Meeting on Violence

My old ideas on violence consisted of how you were brought up, your parents, and the people that you surround yourself with. My ideas were only reinforced whenever the speakers for BRAVE were talking about the causes of violence, and that the majority of violence comes from children who didn’t grow up in a good home, or one where the parents weren’t a major part in their lives. This meeting didn’t exactly change my thoughts about violence but instead added the emphasis of mental health’s connection with violence and crime rates in our state.

            I think that Sherriff Geautreaux was the best speaker because he was one of the only speakers that were directly involved with the actual criminals and people who were the focus of this meeting. I felt like if anyone knew what they were talking about, it was him because he had direct face to face experience with the people who were violating and ruining our city through crime and violence.

            I think that BRAVE has a bigger chance of making an impact because it involves not only law enforcement officers, but also the government and the community. The only way I think that the crime in Baton Rouge can be changed is if we come to an agreement as a society and work together in order to stop the violence in Baton Rouge, or to at least decrease the impact it’s making on our society.

            I think that the difference between being at the meeting and just watching a movie, was the difference between listening and not paying attention. Being there and experiencing this event made me feel a part of the society and made me feel like my opinion was important and that it was also my duty to try and change the way crime effects Baton Rouge. 

From Kathleen Love

The role of forgiveness:

Knowing whether you can forgive someone but not forget what they did to you was the subject that caught my attention. Reason being because I believe that you can always and should always forgive them for what they did, but certainly don’t forget what they did to you and how they betrayed you. I started thinking that you should keep awareness about what happened to you and never let anything like that happen to you again because the next time this happens to you it will be your fault. I have experienced many relationship mishaps in my life, just as a high school student and for one thing, I have defiantly learned my lesson about forgiving people. I use to forgive and try to forget everything that anyone did wrong to me and try to put all of it aside and be friends with them again, but after the fifth time of taking the blame for conflicts in our relationship when I wasn’t in the wrong, it gets to be exhausting. Everything that Reverend Mark Holland was saying to me about forgiveness just clicked with me because even though we haven’t gone through the exact same struggles, he understands how it feels to be betrayed and then not want to lose that friend in the process. I think that he is defiantly a better person than I am in the sense that he gave that man recommendations for another job and proceeded to forgive him, and my goal is to work in order to be able to do just as he did. 

conflict avoider vs conflict engager

conflict avoider vs conflict engager

    Father Holland, Thanks so much for coming to talk to us. Out of the classroom experiences are always a treat, but your talk was especially interesting because you discussed a lot of things relevant to my life. 

    For example, I am not a conflict avoider. Though I do not consider this a positive trait of myself, mainly because it can serve lethal when combined with some of my other personality traits, it is something I just naturally am. On the other hand, I feel as if I live in a very conflict avoider environment at a school with values based a lot in tradition. I see tradition as a sort of motivation and excuse to resist progressive and universally accepted change. If something is repeated too long it becomes expired and meaningless. 

    I think Faith in Action serves as a tool to avoid and fight habits that have put our local society in static state. Our city certainly has a lot of conflicts that need to be handled and a bridge between religions may just be the thing this city needs to promptly handle its issues. 

C Huye

Response to father Holland's talk

Change->scary-> not liked -> avoided

Fear and its reaction on people’s opinions on situation

When people are afraid to deal with obstacles or problems that come about, they avoid it because It means admitting that they were wrong and coming to a compromise because they are afraid of the change that will happenà everything you do has an equal and opposite reaction and every situation has a solution

à People are more afraid of looking bad and being hurt than they are concerned with the effect of the outcome on other people, its really quite sad, but we all do it, its part of being human. we dont want to get caught, its fight or flight. if we believe in it and really do want to stand for our ideas, then we fight for them until there is nothing left. the decisions that we make are a reflection of what we think will be best at that particular moment, and by looking back at them, we can see the entiraty of the situation and what we were thinking. usually we question why. why that? why that decision, could I seriously not have thought that through more ?? and then we beat ourselves up about it. but still that is part of what makes us human. it maks us who we are. the next time you end up in a simalr situation, you will think back to that moment, and ask yourself 'is this really what I want to do?? is it worth it??' but that part only comes with time, if we havent mourned and questioned our own decisions to the point of questioning who we are, then we havent gone through the mental state of loss and confusion that changes you. we cant sit around waiting for some life changing moment to happen, it doesnt work like that. we have to go out there and fight to be who we want to be, fight for your heart, and fight to not let the dumb things change you but for your own decisisons to change you and mold you into who you will become.

à The people who oppose the idea are usually the ones who will be negative in their response to the outcome of the situation

à Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and for every situation there is a solution,

à People can understand two things in completely different ways and if you are unable to understand both sides of what’s going on in the situation

I would also like to thank father Holland for coming to speak to us, it was very enlightening, and made me reflect on my responses to the situations that I encounter.

