More than a Cup of Juice: Part 2

More than a Cup of Juice: Part 2

In my previous post, "More than a Cup of Juice: Part 1", I answered a few questions concerning communion. Specifically,  I answered what communion is, the different names it has been called and the differences between them, and who communion is for (past Christians or current Christians). In this post I'm going to answer a few more inquiries about communion and hopefully it will all make sense in the end. As I said in my last post, feel free to correct me, ask questions, or make other comments.

Wine vs Grape juice and Crackers vs Unleavened Bread. Is it wrong to use one or the other?
During my discussion of communion, the topic was brought up of how back in the day when taking communion Jesus used real wine and unleavened bread, but now a days we use a cup of grape juice and a cracker (although, I have taken communion with many different types of bread). (This wasn't uncommon back in Jesus' day, especially during Passover.) The Bible doesn't lay out clear directions about what we should use when taking communion. If it did I probably wouldn't be answering this question. So since it doesn't lay out a clear direction, we must refer to different parts of the Bible to see and make context connections.
Bread: Scripture does not specify what bread or wine Jesus used during the Lord's Supper. Since it was a time of Passover, scholars have concluded that Jesus himself used unleavened bread. If we look at history we can also conclude the bread Jesus used was made from the grain harvested that year before, as required by the old covenant law. (See Lev. 23: 10-14). Also, the Bible doesn't talk about the importance of they type of flour; wheat or barley, nor if it was leavened. In all of the Scriptures about the Lord's Supper I have read, it uses the word bread. Nothing more, nothing less. A common word for a common food. In John 6:51, Jesus calls himself the "bread of life." As far as I know he didn't specify if He was wheat or barley, leavened or unleavened. (That was a joke....but really, he doesn't specify.) The point he was making is, He is the sustenance of eternal life, just as bread (a common base of a diet) is the basis of physical life.
Wine: The wine Jesus used was most likely red, and fermented from the previous year. Scripture doesn't mention any specifics about the wine but instead says, "fruit of the vine." We can only assume the cup was filled with wine because of customs of that time, but the Bible doesn't go into much detail about it all. It is mostly referenced to as the cup. In 1 Corinthians 11: 25 Paul states that during his experience with the Lord's Supper, after picking up the cup Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant of my blood..." When Jesus picked up the cup, he didn't institute requirements for the type of wine or liquid used, he instead used the wine and cup as a metaphor.
Jesus didn't pass out a Do's and Don'ts list of how communion should be taken. If he did I would like a copy. He instead used the words for common food and drink. So overall I don't believe its wrong to use a cracker or leavened bread and grape juice. I also don't think its wrong to use wine and unleavened bread. This is simply up to the person who is taking communion. Just remember what really matters is why Christians take communion, not the substances being used.

Can Non-Christians participate in communion? 
This question is particularly hard for me to answer. My immediate answer is no, non Christians can't take communion. (I mean they physically can.) The only Bible reference I can refer to this question is 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I'm specifically going to look at one verse in particular, actually one word. (I recommend you read this entire chapter so you know what I'm talking about.) In this section Paul is trying to correct an abuse of the Lord's Supper. "So then, whosoever eats the bread or drinks this cup..." Note the word, whosoever. Paul isn't saying you guys are guilty, he is saying whosoever drinks unworthily is guilty. We find the word whosoever several times throughout the Bible.
- Whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
-Whosoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst. (John 14:4)
-Whosoever confess that Jesus is the Son of God... (1 John 14:5)
The question here is who is Paul referring to? Who is the whosoever? Is whosoever everyone and everyone or does Paul mean only nonbelievers. But in these other passages whosoever means all people. At first I was so torn at who Paul was talking about. So I looked at the context of the story. Paul is talking to Christians who are abusing the Lord's Supper and goes into saying that if you take it in an unworthy manner you will be guilty. So by whosoever I think he means both non-Christians and Christians who are abusing the Lord's Supper.  So to answer this question, no. Non-Christians shouldn't participate in communion. Its not that they are unworthy, nobody is worthy, but they are eating and drinking unworthily. They are not valuing what Christ has done for them because they have not accepted Christ.

