JD here.
I just read an article from a high school student named Colin Johnson that was published in The Messenger, the school newspaper for Wichita High School East in Wichita, KS and wanted to share my thoughts on it.
Here is the link so that you can read and share your thoughts: http://ehsmessenger.com/2011/02/11/homosexual-teens-alienated-by-current-societal-trends/
The basic point of the article is, seemingly, a call-to-arms for straight students and faculty to discourage any homosexual behavior on school grounds, as it is a "social disruption" and "should be frowned upon." The article even goes so far to name check the famous Leviticus verse that is the end-all argument for christian-related bigotry.
Now, it might be my own personal bias, but I tend to give the youth of today the benefit of the doubt when it comes to social issues. It just seems as though the overwhelming majority of today's youth are tolerant if not completely accepting of gays and lesbians in society.
Therefore, after I read this article I first played devil's advocate: Maybe this young reporter has constructed this article to parody the entire viewpoint it is discussing. I mean, is it that far-fetched to believe that a young person in today's age wouldn't be capable of writing a convincing mockery that points out the sheer stupidity of the topic at hand?
I actually don't think he is, as much as I wish he were. This article just goes to show that no matter how free-thinking I consider today's young adults to be, no age group is immune to hate. I sincerely hope that this one person's tone doesn't reflect the mindset of this high school, or the community at large, but the fact that the article has been met with virtually no protest from the school or parents is disheartening.
On another note, does anybody else think that this almost, if not definitely, qualifies as hate-speech? I mean, the kid quotes a verse from the bible that talks about execution, for shit's sake! I shutter to think that articles like these are acceptable in any high school, or any newspaper for that matter.
What do you guys think? Was this young man just stating a viewpoint, or did he cross the line?
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Welcome to The Right Track
Well hello. Welcome to our blog.
First of all, let me tell you a little bit about who we are, and why we decided to start this blog.
Our names are JD Earl Hawley and Devyn La'Ree Lish, and we are two young people living in Boise, Idaho. I (JD) am 22 years old, and Devyn is 21. We live together in an awesome little house downtown, we enjoy making complete fools of ourselves, being weird and stupid for absolutely no reason, and talking about some really strange things to pass the time. We burn incense candles that are supposed to attract abundance because we are both completely broke, and we are best friends.
Now, onto the reason behind this blog: I think I (JD) can speak for both of us when I say that we spend a ridiculous amount of time dulling our minds with all manner of useless timewasting mechanisms. From the ever-present Facebook, to movies about things not particularly interesting or thought-provoking, to gossip sites and other internet life-suckers, the time that we spend being unproductive seems to outweigh anything of importance that we might do.
The point is, we decided that this time could be spent on something more worth-while. As long as we are surfing the dreaded interwebs, we might as well throw our own insight into the mix, right? Thus, THE RIGHT TRACK was born.
This blog is going to be dedicated to posting our thoughts on life, love, society, religion, youth, sex, civil rights, moral issues, news, and anything else that affects us as young people in America. We hope to bring a positive perspective to these things, and hopefully inspire both our peers and any other readers to pursue their convictions.
We are speaking out, because it is our responsibility as young people with opinions to express them. Otherwise, they just sit in our heads and burn up, which definitely isn't doing us any favors.
So, read on, tell people about it if you like it, tell us if you don't. This whole blog is meant to get people talking, no matter what they might have to say.
SING IT OUT.
-JD
First of all, let me tell you a little bit about who we are, and why we decided to start this blog.
Our names are JD Earl Hawley and Devyn La'Ree Lish, and we are two young people living in Boise, Idaho. I (JD) am 22 years old, and Devyn is 21. We live together in an awesome little house downtown, we enjoy making complete fools of ourselves, being weird and stupid for absolutely no reason, and talking about some really strange things to pass the time. We burn incense candles that are supposed to attract abundance because we are both completely broke, and we are best friends.
Now, onto the reason behind this blog: I think I (JD) can speak for both of us when I say that we spend a ridiculous amount of time dulling our minds with all manner of useless timewasting mechanisms. From the ever-present Facebook, to movies about things not particularly interesting or thought-provoking, to gossip sites and other internet life-suckers, the time that we spend being unproductive seems to outweigh anything of importance that we might do.
The point is, we decided that this time could be spent on something more worth-while. As long as we are surfing the dreaded interwebs, we might as well throw our own insight into the mix, right? Thus, THE RIGHT TRACK was born.
This blog is going to be dedicated to posting our thoughts on life, love, society, religion, youth, sex, civil rights, moral issues, news, and anything else that affects us as young people in America. We hope to bring a positive perspective to these things, and hopefully inspire both our peers and any other readers to pursue their convictions.
We are speaking out, because it is our responsibility as young people with opinions to express them. Otherwise, they just sit in our heads and burn up, which definitely isn't doing us any favors.
So, read on, tell people about it if you like it, tell us if you don't. This whole blog is meant to get people talking, no matter what they might have to say.
SING IT OUT.
-JD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)