Thursday, February 21, 2008
Chapters 1-3
I found the Screwtapes Letters to be very humorous and engaging. At first, it took me a while to really get into the reading, I found myself re-reading a lot of sections. But after I really understood that it was a satire about Christianity from the Devil’s point of view, I laughed. I really found it interesting that he made comment about people how we tend to judge others, but yet keep our true identities hidden from others. Many times, people do this so that they cant experience hurt for various reasons. On the opposite end, many people keep thoughts and feelings to themselves that could be important. What would have happened if Einstein kept to himself? These days, we are in a society where people aren’t allowed to show others who they really are because it may force them to constantly be on guard about the person they are. My question is who are we to judge anyone? We all have different attributes that make us different. It is not anyone’s responsibility to judge what is inside of us. In class, we were talking about the NIU tragedy and it just makes me wonder if it would have occurred if the suspect was able to talk out to someone and not hide his true self. Maybe he just needed someone to take the time and listen. We all do.
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5 comments:
I agree when you talk about why is it that we cannot show our true selves and talk people when we need help sorting through problems or feelings. I also believe that if the shooter from the NIU tragedy would have had someone to talk to it most likely the event would not have occurred. I remember being taught by my parents to always be myself and if I ever needed to talk they were there for me. I ask why is it that now there are less and less instances where people have no one to talk to about what ever interests them at the time? I hope that this will be an issue which can be resolved in the near future.
I really liked the connection you made between the reading and the in-class discussion about the NIU shootings. It's very true about how society seems to force people to hide their true identity and who they really are for fear of rejection. It does seem as if this hiding of one's true identity oftentimes leads to the downfall of man, such as how witnessed by these school shootings where people take out their anger or emotions in a negative way because nobody could understand them and nobody knew who they were.
Jessica,
I really liked how you focused on the idea of how we judge one another. I agree with you when you ask 'who are we to judge anyone'. It's one of those ideas that as much as you try not to it still happens.
I also like your connection to the NIU tragedy. I understand where you're coming from and yes we all need someone to talk to sometimes, but I don't think it's a good enough excuse for what he did.
This idea of hiding our true selves is very apparent in today's world. Kids will do anything to be in the in crowd. Kids can be incredibly harsh towards someone who does not fit in. People will not allow themselves to be themselves and it holds relationships back from what they could be. People let judgments stand in the way of getting to know someone and have a difficult time getting over them. Often people will feel incredibly foolish after they let one of these judgments go. I know I have.
I agree with the whole idea on judging people and asking the question who are to do this? It's very simialr to Don Miller and the things he is talking about. What maybe most intersting about the idea is that all three of our readings this week sort of deal with this whole thing of judging and exclusion. They are all written by profound Christians as well. There seems to be message of Jesus as well. To not judge, to love. This is what the devil doesnt want us doing, he wants us concerned on other things, materialism.
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