SeaWorld Does Not Educate

P.1. Going to SeaWorld serves no educational value, it is simply a place for entertainment. Why else would they train the animals to perform tricks and do flips during the shows? Many people think it is an educational experience and that is why the majority of the audience is children. They are brought because parents and school districts think they are providing these children with a fun, educational field trip but in reality they are not learning any information. And if they are learning anything at all, it is usually false information that SeaWorld is telling the audiences. They don’t tell the truth about these animals and they spread misinformation to get the audience thinking that being held captive is a good thing. One of SeaWorld’s icons, the orca, is the most talked about sea animal when it comes to the topic of animal captivity. They are a perfect example on how SeaWorld spreads false information to hide the truth about the health effects captivity has on the orcas.

P.2. If you think back to when you were in elementary school, chances are that you went on a field trip to some type of marine park like SeaWorld, or a local aquarium. These trips were funded by the schools and it was a yearly routine to take the students for an educational experience. In the article, “SeaWorld Doesn’t ‘Educate’ Students” written by Zach Affolter, he talks about how some elementary school teachers are arguing that their students do not take any valuable lessons from going to places like SeaWorld. When you bring young children to a place like this they are only focused on the sea animals themselves, not about the facts they are being told. Especially when the sea mammals are performing amazing tricks, that seems to be the only thing students will remember about their trip to SeaWorld. But if they do remember something that one of the orca trainers said, it will most likely be false information. SeaWorld tries to cover up for their wrongdoings by having them convince the audience that things that they have caused are natural and happen to whales everywhere. They refuse to tell the truth about their sea mammals because that will result in less people coming to their parks.

P.3. Orcas, or more commonly known as killer whales, are giant black and white whales and are the largest members of the dolphin family. Wild orcas are very different from the captive orcas at SeaWorld including health, physical appearance, and daily routines. SeaWorld has been providing false information about their whales for decades. One of the biggest lies they talk about is the lifespan of the captive whales compared to the lifespan of the free whales. They claim on their website that no one knows the exact life span of wild orcas but then they go on to say that SeaWorld’s whales live just as long as the wild orcas. On the lifespan of killer whales page on their website they say that “female killer whales live around 30 to 50 years and males live around 19 to 30 years.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says, “males typically live for about 30 years, but can live as long as 50-60 years; females typically live about 50 years, but can live as long as 100 years.” SeaWorld is providing younger ages on their page because those are the typical lifespans of their whales held in captivity. Also less than two years ago a 103 year old female orca was spotted off the coast of Washington, which made SeaWorld’s lie look a lot worse. These whales being kept in captivity don’t live nearly as long as the whales living out free in the wild and the research is there to prove it.

P.4. Orcas are known as killer whales for a reason. This reason is because they hunt and kill other large sea animals for food. A wild orcas diet usually consists of a variety of fish and sea mammals such as seals, small whales and sometimes sharks. Their diet can range from fish to seabirds to sea turtles and they normally eat whatever animal they can find. The orcas sometimes work together to successfully hunt these animals and they come up with strategies to trap the prey that they are hunting. On the other hand, the captive whales held at SeaWorld are only fed thawed fish and they can’t eat whenever they please. In the article, “Food Deprivation Is Alive and Well at SeaWorld” by Elizabeth Batt, she talks about former SeaWorld trainer John Hargrove’s book called Beneath the Surface. When explaining how the orcas ate at SeaWorld, ” Hargrove’s point wasn’t that SeaWorld starved the whales, it was that food withholding was used as a motivator to keep them hungry enough to want to perform in shows for fish rewards.” They are only motivated to cooperate to the commands because they are so hungry and they know if they cooperate they will get food. If they are not cooperating during the shows their amount of fish given per day is also decreased in order to get them to perform well. In addition, in the article, “SeaWorld Says ‘The Facts Are On Our Side.’ Let’s Look At The ‘Facts.’” a former trainer claims that orcas were starved before visits from celebrities or VIP guests so that they would perform well. SeaWorld has denied using food deprivation to make its orcas perform but it is clearly true that they do. Captive orcas will never be able to hunt and they won’t be eating anything other than a small amount of fish for the rest of their lives.