Why should Christians take communion? Why is it Important? 
Communion can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But which idea is right? Well lets just stroll right over to our handy dandy Bible and see what its got to say.
-For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)
-And when He had given thanks he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11: 24-27)
Just within these two verses we can get a few reasons to take communion. We should take it in remembrance of Jesus. How He died for our sins and salvation. For the ultimate sacrifice of love. We remember the new covenant through Jesus' blood. (See Hebrews 9: 18-28.) Also we are proclaiming the Lord's death until He returns. There are many reasons why we should take communion, but to go into them all would take a really really long time. So I encourage you to keep looking into it. These are just a few of the main reasons why Christians should take communion, and why we are commanded to.

Does communion have anything to do with salvation?
Now that we have established that Christians should take communion, what about the Christians who don't or can't? Whether you take communion or not rid or of salvation, nor will it give you salvation. The only way to receive that is through Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world He have his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Let's say a man is on his death bed and doesn't get the chance to take communion but still accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior and repents of his sins and has a serious heart change. He is still going to go spend eternity with Jesus, whether or not he takes communion. But Christians who have the opportunity are commanded to take communion (see everything I have written about communion.) Therefore Christians should take it, but it isn't necessary, but you should still do it.

There are a ton of more questions I could answer about communion, and if you have anymore feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Communion is obviously something important it and I don't think it should be ignored. Hopefully these two posts help answer and clear up the ideas of communion. Stay sweet fam.

More Than A Cup of Juice: Part 1

I never truly understood the reasoning behind communion (Lord's Supper) until earlier this year. My knowledge of the bread and the juice was simply; Christians take communion because Jesus told us to and we do it to remember his sacrifice. If that is the only reason, it doesn't seem very important or worth thinking about it. It wasn't until I met a young man that didn't practice communion, and in fact refused to take it while he was on Earth, that I truly was convicted to know the real reason behind communion and why it is more than just a cup of juice and piece of bread I take at church. In this two part series, I'm going to answer a few questions that came up during my recent debate. Feel free to correct me, add your opinion, or pose more questions. Also please note I jump through different versions of the Bible without referencing them. I encourage you to look at the passages referenced in the version of the Bible you typically use and then over versions to get more of a clear idea. This is just what I found through scripture and thoughts of other Christians.

Part 1-

What is the Lord's Supper ? 
Although I already know the basics of communion, I don't think this post would make sense without a quick description of the Lord's Supper and Communion.  The Bible references the Last Supper and the Lord's Supper in several difference places. I'm going to mainly focus on the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 24-26 and Matthew 26 verses 26-29. It was during the time of passover and Jesus' disciples asked Him where they should make preparations for passover. Jesus tells them to go into the city and find a man and tell him they wanted to do passover at his house. (This actually strikes me as odd. Was this man just a random guy or did they know him or what? More questions for a later time.) Eventually they are all eating together when Jesus takes a moment to address his disciples for a serious moment.
Twelve disciples are gathered together with Jesus around a table. Each disciple is deep in talk of theology with their neighbor but Jesus remains silent. Silent until Jesus looks up and the chatter quickly stops. The mood from a pleasant gathering changes to a serious and almost uncomfortable mood. The disciples know Jesus is about to say something life changing.
Jesus enlightened them that one of the twelve of them was going to betray him.
Whispers filled the room,"No. Who? Me? No way, but what if?" Few dared to speak out, "Surely not I Lord?" Jesus answered, "The one who had dipped his hand in the bowl with me will betray me..." and boom. Judas who has kept his eyes down, his hands in his lap, and not even a breath has escaped his lips looks up and utters the words, "Surely you do not mean me, Rabbi?" Jesus looks at him with not angered eyes but loving and hurt ones, "You have said so." Silence falls but minds are racing. 
Jesus soon broke the science when he picked up the bread and said "Take and eat; this is my body for which is for you, do this in remembrance of me." After the disciples had done that, Jesus then took the cup and said "Drink from it; all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many forgiveness of sins do this I'm remembrance of me. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom."
So the physical acts of the Lord's Supper is eating bread and drinking "wine" in remembrance of Jesus...but there is sooooo much more to the reason behind.

