly because of the long weekend I got to take advantage of, and partly because his actions as a civil rights leader continue to challenge the way society is structured.

But how can we, as a nation, observe MLK day and pat ourselves on the back for being so accepting and open when we are blatantly denying gay members of society basic rights?

This issue is staring us in the face, asking us to make monumental steps toward something great, the way that King did. And somehow, even after witnessing so many eras of discrimination - women's suffrage, the Holocaust, civil rights - we shoo it away. Are we blind? Have we not grown enough as a society to recognize our mistakes repeating themselves?

There are other issues that I am passionate about, and for each of those I can understand the other point of view. Giving gays equal rights is one issue that I absolutely cannot understand the opposition to. I honest-to-god have yet to hear a legitimate counterargument to this issue.

My parents once brought up the point of gay marriage being a fiscal burden on society. I don't really understand why it would be, but I'm not all that fiscally savvy at this point. What I do know, is that gays pay taxes, too. And if we're willing to carve out a piece of society and say "even though you pay for others to have this right...it's not for you" then we are doing something wrong. And we shouldn't be giving married couples tax breaks when we keep the right of marriage away from tax-paying gays who are forced to be "single" under the law.

If your argument has anything to do with the Bible, that can be easily dismissed by the notion of church and state, recognizing the true sin of Sodom was rape and inhospitality, and accepting that "abomination" mentioned in Leviticus derives from a Greek word more closely translated to "taboo." And, I mean honestly, have you read the story of David and Jonathan? They were more than friends.

And if we are so willing to dismiss gays, then we are not entitled to enjoy Swan Lake, West Side Story, the Sistine Chapel, or any other brilliant work done by someone gay. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Christian Andersen, Tennessee Williams, Ralph Waldo Emerson. They were gay. And they were great.

These are people. With beating hearts. They are not the "other" that we can dehumanize.

Homosexuality has been around forever. And it's not going anywhere. Gays are our neighbors and friends and possibly someday our children. Are you willing to cast the vote today that will restrict your child's rights tomorrow?

I am amazed by the ignorance that we bring to the polls and the willingness we have to vote against something that would affect our personal lives in absolutely no way. America cannot say it stands for equality when it only stands for equality sometimes for some people. Think twice before you vote, people. There should be no second class citizens. Not blacks, and not gays.

Right hand rings are a girl's best friend

People are getting engaged and it's freaking me out.

Yes, it's fun to stalk the engagement pictures and see who can come up with the cheesiest Scrabble configuration.

But I, for one, am not ready for anyone to put a ring on it. People get married at different times, and some people are apparently ready at 22. It works for some people. Some people are ready to settle down and promise forever to their counterpart.

I am not some people. Tis not for me.

Until May 2013, I am married to my desk. I am married to Carroll Hall. I am married to all 700 level classes that start with JOMC. And I am married to a piece of paper that will hopefully come floating my way after the next 18 months of borderline torture.

And as the selfish 22-year-old that I am, I am perfectly ok with that. I am enjoying the freedom of being able to move 400 miles away from anyone I know without looking back.

The second you say "I do" you are part of a whole. Any significant decision you make has to be seconded. These are a few of the things I know about marriage. But in the grand scheme of things, I know nothing about it. I don't know what it's like to have to pick up man panties day after day and I don't have Axe shower gel in my bathroom (though I should look into it cause it smells guuuud). Quite honestly, I really enjoy being alone and having my own space. I enjoy being selfish and ambitious without anything holding me back. Not to say spouses hold you back because I'm sure they can be supportive and warm and fuzzy.

The point is, I'm not getting married anytime soon. So to people looking at me, that think dating someone for a few years automatically means imminent engagement, you will be sorely disappointed.

This includes my grandfather. He relished in my graduation, completing his dream of seeing all seven of his grandchildren graduate college. My fear is that he hopes to see all seven of his grandchildren get married. That being said, if he holds off for that, I may be solely responsible for him living for another 10 or 15 years. My unwillingness to commit makes me godly like that.

But hark! I have a scapegoat. My cousin David is four years older than I am and he is neither married nor engaged. So when my grandfather starts hinting that I look good in white, my first response will be that I'm just waiting my turn, so when David gets married I'll follow suit. On account of not being rude and cutting in line.

