Honoring Boundaries

There are many boundaries that all people should recognize and honor, but the question is--do we really respect the boundaries that exist? For instance, there are physical property boundaries, legal boundaries of the law, spiritual boundaries of The Word, and logical boundaries when it comes to respecting the opinions of others.

Where are we? Answering this question requires a great deal of thought since many people disregard physical boundaries and destroy the property of others, we disregard legal boundaries and end up in jail, we disregard spiritual boundaries by ignoring God's Word and then wonder why things happen to us. And then, we disregard the rights of others to disagree with us and then wonder why hatred exists. There are logical boundaries that need to be respected since we are all entitled to our thoughts and no, we do not have to agree with one another, but we must know how to disagree, respectfully.

For my English 120 students: Every comment (2-3 sentences) that is logical and coherent is worth 10 points up to 10 comments. You may respond to anyone's comment on the blog to earn the points. Stay focused and think before you write. I'm also looking at writing mechanics, so don't get lazy.

Questions Anyone?

Please use this allocated space for questions or comments regarding the class. Respond in the comment area. You may respond to one another or direct your questions to me.

Prof. Hall-Rayford

Love vs Lust

Ariana Ballard

There is a perpetual bliss that fills the heart and warms the soul. The sensation tingles the spine and excites the arms with goose bumps, as the stomach giggles with flutters from butterflies.  It is the joyous feeling between crying with gratitude and smiling for acceptance of it. This sensation is often called love. To know what love is one has to truly understand the purpose of it. A naive mind is deceived into concluding love is the surface knowledge of another being. They believe it is having a strong sexual connection, an attraction to physical features, or the lingering smell that grasps the nose as they intake the scent of that being. That easily persuaded mind has never experienced love, but yet has been intoxicated with lust. (wow—great introduction!)

As a woman, as a human, my brain is born to release chemicals and hormones that stimulate my mind and control the functions of my body. When I feel a strong physical attraction to someone my brain automatically releases oxytocin. That chemical is a hormone known as the bonding emotion. When that hormone is released, as a woman, my naïve mind automatically assumes the feeling that I am enduring is love. I am attached and attracted to this person. I love everything about them from the way they laugh to the way they walk; I love every physical aspect of them. But physical attraction to someone is momentary, for eventually looks change and the fire and desire that was once felt begins to simmer out. Once that attraction extinguishes, I no longer love that person. My simple minded, chemically controlled brain no longer loves this person my heart could have sworn itself to. My ignorance was not that I was attracted to this person, but that I loved them. Never did I conclude the feeling as pure lust.

Many have somatic definitions of love, but not many have concluded that love is a spiritual connection. Love is what woke me up this morning. Love is the acceptance of me physically, mentally and emotionally. Love is understanding the core reason for all that I do in life and allowing it to guide me to my destiny and purpose of this life. Love is what gave me life. When I have had my faults and my falls, love never left me, but yet stood by me and carried at times when I was too weak to do so myself. To know love is to know God. To me, one can love another human but they must have a stronger bond with God. Once one understands the depth of love that God has for them, they can seek love in mankind. When that strong spiritual connection is made with God, love will guide them to a mate that completes the soul. That person just needs to be patient, have faith, and trust that God knows what he is doing and will place that person in their life when the time is right; if not then they will end up with a bad case of lust and broken hearts for they sought for a physical connection instead of the spiritual blessing God had in store for them.

Stand Your Ground

Stand Your Ground

Wow! How many people have to die before legislators consider changing a law that has given some the right to think they can indiscriminately take a life? Better yet, how long must our country wait to see reasonable laws established with reasonable consequences for the violation of such laws? When legislators pass laws, one would think they would use a reasonable assumption that reasonable people would understand them, interpret them and abide by them. However, a definition of reasonable seems to be absent when one reviews the actions of the judicial system and those who have either shot at or killed people, especially in Florida. With current, “stand your ground” laws in Florida, there seems to be mixture of interpretation—seemingly dependent upon who does the shooting. Three separate incidents—involving people shooting at or killing someone have had three separate conclusions—by three separate juries who heard the cases. An assumption of “being reasonable” apparently does not exist.

