Back in the colonial times, like I mentioned before, there was a fear of the government having too much power and thus making it a new version of tyrannical England. Thus, the Bill of Rights was added, and showed the colonial people the balance of power of the people and the governement.  However, there were still those that supported their mother country and obviously had angst towards the new government.

     The Constitutional committee was comprised of many figures of colonial history. Some of these figures who actually placed their names on the document included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. There was a total of 39 delgates who signed. Some at the convention chose not to sign in fear that the government as stated in the document would be too powerful. Those men held out for the Bill of Rights. I do feel that these men that signed their names were heroes. They laid down the roots for what America is today. Most of these men were also involved in the Declaration of Independence as well and risked their lives denouncing England and non-democratic governments. A lot of these men also went on to serve our country throughout their lives as well.

     In comparison to other constitutions, the United States’ Constitution rules supreme. It allows for changes, making the strength of the document greater. Other countries seek to model theirs after the U.S.

     Most shocking was his response to being handcuffed and taken to prison. He said that he had stood there with his head held high and a smile on his face. His life was finally his and not a lie. He had been held accountable for all his wrongdoings and he could be more satisfied and free. Recently, he was released from prison with no more than the clothes on his back and $50 in his wallet. As part of his punishment, he is never allowed to enter the financial world, which is now no big deal to him. His passion is now to tell his story, in his way, paying it forward.

     This presentation was not only interesting, but motivational as well. I took the idea, that it’s never too late. There is always a chance to change your life around. In addition, to thank God everyday, not for the things, but the people that you have. Everything else can be taken away, but the one’s you love will always be with you.

     The term “civil religion” was actually coined by the man Robert Bellah in 1967. He wrote the controversial article “Civil Religion in America” in which he discussed the belief that there are a number of a fundamentals each religion possesses and that American society is based around those fundamentals. When I thought about it and we discussed it, I saw his point of view. We, after all, do have a place (Washington, D.C.), written document (Constitution), time (Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day), rituals (elections), leader (President), and so forth.

     Along with this revalation, I then begin to think that in our set of written documents, it is instructed that there be a separation between church (religion) and state, but how can there truly be? I, like Bellah points out, see and hear the mention of God in almost everything political and not. Whether it be the Pledge of Allegiance, State of the Union, and memorials to American Idol, cartoons, casual conversation, and the list goes on. However of a religious person I may be, I am not naive enough to think that world thinks the same way I do. Giving all the more reason that I notice all the times when God is used “out of context” or times when speeches and televisions shows should be made to incorporate the entire American public, no matter what religion. In addition, I also recognize that it is perfectly all right for others to live and practice their beliefs. So basically my question to those highly concerned with not offending those of different religion is in regards to the nature of either being politically correct or politically incorrect when it involves the mention of God.

     In my book, and no I’m not talking a bible, I feel that each religion has their own term for what their God is, whether it be anywhere from Allah and Jesus to Yahweh and Ganash. We all recognize that there is one true higher being, just different names. And although most religions claim themselves to be the “one true” religion, when we use Robert Bellah’s argument and examine religions we can see that at the core they are alot alike. I honestly believe that as America has progressed the name “God” has become more politically correct in that it has transformed in to a universal word in which we all understand.

A beautiful monarch spreads its wings

True handmade of God’s earthly beings

God has given him flight to explore

An extremely short life but whom could ask more?

Life begins swaddled in a shell

So sweet and innocent

saved from damning, fear, and hell

Maturation in such few short weeks

Time sure tell of the life he leads

Rise to heights in the heavenly sky

Stay down below while the world passes by

Either path the butterfly chooses

A creature of God never looses.

     I was really moved by the baby camel. The fact that from day one, his mother refused him, I found myself choking back tears. Repeatedly, the white colt reached out to his mother for milk or just for security. I was really shocked and saddened that the mother’s maternal instinct never kicked in initially.

