The Death Penalty

     Okay so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come up with another topic to write about tonight. I usually don't come out with posts this frequently but I was in the blogging spirit. As I was scanning through my news feed on facebook tonight I noticed a post about how James Holmes will plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. In case you don't remember, Holmes is the guy who shot up all those innocent people in the movie theatre in Colorado.
     I was reading all the comments posted on this story and not to my surprise I felt disgusted and extremely sad. Every time a story like this comes out and people comment on it I am always reminded of how uncivilized and unethical our society is.
     It is no secret that what this young man did was a terrible thing. It is nobody's right to decide when another's life should end. Clearly though he was not right in the head. He clearly could have used some good therapy and possibly even mental health medication. 
     I mean it's quite obvious really. If someone thinks that killing random people like that is okay, they aren't right in the head. And so therefore I think we should have more compassion for him.
     I said earlier that it's nobody's right to decide when another's life should end. That also goes for the justice system. With the right help I fully believe that James Holmes can change. I believe that he can come to understand that what he did was very wrong. We can argue what the best way to teach him this is, whether you think a lifetime in prison will teach him this, or in a highly confined mental hospital, but ending his life will certainly never give him that chance.
     I've always felt uneasy when I hear other's glorifying the death of a criminal. When Osama Bin Ladin was killed there was all this hype about it and people were celebrating. That just doesn't sit well with me. When we kill someone as punishment for them killing someone else, we are no better than them for they also thought they had reason to end another's life.

The Positives

     In most of my blog posts you usually find me complaining about religion. Christianity in particular. And also in my everyday life I spend a big portion of my time thinking about how Christians are making the world a crappy place to live in. I have to acknowledge though the good things that are coming from the church.
     Possibly the best thing the church offers is a place to build community. Now that I am out in the real world making a living I am finding it hard to find friends and have a social life. When in school you are forced to be around a big group of people your age all the time and with that comes friendships. I have made the decision that I don't want religion to be a part of my life at the moment and because of this I am sacrificing having a better community of friends. There are all sorts of church Community groups in Los Angeles with lots of young people in them that I could easily go to right now, and they would turn into my friends and I wouldn't feel as lonely as I do now. I can't be a part of that though. I would either remain silent during our discussions and have the frustration building up inside me because I don't agree with what they are saying, or annoy the crap out of them because I am always arguing with them. So basically if you don't want to feel lonely, go to church. Just acknowledge that the reasons you are going are a bit selfish.
     This next part I hate to admit but there might be some truth to it. Christians, from what I've noticed, although I'm probably wrong, tend to be less of assholes than those who didn't grow up in the church. Maybe I've just had bad experiences with those outside the church but in general this is what I've noticed. Obviously though there are always exceptions and there are plenty of very nice people who aren't Christians. When I say assholes I'm talking about basic things like not being compassionate. I didn't realize this until recently, but the idea of forgiveness is mostly only a Christian term. And I think forgiveness is one of the most important things in life. Don't get me wrong though, Christians are still to blame for a lot of suicides in the gay community because their family and friends wouldn't accept them for who they are. And Christians are to blame for the slow growth of many scientific and medical improvements. They are still to blame for a lot of what is wrong with the world but at least they are nice about it.
     Okay so I am bored now and am having troubling thinking of more to say. You get the point. Christianity isn't all bad. I think I'd better stick to complaining about it though. There is always room for improvement. More to come soon.

Understanding Feminism

     As one who has considered themselves a feminist for some time now, I really have to look into why I am in fact a feminist, and what really is the definition of a feminist. I think it's a lot more than we realize and I don't think anyone is a true feminist.
     I became a feminist for kind of selfish, yet legit, reasons. It started with when I began to try online dating. Since I am rather young to start online dating, there weren't many girls my age on the sites. I realized that most women will not date men no more than a couple years younger than them but they have no problem dating men significantly older than them. I have never had a problem with the idea of dating a girl older than me. This got me thinking about it a lot. I decided that this was sexist.
     Women, as much as they're willing to admit it or not, still see men as sort of the dominate sex. They see them as a sense of security. When a man is younger than them he has less experience in life and therefore they loose a bit of that sense of security.
     I had a problem with that for a while. But then again, I started to really think about it, and maybe that isn't so bad. Before you go and call me sexist, keep reading. You'll learn that you're just as sexist as me.
     Here's a little fun dating question that you may have heard (if you're a boy), "Would you date a girl that's taller than you?" Or if you're a girl, "Would you date a guy shorter than you?" The fact that that is even a question should cause you to question your feminist beliefs. Aside from the fact that I'm 6 foot 3, I don't think I would date a girl taller than me. Why though? It goes back to the whole man being dominant physically, because they are the security. They should not be stronger. I should not feel dominated physically. I'm being a little sarcastic here but deep down I think most people really think that.
     Women have always complained about men being sexist and making sexist jokes, as they have every right to. They complain that statistically men tend to make more money doing the same jobs as women. But ladies, it isn't helping the cause when you expect the man to pay for you on dates. It also doesn't help when you expect the man to open doors for you, and the whole "Ladies first" rule. As a man, I am always willing to pay for the woman on a date. I do this because I know it's expected, and I do this because I am just downright bad a finding dates in the first place. It's not gonna help me to have yet another reason for a girl not to like me.
     One of the biggest contributors in the sexism throughout history and in every culture is that every god in every major religion is a male or father figure. This right here I think is the biggest problem. We can only seem to see the ruler that watches over us as a man. Why is this? That's all I'm asking. I don't have an answer. Religion isn't really important in my life right now for various reasons. I guess the male hierarchy problem plays into it.
     One last thing that I've noticed people do.. Ever notice how you always assume someone else's pet is male. "What's his name?" You ask. Or ever notice that when stating something about another driver on the road you assume the driver is a man? These all prove how much of the male gender is dominating our culture. But at least we call our great nation of America a woman. Maybe there IS hope after all ;)
     So there you go. I realize that I'm not even scraping the surface of what it means to be a feminist. I didn't go into the whole women having the right to wear whatever they want and it being the man's problem for looking at her lustfully. That's a little more of a touchy subject. And I didn't go into the abortion thing and women having the right to choose what's right for their bodies. I definitely believe they do. I just wanted to open your mind to consider the things I've mentioned and form your own opinions based on what I've brought to your attention.