Did You Know

Did You Know?

    I try and write as much as I can about parents and their children…for I know that parenting is the most important job you will ever have. It is truly sad to know that so many parents take that job so lightly. We will have a million excuses for poor parenting…I work a lot…I am too tired to deal with them…and we will follow that up with an equally insulting remark such as…they know I love them. Shame on us…having and raising children is a gift. And we behave as if it is a chore which is inconvenient to us. Please don’t think that I am only referring to mothers…because I absolutely am not. It takes two people to have a child…one should not bear all of the responsibility.

  What lessons are you teaching your children? Are you counting on their schools to teach them all that they need to know? Because in case you didn’t know, let me be the first to say…the state of our public school systems is seriously lacking. What lessons are you, as parents, teaching your children? The important lessons…the lessons which will give them the tools that they need to be successful in the world.

  I am not referring to success in the financial sense…but in the sense where they are succeeding in being loving and kind to one another. Did you know that you cannot hug your child too much? Did you know that saying I love you…only cost you a moment of your time; but the chain reaction of those lessons will resonate in your child for a lifetime.

  Behind every loving adult is someone who showed them how to be loving. It is equally true to say that for every adult who exhibits hate or contempt towards others…there is someone who also taught them to be that person. We don’t have to tell our children how to love or hate…because they watch our behaviors…which is a lesson all in itself. It would be ridiculous for a man who physically or verbally abuses his wife or children…to tell his child to be kind to others. The lesson is found in the observation.

  Did you know that the child you are raising could be the next President of our country, Prime Minister, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, or more importantly…he/she could become someone else’s mother or father? That could be a vicious cycle…or a circle of love that will spill over onto everything and everyone your child ever comes into contact with. Children are not small adults…they are our hope for the future…who do you think makes them hopeful? We do. We are the foundation in which our children build upon…we need to take that seriously.

  Parenting is not easy…not for anyone…which is why everyone may not be up to the task. But for those of us who are parents…its time to step up…and stop making the same old tiring excuses. Did you know that being a parent can be the most rewarding position one could have in this life? Children learn how to be loving and peaceful by experiencing us and how we interact with others.

  We could learn so much from our children…I know because I have a walking smile that lives in my home…and I never doubt for one second how very blessed I am to be able to have the joy she brings to me everyday. She is not my responsibility…she is my reason for being.

  Have you ever just listened to children laugh when they are playing together? I have, many times, and it warmed my heart…I felt elated…it made me feel hopeful. Why does a simple laugh do that? A laugh or giggle from a child is Gods way of saying not to sweat the small stuff…and enjoy the moment. Always give thanks for the moment…because those days do not last long. Have you ever seen a baby smile while they are sleeping? It is one of the most precious gifts we are given.

  I know life can sometimes seem to spiral out of control…but we get to choose the pace in which we live…we can either run through it and hope our children can keep up…or we can walk with our children and stop to smell the flowers along the way. Truthfully, no matter which speed you choose…you are going to get to the same place…but if you walk with your child then you get to see the world through his/her eyes.

  I am asking you to appreciate every moment you can with your child, and stop behaving as if they are a task to be completed. Every time you think that your child is a bother…you should go and speak to a mother or father whose child succumbed to SIDS, or cancer. Go speak to a parent whose child was hit by a drunk driver…or speak to some one who cannot have children…ask them about being burdened with raising a child.

  We have one life…we can use it worrying about trivial things…or we can soak up every moment we have by showering ourselves in the love and laughter of children…you decide.