     I think that this case, if realistic, could shed more light on the post-partum depression epidemic. The fact that even animals suffer from possible symptoms of the “baby blues”, is really monumental for possible research. Reason being that a lot of people still are questionable and not sure of the possible side effects or consequences of post-partum depression. In some cases, the “baby blues” have resulted in such cases of mother’s killing their children or harming them. The mother camel clearly rejects her own offspring and there has to be a reason.

      On another note, I felt the movie paralleled the mother camel and her child to the mother in the Mongolian family and her children. Often throughout the movie the mother left her daughter, Guntee, with the grandmother. The baby would cry hysterically for only her mother, much like the baby camel. Guntee needed her mother to tend to her needs, feed her, bathe her, and rock her to sleep among things. This parallelism depicted the importance of a mother in her offsprings’ life; they need them to be there for survival. The Mongolian mother assumed the role of mother for the baby camel as well, glorifying the true maternal instinct. She felt compassion for the baby camel and sustained it for the first couple weeks of its life.  I found this tribute/depiction to be quite moving and appropriate.

     As the movie came to a close and the mother camel was reunited with her offspring, she began to weep. Whether she was weeping as a reflex or for regretting the way that she treated her baby, it really doesn’t matter. Both effects were results of she and her baby coming together. The fact that she could be weeping over rejecting her baby is so emotional. Just the fact that she couldn’t help the way that she was feeling and did love her baby, gives actual mothers hope.

     Don’t confuse my frustration for being upset, I’m really not. I just don’t like being forced to use my “brain power” basically picking out the “needle in the haystack”, that’s all.

     I know this might be shocking to some because I’ve seen a lot of students get upset with this philosophy. When I think about it, I guess it applies to many aspects of education. In my english class, I read an essay about a physics professor who was upset with his grad school students. After final grades were submitted and the students recieved them, they complained thinking that that would give them a better grade. The professor’s response was that “why didn’t they care that much during the semester?” or “why didn’t they flat out do their work?” Students just expect that, in a way, tuition buys their grade.

     I feel naive, in a sense, that I never paid attention to “hateful things”. The thought rarely crosses my mind that advertisments, toys, slogans, games, etc., had and still have racist connotations. In watching the video by Dr. David Pilgrim at his Jim Crow Museum, I was not only shocked, but completely interested in his finds and collections. In Schoolcraft’s “Hateful Things Exhibit”, I was a little disappointed, however, that the memorabilia did not expand into other ethnic groups besides African Americans. One ethnic group that has been dealt the bad hand in the media, games, sports, etc., is the Native Americans.

     I remember a few years back watching a movie about Native Americans and their relationships with college and professional sports. In teams and universities such as Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois, school mascots and team names are all indicative of Native Americans. From what I saw in the video and on the news, the real problem was , not to take away from the derrogatory names, the “tribal” dances the school mascots would preform during half time and in the stands. They would twirl around chanting, trying to imitate the spiritual, ceremonial dances that Native American ancestors have taken part in in the past continuing now into the present.

     In addition to Native Americans in sports, Native Americans are also portrayed in the media. Mention the name “Western” and one almost always makes the connection to “Indians”. If you really think about it though, Native Americans are not shown as the peaceful people they strive to be. Instead they’re depicted as savages, usually wearing a loincloth or no clothes at all. They usually do not speak a sufficient language, nor read or write. Native Americans are shown attacking the “heros” of the movies with hand-crafted knives and swords and do not stop till death.

     Furthermore, even games such as Cowboys and Indians, seemingly harmless, put down the first inhabitants to this country. Like so many other ethnic groups, the list goes on from names such as “Redskins” to Indian Halloween costumes. Am I correct in feeling compassion for the bad hand Native Americans have been dealt? Was it right to assume that they too, a people uprooted from their homes by white settlers and placed on reservation, would be represented at an exhibit with racist memorabilia?

Caeli Finn