So far, this is my most logical and least expletive response.

If that fails, I will tell him I'm still exploring my sexuality and am considering the option of a civil union with Jodi Picoult. That, or that I have a great-grandchild on the way for him and don't want to be pregnant in my wedding dress. Or all of the above, just for fun.

Like Ann Coulter

It is extremely rare that I am the most conservative person in a room.

Now I like to think that I straddle the political canyon, but everyone likes to think that. Within the people I've grown up with and gone to school with, I'm the crazy liberal that puts feathers in her hair and goes to Cambodia to write.

Here, it's a different story.

Somehow I've gone from the girl calling people out on their incorrect Bible references and carrying borderline-explicit signs to gay rights protests, to the one girl that has been to a church before and questions the legitimacy of Occupy Wall Street.



Also, I stuck up for the Girl Scouts the other day. Someone called the Girl Scouts a scam. That's like saying Mother Theresa had ulterior motives. But when did I become the spokesperson for the Girl Scouts? Unexpected to say the least.

Here I seem to be the spokesperson for both Greek life and SEC football. Now, I like both of those things, but never as much as the people around me for the past four years have.

It continues to amaze me how different people can see each other differently. I've never been your typical SEC sorority girl. And suddenly, to these people, I am.

Changing tires and gender roles

Today I was driving to the bank and called up my dear friend Elizabeth to talk.

A few minutes into our conversation she determined that she had a flat tire. Naturally I asked where she was, since we were headed to about the same place, and I told her I was half a mile away and we could handle it.

As I pulled into the parking spot behind her, it was pretty evident that the tire was, in fact, flat. Now Bob likes cars and while I can't fix a transmission or replace a headlight, I've been known to jump cars and fill up my own windshield wiper fluid (extremely impressive and difficult, I know.) Point being, I've not exactly well versed, but I've been around cars a decent amount.

So I tell Elizabeth to get the jack out of the back of the car, I lay down on the pavement and start to jack it up. Naturally, the little photojournalist herself decided she needed to document my efforts.



A bit later a man and his college-aged son pull up next to us and ask if we need help. We say we're alright but they insist and proceed to take over.

Now as a disclaimer, they were both very nice and helpful.

But when they referred to us as "damsels in distress" I about choked, and had to place my hand over my mouth to keep any unkind words from escaping. We were not in distress, and anyone you ask will tell you I am far from a damsel.

At one point the older man said, "You know what's really phenomenal? You managed to get the jack in the right place!"

Blank stare.


So while they were helpful and kind, this brought about an issue that I've been discussing with my friends and family for the past few weeks: gender discrimination.

I have said in conversations over the past weeks that I have never felt hindered by my gender. My parents always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be, whether that was a dog or the president. I could do it. My mom never made us learn to cook because she didn't want us to think that we had to learn because we were girls. We were never interested, so we didn't learn.

My sisters are an attorney and an accountant/professor. And it never crossed my mind that, being women, they shouldn't be in those positions.

After thinking about it, a couple moments of gender discrimination in my life came to mind.

The summer after my junior year of high school I went to a mission trip to Gulfport, Miss. One day, while working with three other boys to drywall a house that had been damaged during Katrina, I experienced an instance of discrimination.

One of the twenty-something volunteers in our group held one end of a 12-foot piece of drywall, and I held the other. We walked it across the living room, but before putting it down on the ground to then drill it in place, the floor needed to be cleared. Two other boys were standing in the room with us, waiting for us to put down the piece to drill. Basically, they were doing nothing.

The guy on the other end of the drywall looked at me and said, "This needs to be cleared- grab the broom and sweep it up."

I was doing the same job he was. I was holding half the weight of the drywall. The other two boys were doing NOTHING. And I was supposed to do the sweeping?

I opened my mouth and took a deep breath, but before I could say what was really on my mind, one of the other two boys read my mind and said, "I'VE GOT IT!" The culprit had previously shown his chauvinistic self so I knew I wasn't reading into anything, and the other two boys agreed later.

And story number two (or three, but who's counting): The other day the girls in the house next to ours needed jumper cables. One of their boyfriends knocked on my door to see if I had any. I did, and I offered them to him. As I handed them to him I said, "Do you know how to use them?" Which was met with a look of disgust and a "Uhhh....yea." How was I supposed to know? Tons of people don't know how to jump a car.