Blame

Blame

    I was thinking today about an incident that happened when I was a child which disappointed the people that I loved and who loved me the most. The circumstances really don’t matter, because it was the disappointment that I caused which bothered me the most. I was thinking about this today, and it made me think about what God must think of His creation as He looks down upon us. He, who created all things, made everything as it was supposed to be. I wonder how often He is disappointed when He peers down upon those that He loves so much. Do we even care? Does it matter to us now, while we are not only destroying each other, but the earth that we require for our existence? We have grown indifferent towards one another, at best. At worst, we find reasons to hate and kill each other…not just in the physical sense but in the sense that we constantly destroy each others spirit. We find reasons to not speak to people, unless it is to display our displeasure with one another. We don’t seem to know, or want to know one another. We find reasons to dislike or hate one another, based on skin tones…as if any of us had a choice in that matter; we dislike those who don’t believe in God…and we even dislike those that believe in a creator…but choose to worship differently than we do. We point fingers and make fun of those who have less than we have…as if we have been guaranteed to have these things while we are on this earth. We even have encouraged our children to do the same. It’s true that we may not have told them to be that way…but the strongest lesson ever learned truly is the one unspoken, but observed. Our children are literally killing each other…and all we do is place blame on others. We blame the parents, the neighborhood, the religion, or the race for any short comings. Of course, we couldn’t be at fault for any of this; after all we have our own problems. But just out of curiosity…shouldn’t our nation’s children killing each other be our problem? We complain about gangs and the violence they bring…yet we don’t look deeper. Would our children turn to gangs if they had communities that helped provide other options for them? Is that our problem? Well, I guess if we don’t live in that community, we could say that what happens there is not our problem…until the violence from that community comes into your community. Then the solution becomes easy…lock them up…or even better…let them kill each other. Is that the real solution? So instead of us reaching out to help these children, before they turn to gangs…we now have to deal with the result of the gang violence. What would it take for us to care what happens to these kids? Does one of your children have to be killed? Do we really have to let it get that far before we open our eyes to this nationwide epidemic?

  The answer is simple, no it doesn’t have to come to that…but often it does. Children cannot be held responsible for what their parents do or don’t have…they cannot help the fact that they do not have constructive avenues for their spare time. We cannot even say that they should get involved in extracurricular school activities…because our public schools have cut most of the Arts programs and even some of the sports…depending on how deep pocketed their particular school district is. Community centers could be the answer, but even that takes money…in a community that often cannot feed itself. This is where the problem arises, because we are all supposed to look out for each other. If we are ever going to live in harmony…we must reach out to each other.

  How can we expect children, the adults of the future, to be productive citizens if we are constantly showing them that “THEY” aren’t our problem? And sadly, the end result is an angry young adult; who will claim that he/she doesn’t care about anything. But most likely the real truth behind that anger is when the children ask themselves…why didn’t I ever matter to anyone? Can you imagine, being a child, and feeling like you aren’t good enough…which is his/her explanation as to why they have little or nothing?

 We, as a society, tend to only look down upon those that we feel fit a certain stereotypical group. How dare we be so obtuse in our way of thinking? Do we really think that there are people that deserve less than we do? I even heard someone tell me once that certain races are more genetically predisposed to violence than others. Ignorant statements such as these are toxic to the growth of our world.

  This is a continual cycle that spreads like an incurable disease…it seems almost hopeless. But the truth is…it is not hopeless. We weren’t born into darkness…we created or at the very least helped it grow. It is easy to shine God’s light on people…it doesn’t take millions of dollars. We start with one child at a time…give them acknowledgement, encouragement…for those of you that don’t know…that is called loving thy neighbor. For others it means wanting for my brother what I want for myself. What do we all want? What do we all need? Love…and it is our purpose and goal (or if not it should be) to love each other.

  Are your actions loving; even to those who do not know you intimately? Does your smile give others a reason to smile; or does it look rehearsed and in genuine? Do you even smile at all? If you find smiling difficult…find a reason to do it. Smile because you woke up today. Smile because someone looked at you kindly…or held a door open for you. Smile because someone else gave you a smile for no other reason than…to make your day brighter. Give that gift to another person…that…is LOVE.

The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence

    The end of humanity does not occur when man does evil…but when man sits and watches…yet does nothing.

