The Price of Indulgence

From a young age most of us are taught right from wrong, and when we choose to do something that is considered wrong or bad, then we are punished. The hope is that those consequences leave a lasting negative connection with the undesirable behavior. This could either build moral standards in the child, which could very well last them into adulthood, or it could just leave the child obeying their parents in order to avoid the punishments. The problem is that at one point or another most people move out of their parents' house and begin to live on their own, where they have the ability to live and do as they please. There is the fear of what is socially acceptable that will hold the people who want to indulge in their less desirable urges from taking action, but what if there was a way to do whatever you want to and never have to deal with the consequences?

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll explores the question of whether one can fully indulge in their most unacceptable and primal desires while remaining unaffected. He creates a potion which separates him into two separate men, Dr. Jekyll who is inherently good, and Mr. Hyde who is inherently evil. It is revealed that while Dr. Jekyll goes about society as a morally upstanding fellow, Mr. Hyde lurks about at night committing sins. Then, when Hyde transforms back into Jekyll it was as if he were a totally different man, unburdened by his immoral half and its misdeeds. This seems to work for a period of time, but in the end the potion catches up to him and ultimately leads to his demise when he can no longer control his transformations between the two men. He dies because the evil he was allowing himself to indulge in finally won out and the good could not stand up against it.

Through criminals in society today it can be seen that taking part in unsavory activities always catches up with you. People commit crimes and give way to their wants all the time, and sometimes they are punished through the judicial system. That is not the rule though, many people commit crimes and are never convicted, but that does not mean they do not face other consequences. Oftentimes their families will fall apart, their spouse will leave them, their children will hate them, etc. Sometimes they can live life being the only one who knows they committed a crime, but that will weigh on their minds and plague them with guilt so extreme that it can lead to depression and suicide.

In my opinion no one can escape punishment for their actions; people are born sinful and have to answer for their sins in one way or another. As a Christian I believe that if you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to absolve you of your debt for them, then he will, but if not then the ultimate consequence a person faces is Hell. Although Christians have received grace and therefore will never face Hell, they still have to deal with the effects of their sins on Earth. That being said, if a person chooses to indulge in their sinful nature, then they will always have to pay for it in some manner.

 

Beyond All Tests

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend." Friendship is an odd thing, most of the time you do not meet a person and think, one day they will be my best friend. Generally friendship forms without us really noticing its growth, and can begin in even the most unlikely of circumstances. Friendships are a privilege; to be able to share your happiness, burdens, beliefs, and just yourself with another is one of the greatest blessings that is granted to us in this world. In life I have come to find, through my own personal experience and those of others, that deep human connections go beyond the tests of the physical world.

The novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini follows the lives of friends Mariam and Laila. The two started out as enemies, battling for a place in their shared home, but slowly grew together as the joined forces to merely survive life with their authoritarian husband. They laughed together, wept together, endured together, and ultimately escaped their life of oppression together, but not without price. Mariam not only took the initial action that brought about their freedom, but ultimately bought Laila's freedom in life with her own. Mariam murdered their husband to save her best friend's life, and died so that she might be free. That, however, does not mean that their connection ended when her life did. Even after death Laila sees Mariam in the daily life around her, like the way her daughter faithfully performs the prayers that Mariam once taught her. Mariam's sacrifice of love permeates Laila's entire life; every moment of happiness and contentment is tied to Laila's love and gratefulness for her best friend, whose influence has never left her, even in death.

I have experienced something similar in my own life, though my friend did not die, she did move away which, at the time, I thought was the worst thing that could possibly happen. I have found, however, that this trial of being in very separate physical locations has strengthened our friendship more than anything else ever has. Now that she is not around me daily I miss her greatly, but I am much more appreciative of who she is as a person and of our friendship. I am blessed enough to still be able to keep in contact with her through technology, but I still feel her presence with me in daily life. I am reminded of her by little things, and can feel the influence of the things she has taught me in my day-to-day decisions. I feel her love even though she is not physically close to me, and that is the beauty of deep human connections.

In my opinion people need to not take their relationships for granted. We have loved ones in our lives and often do not think twice about what a blessing they are to us. Everyone should evaluate the connections they have with people and realize how valuable they are to our lives because they might not always be close to them in the same way as they are now. Thankfully we carry others with us through our emotions, beliefs, and memories, so even when they are gone, they really aren't.

Ignorance is Bliss... Or is it?

