In class today in my Developmental Psych class he stated that this is his first time living in the South and really experiencing it and that there is a different culture and experience in the south as opposed to what he has known in the NorthEast or the West.
The first thing he mentioned was being called "sir". Southern politeness, covering up other things in southern culture?
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tossing around topics...
...for my paper and talking Monday in class was filling my head with all sorts of ideas. I am very interested in the history of the South in regards to religion only because almost all the "bad" things that have happened in this area seem to stem from a religious principle or excuse. Why would so much hate come from people who preach the ultimate love of a higher being? The contradictions are immense to me and the hypocritical nature overwhelms me.
At my home, I was raised Baptist. I never understood what that meant and what the differences between Baptists and other denominations was. I sought this out when I was a Junior in high school because I felt completely out of place in my family's church in my hometown. I came to find that a small Presbyterian church not far from my house is where I felt most comfortable. At my family's church it seemed to be all about the social aspect of church rather than an actual "spiritual" experience and a time to learn and develop a relationship with God. I felt I was being watched and judged if I was not at church every Sunday for Sunday school and worship, and Wednesday for Bible study. I wanted to be free to worship how I wanted and not have the pressure of someone looking at my every move. At the new church I found, there were differences in the worship service, but all in all it was the SAME EXACT THING. Except that I found that all of these people wanted to be there, not to prove to the community they were at church, but to worship and be in an environment to grow as a person.
That got me to thinking about the movie, "The Wizard of Oz" and how Dorothy, at the beginning of the film, is trying desperately to get away from her home and run away. But then as the storm takes her away to a far away land, all she can think of is how to get back to her home she was so desperately trying to leave.
Home sweet home; Sweet Home Alabama; There's No Place Like Home. Are all of these actually true? I mean I for one feel like Dorothy at the beginning of the movie and want to get out of the South and out into the world and make my own life, yet this will always be my home. Do some people get stuck in a vortex of the South, unable to break away and get out in fear that they will not make it, or will suffer and the security of family and the South keeps them here?
Now I have gone off my train of thought and now have said things I wasnt meaning to say until later. Oh well, back to contridictions and hypocritical-ness that I have personally experienced. I am in theatre, have been since I was in middle school and I have a plethora of gay friends. I love them to death and would never try and change them, because I am under the belief that you are born that way and it has nothing to do with choice. My entire family on the other hand have a different view. They think gays are disgusting and wrong and are going to hell for what they are and have CHOSEN for their life. They didnt want my brother (he's about to be 11) to go to a theatre camp and be in a play last year because they didnt want him to turn gay. Yet my entire life I have been taught to love your neighbors as you love yourself. How can hate come into the life of someone who is supposed to be living a life based on a book that preaches love, love, love, and above all RESPECT.
The social and media that portray the south in movies and tv always seem to portray us as uneducated (for the most part) and always bring up the "mistakes" made on the soil in the south, normally in regards to racial issues. They seem to lump all southerners into one big pile and say, "There, now you all are related aren't you? That there is my cousin, and my wife!" and then laugh and laugh. Why is this stereotype kept and then when shown alongside another clip of a church service the message that is left is that we are unintelligent sheep that only listen to the guy in the pulpit and whatever he says goes.
I am not sure how I am going to narrow this topic, (is this even a topic or a semblance of one?) down into something that can actually be researched and put into words in a organized way. But we will see what happens. :)
peace.
-Reagan
At my home, I was raised Baptist. I never understood what that meant and what the differences between Baptists and other denominations was. I sought this out when I was a Junior in high school because I felt completely out of place in my family's church in my hometown. I came to find that a small Presbyterian church not far from my house is where I felt most comfortable. At my family's church it seemed to be all about the social aspect of church rather than an actual "spiritual" experience and a time to learn and develop a relationship with God. I felt I was being watched and judged if I was not at church every Sunday for Sunday school and worship, and Wednesday for Bible study. I wanted to be free to worship how I wanted and not have the pressure of someone looking at my every move. At the new church I found, there were differences in the worship service, but all in all it was the SAME EXACT THING. Except that I found that all of these people wanted to be there, not to prove to the community they were at church, but to worship and be in an environment to grow as a person.
That got me to thinking about the movie, "The Wizard of Oz" and how Dorothy, at the beginning of the film, is trying desperately to get away from her home and run away. But then as the storm takes her away to a far away land, all she can think of is how to get back to her home she was so desperately trying to leave.
Home sweet home; Sweet Home Alabama; There's No Place Like Home. Are all of these actually true? I mean I for one feel like Dorothy at the beginning of the movie and want to get out of the South and out into the world and make my own life, yet this will always be my home. Do some people get stuck in a vortex of the South, unable to break away and get out in fear that they will not make it, or will suffer and the security of family and the South keeps them here?
Now I have gone off my train of thought and now have said things I wasnt meaning to say until later. Oh well, back to contridictions and hypocritical-ness that I have personally experienced. I am in theatre, have been since I was in middle school and I have a plethora of gay friends. I love them to death and would never try and change them, because I am under the belief that you are born that way and it has nothing to do with choice. My entire family on the other hand have a different view. They think gays are disgusting and wrong and are going to hell for what they are and have CHOSEN for their life. They didnt want my brother (he's about to be 11) to go to a theatre camp and be in a play last year because they didnt want him to turn gay. Yet my entire life I have been taught to love your neighbors as you love yourself. How can hate come into the life of someone who is supposed to be living a life based on a book that preaches love, love, love, and above all RESPECT.
The social and media that portray the south in movies and tv always seem to portray us as uneducated (for the most part) and always bring up the "mistakes" made on the soil in the south, normally in regards to racial issues. They seem to lump all southerners into one big pile and say, "There, now you all are related aren't you? That there is my cousin, and my wife!" and then laugh and laugh. Why is this stereotype kept and then when shown alongside another clip of a church service the message that is left is that we are unintelligent sheep that only listen to the guy in the pulpit and whatever he says goes.
I am not sure how I am going to narrow this topic, (is this even a topic or a semblance of one?) down into something that can actually be researched and put into words in a organized way. But we will see what happens. :)
peace.
-Reagan
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