The Ending is only the Beginning….

Over the past fourteen to fifteen weeks, I departed on a personal journey to discover my own definition of human dignity.  I was not alone in this journey called Revealing Human Dignity.  This journey encompassed the explaining of factors that contribute to different interpretations of human dignity around the world, the meaning and use of respect as an essential characteristic, and my self-worth through interpersonal relationships.  Hence, these are the major pieces of the content that I took with me to solve the great mysterious puzzle of human dignity.



My journey.  The road is long and dangerous.  There is not much to look around. 
We started with no defnition and ended with wealth of knowledge. 



The first time I heard the word human dignity, I was like “Oh I know what that is, no worries.”  However, when someone asks you, “What does it mean to you, and how do you define it?” well that made the uncertainties appear because I had no idea.  There is no formal definition of human dignity, it is only our interpretations and the theories that we can relate to it. 

Hence, nearing the end of this class I can truly say that I have my interpretation for the definition of human dignity, but then I can also say that my definition will always be changing.  Human dignity is constant, but moves at the same time.  It is as if we can never catch up to it.  We will always behind it because we can never be in front of it or with it.  Maybe it is just the way the world is, we were never meant to fully understand human dignity, but always strive for it.  Therefore, I feel the name of my journey has changed.  I am not revealing human dignity, I am revealing myself.  I am discovering who I am in this world, and how my beliefs and morals form my dignity and the dignity of others.  Human dignity is intangible and irreplaceable.

Human Dignity?  It is intangable, but you know it is there.
Just like the clouds and the sky. If everyone has a sky above them,
then maybe that means everybody has human dignity. 

Additionally, the theorist Kant has been a major contributor to facilitating my thoughts on the various topics that I have discussed about human dignity.  For instance, a good will is one that acts in accordance with rationally-determined duty.  No character trait or consequence is good in itself.  However, as good is defined in terms of rationality, Kant argued that all rational beings were ends in themselves and should never be treated purely as a means to an end.  This moral philosophy assisted me in finding the aspects to understanding of human dignity around the world, and the significance of respect and self-worth through relationships. 

Overall, I have a sense of myself.  Can you say the same about you?  Has this affected you in anyway?  Are you able to come up with your own definition of human dignity?  Yes, no, maybe, an answer does not matter because we are humans and we will always have our dignity.  There may be times that it feels as if we have none or too much.  Nevertheless, this is who we are.  We need to love and respect ourselves, and take these emotions to every single person around us.  Human dignity is never ending because we were born this way.



We are all humans and born this way. 
Human dignity is a part of us, and we will always be a part of it.
What is dignity with humanity?  

Thank you

Visualized Humanity's Dignity

What can a picture say about Human Dignity?  Can only a person or an object represent it?  For me, a picture is capable of many effects and is able to communicate volumes of humanity.  This picture was taken while I was walking around Oakland and saw the public health building, it was surrounded by  bright pink blooming trees.  I took a picture, and saw cherry blossoms in my mind and heart.  Even though this picture is not of the real thing, it reminded me of them. 

Pink blooming tree in from of the Public Health building
located in oakland across from the old Children's hospital.
This is Human Dignity invisual form for me. 

In Japan cherry blossoms symbolize the ephemeral nature of life.   The transience of the blossoms is the extreme beauty and quick death, which is associated with mortality.  For this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and can be easily utilized into the concept of human dignity.  Furthermore, they have the concept of “Mono no aware,” which means the pathos of things, an empathy toward things, or a sensitivity to ephemera.  It is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of impermanence.  It is a reminder of how precious life is and to live each day with joy and love towards others. 

Capturing this image brought numerous blissful thoughts.  I could remember the sweet scent and the pink ambience they use to engulf me.  I truly have a powerful dynamic between the subject of my picture and myself.  The power that I feel is security when I am underneath their boughs.  It is as if I have a secret relationship with the photo that no one else can understand, but me.  Moreover, the difference in using imagery rather than words to capture a moment of beauty related to human dignity is quite impressive.  My mind becomes overwhelmed when I look at a picture compared to the written word.  I can see and interpret more with a picture because I am a visualand emotional thinker. 