Chuck Harlan
Chaplain Charlie
Ethics – 04
March 5, 2013
Fr. Holland Essay
One major point that I fount interesting from Fr. Holland’s talks was his point on that people should not be controlled by fear. I have heard this before but have never really gave it much thought, but as Fr. Holland got deeper into detail I realized that he was making extremely good points. He was talking about how change usually causes fear and because of this people make irrational decisions and don’t think things through completely. I believe that the example that he used was the table is bread. He said that he went to this restaurant in the middle of North Baton Rouge.  He said the politician’s, police chiefs, and the general public have condemned this place as a dangerous part of town that people should avoid that part of town. I understand where those people are coming from. It is an extremely dangerous part of town and the murder rate is the highest in the town. I also believe that his point about how he never would have gone to this nice little restaurant if he had given into the fear that was portrayed over this little part of town. He never would have gotten to eat a delicious meal with a pastor that turned out to have a lot of the same interest as him. His exact words were “And that is just a tragedy”. I completely agree with that statement. It is sad to know that you can miss out on so much in your life because of your fear. This made me think a lot about Mo Ranch, our eighth grade class bonding trip. I remember performing on all of the activities even if I was extremely scared. I have a fear of heights and it was hard for me to overcome but I am glad that I did. It did help me learn how to cope with my fears and continue to learn how to believe in myself. I remember thinking it and I still feel this way about the people that didn't do any of the activities at all. There was this one boy in my group that also had a fear of heights and would refuse to participate in any of the activities at all. I would hate to think how when my friends are talking about how much fun the trip was and I wouldn't be able to engage in the activity because I was filled with fear. So I think the main thing that I took out of this point is that fear is always going to be around, but the real testament is seeing if you can overcome it and not let it hinder your life. I really did enjoy this talk. I felt that all of the points that he made were great points! The only point that I had a problem with would be the point about how it is cheaper to educated someone than to keep them in prison. I completely agree with that. That idea is great in theory but you can only lead a horse to water. You can’t make it drink. If you send the people to school doesn't necessarily mean that they will make all of the right choices. I get what Fr. Holland was trying to say though and I completely agree with him. I just don’t agree that this will happen in reality.

Great Field Trip, Y'all

a) Before, I had separated people with mental illnesses from myself so much that they were almost de humanized. Now, I see that most of the reasons people find themselves in criminal situations comes from their upbringing and environment as a child. 

b) I really liked the BRAVE representative. I think a lot of what he said was very interesting and made sense though I did not agree with the “faith” foundation. 

c) I think the partnership is imperative to fixing our crime problems. I think the “faith” part of brave goes beyond the rights of the constitution when combined with public efforts. 

d) You see how many people care about our community and how they all have ideas on how to fix our problems. There is also an interesting relationship between those who we have given our power to be our “voice” and the actual people themselves. 

Public Meeting Post

1.       How did the public meeting on Violence and Mental Health change your ideas on violence, murder, and its causes? In other words, what were your old ideas, and what did you learn that changed or added to your earlier ideas.

a.       I always thought that mental health caused people to commit crimes, but I never realized just how serious and frequent mental health is in people. Some of the statistics are just mind blowing when you get to thinking about them.

2.       Which speaker impressed you the most and why?

a.       The speaker that impressed me the most would probably be Mr. Tweety. I thought that his stance on mental health was very interesting. Another thing that I enjoyed about him was his talk about BRAVE. I liked his ideas on that they are going to focus on one of the worse parts of the city and start fixing that and then expand to the entire city. I think that this idea is good because I think that if you were to try and start BRAVE all over the city at first its impact wouldn’t be as powerful/successful.

3.       What do you think about the BRAVE method of fighting crime that we’ve begin in Baton Rouge (a partnership of community groups, social services and law enforcement working together in a target area of concentrated crime).

a.       Like is stated in question 2 I think that it is a good idea. I like mindset that they took when approaching the situation.

4.       What is the educational value of attending a meeting in this way –not to watch a documentary or a news story but to actually be there? What insights and knowledge can you can from directly experiencing such an event? What is the value in participating –taking notes, formulating questions, discussing issues on the way back, etc.

a.       This entire experience was extremely valuable. Since we attended the meeting we gained valuable insight that might not have been included in a documentary or on T.V. You can see people’s facial expressions and reactions better when you are actually at an event. Especially when you were as close as we were. When you take notes you can remember some of the important information that is stated at the meeting and by formulating questions it causes you to think on important issues at hand. 

