Response to Readings: "Anger and Humiliation", "Voices in the Dark"

Nazi Party program


Two points of this program that I think are especially unfair:
4. German blood as a requirement for German citizenship. No Jew can be a member of the nation.
Anyone should be able to join whatever country they want to.
7. The state insures that every citizen live decently and earn his livelihood. If it is impossible to provide food for the whole population, the aliens must be expelled.
People should be able to stay with their family and friends in a country, not be forced to come and go, and should be treated with the same respect then other citizens.


"Voices in the Dark"


If I had been on the train I would have told them that was not acceptable and I would have gotten off the train or moved to a different car. I had a similar experience when people were talking in Malay about how fat and dumb and stuff white people were,. I was right there and they probably didn't know I spoke Malay. So to make them embarrassed about what they said, I bid them farewell in Malay and the shocked expression on their faces was priceless.  :)

Religions Field Trip

 Islamic Mosque Minaret

Open passageways in Mosque

Flower garlands for Hindu deities

Hindu idol

Chinese dragon statue

Chinese offerings to gods of apples and oranges

Chinese Temple

Gold, Emerald, and Red were the main colors in the temple. The air was smoky with incense, but it didn't smell bad. That part of it made me think of the Hindu temple- filled with smells. It was a pretty solemn place; with people praying to ancestors, burning papers to send to them. There were some rituals going on to do with fortune and prosperity. People could get their fortunes told. Some came out of the room with smiles, but some with troubled looks. There were a few statues of deities and idols, much like the Hindu temple as well. 

Islamic Mosque

The Islamic Mosque was mostly white and tan. It was open and the architectural designs were all extremely geometrical. Unlike the Hindu and Chinese temples, the decorations were very limited. There was no statues or idols, no incense nor strong smells. The Mosque was very plain outside from the arches and designs.

Hindu Temple

The temple was really colorful. There was lots of flowers and colors decorating the area. It was open and smelled of jasmine. There were lots of priests wearing red dots on their foreheads walking around and doing rituals. There were TONS of idols in the shapes of all sorts of things. there were special chambers for the more important deities.

Auschwitz Reading

The paper on Auschwitz made me cry; it really did- because just to think how you could treat someone with less respect than you give cattle, horrifies me. One part that made my heart fall even more was the concept of prisoners of the Special Detachment. Especially those assigned to the coaxing in the "showers." To be in such a terrible place is one thing; but to be forced to betray your people is even more sickening. They were pulled out of the crowd to do the dirty work-the lying. Those individuals had to look into the faces of people who were going to be massacred, and falsely assure them in their own tongue that everything was going to be alright.

Opposites at the Resevoir

Wood vs. Cement

  

Small leaf vs. Big leaf

In My Opinion

It is acceptable to remove a member of a society or group if he or she is thought to be inferior to others.

No! Everyone has their place in society and that's the way it should be. If we don't like who they are or what they represent, we shouldn't shun them or make them an outcast, but welcome them into the society. Even if someone's job is less important than yours or something like that, it doesn't make them inferior.

Living the "good" life

What do you think a good life means?
Lots of money?
Awesome friends and family?
Lots of gadjets and gizmos?
Good school?

I think that a good life doesn't have anything to do with what you have or what you've been given. I think it's what you make of it. You can have all the things listed above, but would that accually make you truly happy? Or is it a feeling that wears off? Eveything gets old, replaced by better and better things, with fortune comes a whole lot of responsibility. Will you still be happy? Or will there still be a whole in your heart? I don't know what you beleive in that fills that gap, whether its spiritual or anything, but you need to figure it out. Then, take what you've got, look at it from a posotive point of veiw, (always) and put a smile on your face. Even if you don't feel like smiling, it will lift your mood and make you a little happier. Look on the bright side, fix what you have, don't want what you don't. Thats how to live a good life.

My Identity