Human dignity to me is thought largely in a visual sense.  When I see or feel human dignity, I am more adapt to envelope myself it and delve deep into what it is saying to me.  Who knew that one picture would make me think of the transience and beauty of life like this one has made me?  Did my picture do the same for you or different?

4/5 ~ Criminals and Human Dignity

For this week’s blog, I decided to research children in the criminal justice system and how their dignity is upheld.  I wanted to do something based on the prompt “Does our criminal system uphold dignity of individuals? With examples,” however, I decided to recreate that question into my own:

Is our criminal justice system able to handle in an ethically and with human dignity, the legal and emotional issues surrounding a preteen child charged with a capital crime?  Is he/she going to be treated fairly for someone of his or her age? For instance, the crimes of Jordan Brown, Christopher Pittman, Nathaniel Abraham , and Lacresha Murray are children charged as adults, but is the adult prison system set up for children? 

I know that I am probably not able to answer all these questions in my week’s blog, but I wanted to touch on this difficult and emotionally driven human dignity question.  I do not believe that our criminal justice system upholds the dignity of children placed in the adult systems.  They are not made for children.  For example, they did not have a child sized jumpsuit for Jordan Brown when he was  convicted of killing his father’s pregnant girlfriend.  There pictures of him in the media drowning in an adult orange suit.  There was no dignity there for him, even for his crime, he still needs human dignity.  Furthermore, I still believe children can change and reform with rehabilitation.  They can be saved.  I believe in second chances.  For instance, the story of Nathaniel Abraham will serve the longest time in prison then anyone else in history.  He convicted and committed at the age of 11 and received a life sentence. 

This is a picture of Jordan Brown, the convicted 11 year old

for murdering his father's pregnant girlfriend. 

Do believe his dignity is there or taken away? 

Do believe he can be saved? 

 Look at this face and tell me what you think or feel?

In the United States, children are treated as different from adults, except when it comes to criminal law: Most laws and policies acknowledge that children are different from adults. Children cannot drive, vote, drink, or even obtain a rental membership from a video store. We see them as in need of protection from the outside world and as insufficiently mature to justify being treated as adults. But the one glaring exception to this rule comes in the context of criminal law. Children who commit crimes are often perceived as “adults” and suddenly become “adults” for purposes of prosecution, trial, sentencing, and punishment.

Nothing is fair for these children when you change the age of 11 year old and make it an adult.  Close your eyes and tell me what you see when you hear an 11 year old, and then imagine seeing the 11 year old as an adult.  You cannot do it, because no matter that 11 year old is a child, and needs to be treated as a child, so they grow and be modeled into proper citizens.  Children need love not shackles, we need to protect their dignity and make the correct changes to save their dignity before being treated as the adults. 

mental illness and stigmas: saving the people with schizophrenia

This week I decided to do research on the mental disorder of schizophrenia.  This disease has always interested me, since I first heard about it.  In my nursing mental and behavioral health class, we touched on the subject, but I wanted to do my own research on the topic.  Moreover, I truly wanted to explore how people live with this disease every day and how it affects their human dignity every day. 

Approximately 1% of the world’s population will develop schizophrenia at some point during their lifetime. This severe, disabling neurological disease is chronic and there is no cure. Although it affects both men and women equally, men are usually diagnosed earlier, in their late teens or early twenties. Schizophrenia symptoms are complex and the disorder can be difficult to diagnose, particularly in its early stages. People who have schizophrenia often have terrifying psychotic symptoms such as hearing voices in their heads, or believing that others are controlling their thoughts, reading their minds, or plotting against them. These symptoms often leave them afraid and withdrawn, so people living with schizophrenia can be incomprehensible or scary to other people because their speech patterns and behavior are disorganized and bizarre.

The initial signs indicating schizophrenia often appear as behavioral changes that may be confusing or shocking. A sudden onset of symptoms is referred to as being an “acute phase” of the disorder. Psychosis is a common symptom of schizophrenia where the patient is mentally impaired by hallucinations, delusions, and the inability to discern what is real and what is not real. Less obvious symptoms may precede, occur along with, or follow severe psychotic symptoms. Some people have a single episode of psychosis, but others have them many times throughout their lives, yet they lead fairly normal lives between episodes. However, a person who has chronic schizophrenia usually does not recover completely normal functioning, and they often require long-term medical treatment, usually requiring medication, in order to control their symptoms.

