Mine is. Right now, the marriage equality movement has returned to the political spotlight. There are those who support equality by saying things like "Love is love", or "Hate is not a family value". Naturally, I believe both statements are true.
My point in this post is something that has seemed to me to become increasingly ridiculous. In various states, marriage equality will be voted on to be legalized or repealed. We're getting closer to 1/5 of the country saying it's legal for same-sex couples to get legally married. Witnessing all this, two things come to mind:
1. I'm grateful to all the equality pioneers in decades past to fought and sacrificed to get our civil rights this far.
2. Why the fuck do straight people have to vote on OUR love lives when gay people NEVER voted on theirs?
Anyone? Anyone?!
Are you aware of how absolutely absurd it sounds when put into this perspective? Why should there even be any vote at all? WHY?! Even parents who don't approve of their child's chosen spouse don't get the chance to vote on it. They don't call up their Senator or Representative and say "I urge you to oppose this 'marriage'!"
You don't hear that, and you won't.
In politics right now, Rick Santorum is probably the most extreme social conservative I've ever seen on TV, as far as politicians go. I've even read that he, if elected (which we can all conclude he probably won't even be nominated), would force all currently legally married gay couples to get divorced. This coming from a Catholic who earned the endorsement of the evangelical right!
All the gay people he's hating on, they're each someone's child. He's a father of, like, 5 or 6 kids. How would he respond to someone "voting" against his kids' right to marry the person they love? He'd probably be all, "You have no right to have a say in my child's life this way!"
What, then, gives him and all those who think like him, the right to do that to us?
I have two friends in North Texas who have been together for years. And they've been married, legally married, in almost ever (if not every), state that offers it. My parents are going on their 40th anniversary August 2012, and neither my parents' nor my friends' marriages are on the rocks...because neither one has anything to do with the other!
But God intended marriage to be with one man and one woman.
There's a separation of church and state in this country. I'm not talking about the religious institution. I'm only talking about the legal right itself. Churches don't have to recognize gay couples' marriages unless they are affirming churches, then they will.
Children need a mother and a father!
Then what about those kids who lost one of them at a young age? Many, if not all, turn out just fine if their single parent is a devoted, loving parent. When parents have kids, those kids don't come with a set of instructions. Parents raise their children with the desire to love them and protect them no matter what. As the child grows, the parent may dream of the sorts of things they can share together. Stereotypically, the father may dream of his child being his high school star quarterback. Mom might see her daughter winning every dance competition. As typical as such hopes and dreams are, parents have a crossroads to face: let my child be who they are, and love them no matter what, or if their chosen interests fall outside of the norm, steer them into something more typical to prevent bullying from insensitive and prejudiced peers. If it's possible with one parent, it's possible with 2 same-sex parents. Further, no studies have shown that gay parenting is detrimental to kids.
Part of marriage is for procreating children, and gays can't do that!
So, what about the straight couples who learn they can't conceive? Should they be divorced? Also, gays can adopt and raise an excellent family, especially since the child they're adopting was probably abandoned by a heterosexual or taken away from one by social authorities.
Marriage has always been a sacred institution between a man and woman. We can't redefine it!
Marriage has evolved into the travesty it is now. It USED to be a business transaction where the woman was considered property. It was a social status, and a means for a man to acquire a male heir to continue his family's name. Now, just turn on the TV, and watch famous faces get married and divorced numerous times. Marriage is supposed to be a lifetime commitment, but the divorce rate has shot up. Now we have shows like Bridezillas, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? that showcase grown-ups in televised competitions for love, and/or behaving abhorrently. If these shows were such an issue, you'd have conservatives fighting against these shows. But no one gives a crap about that.
If gays get married, it'll get our kids confused!
Not if you teach your child that everyone is different...which is true. People come in all varieties:
Short or tall, fat or thin, long or short hair, bald, numerous shades of skin, physical defects, eye colors, right- and left-handed, blind, deaf, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender. The list goes on and on. As long as you teach your child about human diversity, then children will look at gay people as another color in the rainbow.