    We are armed with all the weapons that we will ever need to defend ourselves, from birth. It is only when we look for outside implements or instrumentation that we actually go against our very purest nature. The very purest part of us is that with which we were created; over time depending on our circumstances and our will to accept that which others find acceptable…we can develop negative or destructive tendencies. This happens when we no longer attempt to communicate…with our very being. We were created with many means in which to communicate…with our mouths, lips, hands, eyes, ears, even our legs and feet…all can communicate what we are thinking and feeling at any given time.

  For instance I can either speak to you using my mouth…orally creating vibrations which are expressed in words audibly detectable. Or I can just use my lips to mouth the words…with out a sound. Both are forms of communication…but one would actually take active reception. What I mean by that is…the person I am communicating to would really have to pay attention to what I am trying to relay to them. Not only that…but I would have to take my time and make my words easy to receive. Have you ever argued with some one speaking so harshly, and fast that even you can not even remember exactly what you said? Yet the emotion behind the sentiment is never lost…you are angry. However…if you had to take a moment and actually make your words clearly decipherable, due to an inability to yell, or orate any sound at all…then perhaps the communication would not be lost and the emotion would be more even tempered.

  We often we use our bodies as a means of letting other know what we are feeling at the time…often without realizing it. We will point our fingers…which can be interpreted as accusatory or to place blame. We can cross our arms which can be interpreted as I don’t want to hear what you are saying, or I don’t want to disclose something. Of course these things could also mean other things such as pointing when giving direction or folding our arms because we are cold…but again, these are ideas that we are still communicating.

  We can use our legs and feet to position our body in such a way to display our interest or disinterest with what is being said to us. If we sit facing away from someone it clearly states that I am not interested in what you are talking about, or telling me. If I tap my foot it may mean that I am impatient or running out of time. If I stomp my foot it can be out of anger or excitement depending on the dialogue prior.

  But the most important communication tool that we are armed with is our ears.  How carefully do we listen to what is being communicated? If we were asked, could we mirror what we were told or asked? Often, we only hear the first and last thing that is said to us. Which is unfortunate because then we are missing out on the communication.

  We often take these tools of communication for granted. When I was a child …to show us our many blessings my grandmother would blindfold us or have us cover our ears…to show us how carefully we actually listen or watch things. When your vision is impaired in that way…you would be surprised at what we hear that we didn’t hear before…a bird chirping, the snow crunching, footsteps in the distance…and trying to figure out who the footsteps belonged to. We learned that we had to listen carefully to tones and words, because we didn’t have the luxury of seeing a facial expression. When our ears were covered we had to watch things carefully because we couldn’t hear them…or our hearing was impaired to such an extent that it wasn’t clear. We were no longer rushing to say what ever we pleased but actually taking the time to try and read the lips and expressions being communicated to us. Now, of course, the entire purpose of this exercise was not to punish us, but to teach us that we need to take more time with life. We needed to take time to smell the flowers, to watch a sunset, to be more loving and kind with one another.

  Why do we dislike the silent treatment? Because we want to communicate…but often we would rather wage war than take the time to actively listen and participate in a conversation. We would rather lash out than to calmly verbalize what we are thinking and feeling. Words can be like weapons…the can inform us or others…or they can cut like a knife. I can remember, as a child, hearing certain tones and unflattering words that adults used towards one another. They were not speaking to me, no one was calling me names…no one was angry at me. But I absorbed the words…it hurt deep inside of me…it felt like my insides were shaking. I felt violated, like someone had picked up a club and hit me in my stomach. Of course the adults that were doing this made up, they moved on…but I will never forget the feeling it left me with. I was scarred…and even now when I hear certain words I get the same feeling again.

  We, as human beings have the power to create or destroy and we do so everyday. We build up people or we tear them down…every single day. The point being, with that knowledge…which will you choose to do? We have the power to make each day better then the one previous…just by opening our mouths, our minds and our hearts. We can leave loving embraces on the hearts of our fellow man or we can scar them. Keeping in mind very often when we scar people they lash out at others…leaving them scarred, as well. We create a cycle no matter which way we go…but we get to choose which road to take. All that I am suggesting is that we choose that which will help uplift and rejuvenate. If we leave loving kind words…they will resonate in people…and hopefully that will be the trend.

