While the government of the PRC tends to abuse the human rights of its citizens, one of the few aspects of the PRC’s state atheism which can be appreciated is the explicit constitutional protection of the freedoms to believe and not believe in any religious ideology or observance. This is not protected by most national constitutions.
A call for intervalues dialogue
The term “interfaith dialog” (sometimes synonymous with “interreligious dialog”) is defined on Wikipedia, as of 5/31/2013, as:
“[…]cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., “faiths”) and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.”
However, by the explicit reference to “faith” or “religious”, the combination of the prefix “inter-” with either term invokes immediate reference to communities which are brought together by shared “faith” or “religion”, usually manifested in worship and promotion of belief to at least one deity. Functionally, either term excludes those “humanistic” beliefs; as hinted by writer Teo Bishop, the limitation to communities of faith doesn’t necessarily include communities of shared practice, including ritual and ceremony which may not necessarily involve belief (however public) or reverence for a deity.
My opinion is that the word “intervalues” should be promoted as a non-sectarian, secular description for gatherings which focus primarily on building a consensus, observance and application of values – things which people feel are most commonly important – for the population at large.
Staks Rosch, a blogger on Atheism for Examiner.com, elucidates what an intervalues gathering would entail for non-theistic communities of all stripes, particularly hard-humanistic communities:
An intervalues gathering would be more in the spirit of diversity and inclusiveness. Of course allowing atheists a seat at the table would be to acknowledge that the religious landscape is changing and that atheism is on the rise. Plus, it would be harder to accuse atheists of not caring when atheists are standing right next to the religious at intervalues gatherings.
For Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University who criticized the non-invitation of humanistic voices to the interfaith mass service for Boston Bombing victims, or Chris Stedman, the writer who happens to intersect his interfaith activism with his sexual orientation and his atheist life stance (much to the chagrin of other atheist writers who see his interfaith networking as a liability to the validity of non-belief), the word “intervalues” might be a better description of their personal desire to work for the “common good” of society at large with believers, practitioners and activists of all sorts.
Interfaith Councils, from that of San Francisco to that of Richmond to Ann Arbor to the tiny town of Spring, may benefit more of their local populations by rebranding as Intervalues Councils, building larger coalitions which welcome the temples, churches, mosques and atheist meetups into a common, secular umbrella effort to strengthen, review and develop values in their communities, as well as to challenge issues which disturb peace or violate rights.
If anything, the promotion of intervalues dialogue can improve upon the shortcomings in relevance and inclusion of interfaith dialogue.
His choice of venue for suicide, his reasoning for this type of suicide, and his very basis of thinking is exactly the same reasoning and basis for the actions of Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer. Gay marriage will cause Sharia, White race is dying out by not breeding enough, etc. I’m surprised that he didn’t berate a conspiracy of the evil Jewish Muslim Marxist Hollywood liberal bankster Freemasons for the downfall of Louis XVI in his suicide note. AFAIK.
RIP Ray Harryhausen
Adding an electric car cut the payback point of our solar panel investment in half
When we discussed our home solar panel project in mid-2011 with friends, one of the first questions everyone asked was, “What’s the payback period before you break-even?” The second question was unsurprisingly, “How much is it costing you?” but the focus always ended up on the payback. After all, if you’re going to invest in green technology, you’re hoping that at some point in the near future, you get ahead of the game. It turns out that something we didn’t plan for — our Chevrolet Volt(s gm) — is actually helping us boost the ROI and cut our payback time in half.
Details of the solar panel investment
I shared details on both the solar panel project and the car before, but let me step back and recap a bit. In October 2011, we added 41 solar panels to our southern-facing roof in southeastern Pennsylvania. Each panel is rated…
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Google Glass will soon be invisible – and the new normal
It depends on the openness and adaptability of the technology, but I digress…
“There are three sides to every story: Your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying.” – Robert Evans (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”)
I recently met up with my friend and one-time business partner, Steve Lee, who is product director on the Google Glass project, and before that, ran product management on Google Maps for Mobile. Other than a quick tour of the device, Steve basically let me dive in, so as to experience Glass with a beginner’s mind. I won’t bother reviewing the basic capabilities and specs, which have been covered exhaustively already. Instead I want to focus on some of the points that are in debate, and whether I believe that Glass is destined to succeed.