P.5 Another major difference between wild and captive whales would be their daily lives and how they interact with other orcas. Orcas that live out in the wild travel around 100 miles per day and they always travel with other whales, usually their pods, or family members. They have strong bonds with each other out in the wild. They are able to swim freely and go as deep or as far as they feel like. Orcas in captivity are kept in shallow tiny pools resulting in them having to swim in the same circle all day long. They are also alone in these tanks or sometimes when they are with other orcas that they are not compatible with they fight each other which results in injuries and sometimes even death. If fights do occur there isn’t much that can be done considering the fact that the whales can’t just swim away or hide since they are in the tiny pool. As explained in the article, “Why Killer Whales Should Not Be Kept In Captivity” by Melissa Hogenboom, orcas in the wild live in distinct units called ecotypes and each one is very different from another. In 1989 during a live SeaWorld show in San Diego, one of the dominant female orcas rammed a new member of the group into the wall causing the orca to bleed to death due to a torn open artery. Marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose says, “that degree of aggression has never been observed in the wild” and that “the two whales involved were from different oceans. They would never have encountered each other in the wild.” At SeaWorld their ecotype isn’t taken into consideration, causing two whales of different ecotypes to be forced to interact with each other which results in tragedies like the one mentioned in the article. To continue, orcas in the wild are able to do as they please and eat whenever they like and swim freely out in the vast ocean. On the other hand, captive whales are forced to perform tricks for audiences multiple times a day and they do the same routine every time as well. They are limited in space to swim and they cannot eat whenever they are hungry, it is whenever they are fed by the trainers, which is usually not enough to suffice their hunger. They are also living in a very noisy environment from the blaring music from the performances to the roller coasters that go by all day and that can be very irritating to them. Meanwhile wild orcas live in the quiet ocean where they do not perform these unnatural tricks, they just swim freely.

P.6. One of the major physical differences between wild and captive whales is the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin of a captive orca is almost always collapsed, usually more often in males. On the physical characteristics of orcas page on SeaWorld’s website they state “However, as killer whales at SeaWorld tend to spend more time at the surface working with their trainers, and many of the males have slumped or bent dorsal fins, it seems probable that time spent at the surface may be a contributing factor.” This shows that SeaWorld is admitting to the fact that being kept in these shallow pools causes their dorsal fins to collapse. They are using this fact as an excuse to hide all the other reasons that their dorsal fins collapse because they can get away with this one the easiest. Some of the other reasons are from stress, not swimming in deep waters, and swimming slowly in circles all day long. Whales in the wild can travel fast and far and are able to swim at very deep measures unlike the captive whales so their dorsal fins are straight and tall. SeaWorld is not telling the whole truth about the reasons for this abnormality and they are persuading children into thinking a collapsed dorsal fin is common, when they would rarely see one out in the wild.

P.7. Another difference is that these captive whales suffer psychological trauma such as madness and severe stress. Many of the orcas at SeaWorld have broken teeth from biting on the steel gates due to stress, which causes severe dental problems and painful holes having to be drilled. There is only one known death of a wild orca killing a human, but there are four deaths and over a dozen severe injuries from whales in captivity. In one of the cases with the wild orca it initially identified the human as prey and then ceased when they realized it was a mistake. But for the whales at SeaWorld it was not a mistake. It is said that these attacks were due to stress, frustration, and lots of aggression built up over time. All of these attacks from the captive whales were at SeaWorld and they never would have occurred if these whales were living free like the rest of the orca population, considering the fact that they do not hunt humans.

P.8. All things considered, SeaWorld makes it seem like the animals are living great lives in these pools because the trainers only talk about positive things during the shows. The trainers talk about how well the whales interact with one another and how they play and swim together all day long. But they do not mention how the whales are isolated most of the time because they fight each other out of stress and irritation, like mentioned previously. SeaWorld makes it look like living in these pools are the whales natural place to live and that they are actually happy living there. The children do not even know where the natural habitat actually is for most of these animals, they just think it is natural for them to be swimming in these tiny pools for the rest of their lives. By being told all this false information and having them focus on the shows and tricks, they are not learning anything educational about sea animals, which is supposed to be SeaWorld’s whole purpose. This causes children to believe false information and not see a problem with animal captivity. They claim that they have educated over nine million children on the values of conservation, which is a total lie.