Being gay is a choice!
Really? When did you choose to be straight? When? We're born this way. The choices we make are to accept or deny it, be
open or private about it, or remain celibate or find a life-long
partner. I, for one, chose to accept it, be open about it, and find a
life-long partner. The only way I can see being gay as a choice would be
for someone who's bisexual, and they choose to be with a same-sex partner.
If gay people get married, we'll see an increase in polygamy, adults wanting to marry kids, or adults wanting to marry animals or household appliances!
First off, yes, some equality opponents have stooped to this level of ignorance. Secondly, marriage is a legal contract, and neither animals, nor household appliances, nor children (without parental consent), can enter into legal contracts. It's a consensual thing.
If gays raise families, their children will turn gay, too!
So what do you say about all the straight parents who have gay kids? Every gay person out there is the product of a heterosexual union, not a gay one. It's nature, not nurture.
As I've watched our country become more accepting of the gay population, I do see hope for the future. As an elementary teacher, I see the younger kids I teach being oblivious to the outside differences between each other, which is beautiful. Looking at history, women received the right to vote in the early 20th century. Blacks went from being considered 3/5 of a human being, to receiving equal opportunity rights in the 1950s, to being allowed to marry outside their race. These are all great progressive accomplishments, but I'm saddened that civil rights, in general, have evolved into a vote.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
So THAT'S when it happens!
Being a teacher is an incredibly amazing career, especially being an elementary teacher. Professionally speaking, you're a professional who's trained to use all kinds of strategies to teach children about everything in their world. Additionally, you learn techniques to keep the behavior of 10-30 kids in check to keep learning going.
This post is inspired by a routine event that I experience at the end of each school day.
At the end of the day, when my last class has left, I go to the front office to pick up and deliver "transportation change" forms to their respective teachers (through which the teacher will find out which kid will go home differently than usual). I love doing this because I get out of my room, and get to briefly visit other teachers' classrooms while they're finishing up their last lesson of the day. A few times, I've walked into one 1st grade class where the kids were learning how to count coins (with plastic coins), learn their values, and how to put them together in different combinations thereby resulting in different amounts. They learn stuff like how many nickels go into a quarter, and how many dimes go into a dollar. I find it so fascinating and adorable!
Today really hit me for some reason. I went to the office and picked up a BUNCH of transportation change forms. The first few went to 1st grade classes. When I walked inside this one particular class, the room was silent. Upon completely walking in, I saw the teacher, my colleague, holding up a colorful yellow clock with red hour and minute hands. It was showing 2:30. Her students were all sitting, silently, using the evidence in front of them to figure out what time the clock showed. My colleague was speaking with a gentle "inside" voice. She has a little more than 10 kids in her class, 2 of them with special needs. Something about that moment floored me.
In that one moment, I realized I was witnessing moments in learning that adults may completely forget about (i.e., We may forget when we learned them). We take it for granted that we can do something as easy as tell time. And as our knowledge of math grows stronger and stronger, we eventually learn to use expressions like, "It's 10 'til", or "It's a quarter after 6." Looking back, I can remember taking that expression of "a quarter 'til or after" quite literally thinking that "It's a quarter after 6" really meant "It's 6:25".
If I think back to my childhood, I only have 1 very vivid memory of learning how to tell time. I was all dressed up on a stage with my classmates. This was a private, Catholic school, and our administrators, nuns, were sitting in the front row giving us different times. Each kid took turns showing off their skills. What I remember was that the clock we used was HUGE, like, taller than me. And I remember it being heavy. I must've been in kinder or 1st grade. Before the program, we were instructed to say "Would you please repeat that?" if we needed to hear it again. So it was my turn. The principal said the time (and I can't remember for the life of me what she said), but as I went to adjust the clock, the damn thing dropped down from its mount or shelf, and I caught it! I don't remember panicking, but I tried to pick it up, and it was too heavy. Seconds later, my teacher raced to the stage to put it back where it went, and nervously, I asked "Would you please repeat that?" The audience giggled, and with a smile, the principal kindly repeated the time. I displayed it, and earned my applause. That's all I remember.
