In some of my previous classes, Sonja DuBois challenged them to pick one cause to devote their time, energy, and resources to. As you age, there will be lots of requests and demands of you for social causes and charities. One lesson of the Holocaust is that "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." (Edmund Burke) We are responsible, throughout our lives, as citizens of a democracy, of a society, for doing our best to correct injustices around us. Too often we do one of two things: we either ignore these problems or we try to give a little to everything to ease our guilty consciences. As Sonja so eloquently pointed out, imagine if each person chose ONE cause and devoted him or herself to it for life?
Obviously my passion is respect for your fellow man. I have devoted myself as an educator to a study of the Holocaust in the hope of educating those around me about making the world a safer place. I feel that every human being deserves respect. As far as my "cause", beyond being a Holocaust educator, I am committed to a ministry for abused and neglected children called Royal Family Ministries. My church does a camp every summer for nearly forty children in the foster care systems of Bradley, Hamilton, and McMinn counties. I have served as a counselor at that camp almost every year since its inception in 1999. This is our tenth year for Royal Family Kids Camp, and we have expanded that ministry to include a middle school retreat about five years ago. I serve on the Royal Family board at my church, Kraig and I are both counselors, and we have chosen to make this ministry the source of our financial support. You know that I try not to ask you to do anything I would not/am not doing, so I wanted to answer the question that follows before I asked you to.
My question to you is, what is your cause going to be? What are you passionate about? What do you see as something that merits your time, energy, and resources? Or are YOU going to stand by and do nothing?
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
17 comments:
I think the best cause for me is being a friend and respect everybody around me, even if they aren't nice. I absolutely HATE when I walk through the halls at school and see kids picking on other kids less fortunate than them, or even if they don't look "pretty enough" or "hot enough" Did God say anything about anybody in the world being ugly when he created us? I mean the so called pretty people could be ugly. I know most people have problems with this, and that's why I would love to change that. I have always tried to be nice and friends with every person I see. Some don't even know I exist, but I know deep down some people will remember ,"Hey that girl was actually nice to me," for a lifetime. I don't know if this is what you meant, but I would definitely consider it to merit my time, maybe not money or resources . And no i'm not going to sit around doing nothing.
-Hannah Ellis
If everyone picked a cause and devoted themself to it for life, our world would be a better place!
My passion is to help kids who are less fortunate than we ourselves are...orphans, mentally challenged, or kids who have problems where they have chosen to do something wrong. I really want to do everything I can to encourage these kids and to make a difference in their lives. I believe that to do this it will take time and finance but I am willing to give it a try. I'm pretty sure that deep down these kids are waiting for something to change in their life and, so far, maybe some of them have. My mom is working in an organization that takes care of mentally challenged adults and children. Sometimes I go to help her file all the papers away in order for them to be able to stay there. It breaks my heart to look at them so innocent and helpless. Hopefully, I can make a difference in even one child's/adult's life. It doesn't matter whose it is.
-Stella K. 3rd
Your dedication to respect and the Holocaust is very admirable, Mrs. Davis; it takes time and patients to do what you do. You're not given nearly as much credit as you deserve.
(I am not trying to kiss up.)
I try not to be cliche, but my passion in life is life itself. Not so much being alive (dying does not bother me as much as it should), but people's legacy. Who that person was, and how he lead his life? What made him do the things he did?
I am especially interested in those who lead horrible lives. Those who commit murder or other detestable things. Why? Because these people foreshadow future generations. I always wonder how we can prevent things like this from ever happening again.
Hitler and the Holocaust was extremely relevant to my interests. I find it so hard to grasp that someone could be so out of his mind that he found it necessary to kill MILLIONS of people.
I am also interested in the noble. People like Gandhi or the Dalai Lama. How someone could be so selfless. How they spend their lives working to better the lives of complete strangers. I can only hope that we have noble figures like them in our future generations. Maybe one day be up with them. You never know.
I want nothing more than society to be humane. To not plummet into a world that doesn't care. That would kill me.
Oh whoops I forgot to leave my name!
It's Yusra Siddiqui.
