helen01pd2014

1. What prompts a journey?

-Journey can be made by force or by choice. It means that a person is prompted to be involved in a certain journey when there is one option out of two; one is force of other people and environments around him, such as how he was born to, how he has grown up, where he has grown up, and who he has been with, so that he faces situations to must start a journey without any consideration of neither necessity of it nor his own will toward it. Another one is choice of his own, which is based on both his strong will and need toward a journey, such as what he strongly believes, and what he wants to do for himself.

We could clarify the EU by watching a journey-related movie, “Rabbit Proof Fence” as three aboriginal girls exemplify it through their long journeys.

During time period from 1930 to 1970, aboriginal children were called “half-castes” and they were forcibly sent to Moore River Settlement. It was based on belief of white settlers that “half-castes” are better of a acclimating into European culture after having proper education. Molly, Gracie and Daisy were “half-castes,” so they were forcibly separated from their mothers and taken to MRS. They were taught cultures of white people like clothing, manners at meal time, and religion, Christianity. Both physical journey on truck and train over thousands miles from Jigalong, their hometown, to MRS, and mental journey that they might probably have with confusion in their identity, being educated different cultures over short time at MRS, are journeys made by force.

However, the most brave girl, Molly led Gracie and Daisy back home. Of course she perceived dangers of being caught by witnessing harsh punishments of a run-away who was caught by a tracker, Moodoo, being hit and kept in a small box alone, and having hair cut. Also, she was worried of lack of enough water, food, clothes, place to rest and guarantee to success on the way back to Jigalong over thousands miles. However, her firm loyalty to family and belief that escaping would be much safer than staying, led the three girls to first journey based on choice.
After their escape, a protector, A.O. Neville spread word that their mothers were waiting them in a false town to catch them. Despite Molly’s disagreement, Gracie  finally decided to have another journey based on her own choice, leaving Molly and Daisy and going to the false town. Although only Molly and Daisy reunited with their mothers, while Gracie was caught by a policeman at a station and did not make it, these were their journeys made by choice.

2. What impacts a journey?

-Journeys may not have a specified duration or conclusion. Especially in physical journey that a person or group of people involved in it basically go to somewhere for some purposes, the durations like how long the journey would take or whether the journey would be enduring, can be unclear. The reason is that there are many factors, which influence the journey, such as inadequate conditions to the destination. A person or group of people involved in a mental journey often have internal conflicts inside of their minds and have hard time to overcome them, and its conclusions tend to be unclear as well. The reason is that since the journey is personal and keeps changing by many events happened to them, so it is hard to know if it actually has any noticeable ending or it just ends vaguely with something to think about again sometimes.

For example, both conclusions and durations of many journeys that we looked through poem and song in learning stations seemed a little bit unclear. The poem was about going to the wider world from one’s comfortable zone in a narrow corner as wings describe it. This poem did not tell us when the person exactly started and finished a journey, and if he achieved what he hoped to. There was a romantic song, which had a line of the whole lyrics that a woman would wear a man’s wedding ring after coming back because she was on a jet plane to somewhere. We could not know when she would come back and wear the ring, but only a fact that she was leaving him behind.

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-Journeys involve change, whether personal, societal, or institutional. Personal changes brought brought to a person involved in a journey itself and societal and institutional changes are brought to other people besides the person who directly takes part of a journey.

We worked on iWeb project, making a virtual website for one personal journey of our own and one historical journey, and synthesis page of the website helped us clarify how the enduring understanding works the most. In my personal journey, I have personal change in my personality and perception through immigration and adaptation to a foreign country with help of other people. In the historical journey, Abraham Lincoln lets the other people have changes, liberty in society and politics through many historical events, such as “American Civil War”, “Emancipation of Slaves” or “Gettysburg Address.”

What is cultural identity?

A class with a member of the Apple PD team, Ms. Kathleen Ferenz, based on a book “House On Mango Street” helped me a lot not only define what cultural identity is, but also many factors of deciding cultural identity.
Cultural identity is a bit similar with ethnicity, which basically means identity formed by by a specific cultural group.
Cultural identity is determined and influenced by many factors. The factors can be either formed before the birth, something given by one’s ancestors or formed after the birth, habitual traditions. Ancestry, history, kinship, religion, language, shared territory, nationality or physical appearance are more narrowed down factors that help one identify its cultural identity.

What are the causes and effects of cultural misconceptions?