First of all, the stand your ground law allows a person to use deadly force against another person if a person reasonably believes his or her life is in danger. Included in the wording of the law is the statement that any person fearing for their life does not have to retreat. In other words, if a person feels someone is threatening their life, they do not have to retreat (move away from the situation), but use whatever deadly force available to them to survive. The wording in the stand your ground laws is clear and practically mimic each state that has one. I can only imagine that when legislators passed these laws they did so with the assumption that reasonable people “would think” before exercising their right to use them. Then there is the matter of interpretation of these laws.

In the case of Marissa Alexander who was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to twenty years for firing a warning shot at her alleged abusive husband (Her husband, Rico Gray, 36, admitted in court documents to beating, choking and punching women, including Alexander. "I got five baby-mamas and I put my hands on every last one of them except for one," Gray said in a deposition.), interpretation appears to be stretched. The law gave her the right to use deadly force to defend herself if she felt her life was threatened, but since she chose to fire a warning shot, her right to defend herself did not exist. She was not allowed to use the stand your ground as a defense because she did not kill the man. Had she shot and killed him, she would have probably not have been charged with anything based on this defense. Fortunately, she has been released. Since all the uproar behind the Trayvon Martin case, she is now waiting for a new trial.

In the Trayvon Martin case, George Zimmerman—a self-appointed neighborhood watchman—interpretation bears no semblance of reasonableness. By all accounts given, with the exception of the dead victim, Zimmerman chose to follow and antagonize an unarmed young black man because “he thought” he might do something. Even after being told not to get out of his car and to stop following the young man, Zimmerman chose to ignore instructions. As a result of his insolence, a fight ensued and Trayvon was shot and killed. Zimmerman’s defense—he was standing his ground. Unfortunately, his defense attorneys were able to persuade a jury that he had indeed a justifiable reason to defend himself. Now, there is no reasonable assumption to be made in this situation. Zimmerman was not a reasonable man and the laws were not reasonable in allowing him to claim self-defense when he was the one who provoked Trayvon. What happened to Trayvon’s right to stand his ground and defend himself? The interpretation of what ensued after Zimmerman’s arrest and subsequent trial left many wondering if the laws protected one race over another.

As we have recently seen, Michael Dunn attempted to use the stand your ground laws in Florida to justify his killing another unarmed young black man because “his music was too loud.” Dunn fired shots into a vehicle killing one and potentially harming others with no assumption of reasonableness. Granted, loud music annoys me, too, but not enough to shoot someone over it. In this case, there was no reasonable conclusion of a threat since the young man was not armed. At a public gas station, most reasonable people simply ignore the idiocy surrounding them, take care of their business and leave. I guess that was too much to expect of a Michael Dunn, who feels justified in shooting and killing Jordan Davis. For now, he has at least been convicted of three accounts of attempted murder regarding the other teens in the vehicle. The judge concluded a mistrial on the charge of the murder of Davis when jurors could not concur on a verdict and Dunn will be re-tried. Reasonable assumption on the part of all involved would have eliminated the need for the re-trial since no weapon was found and the teen was in the car—and could offer no viable threat to Dunn.

In the final analysis of the absence of reasonableness, until lawmakers establish reasonably understood and interpreted laws, we will continue to see lives lost when the people involved are unreasonable. Assuming one has a right to follow someone based on their presumptions about what a person might do—unreasonable; assuming one has the right to “monitor music volume” of other people—unreasonable. Trying to keep someone from harming you, but not being willing to kill them—reasonable, but apparently not lawful. America needs reasonable lawmakers, establishing reasonable laws and reasonable people (without bias) should be able to abide by the laws.

    

Standing Your Ground Laws!

Just in case some are still wandering through cyberspace. http://abcnews.go.com/US/floridas-stand-ground-law-determine-zimmerman-dunn-cases/story?id=22543929

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/11/11660804-marissa-alexander-gets-20-years-for-firing-warning-shot-after-stand-your-ground-defense-fails?lite

http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-skip-stand-ground-hearing-end-case/story?id=18656568

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/07/woman-shot-detroit-stand-your-ground

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28decbpuj2sr3zmt554fk0fpr0%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-780-972

Don't forget to document your quotes. Don't be guilty of plagiarism! I will discover it.

I will offer my opinion and post on Monday morning.