Is the Bible Against Our Advances in Medicine?

It would be odd these days to have somebody deny medical care, if they have a disease or infection that is treatable but will kill them if it is left unattended. Behind denying medicine are a string of beliefs held behind a variety of religions and sub-religions around the world. 

What does it mean to be a true believer? What does it mean to be a follower of the word of Christ and everything the bible has to offer? Is the bible true word for word as should be followed as such? Whatever the matter is, it is up to the individual to decide what they want to believe or deny in order to feel at terms with themselves.

There are certain religions out there in the world that truly are strong believers in their own religion, so much as a matter of fact that they choose to deny medical assistance of certain types like blood transfusions (as those from Jehovah's Witnesses). For Jehovah's, the holy bible states (within the old testament) that "humans should abstain from blood," this is understood as in being abstain from blood in any way possible; which includes blood transfusions, consumptions or donations. 

Aside from Jehovah's there are a variety of sub-religions who follow a practice known as "faith healing." This belief restricts any type of medical assistance or care of any kind. There have already been cases reported from these religions that have involved death of children within a family, from very treatable diseases. Families simply denied that the hospital or paramedics come help their kids who were choking, stung by a lethal amount of bees, or were obviously experiencing serious severe pains within their bodies.These families believe that God is in control, even when they could take action to save their children’s lives. These religious groups would even consider their child being stricken with disease, or having their lives endangered in some way, as being a “punishment” on them (as parents) for having not gone to church or committed a sin against the bible. These people would believe that this is God punishing the innocent for the mistakes of the sinner.

The issues extend further, to a newer issue that stirs up a great amount of controversy; this issue involves the judgment of a new advancement in medicine, stem cell research. This research involves using adult stem cells (found in skin and bone) or using embryonic stem cells, which are derived from growing embryo after conception (sexual intercourse and thus the beginning of a new life form). This research with embryonic stem cells could be used to form any cell in the human body and be able to reconstruct damaged tissue/ nerves/ organs that has been ravaged by disease. Most Christians however would believe that this research is a form of playing God and a way of killing human life before it is even born. This research is in fact, that of a new age of medicine and in fact only would be using those embryonic cells of those tragically aborted or miscarried. Most Christians believe that the creation of human life begins at conception, so destroying these cells would be wrong, but is it truly wrong to help ourselves as a species?

There are many religions, groups and individuals with personal beliefs in expanding on medicine due to their own beliefs, not because they don't need the help; this is the truth beyond the narrative. Something like this may halt advancements later in life, or even now. Increased understanding and intelligence is essential to human survival and that is how our species has made it this far, but will individual/ group beliefs be the cause of hindering advancements in medicine? Only time will tell.

Childhood Cartoons, Behind the Narrative

Every single one of us grew up in a different generation. Although apart by a few decades, years or even months, we've all grown up in a completely different way, influenced by distinct media. A type of media that captures out attention as  children are cartoons.

Cartoons are what nearly every American child grows up on, they're colorful, fast paced, and funny ; as a kid there's no reason to hate these simple joys. But have you ever stopped to look back at some of the cartoons you grew up upon? When looking back I noticed a good amount of subliminal messages and very disturbing things within cartoons and shows meant for children. 

Tom & Jerry was an old cartoon that portrayed  a cat and mouse always trying to outsmart one another, but sometimes there were moments where they would smoke, for no reason. Now these may be older cartoons and regulations on cigarettes weren't too strict, but these references to cigarrettes influenced kids nonetheless. 

Subliminal messages could go so many different directions, but one thing that stuck out to me was the way drug references were hidden behind old classic disney movies like Alice in Wonderland. Most kids would find this movie enjoyable, some scary due to what kind of mind the child has, but this movie (for being the PG movie it is) contains a great amount of subliminal messages.

This movie shows countless encounters of representations of people on different types of drugs, and involves Alice herself ingesting some substances that alter her reality. And just the mere encounters she has with talking plants and creatures has you wondering about how this could even come to be, even in a kids movie.

It wouldn't make sense on how she arrived to her "wonderland" in the first place, falling through a hold in a tree. The vibrant colors and strange world would resemble those of what could be imagined on a hallucinogenic drug trip.

This isn't the first example of there being a hidden meaning behind a movie or character involving drugs, there's also something behind one of my personal favorite childhood TV shows, Scooby Doo. 