There are treatments for schizophrenia that can relieve many of the symptoms, but very few patients recover completely and most continue to suffer symptoms of some sort throughout their lives. Suicide is a danger for people diagnosed with schizophrenia; approximately 10% of all patients commit suicide, especially younger males. Medications can other treatments can control symptoms when used regularly and as prescribed, but there are persistent consequences of schizophrenia that can be very troubling - lost opportunities, medication side effects, social stigmas, and residual symptoms that never go away completely.

Overall, people with schizophrenia do not live successful lives, healthy well-beings, or strong relationships.  Nothing is easy for them and they are constantly stigmatized in society.  They are looked down upon and are feared because they are not considered “normal”.  Based on these findings, the dignity of these human beings is greatly affected.  They become so hopeless and so depressed due to their own diagnosis and what people say that they kill themselves.  We need to step up and stop this stigmatization.  We can save lives, and save people’s dignity who have schizophrenia or any other mental illness. 

3/22 ~ Medicine and Dignity

This week we read provocative medical topics.  Topics, which I have discussed in my Biomedical Ethics, but not delving into the depths of human dignity and medicine as much as this class is making me do.  For me I chose the article by Gawande, A called “Letting Go;” it was about keeping people alive on life-sustaining medicine, and the people who chose to die without those measures.

The article centered around one particular person, a young woman with end-stage lung cancer.  She just had her first child, and was told she was going to die.  They did everything to keep her alive, but no treatment worked. She only got sicker and sicker, until she got pneumonia and slowly slipped into and out of death, before she finally took her last breath.  Her parents and sister wanted to keep her alive, but her husband let her go.  There was nothing more that could be done.  They all knew that, but they did not want to believe it.  I believe this article is directly related to human dignity.  The family and doctors respected the woman’s wish to try everything, but at the end they let her go.  In addition, they did not stop her from being a mother or a wife; they never stopped her from being human.  They let her live her life, a painful life, but her spirit was able to retain its dignity to the last breathe and beyond.

For me this article brought up some tough memories.  My uncle/godfather had terminal brain cancer.  It was a tumor that he was born with, but no one knew he had.  Near the last couple weeks of his life, he was not the same person.  After all his extensive brain surgery he lost everything that made him human, he was in a vegetative state.  He could neither look you in the eyes, smile, or laugh.  I was too young to know what was going on, but I knew it was something bad.  My aunt made the final decision to “pull the plug” on his life-sustaining measures.  To me I thought she killed my uncle, I thought, “Why couldn’t we wait, He could pull out of this eventually.”  Knowing what I know now, I understand that my aunt made a really rough decision, and it was the right one.  Medicine would have not brought my uncle back to himself.  His brain was so damaged by chemo, radiation and surgical resection, that all his human traits were gone.  He was nothing, but a shell.  A shell is not a life and I believe holds no dignity.  ‘Letting go’ was the best decision, and also it makes me wonder how my aunt feels everyday knowing what she had to do to give my uncle his life back before he drift away.

This whole topic of letting go and life-sustaining measures connects to the theorist Peter Singer’s thoughts and ideas.  According to Singer, he holds that the right to life is intrinsically tied to a being's capacity to hold preferences, which in turn is intrinsically tied to a being's capacity to feel pain and pleasure.  Therefore, if a person cannot feel pain or pleasure then the person cannot possibly be alive or human.  For instance, Singer would agree with the idea of “Letting go” to what happened to the young woman in the article and my uncle.  However, since my uncle was born with this disease.  Singer would have easily decided to put my uncle out his misery early in life.  Additionally, the young woman knew of her tough road of her incurable disease, but still fought hard.  Singer would have told her to give up. 

We must make our own decisions; we cannot base them on previous experiences or theorists’ ideas.  We must place trust in our own hearts and minds to know what is right for us.  We cannot choose for others what we find best for us.  It does not work that way.  I chose my own path of life sustaining measures or “letting go,” and I will respect anyone’s wishes for what they want.  This is human dignity to me.

