To Be Who We Once Were...

            Today, millions of people are tuning in to watch President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.  With so many eyes focused in on the core of our nation, it’s almost impossible not to feel a little proud to be American.  This is a pride that doesn’t come easily for a nation that is just struggling to walk again after the crippling effects that our over-confidence once had. Nonetheless, with the sun shining down on the bleached heart of democracy, it’s hard not to feel a little hopeful about the future. 

            The pressure on our leader and his family today must be crushing. His strength is our strength and the support that his family gives him equally as representative. Yet, the critical eye can’t help but notice the weary look in his eyes. Like the increased proportion of gray in his hair, it indicates to us that he too has suffered from the effects of the last four years. This is comforting to a nation of exhausted workers because the hope in all of our hearts is that today will serve as our re-ignition.

            After today, the torch of progress will be passed to the American people again. The question that should be on all of our minds is, “What can we do differently this time?”  Here are a few thoughts on the possible answer:

·      Much of the progress that has been made thus far has been measured with the sweat and tears of the employed, and while that must continue, there needs to be a larger focus on innovation and new ideas. The world is thirsty for fresh perspectives, and there are countless youth eager to provide them with just that.

·      The gap between the rich and the poor is larger than ever with the rich getting richer over the past four years while the proportion of Americans whom consider themselves to be poor is barely even hitting a plateau in growth. We can no longer afford to preserve their lifestyles while the majority of us are struggling to put food on our tables. More legislation has to be passed that supports those who cannot work and are suffering each day because of their misfortunes.

·      Healthcare must become more universal. I have seen first hand the prejudice that exists towards those without health insurance. We still have people that believe America has the best healthcare in the country while many of our fellow Americans are DENIED treatment because they don’t have enough money to afford insurance. This is barbaric. WAKE UP!!

·      And finally, we have to get a handle on gun control in the coming years. We have had far too many deaths recently resulting from our inaction on this issue. Regardless of what exactly changes, something HAS to happen soon.

  

            This all may seem like a lot to swallow, but I think that is the message of today’s inauguration: Our work has just begun. The take-away here, though, is that we are all in this together. From the richest to the poorest, the sickest to the healthiest, the oldest to the youngest, we all are Americans, and while the President represents our voice to the world, we all can and do make a difference in shaping that voice. Let’s be who we once were.

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The Life of Ty

             This is the first in a series of posts in which I will be discussing the role of religion in our lives. As the title suggests, I was inspired to write on this topic after reading the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel. For me, Piscine’s (aka Pi) inner conflict with religion is a battle that really hits close to home. Much like Pi, I was raised amidst a culture of religious uniformity, but instead of the religion being Hinduism, mine was Protestant Christianity. As a gay male, I found myself at odds with my religion like many other LGBT individuals have experienced in their lives. I guess that was my main motivation for questioning the power of the Christian faith, and for questioning the validity of religion in general. My personal relationship with God had previously been a genuine one so this was a personal betrayal of ultimate proportions, and in my youth, the only reaction I could muster was complete denial of spirituality

            My academic studies did nothing but encourage my Atheism. Yet, I inevitably found little inner fulfillment within this lifestyle. Neurology has shown us that there is an observable mental state that religious experiences activate which is unlike any other state of being. The patterns of brain activations in these moments have been shown to have a therapeutic affect on the individual, as well. Perhaps this aspect of the human psyche provided us with an evolutionary advantage over other animals, but the believer in me argues that this could also just be the part of the brain that is directly linked to the divine, whatever that may be. 

So, again in parallel to Pi's journey, I began encouraging my curious disposition to explore the foreign world of religion. This time, I approached it much like an archaeologist would approach a new archaelogical dig. I was meticulous and critical of each new “artifact” that I encountered; studying it and extracting the parts that, to me, held value. What resulted was my own fusion of worldwide religious beliefs. It works well in my life, and it carried the additional perk of providing me with more cultural tolerance and for that, I am truly grateful.

           Now, one thing to know about Protestants is that they emphasize the importance of a personal relationship with God, and that belief is one that has remained in me to this day. I hesitated, at first, when I thought about writing on this topic because, for me, religion is a personal thing. But, I have also seen the painful and destructive power of religious intolerance. So in the next couple of weeks, I will be presenting the main world religions in hopes of drawing the numerous parallels among them.  I think we all have something we can learn from other cultures, and my challenge to each of you is to approach each religion I present with an open mind.  At their cores, every religion is about love and forgiveness so my ultimate goal is to encourage all of us to practice those aspects of spirituality a little more in our daily lives.  

