andrewpreece-blog

[andrewpreece-blog]

On March 6th, 2019 a Utah teacher forced a student to remove the ash cross on his forehead that he had put on earlier in the morning to celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for the Catholic community. This came as a shock to any adult involved, including the principal, parents, and grandmother of the child. The mother was furious and asked the teacher if she knew the First Amendment, which begins with “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,...” in which the teacher replied with only mumbles. It is crazy to think that even to this day, people are still not knowledgeable of what our country stands for. The child was the only one in his class participating in this holy holiday and was forced to remove the ash in front of his classmates, which must have been terribly traumatizing. The situation resulted in the teacher giving a sincere apology to the student and then being placed on administrative leave for the time being.

Although this case seems rather unexpected and rare due to the popularity of the Catholic religion, it goes to show how many people are still very uniformed about others cultures and religions across America and the world. I can see for myself that I am apart of this under-informed just based on how much I have learned throughout this religions course. I took this class to satisfy a GE requirement however, now I firmly believe that all people, where education is available, should be educated on various religions in a similar way to how this class has been run. The only way we can prevent things such as this, as well as racial and cultural discrimination, is to educate individuals, starting from a young age, on other people’s cultures. This over time will lead to individuals going into society with a much better perspective and understanding of others and inspire them to be respectful of all people in the same way this class has opened my eyes.

#ash wednesday #religious education

[andrewpreece-blog]

Although the 2020 Presidential Primaries are still more than a year away, American audiences have already witnessed 18 Democratic candidates throw their hat in the ring for the Oval Office. Ranging from Senators, House Representatives, mayors, governors, a wealthy businessman and even a famous spiritual guru, the coming election will be the most diverse our country has seen yet. The platforms these candidates are running on differ even further than their backgrounds and experience, however they all will need to keep one goal in mind, securing the Latino vote. Latin Americans are one of our fastest growing minorities, with 29 million people eligible to vote in the 2019 midterms it is not lost on most politicians how crucial their support will be next year. Although our current President has seemed to disregard this enormous group of people with his hateful rants at rallies and impulsive actions taken to try to increase our southern borders security, It seems Democrats are well aware that the Latino vote will be a key to the White House. While combating climate change, progressing gun control and decreasing the wage gap and health care costs are high on many candidates agendas. Those that are focusing on racial equality may have the upperhand. In the past elections there has been a noticeable void for a candidate that Latino voters can get behind. In the coming months it will be very interesting to see if a politician can cater to the needs of Latino voters while not straying too far from the Democrats’ core values. Of the candidates that have officially announced their campaign it is my prediction that former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro could finally sway the hearts and minds of this diverse group of voters. His most notable accomplishments include passing the Fair Housing Act and helping rebuild thousands of homes after natural disasters. Castro has a strong background in fighting for equality and justice that may put him ahead. However, only time will tell which of the 18 candidates will fair the tumultuous seas of the 2020 presidential election best, for now we must wait and watch as they criss cross the country attempting to spread their message and change minds.

[andrewpreece-blog]

On March 15th, 2019 50 people were left dead and 50 wounded as the result of a horrific attack on two Muslim mosques. The gunman found guilty was Brenton Tarrent, a white right-wing supremacist/extremist from Australia. He stormed the mosques during a time of prayer and started shooting while also running a live stream of his horrific deeds. When he ran out of ammunition, he stepped outside, reloaded and proceeded to shoot the people who were already wounded before heading to a second mosque to continue his killing spree. This act of terrorism was clearly a result of the ongoing race war between supremacists of both white and Islamic people. He left a long manifesto in which he supported people such as President Trump while expressing his urge to murder people such as London’s first Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan. While many people quickly label him as a psychopath, the leader of this transcript, Amy Goodman discusses how doing so will not do anything to prevent future attacks. 