   Does it sound like I am being unrealistic? Talking about love towards our fellow man…I have been told that it does. The thing is this…if being loving towards each other seems like a foreign idea…it is only because we have been living for too long with the idea that we must kill or be killed.

The Art of Delightful Debate

The Art of Delightful Debate

The one person I would go to, no matter what was going on in my life, was my sister…who just passed away this January. No matter what the problem was she would listen intently…and then remind me to laugh at myself. She would tell me to give myself 15 minutes to freak out…cry, scream, yell, stomp…do whatever I wanted in that 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes was over, we would look at options and solutions.

  That was a very important lesson, because often times we will be upset about a situation or circumstance and we will internalize it; not giving ourselves the opportunity to let it out. This frustration that we would carry around with us becomes something dark, and can prohibit us from being loving towards others. Anger doesn’t want to be bottled up…it wants to be released; unfortunately what tends to happen is that we will turn our frustration, angst and disgust onto unsuspecting bystanders. We will answer people sharply, or snap at our children or spouse, and they will never have seen it coming. And this is all because we didn’t know how to or chose not to release this negativity.

  When I feel this way…I love to write, because in my writing I can see the anger, and by the end of the blog or letter…I can find a loving peaceful way to resolve the issue within myself. If only we could always proof read what we say to others, prior to engaging in the battle of tongues. If we had a transcript of what we said and what others said to us, we would, perhaps, be able to see where one or the other crossed the line. And we could make note of what was really meant and what was a defensive mechanism kicking in.

  Often we don’t realize that our mouths can be more brutal than our fists. We can heal from a bump or bruise, but the words and tones that we leave others with, can be emotionally scarring. I know that I have gotten into a heated discussion or debate with some one I loved before, and the words they said to me would still linger. In my mind, I could not reconcile what was said out of hurt and anger…and what was truth. This becomes a problem because often when discussions become heated, we lash out at the people we are speaking to, without realizing that we are being malicious. I wonder if we could preview the conversation before actually saying it, what would we change?

  I am now calling this the “Art of Delightful Debate”. Why delightful? Well that is fairly simple, we can disagree and not be rude or angry. If we listen carefully to what is being relayed to us, we can see another’s point more readily. However if we are so busy thinking of a rebuttal that could match them…or put them in their appropriate place…we miss the communication. I know that sometimes it can be difficult to be patient, because we often make assumptions about what is going to be said; but impatience can often be detrimental to the message. And even worse than interrupting the speaker is to, pretend to pay attention, or roll your eyes or cross your arms across your chest. All of these actions send very clear messages to the speaker…what you are saying is not important to me, so could you just be quiet? Often it isn’t quite so nicely put, either.

  When I was a young girl I can remember being talked to by an older family member, after they got done speaking they said, do you understand what I just said? Of course, I said yes, not expecting the earth shattering response that would follow. “So if you understood what I said…tell me what I said”. All I could offer was a deer in the head light look, and I can assure you that had I really listened…it would have been a much better day for me. Lol.

  Communication is very important, everything communicates. Animals communicate, even trees and plants communicate, and you only have to pay attention to what they are saying. For instance when a leaf of a plant or tree is turned upside down, it means that is going to rain. If a plants leaves or blooms are sagging…it means they need water. Animals have very heightened senses. An animal senses danger or threat of danger, right away; and unlike humans, an animal does not talk themselves out of being cautious. A wolf doesn’t sense that something is coming and then say….it’s probably just the wind. No, a wolf will leave, or prepare to fight…we, as human beings have the same senses…but we do not listen to ourselves.

  We are highly evolved beings with various means of communication at our disposal, yet we rarely listen to our inner voice. It is often that inner voice that will tell us what to do…even though we may not listen. It is that very voice…that seems to come from nowhere…that is watching out for us. I have always believed that my inner voice is the voice of our creator, guiding me down my path. Showing me the way to whatever destination which is meant for me; all I ever had to do was listen.