Violence and Mental Health Public Meeting- Kayeci

a)    By attending this meeting and listening to what the speakers said, I don’t think my ideas changed much because I agree with their ideas. I think that mental illnesses should be recognized and addressed at an early age so that it can’t possibly lead to these acts of violence that have occurred in the past few months. However, I believe that the public is so quick to assume that the mass killings are associated with mental illness and sometimes it may or may not be. It is just an easy label.

b)    The speaker that impressed me the most was Tweety Hebert. He impressed me because he talked about the BRAVE project, which is a new project that seems to have potential.  

c)    I think the BRAVE method is a great idea if it works. I think that if it does work to eliminate crime in the area where it occurs the most, zip code 70805, it might lead to eliminating most crime in the city.

d) The educational value of attending a meeting in this way is better than just watching or reading about it. By actually attending it you are able to gain insight from others interactions. It is easier to learn and obtain information when you pick it up from others ideas. Sometimes, listening to someone can also change your opinion and widen your perspective on the subject

Violence and Mental Health Public Meeting: Maddie

1a.) Over the course of the meeting, I understood that to truly combat violent crime and identify mental illness is to start by focusing on future generations-by improving communities and education about violence from a young age.  Whenever I thought about solutions before, I didn't really take into account  the importance of today's youth in moving forward with our current issues.

1b.) I enjoyed listening to Mr. Tweety Hebert speak about the BRAVE program.  I was very interested  to hear that local groups, law enforcement, and social services could come together in such a great way.  He inspired me by saying that no matter your social class or geographic location, we are all impacted by crime in our community;  Therefore, it needs to be stopped.

1c.)I had never heard about BRAVE before, so I was impressed that the group had successfully made a coalition of different areas of our community to combat our crime.  It was evident that the group had already accomplished so much by working together; I look forward to see what the BRAVE program will do in the future.

1d.) Not only was the meeting informative about the problems we face in our community and the possible solutions to those problems, but the public meeting taught me about collaborating in a professional way.  The environment of the Roots of Violent Crime in Our Community assembly was extremely respective all who spoke and attentive in listening to what others had to say.  I am impressed by the efforts shown to improve the capital area and encouragement of the people's opinions and concerns on the matter.

St. James Field Trip

I learned that depending on your position in life and what age you are, you tend to interpret bible readings differently; mainly because you are comparing the readings to your own experiences and events that you can relate to. For instance I personally haven’t lived long enough in order to have felt like the widow in the reading we had, but a lady across from me talked about when she had gotten married and several things happened to her that felt like she was the widow in that situation.

            I learned also that our perspective as teenagers or young adults on priests and deacons are skewed because we tend to have a set attitude and personality. The two priests that I sat next, one that was a priest at Holy Spirit, and the other the priest at St. Luke’s both were very chill and actually very nice and open. They talked to be as if I was an adult and that my opinion on everything was very important and extremely interested in what I had to say.  The other women who were in my group taught me to be thankful for what I have and that your opinion counts more than anything; listen to yourself and follow through.

            This experience makes me want to contribute to my community and become a part of a church community. They made me feel as though anyone was welcome in their church and they’re open to hearing others opinions about life and scripture. It made me want to make an effort to help people in my community who are less fortunate than I, and volunteer with Together Baton Rouge more often than I have. It made me realize that the opinions of religious members in our community aren’t correct and everyone needs to have an open mind about them. Everyone needs to be involved in our community and if everyone could experience what we did at this gathering, everyone would realize that it is important to be involved in our community. I personally loved this experience and it changed my opinion of religious leaders in our community.

Quote du Jour - Cassie Huye

Please read and comment on Cassie's quote and reflections. Make sure your comments reflect good critical thinking. Does this comment make sense? Why or why not? Have you had similar or related thoughts or experiences? Use examples and details.


“When you go into
court you are putting
your fate into the hands
of twelve people who
weren't smart enough
to get out of jury duty.”
- Norm Crosby

Jury Duty- Obligation of a citizen to serve on a

jury when called. One of the

highest duties of citizenship, it

accrues from the constitutional

right to be tried by a panel of one's

peers and involves direct

participation in the administration

of justice. When summoned for a

jury duty, a citizen must appear

before the court or be tried for

contempt of court.

Context:

Jury Duty is supposed to be an
honor and obligation to your
country but many people try manipulation of system to get
out of court. One way is to exaggerate their views:
• Yeah, I believe people
should be euthanized if they
skip a class

Thoughts:

Metaphorical
• We let people judge us who we don’t respect
• We judge people who don’t effect us
• We waste our time worrying about people judging us
• We assimilate not to be judged
• Society is, will always be, inevitably corrupt
• We rather let others poorly do jobs we wish not to

Faith in Action Field Trip

During our trip to St James for the Faith in Action meeting, I learned a lot through discussion of the bible. The step by step method of learning offers a lot of insight into the details of each part. Unfortunately, I felt we lost the meaning of the whole passage after breaking it apart. The other people in my group just all kind of sat around silently, and then when someone would say something everyone else would just nod. There was not a lot of reflection going on. 