According to Law.com, in 2005, women accounted for 30% of all lawyers and 32% of all physicians and surgeons. And the numbers are on the rise.

The term "feminist" has a lot of negative connotation to it, but in the sense that we should be exactly equal to men, I recognize with the term.

This is when men like to say, "Then don't expect me to hold the door for you or pay for your dinner." That's fine. For dates: whoever asks, pays. And I open doors for people multiple times a day. Not because of my genitalia, but because it's respectful. I don't need a kiss on the cheek, I'll shake your hand. I don't need someone to lay their coat down over a puddle for me. Lord knows I'm not wearing expensive shoes that I'm afraid to get wet.

In a week and a half I'll have two degrees "handed" to me. Every night studying, every test taken, every article written- I did it. I had men in my classes, and I had women in my classes. Same classes, same tests, same articles. If some day I'm paid less than the man next to me doing the exact same job I will have some choice words to say.

I understand maternity leave adds in another factor, but I wonder how many men could give birth, much less bear responsible, productive citizens of society. Early on, women were made out to be useful for reproductive purposes, and not much else. With the rise of women's education and liberation, I wonder how long it will be til men are reduced to being useful for only manual labor and opening pickle jars.

Consecration and condemnation

This morning I took the test of all tests in my Modern Christian Theology class.

Tuesday I left the same class furious.

As a disclaimer, I understand that every religion, ethnic group and country has its history. This class just happens to be about Christian history.

I've been known to interpret the Bible differently than other people, but to me it seems like Christ's idea for what is now Christianity has not exactly come to fruition.

Not only did the early church add in things like the papacy (based on Peter?), they then held the First Vatican Council and declared him infallible. But that's another story for another day.

If there is one thing that I've learned in this class, it's that religion in fact falls into a category along side ethnic groups and nations. There are hierarchies, there are wars, and there are way too many cases of mistreating their own.

In terms of explaining wars, the term "crusades" should suffice.

The hierarchies of the church are prevalent but not always scripturally based. I can perhaps credit my Protestant upbringing with my idea that a religion should be based on the scripture and words of the holy figure. In realizing that other sects and religions focus more strongly on tradition, the idea of a hierarchy is more accepted. So for the most part we'll leave the hierarchy alone. (I never did understand why another man would need to be the liaison between God and me though.)

So now we've come to mistreating their own.

Again, it is my belief that we all have the same God. So the Turks taking over Constantinople and forcing Islam is almost as baffling to me as Christians killing each other.

Almost.

Let's explore.

-In the 16th century Michael Servetus thought that maybe Catholics shouldn't emphasize the trinity when trying to convert people because it didn't make sense to Jews and Muslims. So he was burned at the stake.
- Henry VIII wanted to get divorced from his barren wife so that he could have an heir with another woman so he started the Anglican church. Then he killed a bunch of Catholics and Lutherans.
- Thomas Cranmer was forced to denounce Protestantism under torture from Queen Mary and then later was executed anyway.
- In 1864 Pope Pius IX issued the Syllabus of Errors that listed 80 things that non-Catholics believed. All of which were condemned by the Catholic church.
- During the French Revolution, anyone who thought that the pope didn't have absolute authority in every nation was killed, including Gallicans, Febronians, and Josephists.
- Even as recent as 1907, Pope Pius X issued lamentabili, a doctrine listing 67 modernist propositions that were condemned.
- In Russian Orthodoxy, the people that didn't agree with reforms, Old Believers or Slavophiles, were then condemned and all killed. Most of them didn't want to be killed though so they committed suicide by lighting themselves on fire.

The list goes on forever. Add in the crusades and the inquisitions and you have a real good time.

Point being, the church has a dirty history.

I can't help but think that if everyone that associated with any church learned this history, they would question their allegiance.

So this is the question: Does declaring loyalty to a denomination or Christianity in general require the acceptance or condonation of its past?

I hope not. And I think not.

The majority of the Christians I know, and dare I say Christians in the world, do not understand the extent that the early church went to in order to "protect" its beliefs and truths. When singing "Jesus Loves Me" and telling stories of the good Samaritan, somehow the bloody past of the religion gets left out.

