What Christmas really means

          In the world today people think of Christmas as a day where we give gifts and presents to please each other in the holiday. Christmas isn't just the fun we all think it is, it isn't about the presents, or the food we have with the family. Christmas is about celebrating the day Jesus was born, and being with your family. Being nice to people throughout the Christmas season is a good thing that people do, even though they may not like someone they are still nice to them, because it is the Christmas season. During the season you see people collecting money for the poor or for charities, its not bad to share what you have with people who don't. All you ever see on commercials during the Christmas season is holiday sales to buy, buy and buy things to put under your Christmas tree, just remember the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate your being with your family and Jesus being born!

Invisible Children

Today in Africa there is an invisible war going on everyday, one man Joseph Kony terrorizing 4 countries.  It is the longest running conflict on the continent and children from innocent families and homes are abducted and made into soldiers. It all started in the spring of 2003 three young film makers who traveled to Africa in search for a story. Their main reasons at first to go to Africa was to have a "film making" adventure but the more they got into the adventure the more they learned about this horrible tragedy that has been happening in Africa. As their trip went on they learned that children weren't just victims but they were well used weapons for Joseph Kony. 

 When they returned to the states they created a documentary "Invisible Children." This film exposed tragic lives of the Northern Uganda commuters and childrensoldierThey are a non-profit association and they work to transform apathy into activism. They document the lives of those who live in the regions of the tragic problem. They are the voices for the people from Uganda. They are the ones who educate the people from the states to help us understand what is happening and how we should help them, because innocent people like them should not have this happening to them. 

Joseph Kony, who is the main reason of all this happening in Uganda refers himself to a good Christian. If we was such a "good Christian" would he be abducting children from their families and turn them in soldiers making them do horrible things? Kony and his LRA have kidnapped an estimate of 20,000 children for the use of fighters or sex slaves. As a requirement the children are often forced into killing their own parents so they will have no home to return to. Kony and the Ugandan government occasionally issue public statements suggesting peace treatments would be welcome, it never succeeds though. It is said that when the children are in war and they go out into the villages they cut off fellow citizens mouths, or just complete kill them...for no reason at all.

How do they make a difference? The Invisible Children's approach is founded in the strength and intelligence of the Ugandan community. Throughout the years there has been many attempts and efforts to try and address the issue which many have failed. The Ugandan people are asking help from people beyond and into the future in which are people like us. We as people from the US can help these children get out of the war and get back into their families. How you may ask? We can help by donating money to the Invisible Children. Teenagers in this generation are already on their way into helping the Ugandans. By giving the donations you give technology, power, water, sanitation and more. Specific teens from both high school and college are chosen and given scholarships to go to Uganda and mentor these kids and to have them oversee healthy development for themselves. 

Westboro Baptist Church Bullying?

In a church you would imagine to see it as a place of peacefulness, and happiness. You would never see it as a hatred, hurtful place to discourage or harm people about their beliefs or interests. In the Westboro Baptist Church they are known as "bullies." They were established in 1955 by Pastor Fred Phelps. Still existing today, as an old school church. They are known for picketing the funerals of US soldiers who died during the wars. Westboro Baptist Church engages in "peaceful" daily walks opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning and nation destroying filth. They adhere the teachings of the bible, and they preach all forms of sin. They teach no way of the Christianity life styleThe WBC makes colorful signs with horrible, disgusting sayings and words. For example, they say things like, "God hates Fags", "AIDS cures fags", "Fags burn in hell", "Fags doom nations", "God blew up the troops" and so the list could go on. They say that when God says "he loves everyone" that it is a lie made up from the bible, "Jesus died for everyone. They say if your church is teaching you these type of things that your church does not teach what the bible teaches. They think what they do is a moral thing. Does this seem like a type of church you would ever want to attend or be apart of? In our eyes everything they are doing is beyond immoral. Why do the WBC act like this? Why do they think it is okay to protest against homosexuals and gays, or protest against the US soliders who have died for us? 

They feel as if since soldiers are already doing the killing then why can't they? They say that the other churches are destroying the world, and that everything is a lie so they need to spread around the "truth." They have no human dignity for other people and show none, even though they feel as if they are. They feel as if everything they do is good or a charity but no one thinks or cares about what they do. As people who are not part of the WBC protest, what do they think? They thank them for doing it. They think it is stupid, but they thank them for doing it.. As of my opinion, i think it is down right horrible. Yes, i know we have a free will and free rights in society but what makes it even right to do things such as this. First off, a church is the one protesting against such a thing, and people apart of the church are agreeing. 


There are definitely people out in this world who completely agree and completely disagree. It is not right for someone to say such things, or bring the bible and the church into it. A church who thinks sin is the right thing to do is completely stupid. I myself as a Catholic will never understand on how a person would ever think it is right to go and protest at a military funeral. Just because you think God has killed them. Yes that is your opinion on the situation but you have no right to just go and interrupt a family in their deaths funeral service. It is ridiculous, and just not right for something to happen in society. In my opinion society has got some really stupid people in it, even after they have gone through the education process.  

Cyber Bullying needs to end.

                                                                                                        When a person thinks of bullying in our thoughts we normally think bullying as verbal abuse of physical abuse from another person. There are different types of bullying and this specific one is called Cyber Bullying. With technology becoming a bigger and bigger part of society teenagers tend to use this ability to be able to bully someone over a computer, or cell phone. Just like regular bullying, cyber bullying can just be as bad and harmful as regular bullying. Cyber bullying is more of an attempt to get a teenager or child to feel bad about them self just not face to face. People who are the cyber bully can make threats and think it is okay for that them to do it without even thinking about that persons feelings.

