innocence

for those of you who don't know, i am in the US Army. i joined the Utah National Guard 2 years ago--in march 2010. it has been a great experience. it has also been very different from my experiences in high school, at college, or on my church mission.

in comparing the army with my personal religious beliefs, i often have been faced with conflicts. i don't enjoy the dirty jokes, drunkenness, or profanities that are often a part of Army culture. in mentioning this, i want to point out that the Army is full of very good people. just because they differ from me in behavior or religious preference does not make them somehow "bad." i have often been impressed with the professionalism and conduct of my fellow soldiers. they strive to live the Army values, which are:

Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage

in my unit, i interact with many soldiers--male and female, old and young, enlisted and officers. religion does not come up often in conversation (though we do start company activities with a prayer). in my company there are few people that are actively and openly religious. those few people tend to hold back in conversations because they do not want to be involved with some of the conversation topics that come up.

there is a brother and sister in my company who are very religious and innocent. they both recently turned in mission paperwork at the same time (she is 21, and he is 19). i have been impressed with how genuine and sincere they are. these two individuals are without guile.

yesterday at the chow hall, one of the soldiers brought up the "popcorn song." the young man did a little demonstration of the song, singing it for those of us at the table. if you are LDS you know it--just a ridiculous little ditty about how the blossoms on fruit trees looks like popcorn. a few minutes later the first sergeant came in the room. one of the soldiers at our table said, "hey first sergeant! this kid has a song he wants to sing for you! he's been practicing at our table." the first sergeant loved it. he called the young soldier over and announced to the whole company, "hey, listen up! we've got us some entertainment."

we all laughed and enjoyed as the soldier sang "popcorn popping on the apricot tree," complete with actions. he was red-faced and embarrassed, but a good sport about it. when he sat back down, one of the soldiers said, "man you are so innocent i fear for you." we laughed, but i could tell that he meant it. the young soldier could also sense that. one of the other soldiers said, "yeah, you need to get out of utah," somehow implying that his innocence was naive and ought to be outgrown. the implication was that only by getting out of utah could he experience what the world is really like.

what bothered me was the expectation that he needed to "finally grow up." did the other soldiers think that after living somewhere else he would come home with street smarts and cynicism, finally willing to laugh at their dirty jokes? i understand what they were saying. after all, i think utah is quite a protected place, separated from many aspects of the "real world." perhaps it is a good thing to go out and experience the difference. whether you live in south africa, russia, or south america (this young soldier will be serving in ecuador), i think that there is value in experiencing different cultures, religions, and languages. i also think that there is a lot of variety to be found within the united states.

while it is good to experience differences in culture and perspective, we do not have to change ourselves to fit whatever culture we live in. we can (and should) still be ourselves. i believe that we can let our experiences change us, and we can increase in our ability to understand and empathize with others. however this increase in understanding does not need to coincide with a decrease in those beliefs and behaviors that make us who we are.

i am glad to say that i never "grew up" from my state of innocence. i have learned and understood many things so far in my life, and i plan to learn much more. but i have come to the conclusion that innocence is not just a state of being; it is a choice. there are several definitions of innocence: freedom from sin/guilt, simplicity/naiveté, harmlessness, and lack of knowledge or understanding. i think all but the last are positive attributes that we ought to be developing in ourselves.

in conclusion, i want to go back to the story of this young solider. i hope he never grows up. i hope he expands in learning and understanding while remaining innocent, simple, and harmless. i hope he can stay strong and be himself in a world that sees innocence as weakness and naiveté as stupidity.

feminism

i am a big fan of women. not only do i find them incredible and attractive, but i also see that they are often unappreciated. i applaud the efforts of women's rights activists, and i am glad that women are now nearly equal in society. they are not treated perfectly equal to men, but i also think that there is no level of equality that would please everyone. because men and women are different, i don't know the point at which we would all agree that 'we are equal enough.'

i hope that the woman i one day marry will be equal to me in many ways. i want her to be equal in intellect. i want her to have her own ideas, and i will value those ideas as equal to my own. i want her to have ambition, goals, and dreams.

i wonder whether some feminists take things too far. i think that many girls and women are afraid to identify themselves as feminists because that word has a negative connotation. is it a deserved connotation?