P.9. SeaWorld claims that it is a place to educate the public about the lives of sea animals in a way we would never be able to without them. If they say they are more about education than entertainment, then why do they only choose to hold the animals that can perform the most tricks and can be easily trained? In the article, “If SeaWorld Is About Educating The Public, Why Doesn’t It Have Any Porpoises?” by David Kirby he talks about the fact that SeaWorld does not hold any porpoises in any of its parks. Porpoises are members of the dolphin family that can be found off the coasts of many SeaWorld operating states. So if these sea mammals live so close to the parks, then how come we aren’t learning about them in the parks? According to Courtney Vail, campaigns and program manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, it is because they don’t have that ‘crowd appeal’ that other sea mammals like the bottle-nose dolphin does. Industries consider porpoises undesirable because they won’t draw in crowds like the massive killer whales do. It might also be because they are shy and less acrobatic, meaning that they can’t really be trained to perform shows. This shows that SeaWorld only chooses animals that will get the biggest audience, because the shows are the number one focus. Also it shows that they do not really care about which animals they do not keep, because they only keep the ones that are going to make the most money for the company.

P.10. SeaWorld is a place to watch animals interact up close and see them perform tricks for the audiences. They claim that “the parks and products of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment™ deliver educational experiences intended to create a deeper understanding, respect, and desire to protect all wildlife.” This is false because they do not provide you with a deeper understanding about the animals, they simply talk about the basic facts of certain animals and then have you watch a show to be more entertained. By watching them perform flips in the air you are not getting the urge to protect the wildlife because your so focused on what trick the animal might do next. Also, by watching the shows you feel anything but respect for these animals. Most people wonder how the trainers even got these animals to do these unnatural tricks. The first thought that comes to mind for most would be that the animals were probably forced, tortured, and starved until they did these tricks.

P.11. Another major claim that SeaWorld makes is that they object the film Blackfish because the two major premises are wrong. The first premise is that life at SeaWorld is harmful for killer whales and for trainers working with these animals. SeaWorld claims that the animals are living in a safe, state-of-the-art habitat. On their “Health and Daily Care” page on their website they say that “our SeaWorld trainers interact with each killer whale, every day. Their contact and the personal relationship it nourishes enable the training staff to become intimately familiar with each animal’s unique behavioral profile and to notice even the slightest differences in behavior that might indicate anything unusual.” They do not mention the dangers of working with these whales and that many times trainers miss these differences in behavior and that could be very dangerous for them. Being confined in these tiny pools causes the killer whales to lash out and sometimes severely hurt other whales. They are living artificial lives which results in them being aggressive, bored, stressed, and ill. Especially since their freedom of movement is limited because that destroys their mental health. SeaWorld refuses to say that these are true because when people know the truth about the damages these animals have they refuse to come to the parks, which results in a loss of money for SeaWorld which they do not want.

