December 2017 – shannoninkansascity

Why do Children Bully?

Bullying has been a hot topic for the last few years and this week the bullying hype has reached a fever pitch due to the #Keaton hashtag on Twitter. People love to reflect on why children are so cruel to each other. To me it is painfully obvious why children mistreat each other to the point that a student may commit suicide because of taunting at school. Children mistreat each other because they are growing up in a mean, disrespectful society that does not value others.

I’ve been noticing for years that people love to strong arm one another in modern day America. There is no respect for a difference of opinion and when people do not do what we want we try to force our will on them. I noticed that in various customer service positions I’ve held.

If a store clerk says “Sorry you can’t bring this back you’ve owned it longer than what our return policy allows” or “Sorry this coupon is expired” or “Sorry you can’t substitute the sides and still get this at the same price” people become mean as hell. They use language to demean the clerk and demand to speak with a manager. If management doesn’t do what they want they call the corporate office and rudely make demands and if they don’t get their way they threaten to slander the company on the internet. They’re bullies that don’t respect the boundaries of others and want to force their will.

The “Real Housewives”, “Basketball Wives” and “Love and Hip Hop” are popular reality show franchises that give us a glimpse into the private lives of the wealthy and privileged. These tales involve adults, some of whom are grandmothers, that treat each other terribly and sometimes they are even violent to one another. The characters on these shows are sensitive and have hair trigger tempers. Their interactions often lead to mean words being thrown back and forth, wine being thrown in someone’s face and/or punches being thrown. There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of these shows are family viewing in many American households.

Social media is another place where mean, rude, crass behavior has become normal. People call strangers names and demean each other for their opinions. The behavior gets even worse when people start talking about and to celebrities. Geez, people love to build celebrities up and then drag them through the mud or “cancel” them.

To top it off look at who Americans chose to be their leader in 2016. A man was democratically elected because Americans want a president that speaks his mind and isn’t politically correct. In other words America wanted crass and brazen behavior in the White House. He does what he wants and doesn’t consider others. He grabs bitches by the pussy! In other words Americans wanted a bully as a president. The last president we had was considerate, polite, professional and tried to help people. What a punk!

So the next time anyone ponders why children bully each other just look at what is surrounding them as they grow up. They are surrounded by bullying in real life, in the media, in entertainment and in the White House.

Bullying and treating others with disdain is normal for children because of the behavior the see modeled before them. So don’t blame children for the bullying. It’s not their fault that they are growing up in this modern day trashy American culture.

Feminist Identity

Modern feminism is very confusing to me. It’s as if it can’t decide which message it wants to spread. On one hand we’ve been taught that women can be soldiers, police officers, firefighters, or the President of the United States. But we are also being told that women are delicate flowers that can not be expected to speak up and stand up for themselves if a man gives them unwanted attention. Feminism needs to pick it’s identity because I don’t think you can claim to be bold and brave and passive and childlike at the same time.

I was born in the mid 70’s so I inherited the Gloria Steinem, “I am woman hear me roar”, brand of feminism. I’ve never completely bought into it. I definitely believe that women should be independent and that we should be able to pursue any career that we choose as long as our talent, abilities and skills are competitive with others in the same field. There is absolutely no reason that women should be barred or discriminated against in most fields.

The aspect of feminism that I’ve never agreed with is that men and women are equal. Math was never my strong suit but I know that equal means the same. I don’t believe that either gender is superior to the other but I do believe that men and women are different. We are just hard wired differently.

Feminism has been telling women for decades to act like men and take on masculine characteristics. I think this in itself is sexist and shows a lack of appreciation for femininity. I believe that women are more modest by nature. However, feminism has told women to put their bodies on display as often as possible.

60’s style feminism also brought about the sexual revolution which hasn’t worked out very well for women. By nature women yearn for exclusive relationships. Feminism has taught women to be sexually liberated and have as many partners as possible. It seems to me that this attitude from women have made men value women less and it’s made it more difficult to find men that are interested in commitment and family. If sex is readily available for men many of them don’t see the need to be married.

Sexual assault and street harassment is a hot button issue for today’s young feminists. I see them on Twitter all the time complaining about their space being violated by men publicly or privately. I don’t understand why young women can’t tell men on the street to leave them alone. If a man at the workplace is making unwanted advances why don’t these ladies make it clear that they are not interested and if the behavior continues document the incidents and report them to human resources.

For decades feminism has encouraged women to be bold and assertive but now it’s claiming that women are delicate flowers that need to be protected. Which is it? There use to be societal norms that made men take relationships more seriously, respect a woman’s space and take more responsibility as a father. But feminist attitudes chipped away at the conventions and now they are all but destroyed.

Women have always had a hard time regardless of the culture or time period. Feminism started off well and still offers a lot of great values. But I think the great feminist mistake was not valuing and respecting femininity and teaching young women to be more like men. A man is not superior to a woman but we are not equal, meaning the same either. I want to be respected for my skills, talent and work but I want to be respected as a woman too.

God Prevails over Man Made Leadership but Choose your Leadership Wisely

It a scary time in America right now. We don’t know what to expect from our political leadership right now. They seem to be trying to change the system that we’ve had in America to a new system that exclusively benefits the wealthiest of the wealthy and makes it difficult for middle class and poor people to survive. I think that the democratically elected Republican leadership in this country is downright evil and those that support it are stupid and evil as well. Perilous times are ahead.

But the Bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. The world has seen evil, self centered, arrogant, egotistical, conceited, cold hearted, foolish, greedy, tyrannical leadership before. The Bible is full of stories of heavy handed poor leadership. And those that were faithful to God always prevailed.

Please do not misunderstand me. I’m not one of these passive Christians that opts out of politics because “The Lord always reigns supreme” or “God is in Control”. I agree with these quotes but I don’t think that means you can’t have a political opinion and act in your best interest. I can’t stand any of these flaky Christians that don’t vote because “The system is not Godly”. I resent a lot of stupid, gullible Christians for helping to make America ground zero for future global economic collapse, xenophobia, racism, sexism, pedophilia, poor manners and general stupidity and ignorance.

At this point in human history Americans just have to take things day by day and be prayerful and have faith in God. Take inspiration from Biblical heroes like Daniel who stood up to King Darius in the book of Daniel. Also in Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar order three boys into a fiery furnace for not bowing down to him. Be inspired by the stories of Moses and the Jews who were brutally oppressed by Pharaoh in Exodus. Remember the persecution of infants by King Herod in the Gospels. All of those that were persecuted by evil leaders persevered with faith from God. They were blessed because the were steadfast in their beliefs and unafraid of evil.

So remember that there is nothing new under the sun. We live in uncertain times in America right now so have faith in God and love each other. With that being said vote better next time and stop being so dense. Don Don’s presidency has nothing to do with Jesus and it will not benefit you unless you are rich. There is no need to test God like this. I would believe in the Lord if I lived in Shangri-La so why did these fools open the flood gates of misery, poverty and pestilence. Have faith. Be smart.

Ecclesiastes 1:9King James Version (KJV)
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

2 Timothy 3:1-5New International Version (NIV)
3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.