            I will present them in pairs with no particular order so up first for next week: Christianity and Islam.  So stay tuned!!!

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The Lesson of the Newtown Tragedy

Post-Newtown: Has America finally learned its lesson?

...& was it the right lesson?

Even if you have been living under a rock for the past week, you have probably still heard about the tragic event took place in Newtown, CT last Friday. Even more assuredly, you have witnessed the transformation of even your most politically apathetic friends and family into passionate activists either for or against gun control. Undoubtedly, the recently expired ban on assault weapons needs to be reinstated, but almost all sane American's can agree on that so my question is:

Is there a broader concern in our culture that, as a society, we are neglecting?

Of course there is! When was the last time that our media fixated their cameras on the real cause of our social problems? Their interest in capturing hard-hitting and attention-grabbing headlines has always limited the quality of our information, and the coverage of the Newtown tragedy is no exception. The mention of this issue is included in most reports as a sidebar to the main issue of gun control, but I wholeheartedly disagree. By now, you have hopefully predicted that the issue at which I am hinting is the handling of mental illness in America, and I'm equally hopeful that you are aware that this subject is highly taboo in our culture. But, in essence, mental illness IS our culture. Culture and mental health are so intimately intertwined that one should not appear in textbooks without adequate mentioning of the other. Consider this:

"Cultural and social factors contribute to the causation of mental illness, yet that contribution varies by disorder. Mental illness is considered the product of a complex interaction among biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors. The role of any of these major factors can be stronger or weaker depending on the specific disorder."--http://www.nmha.org

So it isn't a far stretch from this statement to understand how lower-income and social minorities suffer from mental health issues at a higher rate than do the higher-income groups or the social majority. This issue is as much a human rights issue as it is a health one. We have to stop avoiding the issues that make us feel guilty as a society. Let's be honest, we have all overheard the stereotypical behavior of certain homeless people wherein they emphatically declare their opinions about some obscure topic to their hallucinations, and I admit that I, too, have been guilty of laughing at their strange ramblings. Yet, this is the root of our cultural error. We have allowed the capitalist ideals of self-sufficiency and "bootstrap"-style self-improvement to permeate into all aspects of our culture.

We laugh at our fellow man's mental illness as if they have somehow failed at achieving their American dream. But the real irony there is that we never allowed them to have dreams at all. Research has shown that certain genetic attributes are turned on in the presence of extreme environmental stress. You or I could have the same gene in our DNA, lying dormant in anticipation of the event that will activate it. If thats the case the what is the difference between us and the man talking to himself on the street corner? (hint: that's a rhetorical question)..

Now, there are just as many disorders that afflict all socioeconomic groups equally, and these are the disorders that are usually biologically determined at the point of conception. Yet, we are so quick to blame the parents/caregivers for not raising the child "properly." By now, I have made it clear that the source of mental illness is often a topic for which NO ONE has the complete answer given science's current level of understanding. You or I are just as likely as was Nancy Lanza (the mother of the CT shooter) to bear a child that suffers from a disorder like the one Adam Lanza (the CT shooter) suffered from. This is not a question of "who is to blame", this is a question of "what can we do about it now?"

And, yes, we could place the blame on the Lanza family for having guns in their home, but the danger of guns isn't going to go away with a legal prohibition. We can restrict access to assault weapons, but even that has the potential to result in dangerous & unregulated black markets. What we can do is to begin accepting a certain level of responsibility as a society for the Newtown massacre. A few options:

1. Increasing government funding to clinical research of mental illness treatments
2. Pursuing legislation that will require courses be taught on proper mental healthcare in our public schools
3. Decriminalize & distigmatize the label of having a disorder in personality, mood, or thought
4. Requiring that ALL insurance plans include mental health providers in their coverage
5. Starting public awareness campaigns in the media which recommend that everyone begin seeing a therapist twice a year as part of a well-rounded health plan

These are just a few options that could help to fuel positive change in how our country helps the mentally ill. It's the only real way to stop events like the Newtown massacre from happening in an era when guns already permeate the very fabric of our society.

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