Glass is translucent; designed to be invisible
In “Waves of Power,” David Moschella shows how new disruptive industries begin as verticals, since the complete product solution requires…
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Communication Theory in Moon Over Buffalo
Harry Underwood
COMM 3010
Extra Credit Short Essay
4/29/2013
Communication Theory in Moon Over Buffalo
The Expectancy Violations Theory, which attempts to explain how individuals react to violative behavior or violations of expected behavior, comports to the behavior of the characters in Moon Over Buffalo, especially that of George. He violates the expectancy of his wife, Charlotte, by sleeping with an actor from his company, resulting in Charlotte threatening to leave with a rich lawyer. Later, the entry of a drunken George in the wrong costume shocks and embarrasses the other actors who are in costume for another play. In conclusion, George’s muddling of his personal relationships with his profession as an actor results in public embarrassment and near-dissolution as a family, the latter of which is only reversed as he apologetically gets on his knees and makes strategic use of proxemics – holding onto Charlotte’s legs – to acknowledge his need for Charlotte in his life. Charlotte interprets and evaluates the sincerity of this behavior, ultimately forgiving him for his transgressions. Hence, the theory helps to explain how the characters assess the damage and reconciliability of unexpected or unwanted behavior.
Organizing the First Middle Georgia State College Drag Show on Campus (+VIDEO)
This has been an extremely long day for me. It goes in 2 parts.
Part 1: Waking up at 7:30 am, I started it out by working on my final paper for COMM 3010 in preparation of a presentation for the class at 2 pm. Then I drove to The Ink Spot, found out that the requested GSA t-shirts weren’t ready yet, drove to the Macon campus, met Tenshi in the lunchroom, came to class to present, did well in it, helped someone from off-campus ask about who to contact to set up a future concert on campus, drove with Chanda to WR to the Ink Spot to pick up the t-shirts, drove to The Rainbow Center, met many of the denizens and operators, picked up Ravion and Tiana Starr, drove back to Macon campus.
Part 2: We started setting up, and many of the attendees of the 1st-Ever MGSC Drag Show! arrived to take their seats. I ran around the halls of the H/SS building and theatre like a mad chicken, making calls, talking to the guests, only to find out that we had NO sound or lighting technicians. So Drs. Keith, Trayers, Monk, and Sherry helped with finding out everything that we could possibly do for the show, the audience getting restless as the 7:00 hour came and slowly, painfully went. I was on the verge of tears, screaming rage, self-pity and other feelings at many points during this long ordeal. Doors were locked, buttons were complicated, CDs didn’t work in computers, etc., I honestly don’t know how they found the switch for the stage lights. But without the aforementioned teachers, plus Chanda, Chrissonia, and many others, we would not have gotten the show started at all, despite having basically started at 8:30 pm. But we did it.
Our 1st-ever drag show on Macon campus, at MGSC, did get started, and the performers – Ravion, Tangerine, Tiana, Paula, Trinity – did their work in front of the many who stuck it out despite my self-claimed incompetence and naivete as a one-time theater manager. They brought us to our feet, they elicited questions afterward, and I felt like I was a bit richer for having stayed on with this project. We sold t-shirts and rubber duckies, distributed materials. Our event practically ended at 9:50 pm. After dropping off Ravion and Tiana, Chanda and I went to Steak and Shake off Riverside for a long decompression from at least 9 hours of non-stop activity. I got gas, dropped her off, and drove in the silence of the wee hours back to WR.
Video will be online soon, photos will likely be online sooner. I hope to work on it either Tuesday or Wednesday.
But now I need rest. I will be busy in the afternoon, and getting this historic event to the people on campus is something that I will say made this semester all the more worthwhile. But damn, it hurts!
Never Turn Your Back on Family: An Analysis of Relationships in Summer Wars
Harry Underwood
Film Analysis
COMM 3010
4/13/2013
Never Turn Your Back on Family: An Analysis of Relationships in Summer Wars
Theories about communication are crafted in order to almost-accurately predict the communicative behavior of individuals in a number of settings and intentions. Within the realm of both old, large families as well as new, young ones, the utility of discerning communication commonalities among participants in these relationships is indispensable. Summer Wars, a 2009 animated film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, is exemplary of a number of theories and principles on communications which have been explored over the history of communications as a subject of academic investigation. Ranging from the interpersonal and nonverbal to the massive and computer-mediated, the film uses the protagonist as a vehicle for exploration of communication as a life- and world-changing agent in human experience.
