Confessions of a Former Culture Warrior

Dusting off the cover of this rusty old blog, I feel like I have to get this out of my system.

In some of the recent altercations I've witnessed on social media, I have seen a significant increase of vitriolic exchanges between opposing political camps. There is a general environment of mistrust and close-mindedness that had led to an endless cycle of buzzwords and name-calling which leads conversations off the cliff.

Witnessing this in several circles, I can't help but slam my fists on my desk as I read through the clashes of discourse in the comments sections. No one seems to listen to anyone but their own kind. Stereotypes and political profiling are rampant and memed throughout the feeds. I don't know why anyone would settle within their own discourse and think that their own arguments are ends in themselves.

I, too, participated in a culture war against the "evil" liberal Other. I was brought up to believe that the liberal agenda was directly receiving orders from Satan himself and their discourse was not worth listening to. The stereotypical liberal for me was the anarchist, anti-theist, gay agenda "pusher" who would stop at nothing to destroy all that we live for. It became hard for me to be a listener, and I burned a lot of bridges and friendships for the sake of the crusade. Then college came, and I found myself surrounded by a menagerie of humanity. Different religions, ideologies, backgrounds, etc. My crusader upbringing kicked in, and the whole campus felt like I was in the midst of the enemy.

In listening to the different views and perspectives, however, I realized that I forgot to be human in my Christian upbringing. Sure, Jesus flipped tables and used insulting analogies to humble the religious leaders, but how does that ever give me license to belittle "lawbreakers" and "low-lifes"? Sounds like I've turned myself into a Pharisee. Did not Christ say He came to call sinners, and that those who are not sick do not need a doctor? How have I been treating those from harsh backgrounds and origins? They are afflicted, but they are human beings, products of the Creator with a dignity equal to my own.

I've thrown away the life of the culture warrior. I've learned to actually listen to know my "enemy" better. Wasn't Mother Church built on genuine human relationships, and were not those relationships built on genuine conversation? Did not the Apostles bring the Church into being at Pentecost when they preached to pilgrims in various languages? What happened to that?

Then again, I'm done ranting. It's just a rabble at this point, and no one is going to listen to this. Just another voice in the crowd with no sense of direction.

Passion and Productivity (CI 504 Project)

The following was a blog post made for my education course. Please enjoy. :)

I was on a bit of an anime binge recently, so here's a clip for personal entertainment. I've provided both the English and Japanese dubs to cater to your preferences:

ENGLISH

JAPANESE

I was born and raised on the Northwest Side of Chicago in a family of Filipino immigrants. Growing up, English and Tagalog were the predominant languages at home, but I never quite picked up the latter fluently. I attended a Catholic parish and school, St. William, which was only a few minutes’ walk from my house. The parish population was predominantly Mexican and Puerto Rican, so the Spanish language and Hispanic culture were heavily incorporated into Sunday services as well as the school curriculum.

At St. Will’s, I was part of a small class of 22 (some people transferred out and back in over time) which had a homeroom teacher who taught most of our subjects in the same classroom. We had a few other teachers which taught us music, computer basics, and physical education. It’s a very small school where it was very easy to put names to faces. That being said, my class was very collaborative in nature. Some of the Spanish speakers in our class would often group together and either work on assignments or chat. I recall one instance in which the teacher discouraged Spanish, but it still persisted until our graduation.

 

Our class had a lot of projects that were individualized; we had assignments with prompts, but we were able to use any topic or content that was available and interesting. An interesting text analysis activity I remember involved breaking down articles from either the Chicago Tribune or the Sun Times and breaking them down according to the five W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why); subsequently, we would present these stories in front of the class. I also recall other projects such as a fiction book report and my first research paper. During these assignments, I chose texts which caught my attention and which I devoured with a passion.

I have a few takeaways from looking back at my grade school days. The usage of languages other than English did provide my Spanish-speaking friends a means to approach course content in a unique way; it’s an application of one’s own perspective and identity to make a genuine contribution to the classroom. It’s kind of like how anime fans state their preference on how they watch anime, whether it’s Japanese with English subtitles or just a straight-up English dub; some people take in the stories better in their own language, while other opt to take in the original voices.

By the way, here's an example of what I'm talking about:

 

People process things differently based on factors such as language, personal interests, and stuff that they care about in general. Content is effective when it bridges the student to the classroom; genuine interest breeds genuine contribution.

The questions I would like to discuss on this post:

• Can you recall any projects during which you genuinely pursued?
• Have you or someone you knew made contributions to a discussion which were noticeably unique in the classroom?