Is there a difference between Communion and the Lord's Supper? And what is Eucharist? 
Communion, Lord's Supper, and Eucharists are basically all the same thing. By calling the act the Lord's Supper some people are reminded that the meal was instituted by Jesus, aka Lord. By calling it Communion people are reminded that this act is intimate and sharing, making us one with Christ and part of the body of the church. Eucharist is a term that comes from the New Testament Greek meaning thanksgiving. This word can remind us to give thanks to God and remember all He has done for us. Throughout the Bible, communion is also referenced in other terms such as, breaking of the bread.
Whether you call it Communion, the Lord's Supper or Eucharist the meaning is the same. I prefer to call it Communion and the Lord's Supper, but keep in mind it isn't what it's called, it's what the meaning behind it is.

Did Jesus actually tell us to continue doing the act of the Lord's Supper/Communion, or was He only talking to His disciples at the time? 
Is is pretty clear that when Jesus called His disciples together on different occasions, it was to teach them things that were to be passed onto the church, and communion falls into that category. (Keep in mind Christians are references as the Church.) The Bible does not specially say, 'only you should take this in remembrance of me' nor does it say, 'go out and tell others to do this in remembrance of me.' Therefore we must look at other scripture to confirm that Jesus was changing the meaning of Passover for Christians. The Passover for the Jews is meant to be as a remembrance of their deliverance for Egypt.
If we look again at 1 Corinthians, we see that believers are supposed to take part in communion. "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake in the one bread."-1 Corinthians 10:17 (ESV). Notice the  'we all partake', this is references believers. Also in verse 23 Paul says, "For I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you..." he goes on to talk about the event of the Lord's Supper, and then continues to say, "For as often as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." Now take a look at the 'for as often as you' segment. This is Paul talking to the believers saying continue do partake in communion. Also Paul stated that he is passing on the act of communion from when Jesus passed it on to him. I quickly want to point out something that I glanced over earlier. When Paul was describing the Lord's Supper to the church he was correcting, he stated that Jesus said, " This is the new covenant of my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in remembrance of me." This is Jesus saying to continue doing this act aka the Lord's Supper aka Communion. Therefore it didn't just stop at the Last Supper but is supposed to continue on today. So did Jesus mean for all Christians today to take in communion? From evidence of Scripture I would say yes, and that Jesus called for us to do so.


Now that we have examined what Communion is and that believers are called to partake in it, we can now dive into why we should or the reason for communion. Which I will do in part 2, along with answer more questions and ideas about communion, because lets face it, this particular post as gone on for quite awhile...

Fly On The Wall

I honestly have no idea how to start what I'm about to write to you. This topic isn't that heavy, its just more personal than some of the other topics I have written about. I've posted essay, thoughts, and journal entries, but none of them were affecting me on a deep personal level at the time. Therefore I was more comfortable sharing them with complete strangers and friends on the Internet. But this...this is different. It's going to be messy and possibly unorganized. Over the course of the summer the topic of being the outsider has frequently entered my brain. Actually its been on my mind for my entire life but now I'm actually sitting down with myself and dealing with the issue. So here goes... I hope it makes sense.

Growing up I had to visit many different counselors and psychologists because of my parents divorce. Usually the sessions consisted of me sitting on a couch listening to the counselor telling me how I felt or watching my brother get angry. Every once in awhile I would have to answer questions or point to a chart of feelings so the counselor could actually tell what I was thinking or feeling at the time. I rarely ever talked, but I listened. I learned a lot, more than I should, more than any 4 to 11 year old should. Most of the sessions have become a blurred memory. They don't take much importance in my life anymore, except one. One session in particular has stuck in my mind since the day it happened.
I was around 9 or 10 at the time and shy as ever. I remember my brother was in the middle of talking about something he found important in his life and I was staring out the window looking at geese playing in the water, trying to let my mind wander to forget about the present moment. All of a sudden the counselor turned to me and said something along the lines of, "I think I have figured you out Celeste. You are a fly on the wall." It was the first time he had addressed me in the session and I was shocked. I didn't understand what he meant and all I could say was "what?" He went on to describe that basically I was like a fly on the wall. I was always there, watching and listening, but nobody really noticed me. It was true, I was a fly on the wall. I was shy and had amazing listening skills. Plus I was pretty tiny, still am. But a few years later I began to grow out of my shy stage. No, let me rephrase that, I was practically forced out of it. Having two older brothers who were chatter boxes didn't help, especially when I had something "important" to say at the dinner table. Also I was tired of not really having any friends, so I slowly transformed into a social butterfly and stopped sitting at the top of the staircase listening to my dad talk on the phone to his lawyer or to his friends about the troubles in his life and the "terrible" things my mother had done. Or sit next to my mom and step dads door after church listening to them yell at each other over something stupid and useless. Although I was changing, I never forget about being the fly on the wall and part of me still clung to that idea that I knew more than I should and that it was okay.
Now as I'm older, the meaning of being the fly on the wall has changed. I almost resent it. Because being the fly on the wall as a teenager/young adult means being the outcast, the other friend, that one girl. For a lot of my early teenage years I worked hard on making friends that actually cared about me as much as I cared about them, but I always failed, and fell into some pretty dark places. Though God eventually provided healing and a close group of friends of whom I know I will be connected to my entire life. Even now that I have people in my life who honestly care so much about me, they can easily still make me feel completely alone, like an outcast. Let me give you a few examples.