     Some bullies are actual victims of the real world, and they just go online and feel powerful when they bully other teenagers. Some bullies keep to themselves and just wanted to extend there sphere of influence and power on the "world." Then there are bullies who just like showing off and think it is cool to hurt another persons feelings over the internet. To stop cyber bullying we need to make sure parents understand and know what their children are doing on the internet, make rules for them, make sure they understand the dangers of the internet.         

     

      Nothing on the internet is between you and just one person, everyone on that specific website or even just on the internet can see what you post to a person. Things like Myspace, Form spring and Facebook are most well known websites on where cyber bullying can happen. Statistics show that cyber bullying is among one of the most serious problems among teenagers in this generation. Just like bullying, cyber bullying can lead to things such as depression, anxiety and even suicide. To many "cyber bullies" they think that making fun of another teen is funny over the internet and harmless. But they never understand the consequences of what can happen if you are caught bullying another person over the internet.

 http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying.html

The Harmful things Bullying can do

When people start high school they begin to go through things in which people may not enjoy seeing or say they look or act "different." Harmful sayings are well known to happen in schools these days. Harmful name calling, or cyber bullying cause teenagers to act out. Bullying makes teenagers feel as if they are not wanted in the world.                                                                                                            

 In the democratic and chronicle there is a story of a girl Delaney Escher from Victor was going into in her Sophmore year and was getting hateful text messages  and voice mails by the hour. Her mother called who was thought to be the mother of the girl who was sending the harmful texts but they didn't stop. As school started she tried to stay away from certain people but had all these horrible images from the hurtful texts, eventually she went into therapy. She said that the first time she reported the problem it got worse, but she followed through and reported the rude classmates again and the bullying stopped. 

Another story of bullying from the Democratic and Chronicle is about the family of Jim Harold Jr. They had just moved into Webster. Jim's school counselor had suggested that the parents of Jim get him tested for a few mental health tests. His parents were never asked to do this by his old school or by any of his doctors. As they were in the doctors within 5 minutes the health professional had asked the parents if they knew about their son having Asperger's, a condition characterized by significant social difficulties that falls within the autism spectrum. In which the parents had no clue of it until they were told. Now a senior in Webster Thomas Jim says that much of his past year is a blur he only remembers a little about being bullied. But what he does know is that things are much better since moving to Webster and subsequently being diagnosed.

In another story from the Democratic and Chronicle of a girl named Elise Groth of when she couldn't get on her school bus anymore. Her mother had pulled her out of school when things got to be to much for little Elise. She never wanted to go on the bus, she kept telling her mother over and over that she didn't want to go on the bus. In eighth grade Elise was asked out on a date from a boy on her bus, and she told him she wasn't allowed on dates and this is when the bullying began. 

Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 year old boy from Williamson NY had taken his life Sunday because of non stop bullying about his sexuality. He was known to be bullied for years, and in wake of their lose the Rodemeyer family hope to carry on the message of anti-bullying and acceptance. Lady Gaga was Jamey's idol. On twitter it was said that Lady Gaga tweeted about Jamey's death and this is what she said,"bullying must be illegal, it is a hate crime." she tweeted.  I asked three students from my Catholic Morality Class what were their thoughts on  bullying. Emily B. said that "bullying is wrong and it should never happen." Liz P. said that "Bullying is immature,  and that some people need to get over themselves." While my other classmate Antwoine A. said that  "bullying is wrong and we should put an end to it. 
In Bishop Kearney we have an Anti-Bullying Policy. They believe in having a civil  school environment for students. Any type of bullying is not tolerated in the school including cyber bullying. Cyber bullying  is one of the most used way to bully other teenagers these days. In my mind, i feel that people use cyber bullying because they feel as if they will not get caught, and that it is  "not as mean" rather then saying it to their face. Mr. Miller, the Dean of Students at Bishop Kearney quoted that "Bullying is bad, so don't do it, at all."As a Dean of Students, Mr. Miller is in charge of dealing with misbehaved students. He is the one that the teachers send the misbehaved students to and he gives them whatever  he feels is the best way to let that student know what they have done is wrong. He has students who come in and complain to him about cyber bullying and as he said " What may be bullying to someone else, may not be bullying  to you." By saying this you as a person need to respect that if one of your friends is telling you something about someone bullying them you need to  understand that it may not be bullying to you, but your friend thinks it is and you need to try and help them with their problem. 

Moral Issues in America

Throughout America there are different types of moral issues. Few being actually serious to society and the other few which don't really matter to people in the world. In my opinion I feel that lying to your parents is a huge sin. Why lie to your parents when you know that they are the number one person in the world you could trust? By lying to them that shows them that you have no trust in your parents. Even if you do lie to your parents, they always know or will find out. For example, How you act towards your parents will show if you are okay or not.
Another type of moral issues in society is having responsibility for yourself and others. If you don't have responsibility for yourself how can you have it for other people? For example if you are babysitting someone you know, or don't know you are either way responsible for them. If you decided that you wanted to invite a friend over to that persons house while you are babysitting that is wrong. Because you need to have responsibility for the child you are watching and have respect for the adult of that child.