Rebecca West once said, “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.” All over the world women are treated poorly and oppressed, but thank God that in the United States feminism is a very real and active fight. Of course, there are some people lagging behind who believe women have specific and exclusive roles, such as being a wife and mother, rather than a choice in how to lead their own lives. I am proud to say that there is outrage when we hear about the injustices that women incur, and that it is in the forefront, rather than played down or swept under the rug by a society that does not want to deal with it. I do believe that a great many women do not realize the extent of their freedoms or the lack of freedom that women around the world live with in their daily lives.

Women specifically in the Middle East are met with an immense amount of oppression. The novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the lives of two women, Mariam and Laila, and depicts the trials that they face daily. The ladies are forced to live and abide by their husband's will, or face the consequences. They are not able to go to the market without the escort of their husband, or a burqa which is not only uncomfortable and inconvenient, but a hazard to their health. They are forced to endure the routine rape that their husband inficts upon them, and they must do all these things without protest. When they attempt to run away and are caught they are tortured almost to the point of death by their husband, not that anything would be done if he saw that to be a fit punishment for them.

This story may be fictional, but it is based off of the sufferings that so many women have met over the years, and continue to face today. There are women who are forced into arranged marriages in which they are pledged to unquestionable submission to their husbands, where they are literally made to be possessions. Married off far to young and left for dead after their husband, who is unspeakably older, has had his way with them. Acid  and boiling water are thrown in the faces of women and children who seek education, or do not fit the prescribed norms. The name Malala Yousafzai comes to mind, a young girl who spoke against the Taliban's forbiddance of girls going to school. Her consequence was being shot in the head, but she miraculously lives to tell the story as a spokesperson for her cause.

Yes, in the United States there is still some societal issues that remain intact when it comes to women's issues. However, there is an overall freedom that women retain in our country that is an undeniable luxury, not that it should be. On that note it is appalling to me how easily we turn a blind eye to the chronic struggles that women in other countries must endure. There is so much that we can do to not only help them, but learn from them, and yet we chose not to. We should be looking to them to see how blessed we are as a people to live in a country where we feel at least some semblance of safety, but we choose not to because that would be unpleasant. There are basic human rights that everyone is entitled to, and it cannot be ignored when masses of people are being robbed of them. We cannot turn a blind eye to these struggles because it could just as easily have been us in that situation.

The True Spoils of War

There are many motivations that would cause a group to engage in war, among them being freedom, and a desire to expand one's land, religion, and ultimately power. Although, as with any action, there are a number of consequences, both good and bad, that occur as a result of war. Many look at the war on a broad scale, how it affects a nation's unity, finances, and strength, but they fail to take a closer look at what war does to the individual. Unless one has a first-hand experience of being in the war, or is close to someone who was a soldier, it is easy to dehumanize war. The reality is that soldiers leave war not only with physical wounds and scars, but mental ailments as well. War stays with an individual even after they have left the battlefield.

The novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, follows the life of Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim is a man who was a prisoner of war during WWII, and it forever changed him. The most interesting fact about Billy is that he can travel in time within his mind, and so the story jumps from past, present, and future events in his life. Vonnegut chose to compose the story in this way to depict what can truly happen to a person's mind after the war. Billy Pilgrim likely has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or at the very least he is hallucinogenic and has a detachment from reality. This severely impacts his career, relationships with loved ones, and day to day life.

Veterans of war are people who should be recognized for their service to the country, and their physical and mental issues should also be acknowledged. The statistics of how war impacts people are staggering. About 30% of Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD, and 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are affected by PTSD and/or depression. Suicide, alcoholism, and drug abuse rates among veterans are climbing. These individuals need treatment in order to cope with these long-term disorders and addictions.

The general population needs to be aware of the veterans around them, not only to honor them, but to help them. These men and women have sacrificed their time, as well as their physical and mental capabilities in order to keep us safe. This means that it is our responsibility to look out for them and ensure they get proper treatment. It is estimated that only 50% of veterans seek treatment for their PTSD, but this statistic can be raised with our help. We should not be reducing veterans' benefits, but supplementing them.

The Fault in our Cultural Relativism

Different cultures have different moral codes, and no moral code of a certain society is of special status are claims made by the theory of Cultural Relativism. In James Rachels' essay, The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, he examines the theory and its validity. In the end he rejects the theory on the basis that no culture's code is greater than another's, and most that cultures believe some form of the same fundamental tenets, even if they are practiced in differing ways. However, Rachels' also makes a point of endorsing the directive to keep an open mind and not be arrogant in thinking that one society's practices are superior to another's.