-The other night my friends and I were sitting in an empty room avoiding sleep. When one of my friends, like he does so often, asked each person a question to provoke thought. He asked, "What are you afraid of?" He went from person to person listening intently to their answers, but ended up skipping me. Although I'm sure he meant nothing of it, it really hurt. I made me feel unimportant, especially since him and I's friendship struggled this last winter.

-My two best friends have been each others best friends since they were small children. I came into the picture a little over a year ago.They have been through a lot together, they have made bonds that will take me years to lock into. It hurts. It hurts to know that they don't immediately think of me when they have something important to tell their best friend. It hurts that when we all hang together I'm often lost in the conversation because they live 10 minutes apart and spend practically every day with each other while I live three hours away. It hurts that one of them was going to take her boyfriend to a concert of my favorite band on my birthday.

-It hurts that when I share something I find extremely important in my life that my small group of friends they barely give an ounce of excitement, but are often found discussing and celebrating each others news all the time.

-Over the course of the last year I was extremely bullied in my public school and my depression and anxiety began shooting up to high levels. I began fighting another battle that I never thought I was going to have to fight again, and if I'm honestly with myself, I'm still fighting currently to this day. But when I called out to help, none of my friends came. Instead petty advice was given and small encouragements that really didn't comfort nor was truly meant to. But often my friends would drive in the middle of the night for no real reason to see each other. It hurt, and still does.

Now I'm not complaining or crying out for attention, I'm really not. I don't need to be the center of attention and I don't need a million friends, I'm happy with the four close ones I have. I know they don't intentionally mean to leave me out or make me feel unloved, but with some of their actions it's hard to feel anything but forgotten. I really struggle with the idea of being the fly on the wall at this point in my life. I often wrestle with God over this too, and if I'm going to be honest with you, it makes me question the heart of my friends and my own.
If I'm as really close to my friends as I hope I am, then why do I question their love for me? At the same time, why do they often pick each other over me, or in other words, why do they pick favorites in our friendship? Other questions I find myself asking are, If I'm really relying on God in both the hard and good times, then why do I go to my christian friends and family for help? Shouldn't I only want Gods care? Why do I always end up feeling more broken when I go to either God or my friends or both?  If my friends are truly pursuing God and trying to build Godly relationships, why are they still ignoring the some of the ones struggling? If really believe that we only need God, then we shouldn't have to struggle with the idea of being alone in both the good and bad times. If we truly are trying to be Christ like then we shouldn't have to struggle with loving our neighbor or making them feel unwanted.

Like I said before, this is not a call for help or a cry for attention. This post is simply me trying to figure the thoughts in my head out. To be the person on the outside that I am on the inside. So people know that even thought I am fully in love with Christ and on the journey to becoming more like Him, that I still struggle with Him. The more I keep these thoughts in my head the more I can twist and turn them into even worse ideas than they actually are, so I'm getting them out. Do with them what you will. Until next time fam.

Write Boldly Part Three: The X Rated Truth

This essay. This is the essay that has caused me to face so much persecution. This is the essay that started our three part series that is now coming to an end. Warning, this essay is somewhat graphic but totally factual. You may feel guilty, disgusted, angered, sadden, and surprised. I was all of the above while writing and researching this. It's nothing what I wanted it to be, but yet everything. Honestly it is the most eye opening thing I have ever written in my opinion. I really hope you take the time to carefully read this and research on your own. I may have wrote this essay for my chemistry class but after facing as much hatred as I did, it became more. So here it is, part three.

