4A - Thursday, April 10, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A - Thursday, April 10, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 41Cmitigan Ba1k) Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MEGAN MCDONALD PETER SHAHIN and DANIEL WANG KATIE BURKE EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. A-matter of morals Michigan shouldn't need an economic basis to ban discrimination The Business Leaders for Michigan have recently thrown their support behind the banning of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. These leaders have rationalized their support on the basis of an economic argument, claiming that states who limit this kind of discrimination in the workplace would increase the number of qualified individuals, a principle which could be applied to Michigan. While this rationalization is sound, an economic argument shouldn't be the only reason for the banning of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Christianity's g(r)ay area n getting to know me, many people are surprised that I'm Christian. In an already religiously unaffiliated society, LGBTQ members, are twice as likely to have no affiliation. This trend makes sense MICHAEL considering SCHRAMM 73 percent of Christians believe homosexuality is a sin. The argument - one that's been passed down for generations - is prettyeasy to understand. The Bible is God'sword, and therefore the entirety of its content is rules for us to follow. Since a number of Bible verses (argu- ably between six and 12) condemn homosexual relations, Christianity condemns homosexuality. But do these verses condemn homo- sexuality? Many hear the argument in my last paragraph, skim through the verses and immediately write homosexuality off. To an extent, I can understand why they'd reach this con- clusion. First, they've probably always heard that homosexuality is sinful, so they have no reason to think other- wise. Second, with verses like "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination," it's easy to make quick assumptions. Contrary to popular belief, these verses don't concretely condemn homosexuality. Regardless of which verse you're reading, it's important to note they discuss only male homo- sexual sex. I won't bore you with each versebutasimple Googlingof"homo- sexuality verses" proves this point. There is a logical explanation for only addressing sex. During biblical times, homosexual relations consisted pre- dominantly of older men with boys and men with their male slaves. These sexual acts were often forms of rape to show dominance, so it makes sense why the Bible would condemn "prac- ticed homosexuality." This explana- tion also illuminates why these verses address homosexual men. Only one verse arguably addresses women's homosexuality, yet even this verse contains ambiguity in its reference to lesbian acts. These acts were cultur- ally irrelevant to women, so the Bible didn't need to address them. If these verses are addressing homosexual acts of domination, this means that the Bible never addresses homosexual relationships. There's a reason for this - these relationships rarely, if ever, existed. Marriages were dictatedby parents, and parentsbased marriages on familial connections, financial gain and land. Love was frequently subordinate to benefitting the family. Therefore, homosexual relationships were outside cultural norms. For example, the man's parents were expected to provide the woman and her parents a dowry of money and gifts. If two men tried to marry, this essential marriage tradition would become muddled. Customs like these created an expectation that men marry women, so relationships complicating the traditions weren't given serious thought. Nowadays, relationships are different. We typically choose long-term relationships based on a romantic connection, and since my previous argument assumes the Bible doesn't condemn homosexual relationships, the Christian religion should have no problem with homosexual relationships. I wish that I could dedicate more words to this argument because there's so much more to discuss. Unfortunately, I need to spend my remaining 400 words saying other things. Likehowit'snotfairthatChristians judge me for my lifestyle. I know for a fact that part of my community looks down on my pursuit of another young gentleman. It stings because some of these people are my friends, yet they seldom make the effort to hear my position - let alone take it seriously. Though they won't challenge my belief to my face, I know from enough sources that it's a topic they've discussed with each other. They see megoingagainstthe church's opinion, so they assume I'm wrong. But the truth of the matter is, I don't think I'm wrong, and I shouldn't feel shame for believing I'm right. My reasoning stems from more than my opinion benefitting my personal life. I've done my biblical research, and I hold my belief because it takes the Bible - Christianity's ultimate frame - into consideration. Since many hold the opposite stance because "that's what we've always believed," I would even argue that my opinion is more God-rooted than theirs. However,this