These moments of learning that I witness are extremely special to me. And they make me proud to be a teacher, especially an elementary teacher. When I truly reflect on my job, I realize how extremely important it is. Typically, a child's first teacher is their parent during infancy through toddler years. Then the kid goes to school and they meet you and work with you. It's because of the impact teachers have on our lives that when asked the following 3 questions, the last one is always easiest to answer:
1. Who won the Superbowl in 2003? I have no clue.
2. Which pop star grossed the most in ticket sales in 1999? I can't remember that either.
3. Name the teacher who had the strongest impact on your life. Dr. Fritz Gechter, my college piano professor.
To all my fellow teachers reading this, and teacher supporters: We hold the world's future in our hands. Our job is the most important job in the world.
"Teaching is the most essential profession, without which no other profession is possible." -David Haselkorn
This post is inspired by a routine event that I experience at the end of each school day.
At the end of the day, when my last class has left, I go to the front office to pick up and deliver "transportation change" forms to their respective teachers (through which the teacher will find out which kid will go home differently than usual). I love doing this because I get out of my room, and get to briefly visit other teachers' classrooms while they're finishing up their last lesson of the day. A few times, I've walked into one 1st grade class where the kids were learning how to count coins (with plastic coins), learn their values, and how to put them together in different combinations thereby resulting in different amounts. They learn stuff like how many nickels go into a quarter, and how many dimes go into a dollar. I find it so fascinating and adorable!
Today really hit me for some reason. I went to the office and picked up a BUNCH of transportation change forms. The first few went to 1st grade classes. When I walked inside this one particular class, the room was silent. Upon completely walking in, I saw the teacher, my colleague, holding up a colorful yellow clock with red hour and minute hands. It was showing 2:30. Her students were all sitting, silently, using the evidence in front of them to figure out what time the clock showed. My colleague was speaking with a gentle "inside" voice. She has a little more than 10 kids in her class, 2 of them with special needs. Something about that moment floored me.
In that one moment, I realized I was witnessing moments in learning that adults may completely forget about (i.e., We may forget when we learned them). We take it for granted that we can do something as easy as tell time. And as our knowledge of math grows stronger and stronger, we eventually learn to use expressions like, "It's 10 'til", or "It's a quarter after 6." Looking back, I can remember taking that expression of "a quarter 'til or after" quite literally thinking that "It's a quarter after 6" really meant "It's 6:25".
If I think back to my childhood, I only have 1 very vivid memory of learning how to tell time. I was all dressed up on a stage with my classmates. This was a private, Catholic school, and our administrators, nuns, were sitting in the front row giving us different times. Each kid took turns showing off their skills. What I remember was that the clock we used was HUGE, like, taller than me. And I remember it being heavy. I must've been in kinder or 1st grade. Before the program, we were instructed to say "Would you please repeat that?" if we needed to hear it again. So it was my turn. The principal said the time (and I can't remember for the life of me what she said), but as I went to adjust the clock, the damn thing dropped down from its mount or shelf, and I caught it! I don't remember panicking, but I tried to pick it up, and it was too heavy. Seconds later, my teacher raced to the stage to put it back where it went, and nervously, I asked "Would you please repeat that?" The audience giggled, and with a smile, the principal kindly repeated the time. I displayed it, and earned my applause. That's all I remember.
