Infographic

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/5745174/For_Class

Hey everyone,

Sorry that you can't directly view the image I designed, however if you click on the link above it should take you directly to my infographic. I chose to do a tag cloud because it was the best way to show everything that has made my political identity what it is today. The colors chosen were just because I liked them and bears no meaning on anything, certain groups of words are not certain colors. I picked the layout because I didn't want you to 1) break your neck trying to read my tag cloud or 2) have to look silly by turning your computer upside down and to the side to read. Hope you enjoy!

"The Others"

I think this post has taken me so long to construct because I didn't know exactly where to begin. The prompt this week was "the others in our communities". I have been trying to work out in my head what exactly "others" mean and which community should I describe? In a sense we are all "others" to someone, whether it is your neighbor (I would be willing to bet my Amish neighbors think I'm an "other") or someone from Somalia.

I think for this post I am going to start small and work my way up. The first community I thought about was my Dickinson Community. Where do I feel like an "other" and who do I think are the "others". For starters the Greek community is quite prevalent right now with their new sorority pledge classes and in some aspects I feel like an "other" to them. I don't have letters outside my door or a t-shirt proclaiming my sorority and to some extent I now feel excluded from my friends. However this being said, this is a superficial reason to feel like an "other". I don't view anyone as an other at Dickinson, I believe each individual has a story and their story is continually being written I have friends that are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Mexican, African American and even Filipino. I have never looked at them as an other and don't think I ever could.

Moving on from my Dickinson Community would have to be the hometown where I grew up. Good old small town, PA. There is a distinct "us" and "them" feeling because I've grown up in farm country where Amish and Mennonite are plentiful. Their lack of modern amenities certainly has made understanding their life very difficult. They are quite cut off from the rest of the world and their lack of knowledge about global affairs does not bother them one bit. Their priorities are God (religion), family/friends, and a supporting income. I struggle to see how this is so different in from our lives, granted not all of us are religious and our priorities might be in different order but for generalization purposes our life ideals are similar. Why does having a cell phone and the internet make us so different, why do I look at the Amish in such a weird manor? (It's probably because I don't drive around in a horse and buggy...)

It's now time to go big or go home and think globally. I realized in my last paragraph the group I talked about (the Amish) are a religious group, some might even consider a cult or sect. As I was thinking about who I see as "the others" are on a global scale, it dawned on me that they are primarily religious groups. Why does religion make me think someone is different on a grand scale but on a personal level I see no differentiation. Throughout the world I see so many different groups and classify them as "the others": Muslims, Coptic Christians, Buddhist Monks and even members of the Catholic Church. I am in no way saying I think these people are weird, or different, or even that I don't accept them, because I certainly do. But when I think about the others in my community (especially on a global scale) that is who I think of. 

I can't comprehend why I think religion makes us different and hopefully as I continue to grow up that understanding will become clear and something I can even strive to overcome.

Preconceived notions

 There was no prompt this week so I think I am going to blog about this idea we had in class. A point was made, I think by my Professor, and he said "Do we view the Middle East differently because of their religion? Not only that but why is Religion the first thing we think of when dealing with the Middle East. When we study and talk about the foreign/domestic politics of Japan we don't talk about religion."

This point really stuck out to me for the rest of class and honestly for the rest of week. How does this notion that the Middle East revolves around religion affect our every day lives all the way through foreign policy. I know when I think of going on vacation, the Middle East is the first place that pops into my mind, not just because of the desert climate and sweltering weather but because I feel as though I wouldn't fit in. I'm not Muslim, I don't know what it means to wear a Hijab or even if I'm allowed to wear one? Must I wear one if I visited a country in the Middle East? When I traveled to Europe two summers ago, these questions didn't plague my mind, I was more or less thinking "How much German have I actually learned in four years of study? What am I going to see while in Europe? Am I going to know how to operate the trains?" Why did I not worry about being religious in Europe? They are primarily Catholic, especially in the area that I was visiting, of Southern Germany. However that thought never crossed my mind.

Its hard for me to handle this thought because not all Arabs are Muslim and not all Muslims are Arab. There are Jewish minorities, Coptic Christians and other Christian sects as well. However I think the answer to this question my professor posed is that the Muslim religion is heavily intertwined with culture AND government in this area. Many governments in the Middle East are based of the Koran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are just two examples. It would not be in our governments benefit to ignore this fact, and therefore they have to be sensitive when dealing with this region. Culture inevitably defines government and because this area is a Muslim dominated culture it will therefore create this preconceived notions of why we think of the Middle East in the manner we do.