doesn'tmeanthatI'm judging your opinion if it's different than mine. It saddens me that many have opposite beliefs on a subject so important to my life, but if your stance stems from a clear and argumentative interpretation, I'll respect your belief. I'll even hear out what you have to say. Likewise,though,it's only fair that you hear my argument, and when I settle into a relationship, it's not your place to assume my decisions are swinful. Like any other Christian, I'm merely following what I believe is right. Because - besides the biblical arguments - I feel God directing me on this path, andI've felt this for along time. For too many evenings than he can remember, mid-teenager Michael laidhisheadonhispillow,clutchedhis comforter in his developing palm and prayed an assortment of prayers. The "God, take these (gay) feelings away from me" prayer; the "God, help me through this" prayer; the "God, I want a love of my life so badly, but if I'm gay, I'm not allowed" prayer; the "God, everyone will treat me differently if I really am gay" prayer; the "God, let your will be done, but please just give me some comfort" prayer. After reciting these prayers more times than he can remember, mid-teenager Michael woke up every morning to realize that absolutely nothing had changed. Though God doesn't give us everything we ask for, he wasn't even providing his fundamental promise to ease stress in trying times. After enough prayer sessions ending in nothing but restless anguish, mid- teenager Michael came to the conclu- sion that there must be an explanation for his God's actions. That despite an overwhelming consensus onthe topic, something was missing. That some- thing was wrong. That lying under- neath a seemingly one-sided debate existed agray areamore complexthan the consensus made it appear. - Michael Schramm can be reached at mschramm@umich.edu. Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act was passed in 1976, prohibiting employment, housing or public accommodation discrimination on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status. The bill doesn't, however, cover discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or expression. Business Leaders for Michigan recently voiced their support for the expansion of this bill to include such sexual orientation discrimination under the purview of the law. Their reasoning is an economic one: with the goal of making the state one of the top business competitors in the country, banning discrimination will aid in attracting qualified job candidates and work to make all applicants feel welcome in the Michigan workplace. A recent Michigan Department of Civil Rights survey discovered that a discriminatory climate in the Michigan workplace is driving professionals and college graduates out of the state as well as making Michigan a less welcoming place for non-natives, thus hurting the Michigan economy asa whole. While an economic argument can and is being made for the expansion of anti- discrimination legislation, discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated for any reason. The CEOs are creating a catalyst for social change, which will greatly benefit the state and its population, but Michigan's citizens should take it upon themselves to initiate this change as a matter or moral imperative. The state needs to step up and end discrimination. This change needs to be brought about by more thanjust the corporate world aiming to increase their profits and better their reputation in the business world. A social component needs to be included in this move for social change. The Business Leaders of Michigan are supporting societal change that must be accepted by the state of Michigan writ large for the betterment of our society and the acceptance of any and all current and potential residents of the state of Michigan. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Barry Belmont, Edvinas Berzanskis, David Harris, Rachel John, Nivedita Karki, Jacob Karafa, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Paul Sherman, Allison Raeck, Linh Vu, Meher Walia, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe No such thing as a healthy selFe ast November, Oxford Dictionaries announced "selfie" as its international Word of theYear2013, an awardgivento either a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest during the year. Its research reveals that the frequency of the word "selfie" in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent since -A-L late 2012. LAUREN Searching #selfie MCCARTHY on Instagram renders 97,032,845 posts, and is followed closely by related hashtags such as #selfiesunday, #selfienation, #selfiesfordays and #selfiecentral. For $1.29, fans of the songwriting duo The Chainsmokers can download their #14 song on iTunes, "#SELFIE." The song tops the charts with profound lyrical insights such as "But first, let me take a selfie," "Can you guys help me pick a filter? I don't know if I should go with XX Pro or Valencia, I wanna look tan," "Whatshould my captionbe?"and"Ionlygot10likesinthelast five minutes, do you think I should take it down?" I wish I were making