A Quiet Time

The experiential learning that we did in class gave me an hour of my life back.  I was able to take back control of the things that were taken away from me.  I could listen to my heartbeat and watch the rise and fall of my chest during each inhalation and exhalation I took.  It was only me.  There was no one to make me feel bad about myself; there was no one to make me feel less.  With this hour of solitude I knew I needed more than that one time in class, I needed to make this hour for myself everyday if I were to truly take back control. 

The dove grasping an olive branch in its mouth is a sign of peace.  I am looking for this sign that things will turn out alright, but I need to start making my own peace and serentiy.  This is something you cannot go out and find, you need to make it happen.

Moreover, I have been going through some really rough times with my roommates to the point where I end up crying myself to sleep and stay at Carlow until night.  I do not feel appreciated, I feel rejected physically and wounded emotionally.  It is a toxic place to live, but it is the only place I have right now during school.  To find an hour of solitude is almost impossible in this place.  Thus, I looked for other means to find my peace, but it was hard.  However, I do find peace the peace I so desperately need while I exercise in the gym or sit on the bus.  It is not the hour that I strive for or the perfect environment of serenity, but for now it works for me. I need a mental and physical escape, and this experiential learning gave me to first step to taking back what rightfully belongs to me. 

Sacredness of Creation: Living a Core Value of Carlow University

“We reverence each person and all of creation and the diversity they embody.” This is the Sacredness of Creation Core Value of Carlow University. The above definition was taken from the university's website.

I chose this specific core value to practice for seven days and blog about because it is something that I never really understood and took the time to live out.  The first thing I did was to break down the core value, so I could better comprehend and perform it more effectively.  Therefore, my interpretation of the value is we the Carlow community (students, staff, etc.) will respect and admire each human being, and all that make up the person inside and out; hence, valuing the human of any form or background without prejudice or disregard. 

To me, the college experience was going to be life changing and educating.  I never thought or delved too deep into Carlow’s mission statement, core values or sisters of mercy.   I am definitely not the person or student I was when I arrived at Carlow in August of 2008, and I will probably not be the same person when I graduate.  I never thought a college would concentrate so much on the human spirit.  I feel that everything that Carlow wants us to take from this experience is to find ourselves, through empowering others and embracing service to make a better world that is just and merciful. 

 I have spent the last week focusing on this core value, and thinking about how exactly the idea of Sacredness of Creation related to me. I found that, this value made me question myself each day.  For instance, did I say the right thing to make sure I reverenced someone’s dignity and humanity?  It made me check myself multiple times; to make sure I was following the core value.  It made me more aware of what I was thinking, saying, and doing.  I was taking a more active rather than passive role in helping others, and giving compliments to people I never meant.  I was making people smile and it made me feel wonderful.  I made sure that everything that was coming out of my mouth and off my hands was considerate and full of empowerment for the people around me.  Everyone is special, everyone is different, yet we all have a similar beating heart and a soul.  I feel like a better person because I was able to focus on others rather than myself.  I forget that there is this greater world out, and that we need to make a gesture in it to show that we are here and that we care. 

I felt that this value directly related to human dignity.  For myself, it fit my personal definition of human dignity almost perfectly and the class’s definition quite well.  Respect and interpersonal relationships are evident throughout the “Sacredness of Creation” core value, and they are major points for understanding human dignity.  People around the world should try to strive to live this value each day.  So many people could benefit from its single sentence definition.  Things could really change for all of us.  This world needs appreciation and understanding for each other, and without it, I do not believe we are humans at all.  We would be shells without emotion.  This core is the emotion and passion that is needed to make human dignity and to make the world a better place. 

Restoring Dignity

An example of dignity withheld or exemplification of humanity in my lifetime is this story of the Chilean miners in 2010.  On August 5, 2010, a cave-in occurred at the San José copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert near Copiapó, Chile. The accident left 33 men trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) below ground.  The miners survived underground for a record 69 days.  All 33 were rescued and brought to the surface on October 13, 2010. 