My thing I devote my life to would probably be... I hate when people make fun of people with disabilities! I spend as much time as I can in the special ed room. It just makes me happy because they are always make my day with the little things they say. I want to do whatever I can in life to make disabled people feel excepted. When I am older I want to make a center for them o just come and hang out... like we would at the movies. I would never sit around and do nothing
mary kathryn:)
I feel that my cause us to help who and where it is needed. My family always say that I have a kind heart and I am willing to help whoever needs it. I think my parents were right in saying this. I always try to help anyone who needs it. Whether it be picking up someone's books in the hallway or helping someone do chores around the house, I always strive to gladden someone's day whenever I can. I hope that others see what I and others do to help and they begin helping others as well.
The world would be dramatically different if everyone fully devoted themselves to one thing!
My passion is for the people in other countries who don't know God. I hope one day to be a full time missionary in another country. I want to live beside those people as equals and share with them the love of my amazing savior. This cause for me would be worth every penny and all my time. Even my life.
-Megan D.
3rd
The thing I feel most passionate towards, is seeing other people and myself happy. I have always done my best to make those around me laugh or grin with simple jokes and puns. It's like the saying goes, "laughter's the best medicine." When i'm down, I find joy when other people try to make me happy because I know that i'm not the only one who believes that all should be happy.
If everyone put their effort into their utmost passion, (hopefully a good-hearted passion) then our world would most definitely be a better place. One day, I wish to become a psycologist who helps those in need on a daily basis, and i'll incorporate simple humor into every session I have. I intend not to do nothing, but the exact opposite. I plan to do all I can to achieve this personal goal of mine.
-Tara G. ;)
My passion is to do what I can at my age to help the old that can't do it themselves and need my help. I also try to give them a friend, because a lot of times they don't have any family or friends left. When my grandfather was in the nursing home every person I passed I greeted with a friendly "hello" and the ones that I got to talking to I even greeted with a hug. If I see them drop something, or need help carrying something, I'm quick to jump up and help them even if they don't ask. I saw one woman in a wheelchair drop a can of chips she was eating onto the ground. She couldn't pick them up and began crying, I immediately jumped up and handed them to her. It kills me to see that happen, and other things too like immature kids calling them names and making fun of them. If I see this, I confront them. These people lived an entire life that they think people have forgotten about, so why not show them that they haven't been?
-Emily Frey 3rd period
Too many people in this world don't care about the situation that other people are in. The cause I try to live by is mainly God. Because if you live by Him your doing everything you can to help the people around you and also the world around you. You can make an affect on this world by simply showing respect or just proving to someone that their not invisible and that someone does care. To many people are being called "loners" and "sketchy" because they don't follow the way everyone else is. To many people put labels on people who don't belong on them in the first place. Because by following God's cause everyone is beautiful and unique. And everyone deserves the time out of your "busy" day to at least get a hello or even a smile. No one should get less then that.
One thing that has come to bother me is that so many Christians go to church on Sunday and are ready to do what God says but when their around their "non" Christian friends they are so determined on following the worlds cause. Like the Bible says " You either love Me or love the world there is no in between."
Sabrina B.
4th Period
I believe that if you are not giving something to someone else, you are practically taking it away from them. Whether it is big or small, we can still give. If there is one cause i want to fight for it would be human rights, those rights that are being stripped away from someone at this right moment. I think this question is a bit incomplete only because we need to help some else fulfill their cause in order for us to complete ours. Alone we will fail to make a change, but together we can make a difference. Too often we think we are making a difference and helping our cause by blaming the government and those who govern us for the problems. They might be the ones responsible, and we should raise our voices for what is right, but here's my point, why don't we just eliminate the third party, why don't we just make a difference by ourselves, there are more common people in this world that people in power, that's just an obvious fact. So why then do we put this weight on them if we know they are not going to put their full to it? Lets start clubs, organizations, whatever is necessary, lets just do it.