these things up. The HuffingtonPostrecently reported onBrit- ain's first victim of a selfie addiction with a head- line that reads, "Selfie Addiction Is No Laughing Matter, Psychiatrists Say." Nineteen-year-old Danny Bowman allegedly dropped out of school and did not leave his house for six months in pur- suit of capturing the perfect selfie. He apparently dedicated about 10 hours a day taking up to 200 pictures of himself on his iPhone. Unsatisfied with his efforts, Bowman attempted to take his ownlife. The article quotes psychiatrist Dr. David Veale, whose clinic treated Bowman's addic- tion, remarking, "Danny's case is particularly extreme, but this is a serious problem. It's not a vanity issue. It's a mental health one which has an extremely high suicide rate." It is apparent that "selfies"' sovereignty will outlive its allotted year-long reign, as it has warranted a chart-topping ballad and has been allocated an entire day on Instagram in its dedi- cation. The downside is that though amusing and often celebrated, "selfies" are yet another soci- etal trend that while seemingly entertaining and inconsequential, can be taken to toxic extremes. With the popularity of selfies and Instagram came the subsequent invention of apps like Skinnee Pix, which can trim anywhere from five to 15 pounds of virtual fat off your selfies -simply exacerbating the issue at hand. In an article for Psychology Today, Dr. Pamela Rutledge explains that taking selfies can be detrimental to a person's mental health and that indulging in them is indicative of narcissism, low self-esteem, attention-seeking behavior and self-indulgence. The idea that taking selfies may possibly be responsible for a variety of troubling mental health issues will likely not be met with acceptance by a society enthralled by technology and personal gadgets. Rutledge mentions that some experts and physicians even feel that society is collectively engaged in deep denial about how dangerous it is to interact with screens without settinglimits on how much time is spent doingson- and I would not disagree. Her concession to "put aside your anxieties over rampant narcissism and the moral decline of the digital generation and exhale ... like every trend, the behavior will recede when the excitement and newness wears off," however, I take issue with. Selfies are just the most recent installment of technological trends, and when its "excite- ment and newness wears off" another social media craze or application is bound to take its place. Though media fads are nothing new to American society, the intense vulnerability and insecurity that social networking and personal technologies induce is both alarm- ing and troubling. Are we setting the stage for coming generations to be hypersensitive to and misunderstanding of communica- tion, self-representation, self-indulgence and their appearance? Our generation inherited these technologies in our teens, but how will it affect the 5 and 6-year-old children who already know how to take selfies on their parents' Macbooks, iPads and iPhones? Will we raise children who are permanently fixated on themselves, seeking self-validation through 'likes' rather than intellect or wit, capturing "the moment" by recording simply their own appearance and perpetually living out of touch with their surroundings? - Lauren McCarthy can be reached at laurmc@umich.edu. RIMA FADLALLAH f T In conversations surrounding liberation or "social justice," we talk a lot about feelings of guilt on the part of those with privilege. I would argue that we talk far too much about these feelings, so much that we (and I say we because I, too, am guilty of being expressively guilty) silence others in the process. What's worse is that we silence those whose (already marginalized) voices we should have been listeningto all along. Guilt is an extremely passive emotion - perhaps the most passive of them all. I would know - when I feel guilty, I'm usually in this lazy limbo phase where I'm very emotionally invested in my role as an activist, but I'm not quite righteous enough to feel resentment and I'm not quite courageous enough to truly own up to my silencing behavior. So I feel guilt. Which is cool, because guilt is an emotion and I believe that honoring our raw emotions before we are able to unpack them is necessary and beneficial to our well being and our personal growth. It's how we express our guilt that is important. Not all emotions need to be unpacked - sometimes I just don't have, need or even want the language to describe what is going on in the depths of my soul. Similar to the way blood only turns red when exposed to oxygen, trying to put a name on my emotions can strip them of their true colors. So I keep them inside and let them do what I believe they will naturally do for me - so long as I remain cognizant of the connection between my mind, body and soul in the process. I am currently in the process of learning what to do with my guilt, and I figured I would share my insights with all of my fellow guilty people who also want to be more socially responsible: 1. Recognize that guilt in itself is a privilege. The fact that I feel guilty rightsnow means that Iam complacent in a dynamic whereby I am (directly or indirectly) the oppressor. I'll say it again so it sinks in: in certain circles, my very existence (as a straight, upper class, American, able-bodied, cis- gendered, college educated person) is oppressive. Guilt is aprivilege. 