This week during thanksgiving break, I was at home looking over my notes for my Family Relationships class and started to think about gender roles in families, particularly my family. Every theory can say a family has to function a certain way, but does it really matter? In my opinion there is no set way of how a family has its gender roles set in their family. My parents are still married, but if you want traditional gender roles in a family where there is only one parent how can that happen? The parent has to fulfill both gender roles because they do not have a partner to help them. Even if you have a partner to help you or not, gender roles do not have to be traditional, they can fluctuate between both partners, like they do in my family. By having the gender roles being able to change between partners it will show children that you do not always have to do the same thing in your family and can help you when you grow up and have your own family
My family has modern views on how daily jobs in the house are split up among the four of us. I would say that the gender roles in our house are expected for the person that you would think is normally responsible, but not all the time do the gender roles stay that way. Our family does not have strict traditional gender roles or strict egalitarian roles either. It is in between the two depending what needs to be done and what all our family is doing on that particular day.
My mother most of the time is responsible for cooking dinner, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and making sure everything in the house is the way it should be. Even though she does most of these chores, my brother and I are still responsible for cleaning the house and washing clothes. My mother does the majority of this work, but we help out with it in some way. My dad on the other hand does most of the work outside of the house for example mowing the lawn, raking leaves and other yard jobs that need to be complete. He helps clean the house also and wash clothes, but his main responsibility is the jobs that require physical labor.
Even though we seem to have traditional gender roles, we do have different roles that we fulfill when we need to. During the holidays I know that the traditional roles are pretty much what we follow, but when it comes to raking leaves in the fall we all go outside and help my dad with that because it is a big job. Or in the spring when we have to spread mulch to plant new flowers traditional gender roles would say that only the man would do it, but we all go outside again and help because it is a long and hard day, especially if it was just one person doing all the work and our yard is not small so it makes it even harder for just one person to do it by themselves.
One other way we split up the roles in our family is fixing dinner. This is the one way that I would say we are strictly traditional in our house. I have grown up with my mom coming home from school and always fixing dinner. My dad has done it occasionally when my mom would be late or could not make it home in time for dinner. This role has been passed down from my grandparents and will probably be passes down to me and maybe my brother. It does not say anywhere that the wife is responsible for fixing a hot dinner every night, but from many years ago when men worked and women stayed home with the children it was always the wife’s job to have a hot meal ready when their husband came home. In today’s world most women are working because of different reasons and so does my mom, but she always finds a way to fix dinner for us. I know that this will probably be passed on to me since I enjoy cooking and I also view this a responsibility of the wife, but it doesn’t mean that I will not allow my husband to fix dinner when I get married. I feel that my brother who lives by himself now and is going to school will fix dinner for his wife and family a lot whenever he gets married since he is responsible for fixing his own dinner now. If he does not fix his own dinner than he will not eat that night since he is not living at home anymore.
Gender roles in my family have been a positive influence on me. Learning how to cook, clean and complete household chores when I was growing up will help me later in life when I am living on my own and have a family. I also know that they have influenced my brother positively also because the way he lives and takes care of himself while he is living by himself in a city far away from home. I know others how have not had to do the chores while we grew up that is going to hurt them when they are living on their own. Knowing how to cook and clean is an important part of living on your own, by showing others that you can take care of yourself and a family when you get ready to have one. Even if your family has egalitarian or traditional gender roles, it is still important for young boys and girls to learn certain traits while growing up to help them later in life. I know that I will use what I have learned from my parents everyday when I have my own family or own house, just as my brother is doing now. Seeing him being successful, and living on his own shows me that I can do it someday also.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Every year we always come back to the same week before Thanksgiving. When this week comes, students start to countdown the days until Thanksgiving, then after that the countdown begins for Christmas Break. I personally figured out when Thanksgiving was and when my Christmas break was back in September. Being in college this year has definitely made me realize how truly excited I am to be going home and spending time with my family.
When it comes to this time of year, you hear everyone starting to talk about their plans for the holiday season. I was home the weekend of November 7th and I was already asking what our family was going to do for Christmas. I know that it would not have changed since last year, but since I am gone to college now I wanted to make sure everything was the same. We always do the same thing each year. Get the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, decorate the house, bake cookies, have family and friends over for Christmas Eve Dinner, open presents Christmas morning and spend the day with my family. It is a good way to spend the holidays, but are we truly remembering why we are celebrating Christmas? Christmas is not about gifts, or who can put up the biggest decorations and lights outside of their house, or who gets the best presents that morning. Christmas is about celebrating our Saviors Birth.
