sjones1

Going off of Laura's point, the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment brought out each participant's inherent characteristics. These college students were placed either as prisoners and guards... the guards, even though were happy go-lucky college boys, turned into degrading and abusive authority figures when granted power over the "prisoners." When one prisoner shot back saying "this is just an experiment, calm down," one guard said he knew nothing of this "experiment." Many of these participants experienced PTSD and went to trauma therapy, both guards and prisoners, either scared of what was done to them or who they became.

1 in 3 women has been sexually assaulted at some point in their life. If gender discrimination is a thing of the past, then this statistic would be much lower than 33%. What's even more disgusting is that most of these women experience sexual assault within the ages 11-17. Then, dress codes are imposed in order to decrease their sexualization... rather than teaching men to stop oversexualizing young girls.

The book "Pleasure Activism" discusses the liberating consequences of giving and accepting pleasure into your lives. In a world where sexual acts are still associated with taboo, Brown argues that relieving yourself from this self-hatred and shame, in regards to sexual fantasies and acts, will uplift you as a human being (who is performing a fulfilling act) as well as the rest of the community. She and I are talking about the emotional and physical connection that produces fulfillment within one's body and mind. What I am trying to say is that having sex is great for yourself and for the community, because when you open yourself up and release shame in yourself, you release the shame and judgment you hold upon others. Therefore, sex work is not sinful, as sex itself is not sinful. It is a pleasurable act that should be celebrated and perceived without judgment.

I hadn't thought of it this way before, and appreciate the new perspective you gave me. However, when you use a public restroom, do you pay for the toilet paper? For your natural excretions that you cannot control? No. Yes, you have to pay at home for your own supply, but never in a public space. Here, period products should be free.

The problem with the US military is that it takes advantage of high school students who are unsure of their future paths if they do not plan on going to college or are financially unstable. Most people who I know that went to the military went just so they could get free college, or that their family member joined so they did just because they didn't know what else to do, or simply because they had no other plans. Those were all the reasons I've heard, and I've met about 7 men and 3 women who joined. Yes, they all care about protecting civil liberties and our country, however, this was not their primary motivation to join.

We are in the 21st century. There is a separation of church and state. This goes along with another opinion discussing whether religion is required to be a moral person. The simple answer is no. Having a good set of morals does not require subscribing to faith of any kind. I went to a Catholic elementary and middle school, and am very grateful for the education I received. But none of my current friends went to a religious school growing up and can tell right from wrong just as easily as I can-- and better than some of my former classmates.

I voted "agree," but after reading the two comments posted, I have mixed opinions. I sympathize with the scenarios listed... especially with COVID conditions, Sofia's mentioning of solitary confinement, and death. These are issues that are inconsolable in regards to "just keeping your mind off of it." However, for day to day troubles, such as my bike being stolen this morning (I wish I was kidding), I filed a police report and went along with my day. There's nothing more for me to do, so sometimes it's best to let the situation take care of itself if it is out of your control.

It's short and simple: do not make a choice illegal. If you, as a woman, believe that abortion is wrong, do not get an abortion. And no one should shame you for this decision. However, the same goes for women who wish to have an abortion. If they are not financially or personally ready to raise a child, then they can choose not to. Let's not decide what's best for one another. The only issue I see with abortion being legal is if it is used as a primary birth control method rather than condoms/IUD/birth control pills.

Understandably in our market-driven and consumerist society, land will be privatized and sold by agencies-- whether individuals or the government. However, you cannot commodify the land without extorting and altering the native ecosystem. Land should be set aside from human interaction (such as National Parks... although these are not great examples at all, as they too are commodified), and some land should be used for shelter/food distribution/other necessities. If the natural environment weren't destroyed and exploited to the extent where it cannot be recovered (i.e. mono-crop fields from farming deteriorating soil fertility), then I would say it was safe to commodify. The problem is that commodification equates to destruction of some sort.

By framing God's existence through societal constructs, we ignore Their* being as said to be "outside of human comprehension." Applying Earthly concepts to an otherworldly essence decreases God's inherent value, as Their existence is supposed to be mysterious and fluid. Therefore, applying our human-conceived notions onto God's is blasphemous in the least. Although God, as depicted in the Christian Bible, shares characteristics of a modern Liberal (such as accepting gender expressions and sexualities), boxing Them into something as trivial as identity politics demeans Their power and divinity over the universe (let's not forget, it is not just Earth God is said to rule over). Playing the clarinet in 6th grade doesn't make me a musician; God being all-loving doesn't make him a Liberal.

*Note: Using They/Them when addressing God decreases my bias of using gender identifiers, a theory inapplicable to supernatural entities.