One by one, from the strongest to the weakest, the men surfaced and were able to breathe in a new air of freedom. The youngest miner, 19 surfaced and into the open arms of his wife and months old baby; the oldest, 63 surfaced, and dropped to his knees in prayer, while holding the Chilean flag. As the rescue capsule, the Phoenix, painted in the colors of the Chilean flag, dutifully, made its descent and ascent, repeatedly, into the deep, dark and narrow opening, and not without the prayers from all their families and all their new fans from around the world.  There are continued concerns for the health and psychosocial well-being of the miners.  Soon, the reality of their rescue and the resumption of normal life will set in as the stress of their own surface problems remind them that they are now home. 

The greatest thing to come from this momentous event is that it brings us all too again understanding and the underlying purpose of humanity.  In addition, of how faith and hope can still be the light that shines forth redeeming the imperishable will of the human spirit.  That determination and the goodwill of others, even in our darkest hours, will always remain the redeeming quality of humankind’s ability to unite and be an unyielding resource for all humanity.  Our society will move forward as a united force.  I saw the world work together to save the lives of 33 men: drillers from Pittsburgh, NASA, and other international outlets came.  It was a changing day in history.  Society will remember this day by making great strides to continue the human spirit, and to continue the exemplification of human dignity to people who are unable to restore dignity themselves. 

Week Six: Human Dignity Violation

This week’s assignment was to research a violation of human dignity that has occurred in my lifetime.  Well, the only one I could think of is the one that occurred in my own backyard.  [I will be changing the names to protect the people mentioned] On April 5, 2008, Jane Doe, a sixth grader at Pleasant Hills Middle school, was killed in a two-vehicle collision.  The young man accused of killing her pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault while driving under the influence.  The young man, who was 17 at the time, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 when the crash occurred, had marijuana in his system and was driving 79 mph in a 35 mph speed zone.

I knew the girl and her family, and the boy who killed her.  I sat in front of this boy for most of life in school.  I would talk to him; everyone knew he did drugs and alcohol.  However, no one did anything.  Everyone stood around and watched it happen.  I watched it happen.  I did nothing.  I think back every day, could I have done something to change the course of events.  Could I have said, “Stop drinking or stop making stupid choices, or something to that degree?”  I feel like this violation could have been prevented.   If the boy was given the time and attention, he needed then he would not have gone down the road he did. This boy grew up in a bad family, where alcohol, drugs, and violence were prevalent.  His human dignity was almost non-apparent.  He lost himself, and we did nothing but stand around.  The community felt like we caused this to happen, we all felt out dignity go down.  We felt ashamed of ourselves.  For me, I felt the world on my shoulders. 

For my society to keep going on after this is hard and painful tragedy.  Due to the fact, that we lost someone young and special, and it damaged the lives of the people of whom she touched.  The community was wounded deeply, but slowly was healing.  The society started to change its way of thinking.  By creating more law enforcement on the roads to watch for speeding and drunk driving, educating the schools with drunk driving seminars, and creating overall awareness for people who have friends who drink and do drugs.  I have seen the community become safer to walk and drive in.  I feel safer in my community, but why did this act against human dignity need to happen.  Why did someone have to die? Why could not anyone do anything about it?  Why did we not speak up and help the boy to save the girl?  I feel that these violations will no matter what, and we must learn from these.  This is incredible hard to say, but from the ashes of our death; we will rise stronger and smarter.  The only thing we can do is move forward, learn from our mistakes, and keeping going, keep living.

Valentine's Day

Happy valentine's day!  Hope you day is filled with respect and love because everyone deserves a little joy in their lives, to lift their spirits and to let their souls sing.  Enjoy the freedom of loving and receving love. 