In today’s world everyone seems to be consumed by their possessions when it comes time for Christmas. Sometimes we can see people try to outdo other for Thanksgiving, but is it really in the spirit of Thanksgiving to see who can prepare the biggest meal? I do not think we should try and outdo each other for the holidays. This time of year is meant to be spent with the people you love, even if all you do is eat a meal together or watch a football game, you are still spending time if the ones you love.
I also think it is important to help out your community during the holidays because there are so many people in today’s world who need help with money and food to spend their Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day with their families. One way we always help out our community is by getting up Thanksgiving morning and participating in a 5k race/walk for the rescue mission downtown. The theme for the event is “Move your feet so others can eat”. This event has only been going on the past few years and each year more and more people are coming out to walk and run to help others out. This year there is no reason why I shouldn’t get up Thanksgiving morning and go walk to help others out. I am going to have the entire week off and I can sleep in then, so we should all be able to give up one morning, even if it is a holiday to go help out the less fortunate especially with today’s economy and the number of people who have lost their jobs this year. This holiday season is going to be really hard on some people and if I can help them by getting out of bed one morning and walk around downtown for 3.2 miles, then I am going to help them.
Now this year is the time we need to really think about others and how it is better to give than receive. Not only for families who have lost their jobs in this economy, but for soldiers who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and can’t come home for the holidays. It is very hard not only for the soldiers but for their families who are back home waiting for them to return. I know that it is especially hard for the parents and spouses because my neighbor is currently station in Afghanistan and is in the middle of all the fighting which makes it even harder for his parents to get into the holiday spirit when they are concerned with their son’s safety and how we is doing. You know it is not a good situation when the showers consist of one bottle of water and a baby wipe each day. There is not telling how long we are going to have troops overseas fighting, but during the holidays, we need to remember them by sending them packages and cards to let them know we are thinking about them. I know that it means a lot to the soldiers that are serving.
Along with soldiers who are already deployed during the holiday’s you also have to think about families who have family members who are getting ready to deploy right after the holidays end. The holidays could be the last time they spend with their son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy. You never know what is going to happen so you have to be thankful for everything you have and every minute you get to spend with the ones you love. I know that this Christmas and Thanksgiving is going to be difficult for me and my family and friends due to my neighbor deploying in January. He is only a year older than me and it is going to be difficult because we have spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving together since we were born.
During the next few weeks, we need to take time and remember what we are truly thankful for and take time to give back to our community. Just think, if it was your family who lost jobs or had a son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy or is already deployed, you would want people to think about your child and family during the holidays when we are suppose to be happy and spending time with the ones we love. No matter how you celebrate the holiday’s we just need to remember that this may not be the best holiday season a family has experienced and need to be supportive during the difficult movements and the happy ones too.
When it comes to this time of year, you hear everyone starting to talk about their plans for the holiday season. I was home the weekend of November 7th and I was already asking what our family was going to do for Christmas. I know that it would not have changed since last year, but since I am gone to college now I wanted to make sure everything was the same. We always do the same thing each year. Get the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, decorate the house, bake cookies, have family and friends over for Christmas Eve Dinner, open presents Christmas morning and spend the day with my family. It is a good way to spend the holidays, but are we truly remembering why we are celebrating Christmas? Christmas is not about gifts, or who can put up the biggest decorations and lights outside of their house, or who gets the best presents that morning. Christmas is about celebrating our Saviors Birth.
In today’s world everyone seems to be consumed by their possessions when it comes time for Christmas. Sometimes we can see people try to outdo other for Thanksgiving, but is it really in the spirit of Thanksgiving to see who can prepare the biggest meal? I do not think we should try and outdo each other for the holidays. This time of year is meant to be spent with the people you love, even if all you do is eat a meal together or watch a football game, you are still spending time if the ones you love.
I also think it is important to help out your community during the holidays because there are so many people in today’s world who need help with money and food to spend their Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day with their families. One way we always help out our community is by getting up Thanksgiving morning and participating in a 5k race/walk for the rescue mission downtown. The theme for the event is “Move your feet so others can eat”. This event has only been going on the past few years and each year more and more people are coming out to walk and run to help others out. This year there is no reason why I shouldn’t get up Thanksgiving morning and go walk to help others out. I am going to have the entire week off and I can sleep in then, so we should all be able to give up one morning, even if it is a holiday to go help out the less fortunate especially with today’s economy and the number of people who have lost their jobs this year. This holiday season is going to be really hard on some people and if I can help them by getting out of bed one morning and walk around downtown for 3.2 miles, then I am going to help them.
