The World's Next Genocide?

After reading this article about speculation of another genocide taking place in Syria, I was immediately disturbed.  I do not understand why people feel the need to have power over others and think the answer to obtain power is to wipe out a group of people.  The world is full of inequality and cruelty, not peace and happiness.  We are all one people living in this one world, so we need to work together to restore peace.  Because of society today, people's minds are twisted and warped into thinking that money and power brings happiness, when it only fills a person with greed.
CST really should be part of the core curriculum all over the world, no matter what one's religious preference is.  CST voices the importance of solidarity and equality and a mutual love for one another, and those principles are what makes the world run.  I wish people would learn from some of the previous genocides in the world, such as the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide.  Why would people want to live through such horrible times like that again?  We need to work together, not work against each other, to restore peace and love throughout the world.  

Silence begets Violence

I would like to express my deep sadness for all those who are affected by the horrific tragedy that occurred last friday.  I could not believe what I was seeing on the news that day, as if I was in a nightmare.  I cannot even fathom the terror that erupted throughout the school that day and the ongoing fear and sorrow ever since.  I feel like the shooting in Newtown, CT has really sent a shock wave throughout the nation, especially in all the schools.  This specific tragedy I believe has touched everyone's hearts because it had to do with innocent children.  These children were 6 and 7 year olds who didn't get the chance to experience the world.  The parents kissed each of their children goodbye that day, leaving them to get on the bus at 8 in the morning and expected to see them again at 3 in the afternoon.  A parents worst nightmare came true last friday, and prayed to God they would see their children once again.  But 20 children did not see their parents again.  Just writing that sentence gives me chills throughout my body.
This tragedy has really brought everyone of all races and ethnicities together to help those affected by the shooting tragedy.  This tragedy brought all the school districts together to look over their safety instructions in case of an emergency ever occurred to keep the students safe.  Every parent wants to feel safe when they send their children to school, and thats why I feel this tragedy really affected everyone. Also, the courage and strength that was exemplified by the teachers and staff of the school really touched my heart.  The teachers put the children's lives first and the seven teachers and faculty died a hero that day.  I'm extremely sad that this tragedy ever happened and I will continue to pray for all those who are affected by this shooting.

Bangladesh Factory Fire

After I read this and a few other articles related to the horrific factory fire, I was enraged about the treatment the workers went through in such high-risk environments.  Over 100 lives were lost in this factory making clothes for major companies such as Wal-Mart, Disney and Sears.  What point I was very shocked about was when Kevin Gardner, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, refused to comment on the situation when he was asked how a supplier could use a factory without the retailer's approval.  This really shows how corporations have gotten lazy and began to slack off on their job and let certain things fly under the radar.  How can a person not know where their company's merchandise is being produced at?  Is that not a person's job to find safe areas to supply their brands to be made?  This also happened with the company, Sears, who knew after the fire that their merchandise was being produced there without approval through a vendor.
Another point I thought was absolutely insane was that the eight-story building had no emergency exits.  I cannot seem to understand why the three men arrested would lock the people inside the factory at their stations.  A safety drill or not, if the fire alarm goes off everyone should exit the building immediately.  What were the three men gaining when they locked the workers inside?  They put 1,400 people's lives at stack and killing 112 of them.  This tragic fire is a wake-up call for all companies to double check the factories and their safety/work methods.

Radical Forgiveness

When I read the blog about Pope John Paul forgiving the man who shot him 6 times, I was in a complete state of shock.  I cannot even imagine how much strength and faith it took the late Pope to forgive his almost assassin.  Personally, I find it extremely hard to forgive someone who may have talked about me behind my back and I cannot find the strength to forgive.  I feel guilty saying that I have trouble forgiving people at times because I am causing hate and anger in the world, but it is extremely hard to forgive someone who has hurt you or a person you love in some way.  But it is absolutely unbelievable to me that the Pope forgave the man who almost killed him...the thought is utterly mind blowing.  I am glad the Pope found love and forgiveness in his heart to forgive this man with the help of God and I think every human being should look at the Pope's actions as a role model for their own life.  Forgiveness is hard, but without forgiveness there is no peace or love, and this is what starts wars and violence and hatred.  Even though I would find it extremely difficult for myself to forgive someone who tried to kill me, I commend the Pope for his faith and large amounts of forgiveness.

