Nature Vrs. Nurture

There is a debate going on in this country that uses nature versus nurture  as an argument. It is the front runner of some of the most conservative opinions. From this place it is easy to then start misrepresenting exactly what nature is and what nurture is. It’s actually a biology versus psychology essentially.  In terms of human development, it could apply to transgender individuals,  homosexuality or even masculine and feminine attributes. From the nature perspective, there are theories that human nature and the chemical processes of the mind is what ultimately controls life style choices. We are driven by the genetic programing that took millions of years to create. Alternatively the is the nurture approach to how humans behave, and the choices we make. To some the way some of those have been raised effect the kind of adult they are meant to be. I’d like to look at both sides of these arguments and see which I most agree with.  

When speaking about nature and sociology we’ve got to look at it subjectively. There are researchers who’ve came up with multiple ways to explain how humans behave. We are mammals with instincts and primal urges, essentially. Things we do naturally such as communicate with body language, react to certain stimuli, and detect pheromones is involuntary. When applying this to everyday social interaction there that every nuance expected is some form of natural human behavior.

Fall 2009 Journal Entry

I stared at my fingers trying to find the words to write this journal entry. Then it hits me, chapter 1 of “A guide to Writing” was made for this moment. Each section had things to say which is made to be read by a beginning writer. A long with gloating about it’s own greatness it fits in an up to day perception. By teaching the basics like why writing is important all the way to how writing is learned they cover any doubts you could have. Writing gives you more opportunity to succeed in college or a career. It helps you organize what you read into important keys. Writing even helps you grow as an individual and reach out to your peers. Over all, it gives you the chance to do well in nearly everything. The best thing to know is that all writers need to work at their writing. Professional writers read to learn how others write. This is how writers recognize genres. They follow general patterns which are predictable that most readers can catch. The Concise Guide to Writing provided  its own examples of genres, those cheeky bastards.

            “You would learn very little in this world if you were not allowed to imitate. And to repeat your imitations until some solid grounding…was achieved an the slight but wonderful difference-that made you and no one else-could assert itself.”  That was a quote by Mary Oliver. I can relate to what she was saying from any point of view. Whether is be writing or drawing your first picture, we need that wide set of examples to produce original ideas. Everything that we have done follows a pattern we had learn from something previous. In writing, you take what you have read before to recognize it’s pattern then you see its possibilities for innovation. You can see this in your body language. You know you learned that annoyed tapping of the foot or the huff of frustration from someone.

Papa Bo: A Biography on for my grandfather.

Daniel Harrell Carelock was born in El Dorado, Arkansas on November 1930 25^{th ,}  1930. His mother is Alpha Leister Carelock and Father, William Carelock, had 6 children together. Twins, Julius and Jimmy, were the youngest, then Rosie, Daniel was the middle child and the oldest boys were Ralph and Orland. Daniel had to help take care of his younger siblings when he was near 7 years old. They lived in a rural area and had livestock and a vegetable garden to take care of. Daniel had a cow to milk each morning, as did Rosie. They also had to collect fire wood. Daniel, to his family, was only called Bo. He knew is grandfather well. Myers Carelock traveled from North Carolina by Wagon to El Dorado and raised his children alone since his wife died when Daniels father was only 8. He settled the Carelock Family in the same land for the next few generation.

            Daniel went to a small school near old south field road for only a few years. In 5^th grade he began school at Parkers Chapel. His mother was a school teacher. Around the time of World war 2, his mother traveled to schools who were lacking teachers around Arkansas. The first President he really remembered was Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, then Harry Truman after the war. He had two really good childhood friends name Grimm and Kenneth. Past times that they enjoyed were riding there bicycles. Daniel had horses they would ride also. Kenneth had a couple of cousins that had a house with a lake near it. On summer days they would go swimming.  At around 9, his family got their first radio. Everyday at 5pm they listened to the Uncle Moe show on K01D. He listened to gospel, country, and a little of rock and roll. When he turned 16 he got his first job working for his grandfather, his mothers father. He drove gravel trucks to construction sites. In High School his favorite teachers were an Algebra Teacher name Mrs. Hamm and his History teacher Mr. Latemer. After school, he was done with academics.