People have proposed various reasoning as to why he did what he did. Fraser Anning, a New Zealand lawmaker, discussed how it was a tragedy, however also believed that Muslim immigration into the country was part of the problem. I along with Amy Goodman, believe this is a dangerous approach to this situation. As discussed in class, many people world-wide have Islamophobia and this is why we keep seeing attacks like this. Political elites such as President Trump, although they are not committing terrible crimes, they support legislation that is based on discrimination which lead people to think that it is okay. We are at a time when this is not okay by any means. Muslims world-wide have to live in terror no matter where they are. This dialogue states “statistically speaking, you’re much more likely to be attacked because you are Muslim than by a Muslim”. The fact of the matter is that these attacks only come about because we are not in a totally accepting society, yet. What we need at this time is for people to, instead of “not being racist”, to be anti-racist. We need to take action to break down racial barriers and not be okay with someone who is remaining stagnant.

#islamophobia #new zealand attacks

[andrewpreece-blog]

On January 31st, 2019 the Catholic church released the names of 286 Catholic priests that were guilty of sexual misconduct towards children in the state of Texas. This has been an ongoing topic in countries across the world for many years. Some of these terrible acts, which finally came into the light in 2017, dated back to 1940. It is devastating to know that these crimes were going on for so long without them being unveiled. Since this began, many of the guilty priest have since died. It has had a huge impact on the image of the Catholic church, leading to many people losing faith and trust in their church. The article says,  “Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement that releasing the names was ‘right and just,’ according to the Associated Press.”

The Catholic church releasing these names was only one of the early steps in mending the damage done. Taking ownership is the best thing they could have done at the time. However, “right and just” seems to me that they are just trying to save their image instead of assessing the reality of the situation. It scares me, knowing that these names unveiled came from just the 14 dioceses of Texas. Who knows where else it may be occurring? As far as I can see the church is only looking to take ownership for what was discovered without drawing up any plans to assess if it is taking place in other locations. The Catholic church is massive and stretches across the entire globe. I will continue to look down upon this church until it has a way to make sure that this does not continue.

Time will tell where this situation will head. Whether more priests, guilty of savage, immoral acts, will be discovered or if this situation will be forgotten. For the time being, I would be wary of sending your child into confession, no matter how much faith you have in your priest.

#catholic church

[andrewpreece-blog]

On February 26th, the United Methodist Church, composed of over 12 million members world-wide, voted on where they stood with gay marriage. The two options at hand were the “Traditional Plan” and the “One Church Plan”. The first, as expected maintained the stance that the church would not support gay marriage. Whereas the “One Church Plan” would allow gay marriage for the first time in its history. Many congregations and supporters declared that they would secede from the church. The final vote was 449-374 in favor of the “Traditional Plan”. This is interesting because the plan won by only 75 votes. Considering that gay marriage has been outlawed by most churches for thousands of years, it is nice to see that the time for change is not far away. I feel that once Christianity comes to terms were our ever-changing society, a huge breakthrough in acceptance will occur. The day where all are able to practice religion freely may soon be upon us.

This reminds me of when I was religious in high school. My pastor gave a sermon on where his stance was with gay marriage and his biblical reasoning for why he not perform a same sex marriage in his church. This sermon definitely turned me off Christianity to some respect. How can a God that loves ALL his children be against the unity of two individuals who want to be blessed by their creator? I could not imagine what it would be like trying to follow a God that does not support a part about you.

I believe the time has come for this change to occur. As more and more people begin to accept the idea of gay marriage, the church is only damaging itself by not supporting it. People will start to lose faith in their church’s policies and practices, and soon the church will crumble all-together. 

#gay marriage #united methodist church

[andrewpreece-blog]

We live in a time where the Internet is constantly flowing with new information, contrary to 50 years ago, when the only source of information was through books, text, and newspapers. Our society has been constantly adjusting to this change by creating new ways for information to be shared. One of the most evident ways information is relayed and shared is through social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and this very site, Tumblr. These massive companies have an incredible amount of power to put out discourse to the public. On the other hand, being that they are private companies not run by the government, they also are given the liberty of restricting information from the public. In this article, the author discusses how this is no different from burning books. Burning books is something that most people can agree is immoral, no matter what the book is about, it is our responsibility to not rid the world of the thoughts being proposed. If something that is agreed to be bad is burned and forgotten by the people, we as society run the risk of repeating our ugly history that resulted from the work.