To me, not knowing about the history does not make them less Christian. I think it's important to question and understand what you are in fact insinuating by stating, "I am a Baptist/Unitarian/Catholic, etc." I also think that people who really question their beliefs and go on a spiritual journey to find the best religion, pick the teachings that speak to them and bring them peace.

The idea of God in a man brings comfort to people, and Jesus brought a lot of hope and peace with him, regardless of his actual divinity. I think it's absolutely acceptable to take that peace and hope for what it is, and leave the church's actions in the past.

I do not think, however, that is is acceptable to take the path of least resistance and blindly choose whatever denomination/religion was chosen for you by your family or society. Discover what's best for you on your own. And if at the end of the day what really does it for you happens to be the same thing that does it for your family, too— then more power to you.

That being said, I think Christians, and people in general, can learn a lesson from the abundant condemnation done by the church already, and think twice before judging others. Originally the papacy may have been thought of as heresy and here the Catholics are with Pope Benedict XVI, number 265.

Society changes. And the church changes with it. Second Vatican Council, anyone?

The basics of Christianity are to love God and love one another. I don't exactly know where "kill those who disagree with you on any issue" is in the Bible, but I haven't quite read it all.

Organized religion is what you make it. As is any form of spirituality. But in labeling yourself as a specific religion or denomination, history comes with it. I hope the free-thinking society we live in today feels welcome to doubt and question the intentions and corruption of any denomination.

But if that denomination is what floats your boat and brings you peace, then don't hold back from pursuing it. Just be aware of the past.

Typ.

At chapter, the panhellenic delegate was trying to encourage us to go to a blood drive they're holding.

To convince us, she used the fact that you burn 600 calories every time you give blood.

The life of a sorostitute.

UGAmateurs

On Monday the UGAtheists held "Stone a Heathen Day" at our public forum in the middle of campus, Tate Plaza. They put up posters with quotes from the Bible about when you should stone someone, had a boy stand in the middle of Tate Plaza holding a sign that said "Heathen! (Me)" with an arrow pointing to himself, and encouraged students passing through the plaza to throw "stones" (water balloons) at the heathen.



I'm not totally sure how I feel about this yet. There are tons of people that like to think of themselves as open to new cultures and ideas; who sympathetically act interested in the culture of a Buddhist classmate or pretend they aren't put off by a stranger's turban. Yet it is almost unspeakable in this Bible belt of ours to identify as an atheist.

Randall Bourquin, president of the UGAtheists, is extremely involved on campus. He was an orientation leader (an incredible honor), is in a fraternity and is known across campus. When I showed people that video I couldn't help but feel their attitudes change towards him. He states in this interview that it isn't easy being an atheist in a community such as UGA. And I'm sure it isn't. People's reactions when you simply say you aren't a Christian mix between turnt-up noses and pity that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hasn't "saved" you yet. Oh, but he will.

So I think we should face atheism with open minds and consider it just another religion. Or...antireligion. In my mind, I'm not going to discriminate against any other theological beliefs because there is absolutely no way to prove it. If there were, we'd all be on the same page. We won't know until we're dead and then what? We're dead. So let's treat eachother with a little respect.

That being said. I think the UGAtheists pretty much just made themselves look foolish. They weren't expressing their beliefs, they were instead putting down other religions' beliefs. They aimed towards Christianity but the quotes they used about stoning came from the Old Testament, hence Judaism. They obviously did their research. Plus, it's just an international rule that Leviticus is a bunch of bologna.

If the UGAtheists were trying to prove a point that they should be excepted as having just another system beliefs, they approached it the wrong way. Putting down Islam doesn't prove a point for Christianity, just as putting down Christianity/Judaism doesn't prove that we should all be atheists. I think it's safe to say that all religions have completely bewildering parts about them. Including atheism. They could have built themselves up by having pamphlets and a table describing their beliefs but instead they made a giant step backward and have probably lost any hope of being accepted at this Bible belt university.

Karma

Remember Constance McMillan, the Mississippi girl who wasn't allowed to bring her girlfriend to the prom? I blogged about it when it happened and just came across this article. I'm glad things are working out for the girl. I'm sure she deserves a break.

Google THAT, Potential Employers

What do I do when I'm bored? I blog, feed my fish, pretend 20 seconds of crunches on the floor will give me washboard abs, shower, balance Tums on my tongue, paint my nails some horrid color, or Facebook stalk the heck out of people.

