Christianity and the Survival of Creation

At some points this article was as tough to get through as Thoreau's writing. Not only was the reading tough but Berry's ideas were pretty tough to swallow. I believe that he took an extremest view on this topic. Is it really a plausible argument to assert that we are all one in the same because God made each of us from his spirit, so we are "betraying our family responsibility" and "flinging God's gifts into His face." I do agree with this idea in one aspect though; churches/temples are not exclusively holy holiness is found outside the temples, in the forests, the lakes, the desert. Nearly every place is sacred to someone for one reason. The same goes for the holy people, I believe that the holy people are not the priests but the shepherds and soldiers. This was absolutely not the favorite reading we have done.

The Arguing Culture

Tannen is quite accurate in her ideas on our culture. Now everything is right or wrong, black or white, and currently Republican or Democrat. I have always believed that the more opinions you can get on something the better you will understand it, in a culture where people approach everything with just two ideas, you can't help but think that we are missing something. This arguing culture that we have become may be our demise, as a culture we approach everything as a debate or as a fight, this causes constant conflict among ourselves. As a nation I believe that we have the same problem, we fight wars with other countries because they aren't doing what is "right." 

I believe that if we would all just take a minute and approach most questions as an open discussion rather than a debate, much more would be accomplished, we wouldn't only get two opinions on the subject. "It is easier to condemn than to think." (Emma Goldman) As Emma said, we need to quit taking the easy way out, lets think a little bit and we will be a much more productive nation. 

Leave No Child Inside

Louv is absolutely correct when he talks about kids being raised inside theses days, i see it every day, i very rarely see the neighbor kids playing outside. They'd rather play video games inside. Louv describes this turn in activity as "nature-deficit disorder." He goes on to describe how to solve this problem, building nature centered communities is one example. I thought the one he told about from california was pretty neat, in the center was natural walking paths and residents were all encouraged to have gardens in their yards, but this may be an unrealistic idea; can you bring kids outside away from the video games after they have already been sucked into the inside world? Lets hope that kids can be brought up outside because as Louv said, "If experiences in nature are radically reduced for children, where will the future stewards of the earth come from?" If kids are not raised to appreciate nature how can we expect the next generation to take care of it, I find this to be a big problem.

In Defense of Talk Shows

I cannot stand talk shows, other than the congressional sessions on C-Span they are probably the most ignorant and backwards things televised today. Ehrenreich' ideas on talk shows are right on. I find the talk shows ignorant because you have some middle aged host that claims to be an expert on morals and ethics when they preach to the out of control people on the show; what qualifies them to criticize these people who are living a tough life?

 The middle class americans with nothing better to do but sit at home and watch these low class people do so just to feel more normal themselves. If they did in fact want to learn more about morals why don't the talk shows have middle class people on the show, the people committing white collar crimes like fraud and the house wives at home cheating on their spouses. These people they find in the trailer parks expose themselves to the humiliation because they have no where else to go with their problems. They offer a fake source of help through their "rough-and-ready therapist," and all they get is crucified by the audience on national television. 

I would love to see Ehrenreich's idea of a talk show, with the "different cast of characters and caregory of crimes... CEO's who rake in millions while their employees get downsized..." Now thats a talk show that I would watch.

The Whole Horse

I found this story far too lengthy and the language the author used was quite confusing, but I do agree with most of what he had to say. As an industrial nation we do live our lives with no regard for the environment. We will be the cause of our own demise. Many in the U.S. believe that "we cannot live lives that are economically and ecologically responsible."(Berry 2) I agree this does take much more effort but it is not impossible. Though I have never seen the term before I find this idea intriguing, this is the idea of "agrarianism," this could be the Answer to our ecological problems. "Industrialism is a way of thought bases on monetary capital and technology, agrarianism is a way of thought based on land." (Berry 3) The author discusses the effects of industrialism, he reinsures that we will not have any resources left if we do not keep industrialism in check with concerns of agrarianism. I do agree that this new culture of false satisfaction if unchanged will lead to the loss of all of the natural resources we have at our expense. 

Attack of the Killer Cats

I did not care for this story at all. It seems to just ramble on about pointless facts about cats and what little animls they kill. In the end there is no conclusion, the author kinda just leaves you thinking, Whats the point? My interest was not sparked in the least, probably because i hate cats.

I did think about one part of the article though, the cats are probably an important part of the ecosystem. I highly doubt that they will have a negative impact. Small mamals and birds reproduce so quickly that a preadator is needed to regulate the population. There is no way that all the cats in the world are going to kill too may of the small animals. Though i do not like cats even the least bit I do believe that they are probably an important part of our environment. There needs to be checks and balances though, if nothing is a preadator towards the cats then we may run into a problem. I suppose that cars on the road may be the preadator in this relationship.

Why We Crave Horror Movies

I think that King hits the nail right on the head with this essay. Surely each one of us can relate to one of the reasons he gives for, why we "crave horror movies." He did a great job explaining each one of those reasons. Although I do believe he is kinda the pot calling the kettle black when he writes about people being insane, if you have ever read some of his writing I'm pretty sure you would agree with me on that.  

I believe that his look at how society shapes us from infancy is very insightful. King explains how from infancy we are praised for expressing emotions such as happiness, kindness, and love, and when the twisted side of us comes out and intentionally slams our siblings fingers in the door we are punished. Thus society only allows us to show certain "acceptable" emotions, if we show the others we will end up in the loony bin. So we watch these sick horror films to almost exercise our hidden emotions. I find this to be completely true, we are clay in societies hands from the time we are infants up until we have the ability to think for ourselves. 

For me the last few sentences do a great job of explaining why many of us crave horror films. "... good liberals often shy away from horror films. For myself, I like to see the most aggressive of them-Dawn of the Dead, for instance- as lifting a trap door in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hungry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath.

Why bother? Because it keeps them from getting out, man."(King 313)

Reid, Steven. Purpose and Process: A Reader for Writers. Prentice Hall, New Jersey 2004.

Stephen King P.311-315