Leeper's class is one of the few classes that shows me the darker side of humanity. Huntington University is a great place, almost too great. HU is filled with many good christian people. It's hard for me to not get lost in the "bubble" of Huntington University. Huntington makes me forget some of the worlds problems. I go out on campus late at night and feel perfectly safe. Everyone leaves their dorm rooms unlocked and doors open when they are gone. I haven't noticed much discrimination on campus. The people on my floor (Wright Third) are very supporting of everything that I do. Huntington almost feels to me like another planet. A nicer, safer, more christian planet. Steve Leeper reminds me every Tuesday and Thursday that there are many problems in the world, and that not everyone is a believer. He does do a good job of inspiring me to make a difference though.
On Tuesday we watched some very impactful films. The movies definitely made me think. I wish I could say that the second film we watched left me feeling uneasy at lunch, or made me lose some sleep, but it didn't. I haven't hard a hard life. I have been very blessed. Leeper said that we have learned to put situations like the Holocaust in the back of our minds, and I agree with that. The movies we watched Tuesday were very intense. I didn't lose sleep, or feel uneasy simply because I am numb. Every time I turn on the TV another shooting or natural disaster has happened. I have become heartless and numb to all these horrific events. I'm not sure if being numb is a good or bad thing. It keeps me from becoming sad or depressed when hearing about these horrible events, but at the same time I think I should feel some sort of sadness. I want to care, but once I turn off the TV I go to the dining commons and associate with kind christian people and forget about the worlds problems. I guess I just have to keep myself from forgetting that the world is not as kind as Huntington University.
I understand your numb feeling. I feel the same as you; while those films knocked me into silence, I think the silence was a result of just not knowing what to say simply because Prof. Leeper told us that we shouldn't analyze them right away. I was so silent because I kept telling myself "No, don't analyze, don't figure this out because you're not allowed to." But also because, what am I going to do about it?
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes down to it, I am one person. One person flat out can't stop a holocaust, or save thousands of starving children. We can be aware, and I get that, but at the same time, we can't jump right off the deep end and try and save the world all at once, and the reality of that forces us into numbness. It takes a lot of drive, a lot of inspiration, prayer, support and the help of a really big God (like our's) to do something like any of the aforementioned events.
When you talk about how the world is different form Huntington University, I definitely agree. I grew up in a Christian school; it was small, very sheltered, but mainly all I knew. I transferred to a public school and learned what this world really is, or at least, started looking it in the eye.
And I think that, now that I'm back in this environment of edification and care that it's important to have media shown like what we saw on Tuesday because it's always reminding us of what is really out there, and what we're going to be stepping into after life on this campus, and how are we going to react to it?
"We're a mess!" I recall Prof. Leeper saying. Really, sometimes I think numbness is the appropriate action toward things like we were shown to on Tuesday because if we're a complete and utter mess, (and we always will be), how on earth are we supposed to clean up the even BIGGER messes when we can't even begin to clean up our own?
Sorry about the long ramble, but that's my say for Tuesday, and I liked your post a lot. Haha