Religion in Schools

Separation of church and state has always been a sensitive topic in the media and in Washington. When it comes to schools, conservatives believe that Christian prayer in schools should be a manditory thing for schools to practice, whether or not the people in school are Christian or not. Liberals believe that since we are now so diverse in terms of religion in our schools, that any kind of religous practice should not be manditory for any reason.

I believe in the Liberal view, that people can believe whatever they want to and that they should not be forced to worship anyone or anything and should feel comfortable about the religious situation in their schools. The fact is, while Christianity is most common in schools, there are members of other religions as well and their rights deserve to be met just as much as Christians do.

Gay Marriage

On the topic of Gay Marriage, the two viewpoints could not be more different. Liberals believe that marriage is a bond between two people, no matter who they are or what sex they are, and that gays should be allowed to marry. Conservatives are heavily influenced by Christian religion, saying that marriage is a holy bond made under god by only a man and a woman, with no exceptions for homosexuality.

I believe that, since homosexuality is found as a natural thing in nature, not just with homo sapiens, that it is perfectly alright for gays to marry. The Liberal viewpoint appeals the most to me because it is the most moral and i believe in equal rights for all human beings on earth, no matter what thier beliefs or practices are.

Abortion

On the issue of abortion, the two sides both share very different views. The conservatives believe that terminating a pregnancy is the same thing as killing someone or taking their life away. The liberals believe that it should be a mother's choice in how the baby is handled and if she wants to terminate the pregnancy she has every right to do it.

I believe in the later point, the liberal view because abortion is a very important thing in our country, it is needed all over the U.S. on a daily basis and ultimately, it is the mother's body which is creating the child so she should have the most say in how the pregnancy is handled. The father may also have the same rights, but the fact is that he doesn't have to carry around the baby inside of him for 9 months.

Popular Music History

I gained a much better understanding of what Elvis really did for popular music from the movie we watched. The fact that he bridged the divide between the soulful, upbeat black songs and the sweet, pretty-boy white tracks is a totally new idea to me, and it helps explain how popular music went the way it did. I never knew that all it took to kick off the era of rock and roll was a rebellious teenager who could sing like the black musicians of the time. He also began the era of the "agent", this is probably the most important point of his career as his manager changed the music industry forever, making into the multi billion dollar industry it is today. It seems like the king of rock did more for the American Economy than people know.

Favorite band

Hi Hjelmgren, i added some Tribe to my playlist, but i would say that my favorite band [right now] would have to be OutKast.













[Coming Soon - B.O.B. (Stankonia) Music Video]
I like alot of thier old work such as Atliens (pictured above) and thier early album Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik, but it is difficult to find clean songs from those albums. Scince the era after thier first 2 cds, they have cleaned thier lyrics up a bit but still have the same genius beats and flows in thier newer songs. I first heard them after buying thier third album stankonia at a CD shop in singapore. Both Andre 3000 and Big Boi are extremley talented rappers and are frankly pretty BA.