What do normal people do when they're bored? Some thing productive.

OR.

They Google themselves.

Ahh, yes. The art of Googling oneself is a frequent occurrence these days, thanks to the increasing amount that potential employers stalk their prey before interviews. So one day, I did it.

Among other things, listed were the fact that I (or people with my name) have profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, that there is a decently popular photographer with my name, and that there is a Nancy Drew booked titled "The Search for Cindy Austin." You may have never heard of it but on cue I can tell you that it is book #88 and exactly what the cover looks like. You would be proud too.

But the champion of my self-Googled search page is the ever-alluring CindyAustin.com. I know there are people out there that have their blogs changes from johndoe.blogspot.com to just johndoe.com so I assumed I had won some sort of lottery. In a fury of excitement, I typed in this new address to find that the site wasn't exactly what I had been hoping for (my blog, that is).

Oh no. I advise you now not to click on said link because it turns out there is another Cindy Austin who has some acting aspirations. Mostly in adult themed movies. I didn't venture past the first page but I can assume there are a few things on the site that you shouldn't view while babysitting. You get the point.

This does not come as a surprise to me, however, as I have always stood by the fact that all people named Cindy are either in their 50's, prostitutes, or Asian. Or some strange mix of the three.

So let this be a declaration to all potential employers: I am not in my 50's, a prostitute, or Asian. And I am not the Cindy Austin of CindyAustin.com. If I come in for an interview and you have Marvin Gaye playing, expecting me to reveal more than my employment history, you will be poorly mistaken and very disappointed.

No Gay Zone

If you haven't heard about the high school in Mississippi that canceled prom instead of letting a lesbian student wear a tux and bring her girlfriend, you need to read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/11/mississippi-prom-canceled_n_494555.html

As you can imagine, I have a number of problems with this. I'll keep it short.

1- You really think it would be worse to have a gay couple there than cancel it completely?

2- Students are mad at this girl because "she got their prom canceled." It's not her fault! She wanted to go! Guess if she can't go, no one should be able to.

3- No one would even notice if they went. Half the people are probably drunk. The other half would think it was a joke to have a girl in a tux.

I'll leave it at that. But they're giving the south a real bad name.

Homeless but helpful

This morning I got ready to go workout and headed to campus. I had to stop in downtown to get something first so I parked my car and started walking. Athens has its share of homeless people and some of them live in a world of their own.

As I was crossing the street I saw a homeless man walking the opposite way rambling loudly about who knows what. As we got closer to one another I heard what he was saying and he kept saying that I looked cold in my shorts and t-shirt. I smiled and said that it was a bit chilly out but I was alright.

And then he offered me his pants.

He literally asked me if I needed his pants to get warm. Something about a homeless man asking if I needed his torn up jeans kinda shook my foundation. And I liked it. I like that there are people out there that will give whatever they have even if it isn't much of anything.

For today, my faith in humanity has been restored.

Outlet employee

This semester I have no classes on Fridays (three cheers for strange scheduling!) so the roommates and I decided to get our shop on. What better way to shop than at outlets? So off we went to Commerce to try our luck finding formal dresses.

We eventually made our way around all of the outlets but we started at the Polo store. As I was waiting for one of the mates to try something on I was sitting on a bench outside the fitting rooms. This older woman came up to me and asked me if I could open one of the fitting room doors for her. I was a bit confused until she asked, "Do you work here?" I understood the mixup as I'm about the age of the other employees there and had to say that no, I didn't work there.

So we continue to shop and a few stores later end up in Banana Republic. Again, I'm waiting for one of the mates to try something on and the SAME lady comes up to me and asks if I work there. I kind of stare at her for a second because she definitely wasn't old enough to be senile yet (though mom and Bob do have their moments...). After a minute I again said that no, I didn't work there. And then AK and I dissolved in laughter because we're already 21 getting older by the minute. We only have so long to laugh at the antics of old people until people are laughing at us.

LGBTerrified of Christianity

Last semester I took an awesome class called Women in Christian History and loved the professor. So I told her I'd take whatever she taught this semester. Turns out she's teaching Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender (LGBT) Spirituality. We all know I'm a fan of the sexually eclectic so I was pretty pumped. Turns out, I was rightfully pumped. This class is going to be awesome. Plus, there are some very nontraditional people in the class and it's always good to be thrown out of your comfort zone.