P.12. The other premise is that SeaWorld attempted to cover up the facts surrounding the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau in 2010, and the story of Tilikum, which was the killer whale involved in the incident. There is no way to cover up something as major as a death of a trainer by a killer whale. This tragedy happened during a live show and was broad-casted on news stations across the world. Everyone knows the truth about this story, which was that Tilikum had become aggressive and irritated and took his anger out on Dawn, which resulted in her violent death. Footage of the event shows that she was dragged into the pool and you can clearly see that this was no accident because the killer whale continued to violently injure her for a long time. Also, the autopsy shows that she had multiple injuries such as a severed spinal cord, broken jaw, broken ribs, she was scalped and her arm was torn off, to name some of the major and more shocking ones. Her body had to be pried from his mouth because he would not stop long after she was dead and her scalp and hair was found at the bottom of the pool. These disturbing images show that this indeed was no accident and that he really wanted to hurt her. Tilikum had clear intentions on injuring or even killing her because these behaviors have not been seen around Dawn prior to this event. Not many people know that her death was this violent and that is because SeaWorld denied her death as being aggressive and they did not blame Tilikum. In the article “Former Trainer Slams SeaWorld for Cruel Treatment of Orcas” by Simon Worrall, he talks about former trainer John Hargrove’s book which was all about SeaWorld and what really went on in these parks. Hargrove explains in his book that “a SeaWorld spokesman has denied that Tilikum’s killing of three trainers showed aggressive intent and has defended the star orca’s reentry into the performing world 13 months after Brancheau’s death, saying it “is an important component of his physical, social, and mental enrichment.”” This shows that SeaWorld was trying to cover up the facts surrounding her tragic death to make it look more like an accident than a purposeful aggressive killing. Shortly after this incident a new rule was put into place that said the trainers were no longer allowed in the pools with these killer whales to make sure another tragic event did not occur. By putting this rule into place it shows that SeaWorld was nervous that another whale would act out about its poor living conditions on one of the trainers. Tilikum has now killed three trainers and SeaWorld knows that these whales are dangerous and not safe to be swimming with so they put this rule in order to stay in business.

P.13. Overall, SeaWorld is claiming false information and spreading lies to cover up for their own misdoings. They are tricking the public into thinking going to SeaWorld is an educational experience and that the animals are being treated well. When really they are a place for entertainment and only care about the money they are making. They make these lies in order to protect the company and to keep people coming back to their parks. Children are believing these lies and not seeing the problem with SeaWorld keeping these animals in captivity. The only way children can really learn about these sea animals is through research, documentaries, and marine biology. Having them go to SeaWorld to watch whales do flips and dolphins play with a ball serves no educational purpose whatsoever. The only purpose of SeaWorld is the entertainment for us and the way we get this entertainment is by capturing animals and forcing them to live miserable unhealthy lives in isolation. People going to SeaWorld in hopes of an educational experience, such as schools, end up only getting a show that was of no educational value, just entertainment and false information. This causes children to believe what they are told and to keep going back to SeaWorld to see “Shamu do his back flips”. They don’t realize that these sea animals are suffering and they do not learn anything about the way these animals actually live in the wild. In summation, SeaWorld does not educate the public, it merely entertains those who are willing to believe their lies.

Works Cited

Affolter, Zach. “SeaWorld Doesn’t ‘Educate’ Students.” The Dodo. N.p., 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Batt, Elizabeth. “‘Food Deprivation Is Alive and Well at SeaWorld,’ Says Former Trainer.” Ric OBarrys Dolphin Project RSS. N.p., 26 June 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks &. “Education.” Where Imagination Meets Nature. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks &. “Physical Characteristics.” Animals: Explore. Discover. Connect. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Fisheries, NOAA. “Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca).” NOAA Fisheries. N.p., 08 Jan. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

“Health and Daily Care.” SeaWorld Cares. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Hogenboom, Melissa. “BBC – Earth – Why Killer Whales Should Not Be Kept in Captivity.”BBC News. BBC, 10 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Kirby, David. “If SeaWorld Is About Educating the Public, Why Doesn’t It Have Any Porpoises?” TakePart. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Schelling, Ameena. “SeaWorld Says ‘The Facts Are On Our Side.’ Let’s Look At The ‘Facts.’”The Dodo. N.p., 07 May 2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Worrall, Simon. “Former Trainer Slams SeaWorld for Cruel Treatment of Orcas.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 14 Apr. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

A Resilient Soldier

Army Basic Combat Training is the Army’s way of washing out those not fit to serve. Through the “boot camp” method of training, the Army sends aspiring soldiers to hell and back forcing them to question every decision they have ever made. Little sleep and little food topped with constant punishment all provide the conditions required to weed out those who don’t belong and to push those who do belong to their absolute limit. This is done by getting the recruit to find an inner drive and motivation to build the resiliency skills required to last in the military. Those who are negative about the experience and are unable to find the resilience to push through simply will not make.