I find myself to be a people person. My future career has been based on helping others with their problems like counseling. It makes me sick to my stomach to listen to situations where the person is disappointed in himself or herself and think ending their life is going to solve everything. I noticed their are many hot lines out there now that talk to those who deal with the suicide problem. However since this is a hot line it is only if the person comes to them. What about those who think what they are doing is right? They are not going to come calling numbers to help them with their dilemma. Since I am not old enough to participate in the hot lines, I cannot help that much nationally but most likely locally. What I am able to do now is help anyone with his or her self-esteem since that is a cause of suicide. Giving compliments to another is so simple that I want to increase the level of kindness I want to stick with it.
-Rachel Bentley, 3rd Period
Maybe it's kind of sad or weird, but I've never really thought about "my cause" before. And it's going to sound strange, but I'm pretty sure my cause would have something to do with music. I would love to encourage kids to pick up an instrument, because it's a really important thing to me and has gotten me through a lot, believe it or not. And if not music, just the arts in general. Eventually, if everything goes as planned I would love to help keep music and the like in schools. Maybe help start an orchestra program in more public schools, things like that. I've already pretty much forced some of my younger cousins into the band programs at their schools, so I guess that's a start, haha. Though it may sound different than most of the responses, when you think about it, it's in the same general idea as the others. For some kids, maybe playing an instrument would keep off the streets or just from doing bad things in general. Sorry, I didn't explain that to well, but I think I got my point across.
Ryanne W. 3rd Period
My cause is to spread the word of God to as many people as possible. As a Christian, I believe that the most important thing in life is to believe in God and live a good Christian life. However, there are many people in this world that are lost in darkness that need to seek the Light of Jesus. If I could do one thing for society, I would try to reach out and help kids that are hurting. Perhaps that means going and mowing someone's lawn or doing their laundry,etc. Just to do something that shows them that I care and that I want them to go to Heaven. I am very passionate about NOT letting temptation get the best of you, and to put all your faith in God and trust him to guide you through your life. I would also like to talk to people about their choices and perhaps share with them some experiences of mine that could be a model for them. In my opinion, this is the most important cause in the world, and I think everyone should try and do this. However, many choose to just stand by and do nothing while more lost souls are lost to the world everyday. I am going to try my best to stop this from happening.
Caleb Hiddleson, 4th Period
My cause would be to help everyone that is in need. Whether they are a stranger or a beloved one. I find the need to make people happy. That is always been my personality. It is hard because I put other peoples happiness before myself. I think that you should help everyone that is in need. Thats another reason why I volunteer so much. I find it truly amazing to help people. Just a simple smile from them is just heart touching itself. If you help people, you get nothing out of it. In the long run, when your in need someone will lend you a hand. I believe in the saying what goes around come around. Just do an act of kindess and thats the best cause ever.
Sandy Ha.
4th period.
All through my life I've thought that I was a very helpful person, that I always made good. Basically I thought it was OK to hold myself on a higher pedestal than other people. As I grew up, I started understanding that it's definitely not OK for me to think that I'm better than anyone else. Even though I've known that for quite a few years now, this Holocaust unit has really encouraged me to help as much as possible and not care who's watching, if anyone. I don't want to be a bystander anymore or to be fake about who I really am. Just today there was a kid who is in special ed. who dropped all his books and everyone passed him by, but I helped him. I think that this unit really opened my eyes. Thanks, Mrs. Davis, for a great unit!
-Courtney Whitlock 4th
I think that one of the best things to do as a human being is to stick up for other people. I try to do this very often. I hate it when people pick on someone that isn't even bothering them. The people that do the picking on are the people who like to get attention. They use this as a way for people to laugh and like them. However, it usually makes people look down on them. When I see someone being picked on, I usually say something. I'm not going to lie, there are also times when I'm a bystander. However, I try to be more of a rescuer than a bystander. Everyone knows how it feels to be picked on, and it's no fun. I think that if everyone stood up for each other, the world would be a much better place. People wouldn't want to suffer the consequences of picking on someone because they know they'd have to go through many other people, and it'd ruin their reputation if anything. Standing up for other people makes the other person happy, and it makes the perpetrator feel like an idiot, which is how they should feel.
-Trisha Johnson, 4th Period.
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