Moreover, a little discussion about dignity and relationship. This blog has nothing directly involved with my week's assignment, but dseigned of my own free will.  We all have a relationship with everything. Obviously the relationship we have with the people and objects in our immediate vicinity is more intimate than the rest of the world. For most of us the most common relationship is possession. In our minds we think we own and possess things like cars and houses. This thinking easily spreads into jobs and tasks and even other people. For example, "I want you", and "You are mine alone", is the essence of many romantic film scripts and song lyrics.  It is not possible to possess anything. Care for..yes. Use...yes. But possess...no. You can't take it with you when you go. And yet it's the idea of possession which lies at the heart of all fear, war and conflict. Can you see it? Fear of loss, fear of not acquiring what we have already decided is ours in our minds. Therefore, be a trustee. Everything comes to us in trust, for us to use and then to set it free. The consciousness of trustee sets us free of the tension of grasping and guarding. To see ourselves as trustees of everything that we receive, including our bodies, encourages our innate capacity to 'care for with dignity'. It is a much more relaxing way of relating to the things which we are privileged to receive in life.

Stress then Relief?

I study for days before and hours leading up to a test.  Then when I see that test before my eyes, my anxiety goes up and beyond.  I start to panic and I cannot catch my breath.  However, I start with number one and by the end of the exam I realized that I did one awesome job.

Now, how can I go from believing I am a failure, I am stupid, and that I did not prepare enough for the test.  To going to Yes! A+ I do not understand.  I am intentionally ridding myself of my own dignity, judging my intellifence and humanity to the people around me and the inanimate object (the test).  Why do I do this to myself?  Why does anyone self-tortue themselves?  I do not know if a good grade is worth the pain I put myself through before the test. 

This world is one crazy place, and we are making it crazier for ourselves with every step and word we take.

Wikia

I was creeping on information for the new episode of Glee, today, and the song "firework" is  going to be featured.  So that lead me to watch the music video by Katy Perry and read the lyrics.  I always liked the song, but really never took the time to appreciate the respect and power the lyrics and video portrayed.

The song is about not being afraid to express who you really are on the inside, and about not letting your flaws stop you from having a great life.  This is something I really want to follow, and others should follow as well. 

I feel that it represents aspects of human dignity: respecting the worldviews and the interpersonal relationships that help us define our dignity. 

Final Project Proposal

My project proposal to my peers of this class will capture the ideas that we have explored, and will optimistically move people into action.  My focus in this proposal is to explore mental health as a major contributor to human dignity, and add it to the final project. 

My background on mental health is that I have worked at Western Psychiatric institute for more than one year, I have been volunteering at the children’s institute, and I am currently in my psychiatric and behavioral health class and clinical.  Therefore, I have experience and a foundation of knowledge to investigate the content and depth of mental health as a supplier to human dignity.  This is something I want to know more about, and this is the format to do it, and to be able to educate people about what I have been learning. 

I believe everyone is born with human dignity, even people with mental and behavioral health problems.  People with these problems might not be able to control their thoughts or behaviors, but they are human first, and must be respected and helped.  Furthermore, fifty percent of all people will experience a mental disorder at some point across their lifetime.  It is also the second leading cause of disability in the America.  Having a mental disorder is even more common than having cancer, diabetes, or heart disease.  We cannot judge people with mental disorders because in the end we might be developing a mental disorder as well. I want to change the stigma of the psychiatric and behavioral health disorders. 

My vision for this project is to educate and inform the public about this major problem in America.  Someone will know someone who will have a mental disorder.  How will that person react?  Will they recognize that person as the human they were or the problem that they will become?  We should not have to make a choice.  We lose are own self-worth by humiliation and stereotyping these diseases and people.  They are you and me, and I feel that a large proportion of Americans refuse to realize this. Finally, I desperately want to tell everyone I meet that this could be your father, your sister, your cousin, and even you. 

People with mental disorders are some of the most neglected people in the world. In many communities, mental illness is not considered a real medical condition, but viewed as a weakness of character or as a punishment for immoral behavior. Even when people with mental disorders are recognized as having a medical condition, the treatment they receive is often less than humane. Human rights violations against people with mental disorders occur in communities throughout the world: in mental health institutions, hospitals, and in the wider community. 

The widespread stigma of mental illness, which prevails in countries as disparate as China, India, Kenya, Romania, Egypt, and the USA, marks individuals with severe psychiatric disorders as virtually non-human. None of the world's major religions, no matter how strong is its message of support on behalf of the most marginal and vulnerable sufferers has been able to break this cycle of misery. Nor have modern anti-stigma campaigns and mental health laws. Globalised cultural changes have brought about important reductions in the discrimination, fear, and isolation surrounding depression and anxiety disorders in many countries, and this is no small improvement that holds practical relevance for global mental health in general. Yet the moral conditions for people with psychosis, dementia, and mental disability remain horrendous most everywhere.