            He wanted to get rich and him and a few of his buddies packed up for California. For a summer they got a job picking grapes at a California vineyard. It became a hard life and they didn't get paid well enough to live on. Eventually they had to move back to El Dorado. At 19, he got his first salary job. It was for the Monsanto Chemical company. When he was 20 he met Mary Alice Jackson at his church at Bethal Baptist. They sang together in the choir. In 1950, they got married. Her father and his were the only guests to the outside service. For their honey moon they went to Mississippi. In 1951, their first child was born, Danny Carelock. The first house they called their own was a small 1 story in Smackover. They lived there for 2 years before David was born at Warren Hospital. They then moved back to El Dorado for a short year and went on to Parkers Chapel. He bought a small hamburger restaurant called bamboos. Mary and him co-owned it and ran the business on a small lot on Hillsboro. It owned one of the most revolutionary record players. It began to lose money so he sold it and worked back with Monsanto Chemical until 1956.

            He then began working in car dealership. He found his niche on a week where he was taking care of his friends dealership while he was away on business. By the end of the week, Daniel had sold every one of the cars. He once traded a car for a house in Fordyce. When he began his first car lot there were two good friends of his that helped him out allot. One man was a mechanic who looked at the vehicles that came in and another was a body shop owner who repaired good running cars. Simultaneously he bought, renovated, and sold homes around El Dorado. In 1964 he had a near fatal car wreck . It was raining and a car carrying Dr. Rammy, his wife, son and son's girlfriend hydroplaned in-front of his vehicle. Daniel was the only survivor against all odd. The arriving paramedics thought he was already dead at the scene and did not tend to him. His 3^rd son, Glenn was born. All 3 boys went to Parkers Chapel until high school when they went to El Dorado High School. Mary became a missionary and traveled around the world. When David was in 8^th grade he was on the school counsel. Mary and Daniel divorced, remarried, then divorced again when all sons had left home. Mary moved away and lived near her sister in Arizona. Daniel find a girlfriend at his church named Harriet. In 1984 his first grandson, named Jeremy, was born  to Glenn and his wife. 2 years later his second grandson, John was born. He owned the car dealer ship Carelocks Car lot. His son Danny began working with him.  In 1990, David has a daughter, Marcie. David was working in New York at the time and before he came back to El Dorado Daniel found out and offered to help out her Mother.

Remembering the Earthquake

He was a father. He was a son. He was a wrestler. His name was John Anthony Tenta. His

life began on June 22nd, 1963 in Surrey, British Colombia. Born at over 11 pounds, it wasn't

surprising he grew into a large man. He became a wrestler and a football player for LSU after high

school. Later, he moved onto sumo wrestling. He traveled to Japan and that is where he meets his

wife. Back in the states, John began his career in American wrestling. For over 10 years, he

dedicated himself to wrestling. His family was growing alongside his career. He proved himself to

be a family man along with championship holding wrestler.

The life of the young John Tenta was as normal as any Canadian child. In talking to his

son I learned John Tenta Sr., John's father, was a logger. It was one of the riskiest jobs he could

have chosen. His mother, Irene, was a caterer. She knew hundreds of recipes and was a trusted

planner. John was the youngest of three children. He had two older sisters, Brenda and Iorna.

Being the only boy and his father an outdoors kind of man it could be assumed he saw some labor.

Little John at 6 years old soon learned his calling when instead of Saturday cartoons, his dad

switched the channels over to wrestling. He learned freestyle wrestling at North Surrey Secondary

and he became a junior champion by 1981. He was barely over 18 when he had won over 17 junior

Canada championships. John described himself as a clumsy boy that got himself hurt often. Much

of it became lost history since he did not get a chance to tell his son the crazier parts of his

childhood.

There weren't many things that could be found about before his college years. After high

school he moved on to Louisiana. Wikipedia states, he received a scholarship to LSU for NCAA-
level CollegiateWrestling. LSU had to drop the wresting team, forcing John to pick a new sport.

He then played of the Junior Varsity football team. With his huge build he quickly got the

nickname, “Big John.” A few of his buddies recall him lifting two guys and carrying them beneath

his arms. On weekends, he was the bouncer of the local college bar. He became so well liked they

called him “The Bengal”. His reputation only grew as a nice guy.

During a trip to Vancouver, he meets a former Yokozuna, a high ranking sumo wrestler.