The boot camp method of training is unique to the military and is a very intriguing process. As soon as we took our first step onto the training ground, it seemed as though everyone around us had been zapped of all happiness. The journey begins at reception, considered by us to be hell on earth, consisting of very little sleep, hours upon hours of waiting in line, and a countless vaccines. Uniforms are distributed and haircuts are given, all with almost no words being exchanged. The buildings are rundown, all signs of life seem to removed and replaced with white stones and concrete. With reception not even being the start of training, the Army was quick to leave a negative first impression from the very beginning.

Tired and delusional as a result of hours of standing in line and being prodded with needles, we had no idea how much worse it could get. The reality set in quickly though, when our training company’s drill sergeants stormed the bus we were on. With an introduction of screaming and knife hands, nothing but chaos ensued. We were placed into a formation and managed to screw up everything asked of us, of course, resulting in pushups for what seemed like days. From there, we all ran with all of our newly–issued gear over our heads to find a suitable area for an “inventory.” The reality was a chaotic dump of all of our gear leading to a mix up of just about everything. Everyone was missing at least one piece of equipment and none of us had our proper size. This, of course, led to more punishment. We did not realize it yet, but this was crucial in bringing us together because we had no choice but to spend the little free time we had trading with each other, trying to find our proper size. Those who were selfish here never built a relationship with any of us and would go on to eventually fail.

The training continued with new tasks being assigned to us everyday being followed by an unsurprising failure each time. We soon realized that it wasn’t actually possible to successfully complete these tasks which led some to give up. It began to hurt. Our bodies began to react to the extensive amount of immunizations given directly before training along with the unclean living conditions that come with living in proximity of nearly 240 people. Before long we all had the “bootcamp plague” and with that, an exhausted body. With a maximum of 10 minutes to eat an entire meal, we all felt starved and way too weak to be conducting hours of physical activity.

The boot camp effect started to take its toll on me and I had a very difficult time asking myself anything other than “is it worth it?” Although I did not know it at the time, that was the sole purpose of basic training. According to Joanna Hayden, the author of “Introduction to Health Behavior Theory,” self-efficacy is “the belief in one’s own ability to successfully accomplish something.” The Army was looking for self-efficacious soldiers who believed that no task could stop them! What better way to have the most lethal organization in the world than to have one who thinks it can take on the world. According to Hayden, those with strong sense of efficacy will take on the most difficult of tasks, ones that others would not consider doing.

What separates those who graduate from those who don’t is their internal motivation and resilience skills. While we all serve to work towards the goal set by the drill sergeants to graduate as effective soldiers, our determination to reach our own personal goal is what gives us the motivation to do so. While all of us share the same common goal, very few share the same personal goal. My goal was to prove to my family and my girlfriend that I had what is required to serve. When I doubted myself, I thought about my goal and how great it will feel to accomplish it. Those who are sifted out lose their direction along with their inner drive to accomplish their personal goal. When that drive is lost, the Army gets rid of them. The military has no time for those who do not have the drive to accomplish the most difficult of tasks. What the military wants is for its soldiers to have that drive to accomplish their given tasks; it does not care where that drive comes from. So it places its recruits through a rigorous process that gives them no choice but to tap into that inner drive or to fail.

While unknown to those outside of the military community, the defeat and belittlement that we faced in boot camp built up a positive mindset within us. While this sounds counterintuitive, some sense may be made of this. From the outside, it would seem as though repetitive belittlement and defeat would initiate a coping mechanism of shutting down and losing touch with our inner emotions. After experiencing the world of basic training, I discovered that just the opposite is true. Those of us who made it through basic training built a strong set of resiliency skills that took us out of the present. Instead of harping on how horrible our lives were, we thought about how great it would be to graduate. We thought about how proud our significant others, parents, and siblings would be when they first saw us in uniform. These thoughts caused an influx of positive emotions that got us through the worst of our situations. A survey I conducted proved that I was not alone with this claim. Out of the 28 soldiers survey, 93% of them agreed that they implicated a method  of deep thought to think about a more positive time.