The key goals I have for this project proposal are equal citizenship and social inclusion.  Equal citizenship means being able to exercise the same rights as everyone else.  Social inclusion is having the same opportunities as everyone else to have choice in their daily lives, to be independent and participate fully in their communities.  

Furthermore, things that can be done to reduce the stigma and promote education advertisements supported by posters and postcards are distributed in places on campus. The intent is that, as mental illness becomes demystified, young people will better understand the early signs of mental illness and feel able to get help for themselves or their friends.

The media are essential players in any movement for change, as they have an important role in determining public attitudes to mental illness.  Myths and misconceptions about schizophrenia are continually reinforced by stereotypical and often destructive media images — for example, people with schizophrenia are almost exclusively depicted as violent, and inaccurately and quite pervasively characterised as having a “split personality”. Programs are now in place to encourage the media to report mental illnesses such as schizophrenia responsibly. In Australia, the Federal Government has taken a lead through its Mindframe National Media Strategy, which has supported several positive initiatives, including a media kit on responsible reporting for journalists, “ResponseAbility” education resources for journalism students, and expansion of the SANE Stigma-Watch program.

In an era when it is rightly acknowledged that it is better for people with schizophrenia to be treated, wherever possible, in the community, we, as a society, have a clear responsibility to reduce the stigma they face. The sad reality is that, for most people with schizophrenia, living in the community does not mean being part of the community.

I plan to create a presentation at either scholarship day or another forum to present this inform to a large population of a community.  I want to you use various resources, statistics and experiences to cause great audient impact.  Additionally, I think an advertisement campaign about mental health around the campus might cause some a great impact; random facts about behavioural disorders to help reduce the stigma and inform the public. 

Everyone Listen

REMAKE THE WORLD by Jimmy Cliff

Too many people are suffering
Too many people are sad
Too likkle people got everything
While too many people got nothing

Remake the world
With love and happiness
Remake the world
Put your conscience in the test
Remake the world
North, south, east and west
Remake the world
Gotta prove that are the best, yeah

Too many people are suffering
Too many people are sad
Too little people got everything
While the good soffer for the bad

Remake the world
Come on human dignity
Remake the world
Wipe strife and poverty
Remake the world
Get racism from your sight
Remake the world
Be you black, be you white, yeah

Too many people are suffering
Too many people are sad
Too little people got everything
While to many people got nothing

We wile remake the world
With love and happiness
Remake the world
People, put your conscience to the test

Remake the world
And this is no jester, Sir

Remake the world
Come on, come on, Mister

Remake the world
Come on, come on, brother

Remake the world
I sad this is no jester, Sir

Remake the world
So, come on, brother

Remake the world
So, come on, sister

Remake the world
Come on, come on, Mister

Remake the world
And don’t think you are too small

Remake the world
I said, this is no joke, Sir

Remake the world

Week Three

I have learned three important aspects of the Islam culture to widen my worldview of the Human Dignity. 

Islamic freedom: no other religion but Islam is acceptable. Critics of Islam are persecuted and killed. Additionally, the Prophet Mohammed had his critics assassinated routinely.

Islamic equality: A Muslim male has the highest worth. He can have four wives, can beat them, and change them as he pleases. His blood money is much higher than woman or a non-Muslim. A non-Muslim can never marry a Muslim woman. Moreover, women and non-Muslims cannot hold high positions in society

Islamic justice: Killing a pagan if he refuses to convert to Islam, looting his property, and raping his wife and daughters are pious acts worthy of honor and paradise.  However, stealing bread from a Muslim is a heinous crime deserving of punishment, thus, getting the hands cut off. A Woman must also produce four male witnesses if she reports a rape otherwise she herself gets stoned for adultery.

