Here's something I just realized: We are all born into this world, given ideas, and religious beliefs. They are all products of other people's thoughts. Well, I have news for you: Those people are not always right.

A prime example: From the day white man set foot on Africa, he experienced what he saw as savages, man-eating pageans. He saw they did not speak his language, they wore little clothes, and they did not believe in God. He saw they had dark skin. It became popular belief in Europe that all people with dark skin were savages and that they were inferior and should be enslaved. Fast forward to over a thousand years later, in America, mid-1850s. The concept that blacks are equal to whites is almost ridiculous in the South, but people are seeing the truth. Still today, there are ignorant people whose upbringing has led them to feel superior to other ethnic groups.

Today, though, for the most part, we know better. But I've got to wonder if I was born in the South in the 1800's, would I still see all humans as equal? Probably not. Which leads me to believe that if there is still problems in our society like this, I wouldn't see it, I'd just accept it like the Georgian farmers did the place of their slaves.

I don't want to let that happen. I want to see through the system, to challenge it. Challenge everything, because odds are it's not what it seems. Challenge your culture, challenge your religion. Challenge SoSuave.com, and all the great posters here. Challenge me, cause I'm only 14, and I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about anyway. Challenge everything, and if it still makes sense from every point of view, then stick by it. Live by it.

WB

Originally posted by Wonderbread166
Here's something I just realized: We are all born into this world, given ideas, and religious beliefs. They are all products of other people's thoughts. Well, I have news for you: Those people are not always right.

A prime example: From the day white man set foot on Africa, he experienced what he saw as savages, man-eating pageans. He saw they did not speak his language, they wore little clothes, and they did not believe in God. He saw they had dark skin. It became popular belief in Europe that all people with dark skin were savages and that they were inferior and should be enslaved. Fast forward to over a thousand years later, in America, mid-1850s. The concept that blacks are equal to whites is almost ridiculous in the South, but people are seeing the truth. Still today, there are ignorant people whose upbringing has led them to feel superior to other ethnic groups.

Today, though, for the most part, we know better. But I've got to wonder if I was born in the South in the 1800's, would I still see all humans as equal? Probably not. Which leads me to believe that if there is still problems in our society like this, I wouldn't see it, I'd just accept it like the Georgian farmers did the place of their slaves.

I don't want to let that happen. I want to see through the system, to challenge it. Challenge everything, because odds are it's not what it seems. Challenge your culture, challenge your religion. Challenge SoSuave.com, and all the great posters here. Challenge me, cause I'm only 14, and I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about anyway. Challenge everything, and if it still makes sense from every point of view, then stick by it. Live by it.

WB

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Funny you post this... I just handed in a 10 page paper on this in my intro to writing class today. Never found it post-worthy, but it is an interesting thing to think about. Good post.

Challenge everything? No. Challenging everything is for the mentally weak. Think through everything and evaluate it according to your social moors, your morality, and according to historical analysis? Sure.

I see so many morons out there rebelling against everything, and it's really laughable. There is a reason our cultures have evolved the way they have, particularly successful cultures.

Things like slavery were bound to fall in time. Namely because slavery directly contradicts the notion that we are to treat all men as we wish to be treated from our Judeo-Christian (well, mainly Christian on this particular example) heritage. That's actually a fairly novel concept. If you'll look at the rest of the world, slavery still exists in parts of Asia and Africa to this very day, as sad as that might be. It's really no suprise that the first abolitionists were Quaker, either, as they probably engaged in the most open and non-hierarchical theological and moral discussions.

Listen, you're never going to escape your culture. You can try, but you'll only be reacting against your culture in a way that is actually defined by your culture.

Challenging isn't really the answer. Questioning, evaluating, and attempting to understand would be a more appropriate response.

as a kid, challenging fundamentals is a way of coping with problems and establishing independence. Its an important step in the process of learning, but eventually everyone realizes that it takes time for even the smallest things to change. A ton of shit is fcked but its not gonna change anytime soon - in cases like these, u gotta learn to deal with the situation as best as you can.

Originally posted by akindofblue
Challenge everything? No. Challenging everything is for the mentally weak. Think through everything and evaluate it according to your social moors, your morality, and according to historical analysis? Sure.

I see so many morons out there rebelling against everything, and it's really laughable. There is a reason our cultures have evolved the way they have, particularly successful cultures.

Things like slavery were bound to fall in time. Namely because slavery directly contradicts the notion that we are to treat all men as we wish to be treated from our Judeo-Christian (well, mainly Christian on this particular example) heritage. That's actually a fairly novel concept. If you'll look at the rest of the world, slavery still exists in parts of Asia and Africa to this very day, as sad as that might be. It's really no suprise that the first abolitionists were Quaker, either, as they probably engaged in the most open and non-hierarchical theological and moral discussions.

Listen, you're never going to escape your culture. You can try, but you'll only be reacting against your culture in a way that is actually defined by your culture.

Challenging isn't really the answer. Questioning, evaluating, and attempting to understand would be a more appropriate response.

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You're right. Challenging, maybe is bad wording. I didn't mean rebel, I meant question. I meant to realize that many things are not as right as they seem, and that an alternate point of view may not be as wrong as it seems.