Anyways, the point is that we have tons of online articles to read and respond to and we recently got to read one from the always sardonic news site, The Onion. Here's the article:

GAY TEEN WORRIED HE MIGHT BE CHRISTIAN

LOUISVILLE, KY—At first glance, high school senior Lucas Faber, 18, seems like any ordinary gay teen. He's a member of his school's swing choir, enjoys shopping at the mall, and has sex with other males his age. But lately, a growing worry has begun to plague this young gay man. A gnawing feeling that, deep down, he may be a fundamentalist, right-wing Christian.

"I don't know what's happening to me," Faber admitted to reporters Monday. "It's like I get these weird urges sometimes, and suddenly I'm tempted to go behind my friends' backs and attend a megachurch service, or censor books in the school library in some way. Even just the thought of organizing a CD-burning turns me on."

Added Faber, "I feel so confused."

The openly gay teen, who came out to his parents at age 14 and has had a steady boyfriend for the past seven months, said he first began to suspect he might be different last year, when he started feeling an odd stirring within himself every time he passed a church. The more conservative the church, Faber claimed, the stronger his desire was to enter it.

"It's like I don't even know who I am anymore," the frightened teenager said. "Keeping this secret obsession with radical right-wing dogma hidden away from my parents, teachers, and schoolmates is tearing me apart."

According to Faber, his first experience with evangelical Christianity was not all that different from other gays his age.

"Sure, I looked at the Book of Leviticus once or twice—everybody has," Faber said. "We all experiment a little bit with that stuff when we're growing up. But I was just a kid. I didn't think it meant anything."

Faber's instinct was to deny these early emotions. But recently, the Louisville teen admitted, the feelings have grown stronger, making him wonder more and more what life as a born-again right-wing fundamentalist would be like.

"The other week, I was this close to picketing in front of an abortion clinic," the mortified teenager said, his eyes welling up with tears. "I know it's wrong, but I wanted so badly to do it anyway. I even made one of those signs with photos of dead fetuses and hid it in my closet. I felt so ashamed, yet, at the same time, it was all strangely titillating."

Faber's parents, although concerned, said they're convinced their otherwise typical gay son is merely going through a conservative Christian phase.

"I caught him watching The 700 Club once when he thought he was alone in the house, and last week, I found some paperbacks from the Left Behind series hidden in his sock drawer," his mother, Eileen Faber, said. "I'm sure he'll grow out of it, but even if he doesn't, I will love and accept my son no matter what."

Faber's father was far less tolerant in his comments.

"No son of mine is going to try to get intelligent design into school textbooks," Geoffrey Faber said. "And I absolutely refuse to pay his tuition if he decides to go to one of those colleges like Oral Roberts University where they're just going to fill his head with a lot of crazy conservative ideas."

He added, "I just want my normal gay son back."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/gay_teen_worried_he_might_be

A different kind of stereotype

I'm home for Thanksgiving break, back in the Fretta. We have the whole week off since they cut our fall break short by one day. Wellllll, TECHNICALLY they cut our fall break short but usually the teachers cancel classes. Or else everyone skips them. Go Dawgs.

So we go to church yesterday cause my church is awesome. And everyone loves Jesus. I make it a point to put my phone on silent and not text, etc. cause it's pretty rude and there is a huge stereotype that my generation can't live without their phones. Not sayin it isn't true, just sayin it's a stereotype.

Pass the peace. Celebrations and concerns. We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing...

And then the Lord's Prayer. Everyone bows their heads. I see the person next to me fidgeting out of the corner of my eye and I tilt my head just in time to see him put his iPhone on the seat between us.

...for Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

I look up. The person sitting next to me texting on his iPhone during the Lord's Prayer is a 70-year-old man with his frail old wife.

Take THAT, stereotype!

Male-born transgender woman lesbian

For my class on writing and reporting I have to go to a variety of speeches to write stories on them. The one I chose to go to yesterday was about transgenders.

I know I've seen transgenders before but I've never talked to one or heard their story. So I was actually pretty interested when I heard Stephanie Dykes was speaking at my school.