The X-Rated Truth

“It is as though we have devised a form of heroin … usable in the privacy of one’s own home and injected directly to the brain through the eyes,” U.S. Senate committee, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover of Princeton University said. Dr.Satinover wasn’t talking about a drug that is sold on the streets; he was speaking about pornography and how dangerous it actually is. As porn has become more accepted, more research on the effects has started to surface. Researches have found that porn actually changes the brain in many different ways; it similar to drug substances, can become and addiction, and changes the behavior of a person. Although many people believe pornography isn’t harmful, it is changing the brain for the worse.

The human brain can be divided into four major sections, which are categorized as; the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. The frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain, and has the functions of; associating with reasoning, motor skills, higher lever cognition, and expressive language. The back of the frontal lobe contains the motor cortex. This area takes in information from different lobes of the brain and uses the given information to carry out to different parts of the body. The frontal lobe also controls sexual habits, socialization, attention, and risk-taking. The brain also contains neurons. A neuron can be defined as a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses, or simply a nerve cell. When the brain cells become activated by something we see, hear, touch, or smell, they begin to release chemicals that help create a stronger bond between those neurons. An example of this would be when we smell or ingest one of our favorite foods; our brain releases the happy/feel good chemical called dopamine. Another example is when we are with someone we are attracted to or care about; our brain releases the chemical oxytocin. Oxytocin helps us bond with people to create a stronger relationship. With these chemicals our brain creates new pathways for everything we do, including looking at porn. Pornography floods the brain with a high concentrate of dopamine, over and over again. Since the brain isn’t used to the overload of chemicals that is linked with consistent porn use, it tries to “fight back”. The brain actually takes away some of its dopamine receptors. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, receptors are regions of tissue, or a molecule in a cell membrane, that responds specifically to a particular neurotransmitter, hormone, antigen, or other substance. In this case, they respond to the releasing of dopamine.  These receptors help the user feel the effects of dopamine, but with fewer receptors the person can’t feel the effects as much. The brain could still produce the same amount of dopamine with each use, but without the receptors, the porn that they were once looking at before, doesn’t seem arousing or exciting. This results in porn users to look at more pornography or more hardcore porn to try to get the effect the old porn used to give them. This can in turn lead to addiction, similar to drugs and alcohol.

“Pornographers promise healthy pleasure and relief from sexual tension, but what they often deliver is an addiction, tolerance, and eventual decrease in pleaser,” Norman Dodge, MD, The Brain that Changes Itself said. The definition of addiction, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine is characterized by, the inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunction emotional response. Basically an addiction is a physical and mental dependent on a particular substance, and when somebody unable to stop taking a substance without incurring adverse effects. Although when we think of addictive substances we think of drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, porn can easily fit into the category of addiction. Porn actually has very similar effects on the brain compared to alcohol and other drugs. According to a study at Cambridge University, compulsive users of porn showed the same signs of addiction in their brain as those addicted to alcohol or drugs. During their study, researchers hooked young men’s brains up to a scanner compare brain activity of healthy volunteers to consistent pornography user.  The brain scan showed more pronounced stimulation when watching X-rated material when compared to those not addicted. The area that was stimulated, the reward pathway, is the same part that is highly active among drug and alcohol users. 

 Later studies by Dr. Valerie Voon, a Cambridge University neuroscientist specializing in addictions, showed the difference between regular exciting images, like sports pictures, compared to sexual images. It turned out that men’s brains, which already had an addiction to porn, reacted less strongly when shown the sports pictures compared to sexual images. Men who were not addicted to porn were also tested, and similar results were found. Dr. Voon’s also found that a part of the brain that was lit up during porn usage was the ventral striatum. This is the same part of the brain that is active when a drug addict sees a dealer or when an alcoholic sees anything related to drinking.

Porn can become an addiction because of the need to feel the pleasure it can bring, and because it also effects the “reward pathway.” The “reward pathway” is a function of the brain that keeps a person motivated to do the functions that keeps you are your genes alive. This includes eating and having sex to produce offspring. The way this rewards you is by releasing dopamine into your brain. As the brain adapts to the consistent stream of dopamine, users begin to find that they are unable to feel normal without that dopamine high.

