Generation GAP (TM)

Clothes. They keep us warm. They cover up our naked skin. Pretty basic.

Not at all. Clothes have represented our status for centuries. Having nice clothes has always been important, be it flaunting the color purple, wearing ten-foot wigs, or tights for guys (both in Elizabethan times, and apparently, today, with the dawn of skinny jeans. :) And it's constantly changing. The first picture I have is from the 1970's and the second is from the 2000's. The only similar thing about them is the parents of all of the kids probably aren't very pleased. It's a form of discovery, deciding who we are. When we're little, our parents dress us, and most of the time, we all reach a point where we say we want to shop for ourselves. And our parents aren't necessarily going to be happy with our choices. Now, I am of the belief that parents should have some say in clothing choice, since they are more aware of how image is perceived. A girl shouldn't be allowed to parade around all her parts just because she wants to, if clothing could potentially endanger a person, then, by all means, parents, make the kid mad and do something about it.

Clothes change with our personalities. Like, I said, when we're little, our parents decide what image they want us to have. We won't always share that. We want to create our own image. Especially in the modern era, the options are endless. Skater, prep, goth, emo, classic, high design, retro, grunge...it's a visual tapestry walking in a mall people-watching. We choose our clothes based on the people we admire. If we like a certain rock band, we might dress like them. If we read a lot of fashion magazines, our choices may be more on the trendy, high-spending side.

It's hard to describe the connection between humanity and clothing at 11:30 at night with a cluttered brain. However, my point is: clothes aren't who we are, they represent our changing nature. Especially as teenagers, we need the freedom to try things out, and clothes are the perfect avenue. Parents, encourage clothing and not something more dangerous, like drugs, experimental sex or gangs. Set your guidelines, but be flexible. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's bad, or even that it'll be this way forever. How many people still wear the clothes that they loved 10-20 years ago?

It's not a matter of life and death, for parent or teen. Teens, if your parents don't like your clothes, just remember it's not YOU they disapprove of, just the cut of fabric over your skin. Parents, your kid is going to have wacky styles maybe, YOU did, in the day. Don't forget what you were like at that age.

Jon & Kate + 8 - A Marriage = Tabloid Feeding Frenzy

I started watching Jon & Kate + 8 in the summer of 2008, I think. I never was a huge fan of TLC, I watched What Not To Wear, of course, and sometimes the following Ten Years Younger atrocity, but I was hardly a devoted follower of TLC's program schedule. Then this show popped up with eight adorable children and a hyper-organized mother with a voice like Ellen Degeneres. I never thought Kate was crazy, just overwelmed. As the show progressed into the year, Jon became more and more tired-looking, more distant. His eyes got more bloodshot while Kate began to turn into a orange-skinned, crazy-looking haircut. I never imagined that the affair rumors would develop into anything. It happened all the time But new information kept coming up. Kate was traveling a lot more in this most recent season, for her book, leaving the subjects, her children, behind with Jon. People were saying the whole show was a charade - the couple hadn't even lived together for two years. No one knew what was true. They started doing their interviews seperately during the show. The children began to show signs of stress.

Then the long-awaited divorce announcement, accompanied by slow montages of the couple standing apart and Kate, only Kate, narrating their desire for peace. I don't know if they would have lasted without the pressure of the show. All I know is that fame and attention affects people differently. Kate rose to the occasion, becoming aggressive for whatever reason, maybe she truly wants to create a perfect life for her children, or maybe she is selfish like the media paints her to be. Jon, who seems shy, couldn't handle it. It's a tragedy. And the world doesn't appreciate it. After the announcement, the viewership went down by 77%. Kate said they would continue the show ,but I don't know who'll watch it. I know I won't.

Michael Jackson: A Father

Since Michael Jackson's passing this June, the world has responded in dramatically different ways. While most weep the loss of a musical icon, others spew out their contempt of the star, calling him a "pedophile" and a "freak." I never was a huge of Michael, by the time I was born and then started listening to music, he had stepped out of the limelight. Now, since I study music, I cannot deny his brilliance as an artist. His dancing was beautiful, no one will ever be able to recapture that, and his music reached millions of people. His talent was marred by a disastrous childhood that seemed to poison the rest of his life. He was accused of being a freak, changing his face until he was hardly the gorgeous young star people had fallen in love with, and of molesting boys at his famed Neverland Ranch. In my eyes, he was a tragic figure. I fully support his innocence, I cannot believe that a man so sensitive, so frail would ever harbor sexual feelings for young boys. Sure, he may have been socially inappropriate, but Michael Jackson was a man who craved love. His children have been a mystery for many years, and when Paris gave her 20-second speech at his memorial, I found myself brought to tears.

Michael Jackson was more than a star, more than the freak people like to label him as. He was a father, and his children adored him. He can't possibly be a pervert and still love his children so much. His children don't care that he was a star, and they know the accusations and the courtroom trials don't mean anything. They just want their dad back. Michael was a person, like you or me, and his death IS a tragedy because of the people he's leaving behind. I would rather judge a man based on what his children say of him than the tabloids and juries. Those children see him for who he really was.

Tormented in the Temple

Is the Church, the body of Christ, is it a resting place or a courtroom? In my experience, it has been a courtroom, where Christians judge Christians on their salvation based upon their views on theology, politics, and more. If I do not measure up exactly to the expected order, I am at risk to burn in hell.

If Christians are attacking their own so viciously, what are they doing to the non-believer? This question has plagued me for a long time as I suffer persecution at the hands of extremists, those who limit the saved only to Republican, conservative, and non-controversial people who vent their personal convictions for the world to see, and in actuality, are spewing hatred.

Since when is Scripture used a weapon against fellow Christians who are different? Since now. Since when is cruelty justifiable by a “spiritual calling?” Since now. The word truth has become as common as the vague political terms “liberal” and “conservative,” and everyone suddenly thinks that they personally are the Mouth of God on earth just because they have an opinion.

Everyone asks “What has happened to America? How have we fallen so far?” I am more concerned with the question, “What has happened to the Church that we would rather make a point than save souls, or even nurture souls?” We’re not trying to win the hearts of the non-believers, we’re discounting those which have already been saved! And for what, I ask? For what? To be right. Apparently that is more important than love and compassion and patience and prayer. There’s a quote by Ghandi I saw on a friend’s Facebook page and it sums up exactly what I feel at this point in my life. “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”