The Relationship Interaction Stages Model, which offers a suitable rubric for the development of characters’ relationships within the film, shows various stages of interpersonal behavior which reflect the severity of sentiments harbored by the participants of the relationship toward other participants. The model ranges in its stages from “coming together” – the stages of initiation, experimenting, intensifying, integrating and bonding – to “coming apart” – differentiation, circumscribing, stagnation, avoiding, and terminating. It is through this model that the behaviors of a number of key characters in Summer Wars – namely Kenji, Natsuki, Wabisuke, Sakae and Kazuma – can be assessed as fluctuations in relationship status within a large family in the flux of institutional change.
Coming Apart
The differentiating stage is one in which differences between individuals or groups is emphasized by the participants, with resent often being a major sentiment exhibited by the parties. This stage is reached on a group basis by the male members of the Jinnouchi clan following the matriarch Sakae’s death, as they pursue a plan to take Love Machine down while the female members of the family concern themselves with preparations for the funeral. On an interpersonal level, Kenji and Natsuki also experience this stage with each other, with Natsuki angrily running from him after seeing her uncle Wabisuke remove himself from the clan and leave the house. To her, Kenji seems too much of an outsider to understand her feelings.
Circumscribing is a stage marked by the focus of individuals on their own personal matters, actively distancing themselves from each other. This, collectively, is developed by the men and women of the family, with the men, including Kenji, attempting to work on a plan to take on the virus, and the women focusing on the funerary arrangements for Sakae. Members of the two groups complain about each other’s seemingly-misplaced priorities, showing their greater desperation and concern for the matters at their respective hands.
The stagnation stage is marked by a lack of change in relational intensity, boredom, and short answers to questions from relationship participants. Wabisuke, a “love child” of Sakae’s husband who is first shown as a late, ill-welcomed arrival to the reunion, attempts to strike up a conversation with family members, only for most of the adult members of the clan to show their anger at his presence due to past misdeeds. He remains, for a period, on the periphery of family functions with a sense of tedium, with the adult members remaining leery and dismissive of his presence. His lack of change in relationship status vis-à-vis the family reflects the intolerant sentiment blocking the two parties from any progression.
The avoiding stage is one in which mostly physical isolation from other family members occurs with only minimal communication. It is in this stage which we find characters like Kazuma, who isolates himself from the clan while playing in the virtual world Oz as his character King Kazma. He hardly communicates or interacts with other family members or their activities, only involving himself with the family when needed, asked or drawn by a sudden impulse of self-interest.
The termination stage, in which absolutely no contact of a physical or communicative nature is maintained between parties, is reached by Wabisuke, as he had already spent ten years of his life in the United States and had only come back to Japan for the sake of his adoptive grandmother Sakae, who he calls “you old hag” in a semi-joking tone of voice. This termination is renewed after he finds himself at the point of an antique spear wielded by Sakae in anger for his creation and selling of the virus to the U.S. military; he flees in a rage from the estate and remains in isolation from the clan until the one person who has admiration for him, Natsuki, calls him home with the news of Sakae’s death.
Coming Together
The initiating stage, in which individuals first interact with each other, is illustrated from the beginning of the film. Natsuki and Kenji enter this stage when Natsuki, the “prettiest girl in school,” enlists him to join her on her train trip to her family reunion. The two ask questions of each other along the way about their interests and hobbies, such as Kenji’s prowess in mathematics and the size of Natsuki’s family; this stage transforms into something too radical for Kenji’s tastes as Natsuki surprisingly introduces him to Sakae as her fiancée.
The intensifying stage involves probes into, and disclose, each other’s personal morals and values. Sakae participates in this stage when, after he is introduced as Natsuki’s “beau,” she sternly questions Kenji on his ability to protect Natsuki from any harm or danger, receiving a reluctant answer in the affirmative before smiling with assurance. Before he is (temporarily) hauled away for his alleged unleashing of a virus, Kenji shows more of himself to Sakae by disclosing to her his own comparative lack of a family life compared to that enjoyed by the Jinnouchi clan, ending with an expression of appreciation to her and to the clan. Finally, after explosively driving off Wabisuke from her estate, Sakae invites Kenji to play a (final) card game called “hanafuda,” disclosing Natsuki’s shortcomings and wagering (successfully) that, if she wins, he will “promise to take care of Natsuki.” With these trades of inquiry and information, Kenji and Sakae establish a rapport as individuals sharing commonalities in values and interests.