Also, when the chemical dopamine is released into the brain, the new pathway is helped build by a protein called “IFosB.” This proteins job is to help remember to do the activities that are important or make you feel good. Basically while watching porn, dopamine is motivating your brain and rewarding you, and IFosb is leaving markers in your brain to help you remember why you feel so good. Just like dopamine, IFosb begins to build up the more a person watches porn or uses drugs. The more somebody watches porn or uses drugs, more IFosB is used and build, which in turn makes its easier for the user to turn back to the behavior, whether they want to or not. IFosb can cause a genetic change that in turn causes irreversible changes in that can leave people more vulnerable to addiction. It is also know that with addiction, comes behavioral changes.

            Since we already know that porn directly affects the reward pathway by releasing high concentrates of dopamine and IFosB, we can conclude that the use pornography does change a person’s behavior. Not only does a person become addicted to the substance, but also they begin to become aroused by objects that used to disgust them or go against what they believed was right. The more a porn user watches extreme porn, the more normal those behaviors become to the user. A simple argument against this is, not all users watch “extreme” porn, but in fact most porn users change they type of porn they watch over time, especially if they are trying to feel dopamine like they used to. In survey done in 2012 of 1,500 men, 56% of those men said that they changed from watching “regular” porn to “ extreme or deviant” porn. As the brain continually wires what the user is seeing while feeling aroused, what “turns them on” can begin to change too. Researcher Jim Faust who experimented with rats proved this.

Faust began his experiment by putting virgin male rats in the same cages with female rats that had been sprayed with a liquid that smelled like rotting rat. To his surprise, the drive to mate was more powerful than the instinct to avoid the smell. He continued this process until the male rats learned to associate sex with the smell of death. He did this by putting towels soaked in the death smell in the cages with the male rats. He found that the male rats would “play” with the towels as thought it was another female rat or an object they loved. Faust later connected his experiment to the human brain. Both rats and humans release dopamine during sex. The rats’ brain made a pathway with dopamine that connected the smell of death to pleasure, just like our brains may be turned on by “rotten” objects after watching porn. This is just one of the behaviors that can be changed because of porn.

Porn doesn’t just leave a person to change their sexual behaviors; it can also leave a person to become more violent. X-rated films can easily turn to violence, but most people think they tend to stay away from them. A group of researchers looked at 50 of the most popular pornography videos and analyzed them to see how much violence was in them. Out of 304 different scenes, 88% contained physical violence, 49% contained verbal aggression. They also found that only one scene out of 10 didn’t contain any violence, but a typical scene averaged 12 physical or verbal attacks. The difference between regular violence, fight scenes in a Hollywood movie, compared to porn violence is, 95% of the victims of aggression in the porn scenes didn’t respond in a negative way but instead with pleasure. Like stated before, the more a person watches porn, the more desensitezed a person becomes, and the more acceptable they become to the things they once were against or disgusted them. Even if a user doesn’t watch violent porn, they are still more likely to support and promote abuse and sexual aggression to women and girls. This is because in most porn there is a strong male, sometimes even female, dominance over the other.

Porn changes our brains to tend to more violent actions after watching violent porn because of “mirror neurons,” or brain cells that fire when we do things ourselves and when we watch other people do things too. An example of another time we use our “mirror cells” is when we cry during movies or get emotionally involved while watching sports. While watching porn our brains are telling our body to become sexually aroused with whatever is popping up onto the screen, even if it is violence. If an actor on the pornography video were to be harmed while feeling aroused, the user watching this performance is going to begin associating that violence with being sexy. Even if the porn is not violent, users begin to see other people as sexual objects instead of human beings. Watching porn can also lead people to believe women want to be treated with harassment and think that all people like sexual aggression. In some cases porn has lead people to take on rapist tendencies. Other research has found that porn does not only change users sexual behavior and tendencies toward aggression, but also leave people feeling lonely and have less satisfying sex.

             Even though porn is becoming more accepted, people don’t realize how harmful it actually is. Porn not only changes the chemical makeup of a users brain through dopamine, oxytocin, and proteins, but it also changes the users behaviors. Although porn isn’t considered a drug, it has similar effects and can lead to a serious harmful addiction. Researchers are just beginning to scratch the surface on the affects of porn, and many are working hard on trying to show what porn actually does to the brain and body. Porn often promises pleasure but instead leaves the user for the worse.