  What is the message in all of this? Be respectful in conversations; give to others what you want in return.

 We all want our voices to be heard…it just isn’t always necessary to yell. Sometimes it is those who speak the softest that have the more attentive audience. Often snappy responses are intended to offend the other person, and they just make us appear to be immature or irrational.

  Just listen to what is being communicated and your Art of Delightful Debate…will always be productive.

And A Tear Fell

And A Tear Fell

 The other night, quite by accident, I stumbled across a movie called ‘The Laramie Project’. Once I read a brief description of the movie/docu-drama, I was instantly set on watching this. I must say this was one of the saddest dramas that I had seen in a while, not because its contents were a shock…but because it actually happened to a real person…and some how it struck a chord in me.

 The Laramie Project is about an incident that occurred Oct. 6, 1998; definitely not a current event…but still very much an important issue. On the sixth day of October 1998, two 21 year old young men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, kidnapped, and beat Matthew Shepard (21); such a beating in fact that he, as an end result, passed away. All three of these young men were citizens of Laramie, Wyoming.

 According to the taped and verbal confessions, at the time of the arrest of the two assailants, I learned some very frank facts. One night, at a bar, Matthew Sheppard (a self proclaimed homosexual), was offered a ride home by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. During this ride, Aaron McKinney brutally beat Matthew, with his hands and the butt of his hand gun. When asked, Aaron said that Matthew asked him to stop one time…but after that he was too busy getting beat. Russell Henderson drove his truck to a spot high above the city…where the two tied Matthew to a fence post. While Russell pleaded for Aaron to stop, Aaron McKinney continually beat Matthew Shepard half to death. The college freshman was left there for 18 hours before authorities found him. Matthew stayed in a coma for 6 days, and on October 12, 1998, Matthew Shepard passed away.

 The entire drama was about reactions from the townspeople, since all three were local residents. The reactions were varied, which I found rather disturbing. Some people, of course, were sympathetic and empathetic with the Shepard family; but not all were.

 This was a heinous crime, filled with hate, and bigotry. But the terrible truth is, just like it happened in Laramie, it could and in fact, does happen every day. All Matthew did was be different than other people. Matthew was a gay man, period; that was his crime. The fact that everyone in that town was not appalled by this crime was total lunacy. He was beaten, until they got tired and bored with it…and then he was left to die.

 The sad thing about this incident, which is actually an issue, is that even 13 years later, it still happens. People look away while people are harassed about their sexuality, race, religion, socio-economic background, and social affiliations. How long should we look away? How bad does it have to get? How many teenagers have to die; by their own hand or the hand of others…because they are different? How many times do we laugh it off when we hear people we care about use racial slurs, sexist comments, demeaning words, or phrases? Why is ignorance acceptable?

 Life is so short, to even take one minute to degrade another person…is one precious minute of life…..wasted. Why is walking away so difficult? Isn’t the true strength found in the one who walks away rather than in the one who engages in the fight? We have become a society where we need to tear another person down in order to feel good about ourselves.

 The truly frightening reality is that we, as adults, are training our children to hate. We are helping to raise future bigots; who may be capable of hate crimes. Is this what we want? Would you feel comfortable with this…if Matthew had been your son? As statistics can readily show, Matthew is the rule not the exception. He could have been killed because he was a different race, handicapped, poor, or a variety of reasons…he just happened to be gay. If Matthew had been a heterosexual female with blonde hair and blue eyes…would this crime have been more socially unacceptable?

 We need to take a stand. Stand up and fight for the voices that never get heard…because society is busy judging them. Do what is right…hold your head high and stretch your arms to Heaven…before we let another tear fall.

Our Battle

Our Battle

   One day I found my daughter extremely upset and crying. I asked her what was wrong and said “you lied to me”, and sobbed harder. I asked what it was that she thought I had lied to her about, as I try to be as honest, but gentle, as I can. She said “you told me the cancer was gone, but it isn’t”. I had been diagnosed with cervical cancer a few years prior, but it had since gone into remission. I asked her why she would think that I would lie about it, and she went on to explain that she had found pieces of my hair laying on top of the bathroom trash. I tried to explain that I simply had trimmed my hair that day…but she was crying so hard that she couldn’t hear me. Then she asks me, “Are you getting ready to die”? It took a while for me to get her calm enough for me to even have this discussion with her.