The Messy World

Just as Kofi Annan said in an interview on "The Daily Show with John Stewart", the world is indeed "messy".  I believe the world needs to come together and find eternal peace and work together and fix problems such as world hunger or government control.  We as a whole live on this Earth together and set forth to follow God's plan, not to fight with each other for control or power.  Just as the article said, why is peace so difficult for humankind?  How much is it going to take for everyone to come together and find peace?  The world should not hate one another and fight for land or power.  How many dying children is it going to take for the world to realize we need to solve world hunger and equally distribute and share goods?  How many terrorist attacks is it going to take to fix all the violence in the world?  These questions need to be answered before the world goes into another World War.
When I watch the news and see all the the violence in our own city of Philadelphia, I get immensely sad.  Many people break into stores or banks because they are so desperate in need of food or money, they go to extreme measures to get it.  Also, people need to stop with the racism and all the violence and stop shooting each other in the streets.  Killing someone and causing violence only causes more problems.  I try to do the best I can in my own life by helping others around me with there problems and cause peace.  The little things definitely do matter in the world.  I always talk with my friends and give them advice in their life because we are all brothers and sisters and children of God.
The Gospel message tells us to follow God's word and to love your neighbor as you love yourself and treat others how you want to be treated.  We as a global community need to really come together and find peace and love each other, or else thousands of innocent people will die from all the violence and hate.  We as a nation need to solve our problems first by keeping the nation together and not having states secede from the nation.  We need to solve all the messiness in the world fast, or another war will start causing chaos and destruction everywhere.

Global Solidarity

I do believe that the world is responsible to help other countries in need, especially if it is to protect the rights of others.  I found this article very disturbing in many different ways.  I cannot even imagine a mother-in-law beheading her own daughter because her daughter did not want to go into prostitution.  How can a mother cold-heartedly murder her own daughter?  Why would you want your daughter to go through such turmoil such as prostitution just to get money?  Twenty year old Mah Gul stood by her rights as a human and say no, but was unfortunately betrayed by her own family.
This article should raise flags all around the world because a girl was defied her own rights as a person and was forced into something she did not want to do.  The theme of Rights and Responsibilities really refers to this article because every person has God given rights to follow, such as the basic needs to live.  Mah Gul had her rights taken away from her by her family and did not have the ability to say no to something she did not want to do.  Also, the theme solidarity can be found in this article as well.  Every person is created in the image and likeliness of God and are all created equal.  We are all children of God and should be treated with equal amounts of respect.  Mah Gul's family did not treat Mah Gul with any respect and saw her as an object, not a person.  This is morally wrong on many levels and I am shocked on how brutally and disrespectfully this girl was treated.  

Resolution

Starting on October 11, 2012 and going all the way to November 24, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced it is a "year of faith", to celebrate the Vatican and being apart of the Catholic Church.  After reading the article, I started to reflect on what I can do to celebrate my faith and what my resolutions would be.  My first resolution is raising money for my Church.  Saint Andrews is very big on raising awareness about local charities and giving support to families in need, so donating money would be helpful.  Also, I would like to be more involved with CSC at school.  There are so many amazing programs that are apart of CSC that I would love to do to help out.  I am really interested in taking part of the dog walking and donating to the SPCA that take place on Sunday's.  Also, I would love to do Saint Francis Inn.  There are so many good charitable things I would love to be apart of to help my community.  I also want to get into the habit of going to Church on Sundays.  I'll be honest, I have not gone to Church in months, which is something I regret.  But during this year of faith I want to start going to Church more often and being more in touch with my relationship with God.  I also want to always keep in mind others before myself.  Even though I am a senior and want to act tough infront of the lower classmen, maybe talking to a Freshmen or asking how there classes are going will make someone's day a little brighter.  There is no point on pushing down a Freshmen if they walk too slow in the hallway; we were Freshmen once, and it can be a terrifying experience.  So I want to treat others how I want to be treated and also go out of my way to help out a friend or even a stranger.  During this year of faith I am really going to get a better relationship with God and be more involved with my Church and faith.