This is very prominent in the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. The story chronicles the life of a revered man, Okonkwo, from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. European missionaries come to the tribe in the effort to convert the people to their religion and western way of life. The invasion of these "paramount" people provides a glimpse of the horror than can ensue when one culture does not extend respect to those who are different from them. The interesting thing is that both cultures have a common goal, to drive out evil and ignorance. The Igbo believe that acts such as throwing away twin babies are good things and that they please the gods and goddesses, therefore keeping away evil. Contrastingly the Europeans believe that the tribesmen are committing a great atrocity and must be stopped.

The same can be seen today in the war against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The civil war in this country is due to the fact that one group views their own moral code and set of beliefs as so much higher than all others that it must be exacted upon those who do not wish to ascribe to it. This has resulted in the collapse of a country and an innumerable amount of deaths. On the other hand, some might believe that the countries that have intervened in Afghanistan are just as much at fault because they are commanding that a group act a certain way. Examples can be found throughout the world and time.

I understand that different cultures believe different things, and that they must be allowed to do so in order for our own culture to have the same privilege. I also understand that our moral codes are based upon what we have been taught to be good, true, and right. However, I do not believe that there are no definite rights or wrongs. Certain actions can be made more understandable if you examine the motives of the people, like eliminating evil, but certain things, like death, can never be truly justified. I am not an intolerant person, but I do not believe that a person cannot be fully devoted to their own religion without considering it to be the only true religion, or wanting to convert others. The problem arrives when people are forced to accept and practice something that they do not wish to.

Heroes: Then and Now

The dictionary definition of hero is, "A person who is admired for great acts or brave acts or fine qualities". Each person has their own idea of what makes someone a hero,  and these views have changed over the centuries. In the epic poem, Beowulf, which takes place around the sixth century in Scandinavia, the public's definition of a hero was certainly different from today.

The poem chronicles a thane, named Beowulf, and his brave expeditions where he strives to make a name for himself. In a pagan society of that time period the only way to be remembered was to go perform great feats, such as slaying a dragon or some other awful creature. Heroes back then were also characterized by their hubris. They would make a boast about all of their accomplishments in order to have people remember them and to be revered.

This is starkly different than what people consider a hero to be today. In our society we tend to glorify the "unsung hero", the person who commits a good deed because it is the right thing to do. If someone came forward and started to draw attention to their accomplishments people would look down upon them, thinking they were haughty. This could possibly come from the Christian religion. In Matthew 6:3 it says, "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" and that is the mentality our society seems to think a hero should have.

I think the change in what society views as heroic is inevitable, especially when the societies are based on different belief systems. I personally believe that a hero is someone who does the right thing, whether that means picking up stray litter, or dying for their faith. That does not mean that what I believe is a hero is the only true definition, or that it will not change. Everyone has their opinions, and bases for them, that is just the way humans and the world work.


 

The Problem of Prison Brutality

From a young age we are taught that rules must be followed and if they are broken there will be consequences. The same goes for those who break the law. Criminals are put into prison for committing a crime and it is in order to protect the public and keep order in society. This is no different from what we have always been told, so why should there be an exception for those who are paid to keep order within the prisons?

Exposés have been used throughout the years to draw attention the hidden issues within society that the public is unaware of. It has come into the light that the administration within prisons is not only turning a blind eye to violence among inmates, but is at times brutalizing those individuals who have been incarcerated. An instance of prison brutality is vividly depicted within The Power of One, a novel by Bryce Courtenay. An older prisoner named Geel Piet is brutally beaten and murdered by a prison warder and the matter is looked over by the administration and the law. No justice or lawful retribution is ever obtained for Geel Piet’s murder; the matter is, more or less, swept under the rug and not dealt with.

I believe that though Geel Piet was a prisoner who deserved to be in jail he still had the right to be treated better than a mere animal. All people have simple basic rights to safety and should be able to expect them to be upheld, whether they are criminals or not. I do not understand how someone working at a prison could senselessly beat a prisoner, much less why they would want to.

Everyday, prisoners are living in constant fear for their lives, not just because they are living among fellow criminals but because an official could beat or murder them and get away with it. If inmates are supposed to go back into society better people it will not happen because of the actions of those in power at the jails. There needs to be a call for greater accountability within the prison system. It is too easy for the administration to say one thing to the public and do another. Society is built upon change and this should be no different. A reform needs to come to the prison system, if not for the criminals then for the civilians who they will eventually walk amongst one day.