This show has been around for decades, and still exists today. One of the main characters behind this show is named Shaggy. This individual is always represented as the same person, slow, with  a bummy (hippie-like) portrayal, who is always paranoid, hungry and talks to his dog. This isn't odd behavior in a cartoon for anything can happen, but just the small signs he gives makes you think about his character.

There are parts in the show where their vehicle, The Mystery Machine, stops and smoke pours  out. The actions of Shaggy are not that of the rest of the cast, he is also shown as dumber and disoriented, all actions of a stoned person, not to mention "the munchies" he always has, even for such a skinny guy. 

These subliminal messages have been around for a while and will continue to be around today, I can already see them in all the new cartoons that kids are growing up on now. They may not always contain messages about characters being on drugs or telling a kid to do drugs, but cartoons are pointing toward mocking religions, races, genders, sexual orientation and all kinds of topics.

Parents should seriously watch what they let their children watch, because what looks fun and harmless may just be the happy mask, but parents must look past their ignorance or care-free attitudes and not let their children soak in negative influences. 

Language vs Learning

It has been called into question the manner in which we educate our students. For as long as we can remember there has been a set method in which we instruct students. This method has been believed to be the most effective way to mold young minds so that they may become contributing members of society. We now call this into question. The question we ask is what may improve our learning experience as individuals. As a group of thinkers.

What really is effective learning? If there is a way to teach students in a manner that they better understand why not use it? Because it is not the way in which our educational system has been created to run.

Effective learning has been constructed to be a complete understanding of the knowledge that is being imposed unto you. Whether it be math or history, if you can memorize the information you have mastered the subject. If you pass tests you are an effective learner. Yet this information may be twisted and changed so that one does not question it, or wonder. History is a perfect example of this. Columbus sailed the great sea and discovered America. He brought civilized society to the savages of the West Indies and introduced them to the salvation of God. Now we have been shown the reality of who Columbus was. But this was what was taught to students around the globe. This was the pedagogy of the common man.

Now lets think of pedagogy in the context of language. If students can learn easier in specific discourse, and it may be the common discourse of the students in the class, why would there be an objection to utilize such a discourse? The quickest argument for this is that we have been structured to learn a specific way. Paulo Freire discusses this somewhat in "Pedagogy of The Oppressed." We have been structured in such an educational system that oppresses. We are taught that this is the way it should be, to not question, to do what we are told. This educational system is build to oppress, oppress students if they dare to question the methods or reasons behind why it came to b

e. Oppress the native tongue that is anything but English. But what if we used our native tongues when educating? Could this possibly improve our learning experience? Students would probably absorb the information to them better. They may be able to fully comprehend the material, versus simply memorizing. I don't know about you, but I would rather be able to fully understand what is being taught to me than constantly wondering what the instructor may be discussing.

This may come into question when the majority if students within a class have not experienced English as their first language. If one has been introduced the majority of their life in one specific language then suddenly has to switch to another, there will be struggle. Now being that we are in the United States the common language of course will be English. While English is a language that should be learned if living in this country, many still struggle learning in this language. If classes such as history, math, and science were taught in the native discourse of the students then such a struggle may be less existent.

Everyone should be able to learn in a manner most comfortable to them. If one is not comfortable within their learning environment then they may be less inclined to learn. Or they may not know how to acclimate to such an environment. Thus setting them up for failure before they have really begun. Educators must take this into consideration. Every student learns differently. While they may not be able to individualize the learning experience to every student, they can acclimate it the common discourse of the class. To better open the minds of the future thinkers of the world.

English or Spanglish?

After reading the SRTOL and examining both sides of the argument, I would have to agree with teaching only "standard" English in schools. I respect the idea of allowing everyone to speak in their most comfortable discourse, however that would not work out because teachers/professors are not familiar with all different dialects in this country. In California, Spanglish might be very popular due to the population being mostly Latino. However, in other states the diversity might not look the same. In a perfect world, we would all be allowed to speak in the language  that we most feel comfortable in, but if we plan on being successful we must learn how to speak English like a White individual.

Unfortunately, I feel like those individuals who only speak English have an advantage over people like myself who were forced to learn English as a second language to simply fit with society. Because English dominates this country, it is essential for all students to learn perfect English, in order to allow us all to be equally competitive in the real world.