The integration stage, in which the lives of individuals begin to merge and individuals begin to see themselves as participants in a larger collective, is reached by most of the key characters in the film in their own individual ways. Wabisuke’s isolation is ended when Natsuki calls his phone with the news of Sakae’s death, to which he reacts by desperately rushing back to the clan house to pay his respects to his grandmother. This sudden turn of emotion is reciprocated by the family to Wabisuke on Sakae’s written wishes for them to welcome him back. Kazuma also experiences this stage as he begins to emerge from his isolation and become more involved in the family’s struggle to stop the artificially-intelligent Love Machine virus, using his King Kazma character to fight the avatar incarnation of the virus. Natsuki herself is emotionally reintegrated into the clan by being enlisted to play a life-or-death card game of Hanafuda with the Love Machine, waging the Oz avatars of her family members in order to gain hundreds of millions of stolen accounts from Love Machine.
The integration stage is also reached on a monogamous level between Natsuki and Kenji at various points in the film. In the immediate aftermath of Sakae’s death, a distraught Natsuki begs Kenji to hold her hand, to which the reluctant main protagonist eventually complies as she weeps. It is this contact which marks the duo’s first attempt at intimate self-disclosure, with Natsuki, in a time of depression, showing her interest in physical and emotional solidarity from someone who is as interested in playing a positive role in her world. However, given their comparative lack of private self-disclosure to each other throughout most of the story, this moment in their relationship is also indicative of the experimental relationship, as they are now slightly more comfortable and connected with each others’ close presence.
Finally, the stage of bonding is reached by Kenji and Natsuki as they attempt to kiss each other in public for the first time after the clan’s victory over the Love Machine virus. This stage is marked by a public declaration of love, an act which shows the progression of a relationship to a moment of comfort and internal acceptance of one’s status as a participant and partner which would be hardly deprecated in quality if it were to be shown to the view of other parties. At the same time, due to their comparative lack of time spent within each other’s close proximity, this moment of self-disclosure and intimacy can also be associated with the experimenting stage. At this particular moment in time, the two are now more comfortable and willing to embrace the connections forged between each other, although the two continue to carry this budding relationship at a steady pace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Summer Wars demonstrates to the viewer how the relationship interaction stage model operates within a large family in a moment of violent change. Sakae’s written will and testament advises her surviving family, including Wabisuke, to show resilience in their relationships: “Never turn your back on family, even when they hurt you. Never let life get the better of you.” This statement speaks volumes to the viewer about the film’s message of collective resilience in the face of crisis. The statement can just as well apply to the relationship between two individuals like Natsuki and Kenji, who are separated from each other at various times, but find themselves increasingly drawn to each other in their most-helpless moments. Just as Wabisuke possesses a close, but fluctuating relationship with Sakae and her family, Natsuki and Kenji develop their relationship in stages of interaction with each other and with their clan.
The Safety Net: Communication within coming-out groups for LGBT people
Harry Underwood
Compare and Contrast Pt. 2
COMM 3010
3/26/2013
The Safety Net: Communication within coming-out groups for LGBT people
In the decades since the Stonewall riots of 1969, the mass movement for civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has largely depended upon a willingness by the movement’s participants to self-disclose one’s sexual orientation or gender identity as a marker of identity and a challenging of social stigma. In the absence of a visible, persistent demarcation to personally indicate ancestral or other biologically-inherent backgrounds, the process of this self-disclosure, or “coming out”, has resulted in a sea change in the wider heterosexual and cisgender perception of the very concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity, leading to a greater integration of LGBT people into the socioeconomic life of human societies. The process of coming out, however, is one which strongly involves human communication between the “closeted” individual and the recipient of the disclosure, and the role of proper communication in any successful coming-out process is a mutually-sustained role, involving the behavior of the receiver in reaction to such news. This paper seeks to compare and contrast contemporary communication theories with each other in their explanations of aspects of the “coming-out group”, and to also explain the origins and utility of such a group.
The history of coming out to a peer group setting as a phenomenon derives in part from women’s “consciousness-raising” meetings in the 1960s, in which women shared their personal, everyday experiences as women with each other in a group setting. Through these events, women’s rights activists could inspire women to challenge their current lot in life and reassess their own humanity, sexuality and sense of power. An important tool in the growth of political awareness of women’s rights in the 1960s and 70s, consciousness-raising was imported by lesbians who had worked with the women’s liberation movement into the growing number of gay liberation organizations in the United States (Taylor and Whittier, 1998, p. 351). The process of self-disclosure, in itself, also derives from early suggestions by the likes of pioneering sexologists Magnus Hirschfeld and Iwan Bloch to early 20th-century German homosexuals to disclose their sexuality to their family and authority figures in order to push against anti-homosexual legislation (Johannson & Percy, p. 24).