2. Sometimes, expressing things is overrated - some things I should just keep to myself. Let me tell you, I never thought I would ever say that, and those closest to me are probably he guilt toolt still rubbingtheir eyes.Ibelieve inthe power of language as transformative, revolutionary, cathartic, Ido.But that's just it; in truly coming to understand the jarring effects of language, I've learned that some things are just better left unsaid, especially when my motivationsforexpressionarebecause I'd feel more credible or welcomed in certain spaces. Expression of guilt is self-serving. Here are a few examples for us both to follow: If I feel guilty that my parents are rich, that's not really something I need to bring up in a circle of friends who come from a low socio-economic background. If you feel guilty that your conservative Christian parents would hate me because Iam Muslim, that's not really something I need to hear. What are these statements accomplishing? Nothing productive. Some things we should just keep to ourselves, let our feelings fester inside until we come up with our own answers instead of seeking answers from people whom we will hurt and silence with our inquiry and confession - expression of guilt is insensitive. 3. My guilt should be a sign that I am not an expert in the space where I feel guilty. Building from my last point, I am learning that the spaces where I feel most guilty should also be the spaces where I speak the least and listen the most. My guilt in itself is an indicator that my narrative may be one that dominates and marginalizes voices that cannot be heard until I shut up. While my guilt may urge me to speak up to "compensate" for being privileged, I should actually just keep quiet and stop trying to center myself because this conversation isn't about me, not everything is about me. Guilt is selfish,guilt is self-centered. 4. If I am still guilty, that's fine. ButIneed to seriously reflect on howI envision my role as an activist. This one is a tough one, mostly because I am still thinking and working through it. I believe that my guilt means that I am still trying to reconcile my role in a given movement. I am uncomfortable with the role I am currently playing, so I rely on guilt to make me feel better. As a self- proclaimed "activist," I am learning that guilt has the power to stymie growth and nurture complacency by making me feel that my feelings of guilt alone are productive. Guilt alone is not productive. Icouplethislessonwithtoolkititem #2: I'm learning that if my activism is in the form of a Facebook status, a Michigan in Color article or any other form of public expression, it should be reflective, respectful and responsible for it to be productive. Guilt without self-reflection, honesty and respect cannot be productive. "Guilt as productive" and "guilt as passive" are mutually exclusive statements, therefore guilt is fallacious, guilt is deceiving. 5. My guilt does not make me an exception. I've learned that constantly criticizing those who are racist, homophobic, classist, ageist, etc. does not magically dismiss me from being those very same things. Guilt is a cop- out. IfIam notdirectlyoppressedbya system - whether it be anti-Blackness, heteronormativity, even American exceptionalism - I am complacent in those very systems of oppression. This does not mean that I cannot play a role in helping deconstruct them; it just means that my role needs to start within myself before I should even think about how to criticize others, about how to operate in that space. Guilt is lazy, guilt is passive. All that said, I can speak from personal experience when I say that consciously reflecting on all of these things is no easy task. In fact, it is exhausting, emotionally draining and extremely confusing. Still, it is absolutely necessary - especially on a campus so hostile to minorities, the LGBTQ community, those who come fromlow-SESbackgrounds and people with other targeted identities. I truly believe our world would be a better, less hurtful place if people stopped focusing on the discomfort that often comes along with recognizing their privilege, because feeling uncomfortable is a hell of a lot better than having to bear oppressive blows dayafterdaylike manyofmypeersdo. When I contextualize my discomfort that way, I realize how petty and self-centered my complaints are. We would all be more responsible if we let those feelings of discomfort and guilt marinate for a bit, if we truly reflected on why we feel uncomfortable to begin with. As Wolverines, before we can "expect respect," we must hold ourselves to the same standards of respect (for self and others) to which we feel so entitled. Rima Fadlallah is an LSA senior and managing editor of Michigan in Color. 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