Through him, he was recruited to Japan to pursue Sumo Wrestling. In October 1985, he joined a

sumo stable run by Kotozakura Masakatsu.(Wikipedia.com) This is where he got his first Alias in

his wrestling career. He was called “Kototenta” which means “Tenta the Harp”. Soon he proved

that he could be a great sumo wrestler. In just 6 months he won 17 ranked matches. His name was

promptly beefed up to “Heavenly Mountain Harp” or “Kototenzan”. He was the third western

sumo wrestler in the world. He was given media coverage over his achievements and was

nicknamed the “Canadian Comet” by the people of America.

John signed a big contract with All Japan Pro Wrestling, which was run by the legendary

Giant Baba, also a sumo wrestler. Soon, it had to come to an end though. He decided to quit when

he felt to harm it was doing to his body. Along with that, he could not achieve a higher rank

because of his large tattoo of a tiger from college. In Japan, tattoos were associated with gangsters

and were dishonorable. John Jr was told that before saying goodbye to Japan his dad found a one

of a kind keepsake, his mother Josephine. John Tenta and Josephine meet at a Japanese bar. She

was a beautiful Filipino singer who was a part of a band that played there.

Josephine came back with John to marry him in the United States. Not long after he

returned, wrestling promoters were seeking him. Many of them had followed his stories. He briefly

began wrestling under his own name, John Tenta, in March of 1989. He participated in what was

called “dark matches”. These were fights fought with the cameras off to warm up the crowd. He

was testing his talents under the radar. He signed with WWF, World Wrestling Federation on the

November of 1989. His first ever match with his new alias was in September of that year. He was

then to be known as “Earthquake Evans.”

Obsessedwithwrestling.com says that during Johns first televised show he was staged as a

random audience member to be brought into the ring. He was to sit on Bravo's back as he did a set

of push­ups. Instead, he did a jumping sit and claimed his signature move for the rest of his career

as Earthquake. At the height of his fame he was paired with no other than Hulk Hogan. It was

coined a feud between them during May of 1990. A feud in wrestling was a staged rivalry between

multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. After a series of matches Hogan was named the

winner. John then became the winner of WrestleMania. Earthquake was then paired to feud Jake

"The Snake" Roberts which lasted all summer of 1991.

When the feud ended finally, John joined a team with his friend Fred Ottman who became

the Typhoon. Together they made the team The Natural Disasters. They fought for tag team titles

but were eventually sold out by their manager for another team. John left the WWF in January

1993 after losing to Bam Bam Bigelow the night after the Royal Rumble. He returned in January

1994 when he assisted Bret Hart in a match with Shawn Michaels by countering Diesel's

interference. Personal money troubles made John contact Hulk Hogan who lobbied to have John

come in WCW, World Championship Wrestling. John broke his WWF contract to join WCW. He

then changed his name to the Avalanche, but WWF sued since it resembled his past title. He was

then called “The Shark” when he joined a team Dungeon of Doom. This all happened in just a 3

year span between 1994 and 1997.

Another feud began between Big Bubba Rogers, one of his own team mates. This lead to

him leaving WCW to join WWF, again. He had lost weight during his absence so he had to choose

a more fitting name. He joined the team The Oddities and was given a name and persona to him.

He was now Golga which wore a leather mask and carried a Cartman plushy from southpark.

During this same time he ran a wrestling school out of Sanford, Florida.

(obsessedwithwresiling.com) The oddities disappeared in late 1999 though and John was on his

own again. He returned to WWF in 2001 as Earthquake. By 2004 he retired upon learning about

the appearance of cancer in his bladder and a lung tumor.

Throughout his wrestling career, he was also a family man. John’s family remembers he

could not be active in his family life due to his career. Josephine and he had three children

together. First was Jeff Tenta. He has his father’s stoutness and his mother’s complexion. He was

born around John's early 1980 career. Next was his daughter Joanna. She was born near the end of

the 80's. Last, but not least, was his youngest son, John Tenta Jr. He was born in 1992 around the

time of The Natural Disasters had. All three children got a glimpse of their father’s active life.

John Jr. recalled, “I remember him traveling a whole lot and being gone for several weeks at a

time. My family and I would tune in whenever he would be on TV and cheer him on. He and I also

watched a lot of his old tapes where my mom recorded him on TV. “As for backstage this was

where all the magic happened. John Jr. can describe his first taste of the prep before big wrestling

matches. “You need to stretch and get yourself ready for the match. With wrestling, it's also a very

personal type thing... As in the people get to know how the wrestlers act with all of those

interviews you see before matches.” He learned young that his father was putting on a show and

knew he really wasn't getting hurt. He traveled a lot and was always gone long periods of time.