I think the Faith in Action meeting we went to is a baby for a very interesting discussion group. For now, it is hard for there to be an impact on the community, seeing as it is only the episcopal. In the future, this could be a very good thing for our community. 

Cassie Huye

Together Baton Rouge Reflection

I truly enjoyed the field trip that our class took down at St. James.  Having met some pretty cool people, I can easily see why this organization is so successful.  By dividing into smaller groups, we had a more intimate atmosphere to think and share ideas about the text.  I learned a great deal more about the text than what I initially thought that I would.  Whenever I saw that we were reading the parable about the poor woman giving all of her money to the church, I wasn't exactly intrigued because I've probably heard the story.  It seemed pretty simple- the rich people would give a lot of money and the poor woman would give barely anything, but the woman gave more in other ways because she had given all that she had.  In our analysis, the group read two different passages of the same story.  In reading the two, our groups were able to notice smaller details that we had not seen before.  A lady named Ms.  Maggie made note of something I wouldn't have thought of. Though the lawmakers were those that were supposed to set a humble example of what giving to the church must be, they did the exact opposite.  This reveals many separations of social classes through the small parables.  It was very enriching for me to talk about how the story relates to our own lives and how we can use it to help the greater good of the community.  I think that this organization really carries out its name.  It puts action to what we learn in our faith, making me think about how I convey my faith to help our society.  It motivated me to not only to become more in tune with my religious side, but to volunteer and make little changes in my routine.  I will definitely try to remember the parable when a situation presents itself, acting more like the widow and less like the lawmakers.

St. James Field Trip

After going on the field trip to St. James I can honestly say that I took a lot from it. One thing main thing that I got from going on this field trip is different ways that people analyze and interpet scripture. It is interesting to see people from different background and life experiences have different interpretations than yourself. Whenever someone does analyze scripture in this way you can see the main idea that is attempting to be shown here. I learned something that actually made me take a figurative step back and think. Mr. London talked about that the only one way to see what you look like is by looking at other people. At first I was puzzled by what he was attempting to say but as he went on it made sense. He discussed that the way people look at you is what you are inside. If you are a caring person it can be seen and other people can let you know that. I am not sure if I made it make sense in this but hopefully I did. This experience did motivate me to contribute to my larger community. It made me want to get involved with people like this. I feel like there is this negative connotation that goes with people that go to bible studies and are all gung ho on religion, but they really aren't that bad. They may be strong willed in what they believe but they are nice, good people. 

Journal Reflection

I enjoyed our trip to St. James and participating in the Faith in Action program. I think by studying the scripture in the way we did, I was able to understand it better and get a deeper meaning of it. The ideas that were pointed out opened my eyes to the passage in ways that I had never thought of. The other people in my group were very intelligent. The ideas that they had were eye opening. They were also very welcoming and talked to me like I was an adult instead of just a high school student. This experience did motivate me to want to contribute to my community. The examples that they gave helped me realize the importance in trying to get involved. 

Quote du Jour - Deacon deGravelles

Comment on Deacon deGravelles blog.
1. Join the blog. You have been invited to join the Ethics Class blog. Follow the instructions you have been emailed to join. 
2. Read Deacon deGravelles "Quote du Jour" report and comment with your own thoughts and ideas. For instance, does this quote make sense? Is it right? Is there another way to think about this idea, something that the original author or Deacon deGravelles has not considered. If I agree with these ideas, why. If I don't agree, why. Use personal examples and thoughtful arguments to make your case.

Quote

”Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them but like the mariners of the sea,  we chart our course by them.” Carl Schurz (1829-1906) U.S. Senator.

Terms

Ideal

• a person or thing conceived as embodying such a conception or conforming to such a standard, and taken as a model for imitation: Thomas Jefferson was his ideal.
• an ultimate object or aim of endeavor, especially one of high or noble character: He refuses to compromise any of his ideals.

Mariner  - One who navigates or helps navigate a ship

Context

• Carl Schurz was an American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War.
• He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.
• Schurz also said: “My country right or wrong: if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

What this means to me

• The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize how imperfect I am. I strive to do things well. Sometimes I do, sometimes I fall short, but I never reach the perfection I’d like to.
• This quote helps me to understand that we use ideals not as goals in themselves but to help guide us in the right direction. If and when we fail, we can continue to strive for them and mark our progress against them.
• Especially when you wear a clerical collar, people expect perfection. Accepting my faults (for instance, I can be grumpy or lazy at times) helps while continuing to strive to improve.
• It also helps me not to be so judgmental of others, to accept them as they are while helping them to strive to improve.