Yes, her name is Stephanie Dykes. No pun intended. She was born Steven Dykes and changed it when she began her transformation 5 years ago. She made a ton of jokes about having a last name like Dykes.

She's a 51 year old male-born transgender woman lesbian. And she has some serious balls. In the courageous sense. Get your mind out of the gutter.

A little rundown on her life: she remembers being an 11-year-old boy and praying every night to wake up as a girl. She always felt different but thought that maybe she just liked to crossdress. Stephanie convinced herself enough that this was the case that she married out of college and had a son. Her wife found out she was a "crossdresser" a few years into the marriage and 13 years after that they divorced. Stephanie hasn't seen her son since. He's 16 and the only time she's talked to him is when he called to beg her for permission to change his last name.

Yall, I don't care if you're transgender, straight, yellow or a kangaroo...that's sad. Every person on this earth would have their heart broken if they were torn away from their son simply because of who they really are.

But Stephanie has a "chosen family," apparently common in the LGBT community. They rally around eachother for support when their biological families abandon them (another argument for another day). She also sings in a gay men's choir. "Gay men?" you might ask. She says, "While I may not identify with "male", and I may not identify with "gay", I do identify with "baritone"." Which she sings beautifully by the way, she belted out the first verse of "Amazing Grace" when asked at the end of the lecture.

Now, if you've read my earlier post on the legalization of gay marriage, you know that I'm a huge advocate of human rights. Naturally, Stephanie Dykes is too. Her argument to the government is this; "If when I was born I had the right to marry any woman I want, if someday I may legally be a woman...can I no longer marry a woman? And, if so, is that basic right being taken from me without my constitutional right to due process?"

Homegirl is smart. Full legal name; Stephanie Dykes, Ph.D. Ahhh, yes. Queer people have the ability to learn just like straight people. They also have the ability to love. She said it like this,"I'm 51, so that cuts down my pool of potential women alot. I'm transgender which cuts it down a LOT, and I'm a lesbian, so I have very very minimal choices. I just want my happily ever after like everyone else. I just want to be held by someone who wants to hold me too."

But seriously, who can blame her? Isn't that what we all want?

So if you read the title of this post and got your judging-face on, wipe it off. When you see a transgender or gay couple don't be quick to stereotype or put them off as different. Cause they just want to be held. Just like you.

OMG that's so gay.

So here's a fun game. I thought my critical thinking class was decently liberal cause...well, it's a critical thinking class...and it's honors... but last Friday I learned my lesson. We were assigned to write a one-page opinion paper on any of the topics our professor listed for us. I automatically noticed one I'm pretty passionate about and wrote away. So here's what I wrote:


"Gay marriage should not be banned from the United States. Homosexuality is a completely normal phenomenon just as heterosexuality is. The history of homosexuality dates back far enough that it would be impossible to make an argument that it is “unnatural.” Homosexuality has been observed in over 1500 species of animals. Art of homosexuality in Africa dates back to 2400 BCE and men who were considered to have special powers were raised as homosexuals in early America. Homosexuality was also common in the Aztec, Maya, Quechas, Moches, Zapotec, and Tupinamba civilizations of Latin America before European conquest. If “natural” in defined as “found in nature” then the strong presence of homosexuality in history shows that it indeed is a natural aspect of human life.

While it is a decent rebuttal to state that human sacrifice and eating one’s own offspring were once also considered natural, it is only further proving the point that this is all up to society’s view of morality. Nursing and communicating are also natural aspects of human nature and protests claiming the “disgust” in those two things are hard to come by. It is safe to say that human sacrifice and eating offspring has drastically decreased if not disappeared from society since it has been christened unacceptable. Homosexuality, on the other hand, is not something we can wave our hand at and dispel. It is not going anywhere and we need to address it.