These moments of learning that I witness are extremely special to me. And they make me proud to be a teacher, especially an elementary teacher. When I truly reflect on my job, I realize how extremely important it is. Typically, a child's first teacher is their parent during infancy through toddler years. Then the kid goes to school and they meet you and work with you. It's because of the impact teachers have on our lives that when asked the following 3 questions, the last one is always easiest to answer:
1. Who won the Superbowl in 2003? I have no clue.
2. Which pop star grossed the most in ticket sales in 1999? I can't remember that either.
3. Name the teacher who had the strongest impact on your life. Dr. Fritz Gechter, my college piano professor.
To all my fellow teachers reading this, and teacher supporters: We hold the world's future in our hands. Our job is the most important job in the world.
"Teaching is the most essential profession, without which no other profession is possible." -David Haselkorn
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The gift of blindness
One of my spiritual idols is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I think now, according to the Catholic Church, she is called Blessed Mother Teresa. She hasn't been canonized as a saint...yet.
She became a major world figure because of her work with the poorest of the poor in India. She made it her mission to give love and hope to the homeless, sick, dying, and forgotten. She was able to see Jesus in anyone's eyes regardless of how they looked on the outside. You could be a leper with a seriously jacked up face, only a few fingers, and whatever other outwardly repulsive appearances. You could also look like Miss Universe, and both would get the same. treatment. She was blind to your outside, only focusing on your inside. She was able to see Jesus through the broken, bruised disguise of the poorest of the poor, and devoutly put into action his words "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me."
As humans, our eyes show us everything in our world. They're one of the organs we care most about, and the organs responsible for one of our five precious senses. When I've asked people, between hearing and sight, which sense they'd rather lose, the answer is almost always hearing. Granted, people who are physically blind can still survive in today's world with the help of a walking stick (if that's what they're called), or a seeing eye dog.
As 2012 makes its entrance, we're all questioning ourselves with whether or not we'll resolve to do anything differently; quit a bad habit, start a good one, or change anything. Last year, I resolved to not spend any money on things I wanted, only on things I needed. Though I didn't keep my resolution perfectly, it was on my mind DAILY.
This year, I really want Mother Teresa's level of blindness. I want to love people and see Jesus in everyone...even the people who...test me. I want to love people and see the good in them. I want to try to stop judging anyone for any reason. I want to stop being hypocritical about a number of things. But it's so. hard. to do.
I pray that God will bless me with this gift. Few have it, and when they possess it, they're capable of moving mountains with the same peace and love that Christ had when he forgave those who put him on the cross.
May God be with you this year, even if your resolution is to never make one.
She became a major world figure because of her work with the poorest of the poor in India. She made it her mission to give love and hope to the homeless, sick, dying, and forgotten. She was able to see Jesus in anyone's eyes regardless of how they looked on the outside. You could be a leper with a seriously jacked up face, only a few fingers, and whatever other outwardly repulsive appearances. You could also look like Miss Universe, and both would get the same. treatment. She was blind to your outside, only focusing on your inside. She was able to see Jesus through the broken, bruised disguise of the poorest of the poor, and devoutly put into action his words "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me."
As humans, our eyes show us everything in our world. They're one of the organs we care most about, and the organs responsible for one of our five precious senses. When I've asked people, between hearing and sight, which sense they'd rather lose, the answer is almost always hearing. Granted, people who are physically blind can still survive in today's world with the help of a walking stick (if that's what they're called), or a seeing eye dog.
As 2012 makes its entrance, we're all questioning ourselves with whether or not we'll resolve to do anything differently; quit a bad habit, start a good one, or change anything. Last year, I resolved to not spend any money on things I wanted, only on things I needed. Though I didn't keep my resolution perfectly, it was on my mind DAILY.
This year, I really want Mother Teresa's level of blindness. I want to love people and see Jesus in everyone...even the people who...test me. I want to love people and see the good in them. I want to try to stop judging anyone for any reason. I want to stop being hypocritical about a number of things. But it's so. hard. to do.
I pray that God will bless me with this gift. Few have it, and when they possess it, they're capable of moving mountains with the same peace and love that Christ had when he forgave those who put him on the cross.
May God be with you this year, even if your resolution is to never make one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)