Now this year is the time we need to really think about others and how it is better to give than receive. Not only for families who have lost their jobs in this economy, but for soldiers who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and can’t come home for the holidays. It is very hard not only for the soldiers but for their families who are back home waiting for them to return. I know that it is especially hard for the parents and spouses because my neighbor is currently station in Afghanistan and is in the middle of all the fighting which makes it even harder for his parents to get into the holiday spirit when they are concerned with their son’s safety and how we is doing. You know it is not a good situation when the showers consist of one bottle of water and a baby wipe each day. There is not telling how long we are going to have troops overseas fighting, but during the holidays, we need to remember them by sending them packages and cards to let them know we are thinking about them. I know that it means a lot to the soldiers that are serving.
Along with soldiers who are already deployed during the holiday’s you also have to think about families who have family members who are getting ready to deploy right after the holidays end. The holidays could be the last time they spend with their son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy. You never know what is going to happen so you have to be thankful for everything you have and every minute you get to spend with the ones you love. I know that this Christmas and Thanksgiving is going to be difficult for me and my family and friends due to my neighbor deploying in January. He is only a year older than me and it is going to be difficult because we have spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving together since we were born.
During the next few weeks, we need to take time and remember what we are truly thankful for and take time to give back to our community. Just think, if it was your family who lost jobs or had a son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy or is already deployed, you would want people to think about your child and family during the holidays when we are suppose to be happy and spending time with the ones we love. No matter how you celebrate the holiday’s we just need to remember that this may not be the best holiday season a family has experienced and need to be supportive during the difficult movements and the happy ones too.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Reilgion Forgories
Martin Luther a well known philosopher states that as humans we have the right to believe in what we chose. The United States does not force a certain religion on to us which we have to follow. Since we are free to choose the religion we want to follow and be involved with, we can see how Bart D. Ehrman is using Luther’s perspective by stating that the New Testament has forgeries in it.
Bart D. Ehrman has done research for years on the New Testament trying to prove that several of the books in the New Testament are forgeries. He claims that 1st Peter and 1st Timothy were written by Paul or someone claiming to be Paul, then later goes on to discuss that Paul would have not written the letters, thus revealing that the Gospel of Peter is written in the first person claiming to be written by Paul.
If the United State was a country that had a set type of religion for the entire country, Ehrman would not be allowed to express his views of the New Testament. Many people in the United States follow different religions and have been expressing different views for different religions. Most of the religions that have different beliefs and are trying to escape the “norm” of their religion do not have substantial evidence to prove their case. Ehrman has several different ways he can prove that there are New Testament forgeries.
One way he proves this is by studying the ancient Roman World and other documents from that time period. During the Roman World, forgery was widespread and was common among documents. During that time period people did not have nice laptops like we do today to record everything that happens, which then caused the events of what happened to be written down by someone who knew how to write or to be passed down from generation to generation by orally.
Ehrman discussed 1st and 2nd Peter with Peter allegedly writing 13 letters to followers of Jesus. Many scholars think that Peter wrote about 6 of the letters but are unsure of the other 7. Since they do not think Peter wrote the letters, Ehrman believes that someone else wrote them and put Peter’s name to them. Since they do not believe Peter wrote them they would be considered forged. 1st and 2nd Peter is not the only books in the New Testament to be considered forged. Ehrman also believes that the letter to James from peter is also forged. He believes this because in the letter he speaks of a missionary to Gentiles or Non-Jews who preaches a “lawless Gospel” which does not make sense considering Peter is a Jew. If this is a forgery in the New Testament, we then cannot tell who the author is, but someone that claims to be Peter.
Ehrman also states that this practice of forgery was condemned during this time period, but people still participated in it. Going back to Luther’s statement, if the people wanted to worship their own way, they could have chosen not to believe in what they were being told.
There is no clear way for anyone to know if there are truly forgeries in the New Testament or in the Bible in general. Scholars, like Ehrman can study the ancient documents from the Roman World and they can also apply theories like Luther’s to the New Testament and the Bible, but we can only apply their theories so many ways before that form of religion turns into another form. Even if there are forgeries in the Bible or the New Testament, people still read the Bible and follow their religion faithfully. By following Luther’s statement, Ehrman and other scholars have had the opportunity to present the material that they feel is false and not written by who it claims to be. If our country did not have freedom of religion Ehrman and other scholars would have to find a different way to present what they have found.
Even with Ehrman having his methods of proving that the New Testament has forgeries, how do we truly know if the New Testament is forged? There will never be a way to know for sure if the New Testament is forged because we were not there when it was written. Many people can try to prove that it was forged with different theories, but there theory will not be right.
With different theories about religion being claimed it would be hard for everyone to pick just one to believe in. With different theories, there are even more theories because of the different form of religions. With different forms of theories there can be different forms of forgeries with different religions. Baptist could view these theories differently than people who are catholic compared to people who are Jewish.