Write Boldly Part 2: Loving What Isn't Mine

I actually wrote this a little over a year ago. I wasn't originally planning on posting this as my second part in my series, but the essay I had written has somehow been lost in my endless pile documents on my computer. So this will have to do. Although it isn't a hard topic as last weeks, it's still personal and bold in my opinion. Many people are too afraid to write what they feel, let alone post it on the internet for all too see. But this is about writing boldly, even when we fell like bottling up our feelings. Side note, I do not feel these things anymore but the feelings that are written below I felt for over nine months.

12-9-13

In that final moment, everything had faded away. No harsh words were spoken, not even a goodbye had slipped from any of our lips. I had known it was all falling apart for a while, but the refusal to accept it had made the crash landing that much harder to bare. The boy I had fallen for has fallen for my best friend, and she is slowing letting me go to hold on to him. It seems like ages since I knew he felt the same spark, and with her, I don’t think she realized we have fallen apart. Just months ago everything was perfect, I was actually happy to go to school and live my life. Now whenever I look at them tears form in my eyes and I wish my body would just go numb. It’s so ironic how I look at them, wishing they would look back and see all the pain I’m in, but when our eyes meet, I quickly look away because I don’t want them to see how much I need them. You sometimes hear about those kids who feel like they have an empty hole where there heart should be, and they feel nothing because of it. I envy that. Instead I have ripped up heart, made from the knives of the people who once protected it from all harms way. Its not like I really know why they have decided to leave me, but I think I have a clue. Why love a bleeding heart, when you can love someone new? So I guess it ends here. We’ll go our separate ways, and I’ll hope to see them again somewhere in the future. I wish it were so easy to believe that. There are days when I think I have accepted my fate, and others I sit on top of my bed for hours staring at the dark ocean blue walls of my room and wonder why, why it all happened, why did they forget, and why can’t they see me now, desperate for love and affection. Have I officially become invisible? And if so, is that all bad? Is there good in evil, or am I just tricking myself? So many unanswered questions that fill my mind and make me want to explode, but there is always one thought that overrules them all. I can only think about how I have nothing, because the last of everything has just slipped from my grasp, and like a child I’m crawling to get it back. But I have realized you can’t have something back when somebody else has already taken it. I know I should move on and forget them like they have forgotten me. I even have a right to be mad, so why aren’t I? Why is it when I look at either of them, or anybody who has hurt me in life, I only thinks, “What I would do to have it all back”. Why do I still love what doesn’t belong to me, or even loves me back. The thick black fog of depression where the insults echo, the bad thoughts repeat over and over again, where starts to consume them and they feel like that there only escape is slicing away at what’s left of their unmarked bodies, not realizing they are only hindering themselves from actually being able to run away and escape the poisonous mist. And just like that it has hit me. How little I mean to everyone, and how nobody would even notice if I disappeared, especially not them. They killed all the good that was left in me. As I look behind me, I can see the fog slowly creeping up on me. Soon to consume me like its other prisoners, and I don’t know how to escape it.

Write Boldly Part 1: The Silent Holocaust

Recently I have been writing an essay over the effects of pornography. Although that essay has nothing in common with the one you are about to read, it holds something much more dear to me. Both essays are bold topics that I have faced criticism and persecution for. Instead of backing away, I had and have kept writing to prove what I believe and stand up for isn't just talk. But this got me thinking, "so what if you finish your essays or articles? What have you really proven?" So I have decided that I'm going to do a three part series(maybe more) on my blog of the three top essays I have been most persecuted on. This is to not only encourage myself in to keep writing on topics I find important, but for also the common writer to be reminded its okay to be bold, in fact it's more than okay. I hope almost all of your writing is bold and makes someone mad, because that means someone is reading it and thinking about it. Anyways, the first of three;

The Silent Holocaust

By: Celestial Jackson

            Guided by a camera, the legs are grabbed by forceps. The teeth on the forceps rip and tear the flesh and bones. This process is repeated until the whole body is totally dismembered and removed. The spine is snapped and the skull is crushed, and the dead shredded baby is ripped from its mother’s womb. Processes like this happed over three thousand times a day just in the United States alone. This silent holocaust needs to be stopped. Abortion should be illegal. Today I’m going to tell you on how abortion is a painful medical procedure that harms more than its victim, how abortion is the murder of innocent lives, and how abortion cannot be justified.