When John was home, he was a great husband and a father. His family’s home was full of

laughter most of the time. Either it be a bouncy ball war in the living room or a heart filled talk at

the dinner table, it was a loving home. Tragic news hit the family hard one summer of 2004. John

Tenta developed bladder cancer near the end of his wrestling career. His family and friends

supported him and prayed for him to get well. His home became dark and solemn. John's family

was devout catholic followers. John Jr. could still remember their prayers. “We would pray the

Rosary every day and my dad would be blessed several times by our priest throughout his battle

...” He soon began to seek treatment and was put on chemo. John was active in keeping his fans up

to date. In November of 2004, he announced in an interview with Raw magazine that the chemo

failed and tumors had spread to his lungs. Johns family made the trip to Houston, Texas where

they could be close to his treatment. They decided to move there. John Jr. was just entering 6th

grade at the time.

They spent weeks in hotel rooms until they secured a house to live in. They found a place

just a few miles out of the busy city and close to the kid’s new schools. John was optimistic

throughout and kept his faith in God. The family went on as normal. If there were conflicts

between siblings or financial stress, he always handled them calmly. He thanked God for his life

and for his beautiful family. He traveled the world and was at peace was his life. Years went by

and he kept every one informed about his health. He involved himself with fans via internet

forums. He regularly was interviewed by magazines and radio stations. His oldest, Jeff was

engaged and his daughter was preparing for college. Soon though, the cancer began wearing down

his body. He kept his family calm and he let them be prepared for this moment. He did not want

them to blame God or themselves. He loved all of them and they were beside him always. In the

early morning of June 7th, 2006, John Anthony Tenta passed away. His family was with him and

he felt their love and sadness.

Now, in 2009, the Tenta family still moving on with the hint of their fathers love always

surrounding them.. Jeff Tenta has a son now and is happily married. They are going to visit

everyone in Christmas. Joanna is in her second year of college. She comes around every month.

John Jr. is a junior in high school and on the varsity football team. He lives with his mother

Josephine and developed the average teenage son/mother relationship. Its tougher now then it used

to be. Moneys tight and things were downsized to fit the family. They moved from their home to

an apartment. They still get support from the wrestling community. John friends he made during

his career kept in touch with them. John's sisters and parents call the kids and make sure

everything is going good. John's youngest, John Jr., wanted to add his own story and feelings. “I

would come home from school and walk into his room every day to find him working on a

crossword puzzle. When I walked in, he would set it down and we would talk until dinner time. He

ALWAYS had time for family within reason of his job, of course. It's ridiculous how much my

family is based off of love, which is heavily influenced by my dad. Even when he was wheelchair

bound, he would come out to watch me play football for my school, even though we had a losing

record of 0­8. As famous as my dad was, he was never one to hold that above his head. He was the

most humble, down to earth person I knew, even though he had every reason to be full of himself.

I knew John's family because I met John Jr. over the internet over 6 years ago. The family

knew me and I was acquainted with them through voice chat and web cam. John’s dad was a great

guy, but I never had the chance to meet the family. As much as I went through along with them, I

feel close as them as neighbors. John Tenta should be recognized as the man he was remembered.

(REview)Lars and the Real Girl

I had seen Lars and the Real Girl when it first came out. I am always looking for the next indie

psychological film. What reminded me of this was from the list of movies off of PsychMajors.com. I

wanted to see this because I think it is absolutely fascinating how Lars connected to this life size replica

of a woman. The manifestation which became Bianca in his eyes was a reflection of his inner self. He

made her a story, a life, even down to the reason she was in a wheel chair. I think this would be

categorized as a delusion somehow. In the text book I could not find anything about inanimate objects

being addressed as living things. On page 248, there is the topic on delusions and hallucinations. I really

do not think this book would have covered it. I did learn from research is that when objects or animals

are given human characteristics it would be called Anthropomorphism. Not many people have studied the

human psyche in relation to loving and caring for an object has a human being. I actually have begun to

taking steps begin this as a thesis while I progress in psychology.

