Simply Put

On Thanksgiving, something happened that was so shocking and left such a strong impression on me, that I cannot avoid tackling it. I was on Facebook, “doing homework,” when I saw a certain status pop up on my news feed. This status was the single most hateful, homophobic thing I have seen in my entire life. I would reproduce it here but it contains language so offensive and so vulgar that I would not be allowed to do so.

Now it’s rare that something I see on Facebook leaves such an impact with me. But once I saw this, it was all I could think about. I realized that I had only really been exposed to progressive people in my life, people who support things like gay marriage. This represented such a severe form of culture shock that I could not turn away, so I tracked this status for about 20 minutes.

There were quite a few responses, at least 20 of them. I expected that people would be jumping to shut this kid up and defend the gay community, but I was sorely mistaken. In fact, there was only one negative response to this status — the rest were overwhelmingly positive. To me, it seemed especially ridiculous to see high school students commenting on this. After the Tyler Clementi tragedy last year, I thought that sensitivity regarding gay rights was at an all-time high at our school. Clearly though, that is not the case for everyone here.

When I see people getting so passionate about suppressing groups like homosexuals, I am always overwhelmed by how pointless it is. When it comes down to it, it will not affect anybody besides the people getting married. You are not achieving some sort of spiritual victory by doing this. All you are doing is ruining someone else’s day, to put it lightly. With all the problems in the world and all the issues out there, why would anybody prioritize ruining someone else’s day?

The other main thing that bothered me about this situation was the information these people were using to back up their ridiculous claims. Since there is basically no logical way to support gay bashing, these people responded with what seems to be the most effective method of political hate-mongering — religion. The people who commented posted about Islam’s feelings toward homosexuality and posted a video with an Islamic preacher talking about how evil homosexuals are.

As someone who views Islam as a largely peaceful religion, this especially shocked me. I don’t think these fanatics’ views are at all representative of what the vast majority of Muslims believe. However, there were quite a few people, students at this University, who were ready to use the Quran to back up claims — like how it calls for homosexuals to be stoned to death as punishment.

Like I said, I do not see this as being representative of the greater Muslim population, but there are many people who would look at this and just see a rationale for Islamophobia. It is very obvious that there is a prevailing sense of Islamophobia within this country. A 2010 Gallup poll showed that a remarkable 43 percent of all Americans admit to feeling at least a little prejudiced toward Muslims. Knowing this, the Islamic population should try to show the world that Islam is a peaceful religion. The last thing that Muslims should be doing is talking about how much they hate gay people.

This does not only affect the Muslim population, but this affects religion as a whole in the United States. Right now, there are a lot of people that do not have any use for religion. This is because of beliefs that religion goes side by side with reactionary socially conservative policies.

There is only one way to remedy it, and it is a seemingly easy way. Religious groups should focus on social issues that matter and actually contribute to people suffering. Most importantly, these fringe elements have to stop doing things like protesting in front of abortion clinics and making horrible homophobic Facebook statuses for no reason.

I know this isn't the usual stuff I write about but it's important to me. Thanks for reading. !STAY BEAUTIFUL!

Stuck in my head

Well I finally apologized to Dakota. So why do I still feel empty inside? I'm just done with everything. I thought that if I apologized, things would change. I guess I was wrong. I miss my best friend. I just want everything to go back to the way it was before all of this happened. I worry about him so much. It breaks my heart every time I over hear Haleigh talking to him on the phone. God I miss him, even just his scent. I've been so on edge lately I have to will my self not to cry when I think about him. He truly did care for my well being. I'm the worst person on earth. What really gets at me is the fact that I don't know why I felt the need to do what I did. I can't even fathom the hate he probably has for me, but I don't blame him. I would hate me too if I were in his position. So now I'm done. I've lost him forever and I now have to live with that fact for the rest of my life. I'm just done. Every time I hear his name or think about the way things used to be, the hole in my heart gets bigger. I don't think I care what happens to me anymore. I don't want him back in my life as a boyfriend, I came to the difficult realization that it won't happen. I just want my best friend back. That's all. !STAYBEUATIFUL!

Before Bed Workout

Every night before I go to bed I do a small workout and I thought I would share it.

40 crunches
10 push-ups (fist)
10 push-ups (normal)
Stretches:
10 sec. Left
10 sec. Right
10 sec. Middle

Breathing Exercises
Hold breath for 25 sec, exhale (Repeat 5x)
Finish workout with one glass of cold water.

Well that's all there is to it. Hope it helps :) !Stay Beautiful!

Queer Bait

For all of the people who know or have heard of Austin Hargus.... Today in English he decided to call me a queer bait. Before I take this out of context let me give you a little back story. I walked into the computer lab a headed to my usual spot. I see a bag, not on, but by the chair. I assumed that someone had left it there from the previous class. I picked it up and moved it.... MOVED IT I did not throw it away from said chair. I sat down, logged on to the computer and began to work. Austin walks in and asks wel the hell are you doing, thats my seat didn't you see my bag!? To which I replied oh I'm sorry I didn't realize that was your bag. He then said oh yeah sure you fucking queer bait . To quote Oiser IS THAT RUDE OR WHAT?! Honestly I wasn't at all offended because he's a very uneducated individual. I actually feel sorry for him. If that's the only way he knows how to express his feelings then he probably has some serious issues that he need to work out. Needless to say Haleigh stood up for me and told Mrs. Jones. Thank you Haleigh, you're a good friend :)

Pop Culture Update

Here's whats hot!
TV:The Secret Circle, Charlie's Angels, Pan Am
Fashion: Look up NY 2011 Fall Fashion Week for all the hottest trends
Music: Elizaveta, Ellie Goulding, And oddly enough Seth MacFarlane (he's REALLY good)

What's Happening in Branson MO
Places: A Wild Hair Salon "The Newest Hais Salon on the Block" located across the street from Skaggs, under Aspire Health Spa
Mark Ahston's on the landing (cheap designer bags)
Coach at Tanger (Look at NY Fall Fasion Week 2011 to see why)
Ralph Lauren Polo (Look at NY Fall Fasion Week 2011 to see why)
People:
Lauren Taylor Johnston, always wearing the hippest boots, if you don't know what fashion is look to L. Taylor Johnston for hieght of full fall fashion

Well thats all for my Pop Culture Update

Here's Snow in Venice by Elizaveta