Two theories can be applied to this phenomenon of the coming-out group: symbolic convergence theory and uncertainty reduction theory. These two theories come at the phenomenon of coming out to welcoming peers from slightly-differing perspectives. While uncertainty reduction theory is concerned with how “interpersonal relationships develop as individuals reduce uncertainty about each other,” symbolic convergence theory is more concerned with the development of a symbolic and fantastic narrative which engages, unites and propels the emotions of the participants (Yoo, 2004, p. 191). Uncertainty reduction theory, on the other hand, relies upon the pre-existence or prerequisite development of an active, certain relationship or a mutual openness to such. Furthermore, while symbolic convergence tends to be applied more to group settings, uncertainty reduction theory was largely crafted with interpersonal relationships in mind.
Both theories, however, are similar and compatible with each other in that they each find exhibition in the coming-out group’s changing or challenging prior assumptions about sexuality or gender among the participants. Uncertainty reduction is at play, as newer attendees who are unaware of how to properly approach their own or others’ sexual orientation become more aware of how to conduct their inquiry and exploration further on in the midst of peers. Ramón cites Soliz et. al on how families of LGBT people may become more distanced with their LGBT loved ones “if a new dimension is added to the relationship after a child’s sexual identity has been disclosed” due to the “parents often suffer[ing] cognitive dissonance when trying to understand the conflict between inundation of negative images surrounding homosexuality and the loving relationship they have established with their child” (Soliz et. al, 2010, p. 78-79; Ramón, 2013, p. 20). When such does arise, the next best solution for the LGBT person seeking to develop a social network which is less fraught by such images is to seek out a body of peers who already possess a minimum body of LGBT-affirmative symbolism and more likely to be open to a certain, more familiar process of welcoming of the individual from out of the closet. Stein calls the “coming-out” process “the gay community’s ‘development myth’. It was an account of heroism in the face of tremendous odds and societal pressure that was based on the ideal of being ‘true to oneself’, expressing one’s ‘authentic’ self” (Stein, 1999, p. 83).
In conclusion, there is a synergy which takes place between symbolic convergence and uncertainty reduction theories when it comes to assessment of the communication and interaction styles in a coming-out group. Such groups are likely to possess the prerequisites of both theories – a membership or leadership with a base familiarity and certainty concerning personal and mutual conduct and an oppositional narrative against, or parallel to, negative images – often making such organizations a more affirmative environment for LGBT people than their own estranged biological families. This convergence also demonstrates that coming out just as much involves and impacts the receiver of the news as it does the deliverer, and finding an infrastructure which is welcoming to the individual and prepared to consensually close the distance of uncertainty is paramount in the self-realization of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Works cited
Johansson, W. & Percy, W. A. (1994). Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. pp. 24. Harrington Park Press
Ramón, E. K. (2013). “Mom, I’m gay.” Homosexual language used in the coming out process and its effect on the family relationship. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Texas Digital Library). http://repositories.tdl.org/tamucc-ir/handle/1969.6/398
Soliz, J., Ribarsky, E., Harrigan, M. M., & Tye-Williams, S. (2010). Family communication with gay and lesbian family members: Implications for relational satisfaction and outgroup attitudes. Communication Quarterly, 58, pp. 77-9. Web.
Stein, A. (1999). “Becoming lesbian: identity work and the performance of sexuality.” The Columbia Reader on Lesbians & Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics. Gross, L. P., & Woods, J. D. (Eds.) pp. 83. New York: Columbia University Press.
Taylor, V., and Whittier, N. E. (1998). “Collective Identity in Social Movement Communities: Lesbian Feminist Mobilization.” Social Perspectives in Lesbian and Gay Studies: A Reader. P.M. Nardi and B.E. Schneider (Eds.). New York: Routledge.
Yoo, J. H. (2009). “Uncertainty Reduction and Information Valence: Tests of Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Predicted Outcome Value, and an Alternative Explanation?” Journal of Human Communication, 12(2), pp. 187 – 198. Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/Communicationstudies/humancommunication/05_Yoo_final.pdf
