Be a better YOU
Charlie99z28
Published
10/02/2011
I had a VERY interesting and thought provoking conversation with a friend of mine over the phone tonight about many things surrounding the topic of sociology. I have never furthered my education beyond the level of high school, and every bit of knowledge I have concerning different subject matters I have learned because I wanted too, and took the measures to make it so. I'm not ashamed to admit that I never attended a single college class, or attended any university, although I can't say that wouldn't be a better person if I had... For that matter, I can't say that WOULD be a better person if I had either.
Our conversation started on the topic of The West Memphis Three, which those of you who read the blogs on a regular basis will recall me talking about. I knew she was majoring in sociology, and I had given her the idea of doing her in depth report on the topic of 'how public opinion can sway legal arguments towards a biased outcome' should be centered around The WM3. Also, I had burned both documentaries onto dvd's and mailed them to her as a study reference, and she called me to discuss them after watching both. Our talks began to stray outside the legalities surrounding the case to other topics.
Again, I have never taken a college class in my life, so I don't consider myself an expert in the field of sociology by any means at all, but we began talking about popular music being blamed for horrendous crimes such as Columbine, and it seemed like everything we discussed I was clicking with on an equal level, and I was understanding everything she said as if we were two professionals. Our conversation then turned to religion, and how people who are so deeply submerged in religious beliefs and practices can so openly rebuke anything they see as wrong or sinful and spew hatred from their mouths, then pass it off as being "Christ like" when Christ himself taught that loving others in spite of their transgressions is how you serve God.
Then, we discussed thoughts about why it seems that Christians secretly hide their animosity towards other Christians from different denominations. Why do Baptists think so poorly of Catholics because they display the virgin Mary as a holy figure, and ask forgiveness of their sins from a priest rather than pray to God for forgiveness, and Catholics think that Baptists are hypocrites? I use that analogy only because I was raised in a Baptist home, and my wife was raised in a Catholic home, and we have had that discussion ourselves, and I will say that the idea of "pray on Sunday, sin on Monday" does seem to apply here. Furthermore, why do so many Christians think that going to church every Sunday and thumping the Bible is a free pass to drink beer, smoke, fornicate, and use salty language every other day of the week? Hypocrisy? Sounds like it to me...
Anyway, It came as a real shock to me when towards the end of out conversation she said to me "Charlie, you really seem to be very well spoken, and pretty knowledgeable about many things to have never taken any formal classes, and you've made some statements that I really would like to write down as a sort of reference in my notes. I feel like you would be a great teacher, and even better at voicing a legitimate opinion in a debate. Would you mind if I take some of your statements and use them for a future report I'm working on?" I felt a little awkward when I was asked, and I don't think I am a great source of valuable information based on the fact that everything we talked about had seemingly stemmed from our thoughts and opinions rather than book facts. Then I realized that what I viewed as thoughts and opinions were basically what I had learned from reading. I do enjoy the subject of sociology very much. Studying human interaction and reactions are just fun to me, and I have taken it upon myself to gain knowledge outside of a classroom when and where I can.
So, the point of this blog was not intended to be about Christian hypocrisy. Instead, I wanted to say that you don't have to have a silly piece of paper from a prominent school to display knowledge and understanding. When you apply yourself, and you give and honest effort, you can succeed! Now, it would seem that having a degree, or doctorate makes life and job searching a lot easier, don't get me wrong. However, there is nothing keeping you from learning what you want to learn, or doing what you want to do. If your passionate enough, and you really want to make yourself a better person, then why not do it? whats stopping you? I think the biggest problem with youth today and the lowering numbers of high school graduates is not social barriers, but individual willpower that has been excused as a social barrier. For instance: "Why can't the poor black kid get out of the ghetto?" It's not because he's black, and the system is holding him to a lower standard. It's because he lets that blind him and he loses motivation because he assumes that he can't overcome. But, he can... if he chooses too! If that seems racist, I apologize. Merely using it as an example. I've actually considered going back to school now just because someone took notice that I gave an effort in making a better person out of myself. It's uplifting, and I don't feel like a failure anymore...At least not as much :)
Our conversation started on the topic of The West Memphis Three, which those of you who read the blogs on a regular basis will recall me talking about. I knew she was majoring in sociology, and I had given her the idea of doing her in depth report on the topic of 'how public opinion can sway legal arguments towards a biased outcome' should be centered around The WM3. Also, I had burned both documentaries onto dvd's and mailed them to her as a study reference, and she called me to discuss them after watching both. Our talks began to stray outside the legalities surrounding the case to other topics.
Again, I have never taken a college class in my life, so I don't consider myself an expert in the field of sociology by any means at all, but we began talking about popular music being blamed for horrendous crimes such as Columbine, and it seemed like everything we discussed I was clicking with on an equal level, and I was understanding everything she said as if we were two professionals. Our conversation then turned to religion, and how people who are so deeply submerged in religious beliefs and practices can so openly rebuke anything they see as wrong or sinful and spew hatred from their mouths, then pass it off as being "Christ like" when Christ himself taught that loving others in spite of their transgressions is how you serve God.
Then, we discussed thoughts about why it seems that Christians secretly hide their animosity towards other Christians from different denominations. Why do Baptists think so poorly of Catholics because they display the virgin Mary as a holy figure, and ask forgiveness of their sins from a priest rather than pray to God for forgiveness, and Catholics think that Baptists are hypocrites? I use that analogy only because I was raised in a Baptist home, and my wife was raised in a Catholic home, and we have had that discussion ourselves, and I will say that the idea of "pray on Sunday, sin on Monday" does seem to apply here. Furthermore, why do so many Christians think that going to church every Sunday and thumping the Bible is a free pass to drink beer, smoke, fornicate, and use salty language every other day of the week? Hypocrisy? Sounds like it to me...
Anyway, It came as a real shock to me when towards the end of out conversation she said to me "Charlie, you really seem to be very well spoken, and pretty knowledgeable about many things to have never taken any formal classes, and you've made some statements that I really would like to write down as a sort of reference in my notes. I feel like you would be a great teacher, and even better at voicing a legitimate opinion in a debate. Would you mind if I take some of your statements and use them for a future report I'm working on?" I felt a little awkward when I was asked, and I don't think I am a great source of valuable information based on the fact that everything we talked about had seemingly stemmed from our thoughts and opinions rather than book facts. Then I realized that what I viewed as thoughts and opinions were basically what I had learned from reading. I do enjoy the subject of sociology very much. Studying human interaction and reactions are just fun to me, and I have taken it upon myself to gain knowledge outside of a classroom when and where I can.
So, the point of this blog was not intended to be about Christian hypocrisy. Instead, I wanted to say that you don't have to have a silly piece of paper from a prominent school to display knowledge and understanding. When you apply yourself, and you give and honest effort, you can succeed! Now, it would seem that having a degree, or doctorate makes life and job searching a lot easier, don't get me wrong. However, there is nothing keeping you from learning what you want to learn, or doing what you want to do. If your passionate enough, and you really want to make yourself a better person, then why not do it? whats stopping you? I think the biggest problem with youth today and the lowering numbers of high school graduates is not social barriers, but individual willpower that has been excused as a social barrier. For instance: "Why can't the poor black kid get out of the ghetto?" It's not because he's black, and the system is holding him to a lower standard. It's because he lets that blind him and he loses motivation because he assumes that he can't overcome. But, he can... if he chooses too! If that seems racist, I apologize. Merely using it as an example. I've actually considered going back to school now just because someone took notice that I gave an effort in making a better person out of myself. It's uplifting, and I don't feel like a failure anymore...At least not as much :)
3 Comments