  But the truth was that I had never lost any hair due to cancer or the treatments…she had never seen me in that condition. But she had seen movies and TV shows where the cancer patients had lost their hair and eventually died. It was a lot for her beautiful heart to grasp. I went on to explain the different types of cancer, and told her that my cancer was caught early, and even though treatments made me sick…I was fine now. We had a very basic conversation about the disease, and it would be a few years before we had the detailed conversation, when her mind was more mature.

  The problem was that instead of talking to her about the disease when I was diagnosed, because I didn’t want her to worry about me, I just gave her very generic information. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time but, I was wrong. Because she felt that I didn’t tell her enough…she sought information elsewhere, which in this case was the television…where most individuals with cancer lose all their hair and then they die shortly after.

  Even at her young age, she knew that cancer was a frightening thing. So we had many conversations about it from that point there after. I gave her a new perspective on the illness. I told her I never had to live with cancer…it had to live with me. I didn’t have to fight cancer …it had to fight me. I explained to her that I had this body first and if it wanted to have it ….it would have to fight me for it. This approach gave her strength; she no longer looked at me as a victim. One day I heard her talking to a friend about my health, and she asked if I was a cancer survivor. And she opened her big brown eyes and said NO, my mom did not survive cancer…IT could not survive her!

The cancer didn’t survive us…and she became my own personal army. I would have to endure several rounds of treatments before it actually went into remission for good…but finally it did. But not everyone has a happy ending, sadly.

  We must be aware of our bodies, get regular physicals, and do routine breast exams. We must become proactive in this fight…it has claimed far too many lives already. Until we have a cure, we must look for signs and use precautions…such as using strong sun screen when going into the sun…don’t ignore unusual moles or skin lesions, if you feel something that you didn’t remember being there before…no matter how miniscule…get it checked.

  Contact the American Cancer Society for support or ways that you can help in this cause…it is worth your time. I pray that no one else has to explain to anyone they love about their fight against cancer…but it isn’t going away by itself. Did you know that there is a different cancer awareness month almost every single month out of the year? This is just showing us how very serious this disease is. Over 40,000 people die from breast cancer every year in the United States that is both men and women…so get the facts. For more information please contact:

http://www.cancer.org/

A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying

Perry Cobb, Darby Williams Tillis, Joseph Burrows, Rolando Cruz, Alejandro Hernandez, Verneal Jimerson, Dennis Williams, Gary Gauger, Carl Lawson, Anthony Porter, Steven Smith, Ronald Jones, Steve Manning, Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Leroy Orange, Stanley Howard, Gordon Steidl, Walter McMillan, Randall Padgett, James Bo Cochran, Gary Drinkard, Wesley Quick, Larry Osborne, Johnny Ross, Curtis Kyles, Shareef Cousin, Michael Graham, Albert Burell, John Thompson, Dan L. Bright, Ryan Matthews, Kirk Bloodsworth, Lawyer Johnson, Peter Limone, Laurence Adams, Sabrina Butler, Clarence Dexter  Jr., Eric Clemmons, Joseph Amrine, Jeremy Sheets, Roberto Miranda, Thomas Gladish, Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith, Samuel A. Poole, Christopher Spicer, Timothy Hennis, Alfred Rivera, Alan Gell, Gary Beeman, Dale Johnson, Charles Ray Gidden, Clifford Henry Bowen, Richard, Neal Jones, Gregory R. Wilhoit, Adolph Munson, Robert Lee Miller Jr., Ronald Williamson, Neil Faber, Jay C. Smith, William Nieves, Thomas Kimbell Jr., Nicholas Yarris, Harold Wilson, Michal Linder, Warren Douglas Manning, Vernon McManus, Randall Dale Adams, Clarence Bradley, John C. Skelton, Frederico M. Macias, Muneer Deeb, Ricardo Aldape Guerral, Ernest Ray Willis, Earl Washington, Benjamin Harris Jerry Bigelow, Patrick Croy, Troy Lee Jones, Jonathon Treadway, John Henry Knapp, Jimmy Lee Mathers, James Robison, Robert Charles, Ray Krone, David Keaton, Wlbert Lee, Freddie Pitts, Delbert Tibbs, Annibal Jaramillo, Anthony Brown, Joseph Green Brown, Anthony Ray Peek, Juan Ramos, Willie Brown, Larry Troy, Robert Cox, James Richardson, Bradley P. Scott, Andrew Golden, Robert Hayes, Joseph Nahume Green, Frank Lee Smith, Joaquin Jose Martinez, Juan Roberto Melendez, Rudolph Holton, John Ballard, Herman Lindsey, James Creamer, and Earl Charles.