So far the studies on anthropomorphism have been the personification of pets. An article by

Tanya L. Chartrand, Gráinne M. Fitzsimons, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, is about how anthropomorphism

activate associated concepts and automatically influence behavior. In Lars and the Real girl, the people

who cared for Lars treated Bianca as he did. For him to give her a name and call her feminine nouns

I think it definitely encouraged the people around him to also do so. For humans to relate human

characteristics to human like objects is not at all uncommon. Though it is not normally a grown man to a

woman figure, we can see it in other places. Children for example adore dolls and talk to them and groom

them like they are real. The difference from a baby and a baby doll to a young child could simply be

someone encouraging gentleness to the real baby.

Before watching Lars and the Real Girl, I knew these dolls were out there. I won’t say that I

learned something like, “There are people who love inanimate objects.” I want to say that I learned from

the movie was that the kindness of people weaned Lars off this crutch. It was a movie though, and to

believe that it could happen could be inaccurate. To watch a movie and learn something about it would

have to be something you never heard of before and you have that realization that the same situation

is out there in real life. I was impressed with the therapist though. I would like to be like her one day.

Something that I could take from this was the indirect approach to therapy. From the article is where I

learned many things. The experiment was a study of people who perceive dogs or cats as loyal. Loyal is

this context is the human characteristic associated of the dog. None said that a cat was more loyal than a

dog. Cartoons, books, and movies, all represent dogs as loyal and cats as snobs. It makes me think, why

should the word “loyal” be for both man and dog?

Gay Marriage for America

Imagine a world where a country, which claims to offer freedom to all it citizens, still

oppresses its people. Even after a civil war was fought in 1861-1865 to free the slaves and even

after women were given the 9th

have been made against them and even to this day these laws have yet to be broken.

Homosexuals are still oppressed by the United States of America which contradicts the rights

given to us in the U.S. constitution by our fore fathers. Given, there have been improvements

over the last 30 years or so, including sexual orientation being added to discrimination laws, and

that gay men and woman are not allowed to be open about their sexual orientation when they

apply for jobs or vote. However, there is one last thing though that drastically alienates this

minority, gay Americans are not allowed to marry each other in certain parts of our “free”

country. How can America be so hypocritical?

As you can tell, I am an advocate for same-sex marriage. Gay Americans should be

allowed to marry their partners and achieve the same benefits as everyone else does. Our

country was founded on religious freedom and escape from the injustice. But, religion does not

have a place in American politics that advocate a separation between church and state. The

benefits for married couples in this country are essential for the American dream. Same-sex

couples deserve to be a part of this dream as well. In all actuality, this is a form of punishing gay

people for being gay in the first place. All throughout nature there are examples of

homosexuality in animals, and it is perfectly natural to be found in humans. whether it be

Christians or homophobics, there is no reason to not allow there Americans the freedoms of

their country.

Basically, laws for gay Americans will never be good enough until the United States

allow same-sex marriage across the country. As of November 2009 there are only nine states

out of fifty-one that will allow and honor a same-sex marriage.(gaylife.about.com) Every state in

this country has gay couples who would like more than anything to become married. President

Obama does not have this on his agenda and probably never will if he holds onto his values. He

believes marriage is between a man and a woman and would like to live it up to the states. He

has made one promise to the homosexual population, which is to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell”

policy in the US Army. This policy is to discourage homosexuality expressed in the military, they

do not ask if a soldier is gay and the soldier will never confess. Right now, the benefits to get

married under the U.S. government are quite numerable, medical benefits to give the spouse

authority over the other, the government benefits for Medicare or social security income, the tax

benefits which reduce taxes, and employment benefits that allow a spouses days to care for a

spouse. All of these, especially in this economy, would be equally as beneficial for a same-sex

marriage as to a opposite-sex marriage. This is an unfair burden placed on homosexuals in the

United States. The rights, or entitlements given to American citizens, have been ripped away

from these people the moment they showed their sexual orientation. Until same-sex marriage is

legalized for the whole country, they will not be treated as equals.

Similarly, Religion has always been the wall between the people and the law. Christian

faith should subside when our political leaders are appointed to implement the countries laws.

When bills for same-sex marriage are rejected, what other excuses could they use besides

saying it is “morally wrong?” There aren’t many things people can use to try to justify denying

rights to homosexuals. One of our founding fathers Thomas Jefferson once said, "Make no

law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,(Library of

congress, Th Jefferson, 1802.)” By having To use the bible or the word of religious leaders

as the basis of their argument, these politicians are showing their lack of credibility and of

substantial evidence.