Since many of the religions use the Bible as their primary text they could all interpret in different ways, leading scholars to have different viewpoints. As Erhman claims that Paul has forgeries, we do not know that God wanted it to be that way. He could have wanted Paul to have had his letters to be forged for a reason we have yet to discover, and that we may never discover in this lifetime. There are many things in our lifetime that we may not discover until we have passed on and are on the other side with God.
No matter what people believe about the Bible, everyone will always have their own view about their religion. Scholars are not going to be able to change people’s views and will always try to change them. Viewpoints are hard to change without substantial evidence and Erhman doesn’t seem to be a reliable evidence from what he claims to be right. Scholars will continue to share their viewpoints and will always have an opinion. It is up to us to decide what we want to believe in and nobody but ourselves can change our viewpoint.
Bart D. Ehrman has done research for years on the New Testament trying to prove that several of the books in the New Testament are forgeries. He claims that 1st Peter and 1st Timothy were written by Paul or someone claiming to be Paul, then later goes on to discuss that Paul would have not written the letters, thus revealing that the Gospel of Peter is written in the first person claiming to be written by Paul.
If the United State was a country that had a set type of religion for the entire country, Ehrman would not be allowed to express his views of the New Testament. Many people in the United States follow different religions and have been expressing different views for different religions. Most of the religions that have different beliefs and are trying to escape the “norm” of their religion do not have substantial evidence to prove their case. Ehrman has several different ways he can prove that there are New Testament forgeries.
One way he proves this is by studying the ancient Roman World and other documents from that time period. During the Roman World, forgery was widespread and was common among documents. During that time period people did not have nice laptops like we do today to record everything that happens, which then caused the events of what happened to be written down by someone who knew how to write or to be passed down from generation to generation by orally.
Ehrman discussed 1st and 2nd Peter with Peter allegedly writing 13 letters to followers of Jesus. Many scholars think that Peter wrote about 6 of the letters but are unsure of the other 7. Since they do not think Peter wrote the letters, Ehrman believes that someone else wrote them and put Peter’s name to them. Since they do not believe Peter wrote them they would be considered forged. 1st and 2nd Peter is not the only books in the New Testament to be considered forged. Ehrman also believes that the letter to James from peter is also forged. He believes this because in the letter he speaks of a missionary to Gentiles or Non-Jews who preaches a “lawless Gospel” which does not make sense considering Peter is a Jew. If this is a forgery in the New Testament, we then cannot tell who the author is, but someone that claims to be Peter.
Ehrman also states that this practice of forgery was condemned during this time period, but people still participated in it. Going back to Luther’s statement, if the people wanted to worship their own way, they could have chosen not to believe in what they were being told.
There is no clear way for anyone to know if there are truly forgeries in the New Testament or in the Bible in general. Scholars, like Ehrman can study the ancient documents from the Roman World and they can also apply theories like Luther’s to the New Testament and the Bible, but we can only apply their theories so many ways before that form of religion turns into another form. Even if there are forgeries in the Bible or the New Testament, people still read the Bible and follow their religion faithfully. By following Luther’s statement, Ehrman and other scholars have had the opportunity to present the material that they feel is false and not written by who it claims to be. If our country did not have freedom of religion Ehrman and other scholars would have to find a different way to present what they have found.
Even with Ehrman having his methods of proving that the New Testament has forgeries, how do we truly know if the New Testament is forged? There will never be a way to know for sure if the New Testament is forged because we were not there when it was written. Many people can try to prove that it was forged with different theories, but there theory will not be right.
With different theories about religion being claimed it would be hard for everyone to pick just one to believe in. With different theories, there are even more theories because of the different form of religions. With different forms of theories there can be different forms of forgeries with different religions. Baptist could view these theories differently than people who are catholic compared to people who are Jewish.
Since many of the religions use the Bible as their primary text they could all interpret in different ways, leading scholars to have different viewpoints. As Erhman claims that Paul has forgeries, we do not know that God wanted it to be that way. He could have wanted Paul to have had his letters to be forged for a reason we have yet to discover, and that we may never discover in this lifetime. There are many things in our lifetime that we may not discover until we have passed on and are on the other side with God.
No matter what people believe about the Bible, everyone will always have their own view about their religion. Scholars are not going to be able to change people’s views and will always try to change them. Viewpoints are hard to change without substantial evidence and Erhman doesn’t seem to be a reliable evidence from what he claims to be right. Scholars will continue to share their viewpoints and will always have an opinion. It is up to us to decide what we want to believe in and nobody but ourselves can change our viewpoint.
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