  These are my reasons for being against the Death Penalty…all of these names are real people. And these real people have/had real families…that stood by the them while they were on death row. Collectively these individuals served 964 Years, before being proven to be innocent. And one of these individuals served 33 years before being released; while another died before he could be exonerated…so it was done post mortem. But to take even 1 day away from some one, who was not guilty, is tragic. Life is full of one time experiences…you only take your first step one time, lose your first tooth, say mama or dada, you can only buy your first car…one time. And many of these individuals missed so much more than that, and it can never be given back to them. Even if the state compensates some one monetarily for the lost time…you can not purchase a memory.

  Why am I against the death penalty? I am against anything that includes taking another life. I am against any system that has proven time and time again to be broken and unreliable. I am against anything that takes away years upon years of a person’s life for no reason. Killing is wrong…it says that in many different places, even in religious books. And to kill some one to show society that killing is wrong…just seems to be completely ridiculous to me.

  If the Death Penalty is such an effective means of punishment, why don’t all states use it? If the Death Penalty is such a deterrent for crime…why are we still executing?

  If we were able to catch this many people before their respective states were able to execute them…how many slipped through the cracks? How many innocent people have we killed…for the sake of punishing some one…anyone? How do we sleep at night?

  I can completely understand the grief that losing a loved one can cause. I can understand wanting to punish some one for the crime…but will just ANYONE do? The problem being quite simple…the statistics do not lie…race and money are contributing factors when the death penalty is imposed. I researched in several places…and basically all of them verify what the others says…minorities and the underprivileged make up the majority of inmates on death row.

  We are human, we make mistakes…I simply think that with that knowledge…we risk executing people who are innocent. And no matter what anyone says…one life wasted is too many. Not only for the people who are actually executed…but look at the people who have spent countless years away from their loved ones for a crime that they did not commit.

  It is my expressed opinion that anytime some one finds reason to applaud about a state that has killed 234 more inmates than any other state…there may be a deeper problem there. And any politician that finds applause about this humorous…is a dangerous individual; it is never a victory when some one dies…we all lose.

  Killing some one will not make the victim come back to us…they are in peace. So the execution is for us…and what peace is there when we are taking another life? Why would we desire that another family to go through the same pain and anguish that we have?

  There was an inmate in Texas that was executed this past Summer, Mark Anthony Stroman, who was convicted of killing individuals out of grief for the life of his sister who was killed on 9/11. One of the survivors, a muslim man who Stroman shot in the face Rais Bhuiyan, causing him to be blind in one eye, pleaded for Stroman’s life. Mr. Bhuiyan even started a website to try and spare Mr. Stroman’s life, http://www.worldwithouthate.org/.  This was a remarkable exhibit of forgiveness and compassion…only furthering my belief that we can seek revenge or seek a higher power. And even though Mr. Stroman’s life was not spared, the spirit of what Mr. Bhuiyan did spoke in volumes.

  I realize there will be many people that will disagree with my stand on the death penalty, but I stand firm on this issue…killing is wrong no matter who does it.