As well as, the legal benefits of getting married in the United States is a major factor in

many couples decision to do so. If I were to get married, the US governments grant me several

advantages of living in America. From Nolo, legal encyclopedia, tax benefits, estate planning

benefits, government benefits, employment benefits, medical benefits, death benefits, housing

benefits, and consumer benefits. Same-sex marriages that are in legal states cannot receive

these benefits since the US Government does not recognize it as a marriage because it is not a

nations law.

When I was young I heard of a story about a gay couple where one of them was in

the hospital. They have been partners for many years when suddenly illness interrupted their

lives. He was admitted to a hospital and he became worse. His partner was not allowed to see

him since he was neither a spouse or family member. The man died alone in a hospital bed

without a single trace of love in the room. I could not understand what being gay meant, but I

could understand the pain of the man died alone without his loving partner by his side. I would

imagine that if his family did not come to see him, there wasn’t anyone to take his things thus

they were discarded.

During my research, I found there were multiple cases of this happening across

the country. The story of Janice and Lisa, a lesbian couple of Florida, was similar to this

but involved 3 children that they had raised together. Along with medical benefits such as

hospital visits, marriage also brings along a higher rate of financial stability to the couple. Tax

deductibles and government assistance help balance a households income. Employment

benefits guaranty days off if a spouse is sick or able to jointly use employment insurance.(nolo)

How could it be justified to exclude the same-sex couples majority from these opportunities?

Marriage benefits along with love are a fundamental part of getting married in the United States.

Gay Americans deserve this same opportunity.

 Furthermore, homosexuality is not a new concept of this century. There have been

hundreds of documented cases of homosexual couples since humans could put drawing

utensils on a surface. In 12000bc and 5000bc there were cave drawings in Europe of homo

eroticism.(aaronsgayinfo.com, queer facts) Many people view same-sex marriage as unnatural.

When marriage was invented it was a union to combine families under contract with god.

According to the common-law of the bible, this is where it states “marriage is a union between

a man and a woman.” Our country attached benefits to marriages so that couples could thrive

in the modern world. To say gay marriage isn’t natural because they are a couple who cannot

reproduce is like saying a sterile husband or wife is equally unnatural.

Norwegian Natural History Museum of the University of Oslo calculated in over 1500

species on this planet there has be observable cases of homosexuality. Animals such as

dolphins and penguins have had long lasting same-sex partnerships or practice gay sex. This

did not hurt the population nor did it make an irreversible impact on the animals around them.

Petter Boeckman, who is the academic advisor for the "Against Nature's Order?" exhibition

said, "One fundamental premise in social debates has been that homosexuality is unnatural.

This premise is wrong. Homosexuality is both common and highly essential in the lives of a

number of species."(news-medical.net, Oct 2006) The United States has the capabilities to

allow these marriages of same-sex couples, but continue to deny homosexuals are human

being just as heterosexuals.

The majority of those who oppose gay marriage would be Christian Americans.

Since the Christian reformation organized by the catholic church in Europe, gay people were

considered to be sinners because of their pursuit of the same-sex that to reproduce. In the

bible, many use the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as justification that God disapproves

of homosexuality. This is found quite early on in Genesis. Moses also added laws which

addressed homosexuality which Christians related to all gay people. But later, in the New

Testament, Jesus did not mention anything wrong with same-sex couples. In the book of

“Samuel”, David and Jonathan where an open gay couple. They proclaimed their love and even

the bible describes an intimate moment together.(rainbowallowanceofopenfaith.com) American

politics should not be decided on one religious faith though. Our founding father, Thomas

Jefferson, extremely disapproved of churches making laws in their areas of the country. As he

learned from history, I’m sure, a country dominated by Christianity is only to cause chaos.

Same-sex marriage will remain an issue until ignorance end and people become more

educated about the issue. Americans should learn from the mistakes of others throughout

history. Though Christianity is the dominate religion in the United States, it should not be

used to decided thousands of Americans future. Our country made marriage to be more

than a combination of two families to make the next generation. They gave permissions and

opportunities to strictly heterosexuals. We have come a long way from keeping ethnic minorities

to be discriminated against. This view of the supposed abnormalities surrounding homosexuals

has made the United States of America into a hypercritic nation. I would like to see same-sex

marriage legalized for the whole country in my life time. We need gay and straight gay marriage

supports to go directly to the source. We must all pressure state politicians and let them know

that this is not fair.