As for the assignment three, I am having such a hard time finding the appropriate articles to back up my argument. I am glad that we are extending this assignment in order to fully develop a well written argumentative argument. I prefer this, over having a new assignment every week because I feel like I rush my ideas as well as my writing. I hope that with this assignment I can get extensive feedback from both our classmates and teacher in oder to better my writing.

Liberation in Language

Throughout the past several weeks in class, there has been much controversy over how English courses should be designed and have effective learning objectives for students. After openly discussing this issue in class with my peers, it was ultimately hard to make a decision on how an English class should be delegated. Should students be given the opportunity to exercise their own voice in their work or should students be limited to only academic English? That is something we constantly had to ask ourselves.

Ultimately, I am a huge advocate for educators shifting the dynamics of their syllabi so their students are able to read, write, and think in the “language” they find the most comfortable. I strongly believe when students are learning at their least restrictive environment (or at their most basic, comfort level), they are going to thrive as young pupils in their education. I feel that each English course needs to be catered to fit the needs of the students (which should apply to any course really) however, English is one of those universal subjects that can be applied anywhere inside or outside of the nation. I do not believe English is a subject that should be measured at the same level, nationally. The demographics varying from coast to coast and it people who are less comfortable reading and writing in standard English will be put at a disadvantage compared to their counterparts.

Once students are finally able to use their own voice in the work they create, they are more likely to be engaged in the subject matter and improve their performance levels.

I personally think that English classes need to be transformed so that they incorporate values from both sides of the argument, much like the ones in the articles SRTOL and Zorn’s “Counter-argument to SRTOL.” When educators find a healthy medium in using both sets of viewpoints, students will be exposed to classroom settings that promote different dialects to be learned and used. With this educational shift in the classrooms, students are challenged with having to learn the rules and applications of not only formal English but other forms of English that are used by the students. And to also know when and where is it appropriate to use certain dialect(s) in different environments.

I think that English is not anything like mathematics at all when it comes to being just black and white - with English there is such a large grey spectrum where many people speak different forms of English that vary from person to person based off experience and culture. When English is altered to encourage students and teachers to use more than just the standard form of English, it provides opportunity to learn about many other dialects of the same language and realize that each has specific rules that need to be followed as well. Ultimately by making it more like this, students are going to be better evolved in their English because they are going to be able to communicate better with others in different situations.

Headaches with Research

Coming across assignment #3 my thoughts were, “This should be easy, finding a an on going problem and 3 article one primary and two secondary.” Turns out, I was absolutely wrong! This assignment has been one of the most frustrating assignments by far. As a college student who is beginning to learn how to research credible source is a hard process, checking credibility  but when researching things in your interest makes it a slight bit easier. Although the researching aspect has been the most time consuming. I have spent countless hours sitting in front of a computer, searching for the articles that were in my anticipated major Criminal Justice. For example my topic was “Sanctuary Cities Law.” The primary source was the easiest, but finding my secondary articles were the hardest. Its just so frustrating! 

Of course one may think that a law can be debated and there are two sides to it, one for it and one against it. However searching for a source was the most challenging because our assignment required a scholarly article, but to find a scholarly article that directly states “an opposing argument ” was hard because they express an opposing side in such a discreet way. I was able to manage to read the articles and discover certain aspects of the article that expressed an opposing argument but it was tough. After finding the two articles that I believed would help me ultimately write my paper was a slight breath reliever. Although finding how to outline this type of assignment is a challenging process to express where you ultimately stand in the issue. Overall, I am glad we are being challenged in researching because we are bound to write multiple researches paper in our majors, this however is a stepping stone. I am glad I am not able to persuade why I stand where I stand and express myself!

Assignment # 3

Assignment #3 has been very difficulty so far. We were told to do some research on a topic in are discourse that can be debatable. Then we have to find one primary source and two secondary sources to back up our topic. It took me a very long time to finally come up with a topic. I chose to write about the death penalty. I noticed a lot of people have different views and opinions about the death penalty system and because of that it was hard finding the right article that’s appropriate for my topic. Even though assignment #3 is taking a lot of energy out of me I think it’s a very interesting/important assignment because you get to pick a topic, examine both sides of the argument and then choose a side and persuade everyone why you believe you are right. Sometimes it can be difficult to look at an argument from both sides so by us getting the experience now will help us in the future.