i was surprised as one of my BYU professors identified himself as a 'flaming feminist' on the first day of the semester. he said that his girls were going to grow up in a world where they were treated as equals and were not told what they could and could not do and what they could and could not accomplish. i totally agree with him. but am i willing to call myself a feminist, let alone a 'flaming' one? i'm not sure.

is there any specific definition of feminism that is generally accepted?


the merriam-webster dictionary defines feminism as:
1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

2: organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

working with that definition, i am quite comfortable calling myself a feminist.  in contrast,  casual conversation tends to depict feminists as man haters.

compare the merriam-webster definition with this one, found on urbandictionary.com: 

feminism: An ideology defined by the following equation: F = (A + B) - C. Feminism equals Avarice plus Bigotry minus Conscience. Its most recent incarnation is characterized by supremacist whining, a form of double-think that would have made Orwell retch... This, in turn, guides us to feminism's core philosophy: "Our say-so makes it so; if our pronouncements contradict each other, you males are required to believe both but only to the extent that they run counter to your interests and in favor of our convenience. This rule is absolute until it yields an outcome we don't like. Then we will pretend - and you are required to believe - that it never existed. Oh, and you are evil and sexist if you point to any flaw in this philosophy, even after we've abandoned or changed it. But you are a patronizing bastard if you fail to give our point-of-view your full critical consideration ... just as long as you don't disagree with it ... or agree with it for the wrong reasons ... and we will from time-to-time declare what the right and wrong reasons are ... and then change them to suit ourselves."

Feminism is nothing more than the politics of convenience.


i think that the variety of opinions on the subject is astounding.  i found another interesting definition on urbandictionary.com (unlike the last definition, i like this one): 


feminism:

1. The radical idea that women are people. 
2. A social movement created by those who believe that women are people. 
3. Something a women is accused of believing in if she does or says anything that implies she believes she is a person.


it is interesting that definition number three shows that some women are fearful of being labeled as feminists. 


as usual, i am interested in the thoughts and ideas of my assorted readers. what is your take on feminism and sexism?

mr. adam droge

adam is a guy that i have grown quite fond of in the short time we have been acquainted. he is a good man and a good friend. i wrote a short poem about him that i will now recite. (imagine me reciting it in a soft british accent):

there was a man of quickly wit
who never lost and never quit
he was a man of surpassing wonder
who never made a single blunder
in life

quick as a fox and fast as a cat
he lived in a box and slept on a mat
there was no other quite the same
indeed i'll rather envy the dame
that gets him

a man of courage and intellect
he always gets what he sets out to get
healthy and cheerful and jovial too
he knows his math, like "two plus two
isn't five"

yes i'd say he is like no other
not like his dad, not like his brother
he has a way of doing things
a lot of peace and joy it brings

his friends

at the age of twenty-two
he took a trip to Hogle Zoo
monkeys and zebras and lions, yes,
he even saw a rhinoceros

with a horn

quite a silly whippersnapper
he once dreamed of being a mapper
then he heard the word 'cartographer'
quit right there and became a stenographer
(he writes quick)

once as a child but two years old

he crawled into the street i'm told

sat in the road without a clue
a man took him home without ado
no babies in the road!

cuz of a horrible traffic accident
a dog named duke is tragically absent
his brother cried, and you would too
if you lost your man's-best-friend to
a hit and run

continuing our saga of road rage
a nice man of elderly age
broke adam's leg with a car

green cast, purple cast, wheelchair too
followed by a stint in a walking boot
adam broke his first bone ever

but don't you worry-the story's not over
you see, adam is no lame-brain loafer
he hit a girl with a car on his mission

the moral of the story is:

be careful of cars.

adam: the man, the hulk, the beast
his clothing well pressed, with creases all creased
a striking figure, stalwart and bold
above and beyond an earthly mold
fit and dashing, a man among men
oh the places he'll go, the places he's been
always we'll know him as one of great worth
a jovial smile, his heart full of mirth
long may he live, and full be his life
with a loving family and a home free of strife

good work adam--think road safety

for more information about mr. droge, please refer to the soon-to-be-published autobiography that is posted in the comments section. it is like 12 pages long... (it is a good read, i assure you)