Through a monologue, arguing opinions of one side of a cultural conflict that was specified into religion, I could think about the question again and infer the answers since the religious conflict is a part of cultural misconceptions.
Cultural misconceptions are often caused by different cultural groups that are stagnant and conservative, not showing liberal and progressive attitudes. It means, when two different cultural groups are met and both of them do not agree or accept each other’s cultural beliefs, then cultural misconceptions are formed to keep insisting one’s own cultural beliefs and resisting the other’s cultural beliefs.
According to the enduring understandings, cultural misconceptions can breed intolerance and cause conflict, and the caused conflict affects relations among individuals, groups, institutions, and political states. The relation between two cultural groups, which include individuals, groups, institutions, and political states, can be further apart after having a conflict that shows their differences in believing cultural beliefs.

Clarifying Questions:

What is the conflict?

-The conflict is separation of church and state in the United States. The federal government of the U.S. does not recognize the marriages of same-sex couples and is prohibited from doing so by the Defense of Marriage Act. Constitutions that include the Defense of Marriage Act of the U.S. are based on religious grounds because the Bible, which is the foundation of establishment of the U.S. describes ideal marriage of female and male, and same-sex marriage as detestable thing.
Many churches (citing their religious beliefs) refuse to provide employment, public accommodations, adoption services and other benefits to same-sex couples. Also, even the government does not allow same-sex couples to join civil unions, have benefits from life insurance, health care and child custody.

What groups are involved?

-The controversy is between two groups, one is people who believe Christianity and want to keep federal government of the U.S. that does not recognize same-sex marriage legally, and another one is homosexuals who want to take it off and be provided the equal benefits as heterosexuals.

Where is the conflict taking place?

-The conflict is taking place in states, except 5 of 50 states, 1 federal district, and 1 Indian tribe of the U.S.

How long has the conflict been going on?

-The first movement for the equal marriage rights and benefits of homosexual couples began in the early 1970s. From the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, many court cases have existed, even including approvals for legalization of same-sex marriage. So, it seems that the conflict has been going on very prominently for recent 10 years.

Probing Questions:

What assumptions are being made about the conflict?   (consider news/media)

-2 assumptions are being made about the conflict: First one is that the involved opposing side of same-sex marriage consists of only one specific type, people who believe christianity. Second one is that the only reason for opposition of same-sex marriage is based on religious beliefs.

What bias exists in these assumptions? (consider the source)

-These 2 assumptions both tend to base on a  particular religion, Christianity. Although the reason is high christian population in the U.S., not only people that is in Christian, but also some people in other religions, such as Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and people who do not have any religion, atheist could have also been on the opposite side of same-sex marriage.
Also, there might be something else for reasons of opposition of same-sex marriage except religious beliefs (adherence to what the Bible says). Some people oppose same-sex marriage, stating that it harms the family structure of society, and it also deprives children of either one of their parents.

What role do cultural values play in the conflict?

-There are many factors that decide a culture of an area and religion belongs to them. In the U.S., religion, Christianity, is kind of a habitual tradition that often forms cultural values in majority people a lot. These can be seen as cultural values: the establishment of the nation is based on Christianity, so that the constitutions regarding marriage are followed by the Bible that does not grant same-sex marriage and Christians also do not grant same-sex marriage and stick to the constitutions.

How has this conflict been perpetuated over time?  What influence has the past had on the present? (social institutions, mass media, political institutions, economics)

-This conflict on same-sex marriage has been perpetuated over time because it takes time to change a habitual religion of most people easily, no matter whether their cultural beliefs are correct or wrong because they have been with them for long time. However, some political institutions in the past, like successful court cases for homosexuals, such as approvals of same-sex marriage, might have influenced the present. Perception of either Christians or other people who are not Christians toward same-sex marriage might have been slightly changed. Also, homosexuals might receive more opportunities to raise their voices for the equal benefits as heterosexuals.

Here are some past court cases.

In 2000, Vermont became the first US state to offer homosexuals the right to join in civil unions, giving them the same benefits as married couples on matters such as life insurance, health care and child custody.

In April 2005, Connecticut became the second US state to allow same-sex civil unions – and the first to do so without orders from a court. But it specifically defined marriage as being the union of a man and a woman.

In California, San Francisco started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February 2004, after the new mayor defied state law and allowed gay weddings. The move was later annulled by the state Supreme Court. But in March 2005 a San Francisco judge ruled that the law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. In September 2005 a bill that would have legalized gay marriage was vetoed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licenses for gay couples in May 2004. State legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages, but would allow civil unions. If the proposal passes further legal hurdles, it will go to the voters in a referendum in autumn 2006.

In Oregon, officials in the Portland area began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004, before an amendment to the state constitution banning such weddings was approved by voters in November. But Governor Ted Kulongoski said he would back a new law which would allow gay couples to form civil unions.