Marriage is defined by Webster as “a relationship in which two people have pledged themselves to each other in the manner of a husband and wife.” Two people of the same sex can easily pledge themselves to one another with the same confidence that two people of opposite sexes can. They can also play the roles of husband and wife. The fact that their love is homosexual and not heterosexual does not discredit it, just as allowing homosexuals to get married will not discredit the “sanctity” of heterosexual marriage. The 50% divorce rate takes care of that.
Believers in the Bible may argue that God was wrathful towards homosexuals. But tracing back to the basics of the Bible it says to love one another. Therefore wouldn’t the love between two homosexuals be more of a positive in God’s mind than the effort spent by some to hate these homosexuals? Also popular is the argument that all sins are equal in the eyes of God. Going by the Bible, not covering your head (1 Cor. 11:6), anxiety (Phil 4:6), eating meat (1 Sam 14:33), not hitting your child (Prov 13:24), braiding your hair or wearing gold jewelry (1 Peter 3:3), calling your biological father “Father” (Matt 23:9), hitting a man in the groin (Deut 25:11-12), joking around (Eph 5:4), and not being perfect (Matt 5:48) are also sins. Let he without sin be the first to cast a stone.

Now while the Ten Commandments may be the basis of our judicial system, they are the same ten commandments of Judaism and follow many of the same themes as written out in the Qu’ran, the basic teachings of Buddha, and Hindi texts. This country was founded by Christians but on the principle of religious freedom. Because of this, the Bible alone should not be any sort of reference when debating governmental issues. It has also been debated that homosexuals can have their own sort of union because marriage is a union under God performed in the church and it needs to stay between a woman and a man. Last time I checked, Atheists, Buddhists, Agnostics, and any other heterosexual who wanted a marriage can get one.

Depriving homosexual couples of the title of “married” also deprives them of the rights of marriage. This means that the couple would not be able to adopt as a couple, gain veterans’ benefits, gain wrongful death benefits for the surviving partner, open joint accounts, leases, or insurance policies, collect Social Security and Medicare together, be protected under the judicial system and a number of other lost benefits.

The short story is, if you’re heterosexual then consider yourself lucky for not having to face the criticism homosexuals still face today. Also, if you’re heterosexual…don’t get a gay marriage. Homosexual marriage wouldn’t bother anyone and it wouldn’t start a slippery slope ending in people marrying their parakeets. Let’s all jump down out of our ivory towers and remind ourselves that marriage isn’t something for the “elite” or those who have earned it. It’s a symbol of love and commitment. Let’s award it to those who are in love and committed."


TURNS OUT my class is ACTUALLY quite conservative and they had a field day telling me that the Bible says it's wrong and they're all sinners, etc. One of the other questions listed, however, was "Is there sufficient evidence to believe in God?" and one girl's opening sentence was literally "There is sufficient evidence to believe in God because the Bible says so." Yep, in a critical thinking class. Now I'm all about religion and spirituality. God and I are BFF. We hang out. But the ignorance and closed mindedness is what really gets me.

But enough about that.

After that little fiasco I decide to choose a topic that was a little further down on the list (she made us read them in the order the questions were typed out) so that I would possibly not have to be sacrificed to the Republican gods again. Quite naturally, the second we sat down in class the next day the professor said, "I'm really interested in [the topic I chose...of course]...who did that one?"

Brilliant.

Up In Smoke

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092491/

Thanks to Ashley dearest for sending me that link.

As some of yall may know, I have a wee bit of a problem with smokers. Mostly thanks to the wonderful allergy to it that I've lovingly carried around with me most of my life.
Now it would be ok with me if smokers sat isolated in a 3' x 3' room and smoked themselves to death without involving themselves in anyone else's lives. It's when they smoke around their kids or while they're pregnant that bothers me. Or how about when I leave class and directly outside any given building the National Smokers' Guild is gathered to welcome me? So not cool.

Now the problem that I mainly have with smokers is obviously the second hand effects. Which this article seems to have overlooked. But it IS good news that we're getting such a profit off the sin tax. Let's keep bumping it up, huh? People will either have to quit and spend their money on a cheaper hobby (knitting? finger painting? solving magic eyes?) or they'll just be giving a lot more money back to society. Which we will eventually turn around and give back to them in the form of a breathing machine and IV.

Also, it's somewhat of a true stereotype that lower class people have a higher tendency to use tobacco. These are also probably the people that can't pay for their medical care when they realize that smoking has some tiny harmful side effects and they find themselves in a hospital bed (paid by you, bee tee dubs).

So here's the deal. You're not gonna stop smoking. I'm not gonna stop whining about it. If you're looking for quicker ways to get cancer you could always smoke in a tanning bed while drinking diet coke and eating veggies covered in pesticides. See what your body gets sick of first. It'll be like Russian roulette. By yourself.