 As we head into the world-wide celebrated holidays of Easter and Passover, social media is flowing with articles, posts, pictures,...etc. to celebrate the life of Jesus. I recently learned through this article that many media outlets like I listed above restrict advertisements from groups such as churches encouraging people to do things like attend their Easter service. I agree with the author that this is unfair for these massive companies with huge influences to restrict these advertisements and content. Most of the time, they do this in a way that is politically motivated (usually harming the conservative party). To give an example, “Twitter and Instagram have repeatedly restricted pro-life content”. Them being the primary source of information, especially to the youth, how is it fair for them to impose a bias on people who are unaware they are being politically influenced.

I understand censorship to a certain level because people should not be able to impose hate on others on websites like this. However, I cannot fathom any reason why they should be allowed to impose their political agenda on the public in a way in which they are unknowing. All this does is silence discourse, which we need more than ever to get to a point of political tranquility, where people of all cultures and religions can be content. What they are doing really is no different than burning books.

#burning books #corrupt media

[andrewpreece-blog]

This last weekend marked the first weekend of the world-renowned Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Put on by Goldenvoice, hundreds of thousands of people attended. I had the luxury of attending along with friends for my first time. Upon arrival to the campgrounds the evening before the first day of the festival, I already could see why people say it is the best place in the world. After meeting the 5 groups of people in the immediate surrounding campsites, I got my first sense of the incredibly dynamic cultural diversity. To our left was a couple who traveled over 5000 miles from Great Britain to experience Coachella for their first time. And to our right was a group of about 10 people who came from Seoul, South Korea for their 4th Coachella! They encouraged us to check out their favorite K-Pop band, Blackpink, who performed the first day, which we ended up actually going to and having a great time! After becoming acquainted with these people, everyone headed to a campsite where over 500 people were collected on a hill to enjoy a beautiful sunset before the first day. The entire weekend people from all over the world with different backgrounds, religions, and cultures gathered.

I have never before been to a place that was so culturally diverse and respectful. I met people from all over the world that all had the one thing in common, a love for music. I believe events such as this have a significant impact on where we stand with cultural acceptance in the United States. One of the best ways to combat discrimination is to find common ground with other cultures and Coachella is the perfect storm for this to happen.

I am very happy to say that although this was my first Coachella, I have no doubt it will not be my last. I can’t wait to come back for Coachella 2020 and the years after to make new friends, learn more about other people’s way of life, and finally learn how to be completely accepting of all people.

#coachella #cultural diversity

[andrewpreece-blog]

On Monday earlier this week, the famous Notre-Dame de Paris catholic cathedral in Paris, Francis sadly burnt down. The cathedral, whose construction began in 1160 and carried through around 1260, was a significant landmark and historical relic to say the least to many world-wide. Reporters and investigators are firm in their belief that it was not the result of arson or terrorism, however the fact that it is a world-wide tragedy remains true. A few of the wealthy French elites have already pledged to donate over 500 million dollars for its reconstruction. However, Notre-Dame is not the only church receiving aid as a result of this unexpected catastrophe.

In the 36 hours just after the Notre-Dame cathedral burned down, over 1.8 million dollars has been donated to 3 churches in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana that over the course of 10 days (March 26th - April 4th) were burned down by an arsonist (Holden Matthews). The churches; St. Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, all were predominantly black churches with long histories dating back to Jim Crow South. This was a very tragic and scary time for people in the area, especially blacks. It is sad to see that people such as Holden Matthews are still roaming our streets. However, it is amazing how so much support can be raised in such a short amount of time. Pastor Harry Richards and many others have not lost faith. According to him, the funds collected will be divided evenly among the 3 churches so that they may rebuild bigger and better. It seems that justice is being served to Matthews as he is being charged with several accounts of hate crimes and arson and will be in prison for most of his life if not all.

Although Louisiana has been struck hard, I have no doubt they will overcome. Stories like this bring hope that with time our country may continue to become more and more racially and culturally accepting until the day we have all been waiting for: true equality and no discrimination.

#notre dame #louisiana church fires