            The definition of an abortion is; the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. The following are a few of the many painful procedures that are most commonly used. In a DNC abortion a tiny instrument is inserted into the womb, and the abortionist scrapes the uterus. There, the babies body is cut into tiny pieces, and pulled out piece by piece through the cervix. This inhumane procedure is extremely painful for the tiny human body. Another type of abortion is called an injection abortion. The abortionist use a suction tube, that is 5xs more powerful than a normal household vacuum, and inserts the tube through the cervix where he baby and placenta are torn to pieces and sucked into a jar. In an another DNC abortion, forceps are used to crush the baby’s head, and to pull its mutated body parts out of the uterus. Another common abortion called a saline abortion. This is were a powerful salt is injected into the mothers womb and the baby is forced to intake this salt where it beings the process of burning the baby alive inside and out. Within 24 hours the mother goes into labor to deliver her dead baby, but in some cases, the baby is delivered alive crying from the pain of being burned alive. It is a scientific proven fact that a fetus feels pain from 8 weeks and on, and that abortion causes excruciating pain to the child, and can even cause harmful effects on the mother including; higher risk of breast cancer, infection, hemorrhages, and in extreme cases death.  Having an abortion doesn’t just causes physical effects on the mother, it also causes mental effects. In a study of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortion, researchers found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor. Also women who have an abortion are 9x more likely to commit suicide compared to a woman who had a full term pregnancy.

Many people would argue that abortion isn’t really killing. A fetus isn’t really a baby yet, right? Just because it can’t talk or walk or function like we do yet means it’s not a human. Listen to how stupid that sounds! Did you know 5 weeks after conception the baby’s heart; brain, spinal cord, and many other organs start to develop? Is that not considered human or alive? Some babies are born naturally after 5 months in the fetus and we call them human, but abortions on 5-month-old fetus happen all the time, are they not human?  Of course they are. The argument that is often used is; since abortion is now legal, it doesn’t matter and it’s okay since the nation agreed it wasn’t murder. The same argument can be said about the Holocaust. When Hitler was in power, everything he did was legal. Brainwashing children, persecuting Christians and Jews, ane killing millions of people. Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is okay. How dare you say the killing of millions of Jews was terrible, but you allow the slaughter of million of unborn children and say it’s the mothers choice. How are you different from Hitler in this sense? By allowing abortion to be legal, you are supporting a silent holocaust of unborn babies. A child in the fetus is alive and human, and by having and allowing abortions is making us to be murders. But is it ever just to have an abortion? That leads me to my final point.

            Pro-Abortionists often say, abortion is the only choice a woman can have in certain cases like rape. Although it is indeed horrible that women are raped and have to deal with the trauma that comes with, it is in no way right to punish the child for the father’s crime. Aborting a child because of rape, does not undo what has already been done but instead increased trauma for the mother because she has willing killed her own child. According to a study done by the Pro Choice Institute, only 1% of all abortions are for the reason of rape, only 6% of abortions are for the reason of potential health problems for the mother, and 93% of all abortions are because the child is unwanted or is inconvenient for the mother. We all know the when you have sex, you risk the chance of becoming pregnant. If you choose to have sex, you choose to take the responsibility to become a parent if you become pregnant. This also goes with a argument that it is a woman’s right to have a abortion and it’s her choice on what happens to her body. It was also the woman’s choice to have sex, and risk the chance of becoming pregnant. That shouldn’t mean she has the right to murder. Another argument made by pro-abortionists is that a child could be born with a birth defects and by having an abortion we can prevent children from living with those defects. A Pro-Life group called Project 180 publically asked questions on peoples thoughts on abortions with children who would have birth defects. One of the answers to the question was,

“The child is going to have a bad quality of life, so why would you want to raise that child to have a bad life.”

How can we say the child is going to have a bad life when we the child is not born? We could say that about any child. That it may not have a good life so its okay if we kill it. When is it justifiable to kill a baby in the womb? The answer is never. There are many alternatives to having an abortion. A major one is giving the baby up for adoption to a family who wants to love and bless your child. Instead of committing an unjust act, women could give a their child a just future.

           

            Now that I have shown you how abortion hurts both mother and child, about abortion is the murder of innocent lives, and how there is no way to justify the killing of a precious life, would you agree that abortion should be illegal? I hope you do. Abortion is a serious problem, but it can be stopped. By just voting against abortions in upcoming elections you can save millions of lives. To find out more information about how you can help end abortion go to www.onlineforife.org. Be the voice to the voiceless, end the legalization of murder, and end this silent holocaust.