Overall, Islamic human dignity promotes slavery (a slave running away from a Muslim is supposed to go to hell). Additionally, Muslims can have sex with captured women and slaves. In Islam, the notion of human dignity is an essential character of the religion and culture.  It says that human beings are the vicegerent of God.  He bestowed them the superior potentiality and honor than the other creatures of Him, for instance, Khalaqnal insana  fi ahsane taqbeem and The Quran.  In Islam, the sense of dignity differs between human beings and beasts or animals. 

Human Dignity is a universal concept, but it differs greatly from each culture and society.  I disagree with the definition of human dignity in Islam, but it is not my duty to tell them that their religion is wrong.  I cannot do that because I was taught to respect other religions and cultures.  I cannot tell someone to stop being who he or she is in life.  How would I feel if someone told me that my definition of human dignity is wrong or that what I believe is immoral?  There is no right answer.  People need to choose their own path, and their own definition of human dignity. I cannot nor anyone else tell another human being what to believe in.

Week Two

“All individuals are equal; no other species is equal to humanity,” this quote reached me to higher level of thought because of the power and beliefs it provoked for human beings.  I believe it provoked these emotions because that is how the author made me feel.  Therefore, I feel that this statement by George Kateb from his novel “Human Dignity” is very compelling because it was stimulating and perplexing at the same time.'
 

Furthermore, for others to understand this statement as I did, I broke it down into two proclamations.  The first is that “All individuals are equal” many people can question this thought and have their own opinions, but for me I believe that everyone is equal on this planet.   Therefore, my full belief is that all individuals are equal as human beings and by virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person. No one should then suffer discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, language, sexual orientation, religion, political or other opinion, national, social or geographical origin, disability, property, birth or other status as established by human rights standards. 

All individuals are equal, Can't you tell?

Additionally, the second proclamation is, “No other species is equal to humanity.”  I found this statement confounding and conflicting internally.  It made me feel as a human that I was very high on the hierarchy of planet Earth, but made me feel bad about myself.  I had pride, but no dignity with this second statement.  My belief is that humans are not inferior nor animals are inferior to humans. Animals do not always follow instinct, for example, some dogs have been tamed. As humans, we have been tamed by our society.  If a human was placed on, a desert island with no knowledge of their society could not that person act wild and uncivilized.  For other species that means their instinct was extracted from them as well as many animals we take in our society. In addition, animals can feel pain, despair, and happiness.  Animals can sense when we are good and when we are bad.  They can have judgments and opinions about us. I do believe there are animals that are smarter than some humans are, but most of time we do not see it or acknowledge it.  Because we are human, we see only ourselves, and our dignity in the world that matters. This needs to change.

human = animal or does it?

Week One

There is no formal definition for the term human dignity.  However, every culture, people, and religions have their own definitions of this term.  Human dignity to me means the earning or the expectation of personal respect and esteem.  I feel that everyone is entitled to respect when he or she is born, and if it is taken for granted or used poorly than it can be procured away.  For me, respect is the central idea of human dignity.  Furthermore, the impression of human dignity supports the understanding of recognition, and the principle of human dignity confirms that the knowledge is possible in relation to all human beings.  In essence, human dignity is the foundation of the human being; it makes us who we are.  We must be able to respect each person, as we should value ourselves.  Finally, every person has human dignity, every person experiences it, and every person feels it. 

This video comes from YouTube:

I decided to add to my first blog because the first time I heard the topic be mentioned in class I thought of this extact clip of the musical Rent

A class that I am in right now, we are discussing the mass topic of Human Dignity.  Moreover, there are a few things that I would like to explore and learn about in this class.  Firstly, I want to learn about human dignity in other cultures.  I want to learn about respect in other cultures.  I only know my own, and that does not serve me well, if I am too truly discuss human dignity.  Additionally, I would want to know more about the words “human” and “dignity” and really break them down to the fundamentals.  I do not know why, but I feel like that could open doors for us to see new perspectives.  Finally, the history of human dignity, how has it changed over the thousands of years?  Do we have the same or similar beliefs that people did before us?  How has different religions affected human dignity?  Positive and Negative views of Human dignity?  Are we born with human dignity, is it earned?  Can it be destroyed or taken away.  Have so many questions that I want to answer and explore.