Sometimes described as a world of hate, there was no escaping harsh criticism and mass punishment while in basic training. 86% of the soldiers surveyed said they thought about quitting due to being punished for someone else’s mistake. This total lack of control and constant failure caused each of us to “dig deep” in a quest to find resiliency skills from within

Very often, we found inner strength by thinking about times in the past that made us happy, or by thinking about seeing family for the first time while in uniform. By thinking these thoughts, we were able to escape the harsh reality we were suffering. These thoughts motivated us and gave us a positive approach in dealing with the now, to be rewarded later. On the contrary, if someone was unable to build or find the resiliency skills required, they would begin to blame others for the tough situation and consistently make excuses. With the military being about getting the job done, it wanted nothing to do with those filled with doubt and excuses. Clearly, two very different approaches result from the very basics of the training environment, yet this is just the beginning.

It may seem strange that it was crucial for us to maintain a positive mindset for the “boot camp” method of training to be successful but Thomas Davis brought some clarity as to why. According to Davis, author of “Effects of Stress, Coping Style, and Confidence on Basic Combat Training,” recruits who were able to positively cope with the situation were less likely to drop out of the training. Along with that, those who had a positive mood were able to respond to different situations faster than those who were negative. I experienced this first hand when I was paired up with a soon to be drop out for the confidence course. The confidence course is all about combining team work with confidence to navigate through some tough and dangerous obstacles. My partner had been negative about his current situation throughout the entirety of training and when it came time for him to perform tasks, he was not mentally there. Being the guy that had to raise me over an 8 foot wall, he failed to find a method of completing the task because instead of problem solving, he was complaining. This was common throughout training but the Army made sure it had no part of it. We are now seeing that this method is not only revealing those who spend their day complaining and doubting, but also those who cannot perform tasks under pressure.

Even with the given evidence, some argue that basic training is successful because it helps the recruit separate themselves from their emotions but with that logic, they would lose their greatest advantage to completing basic training. As stated above, we looked to past memories and future experiences to get through our training. When I was having a tough time, I did not try to cut off my bad feeling because that is near impossible, especially in the basic training environment. Instead, I thought about seeing my girlfriend for the first time in three months, and how proud she would be. These thoughts gave me an adrenaline rush and pushed me through the tough times. A friend of mine in basic had a father who was currently serving in the Army and wanted nothing more than to prove to his dad that he had what it takes. By reaching this emotion, he would wake up with enthusiasm every morning and did whatever required to become a successful soldier.

According to John Bornmann, Author of “Becoming Soldiers:Army Basic Training and the Negotiation of Identity,” boot camp is the first time that many recruits are challenged. These challenges provide the recruits with confidence and pride once they are accomplished. John went on to say that basic training created a sense of social acceptance since everyone was going through the same experience. All of these things I’ve listed are emotions of some type. Finally, while we all have a unique reason for joining the military, we all shared something in common. An incomparable love for the country that we were aiming to serve. This feeling of pride and aspiration is one that guides nearly all of us within the United States Army. So to say that the military’s hostile environment is in place to separate us from our emotions just does not work.

Throughout training, we went to hell and back to earn the coveted title of a United States Soldier. It is a grueling yet rewarding process in which only those who are cut out to be a soldier survive. The military has been successful in producing effective soldiers for years yet little is known about why, yet through my experiences in basic training, the “boot camp” method caused us to find or create strong resiliency skills. This caused us to either find motivation causing us to take on a positive approach, or to find a negative approach to the entire situation. Those of us with a positive mindset found the tools and motivation to get through some of the toughest experiences of our lives.

To graduate basic combat training, we must be  in great physical shape, be able to cope with tough conditions, and most importantly, be resilient when it gets tough. Anyone who cannot meet those standards washes out. It is argued that by using these strict standards to wash people out, the Army is doing itself a disservice while also being unfair to those who may have a unique talent to bring to the military. This is a compelling argument, yet it makes the assumption that the given soldiers talent in one subject outweighs the importance of being a well rounded soldier.

I trained with several recruits who where going on to be “wheeled vehicle mechanics” in the Army after they completed training. Several of them joined with prior experience as either a car or truck mechanic and looked at basic training as a minor road block in the way of a successful career. It did not take long for this mindset to take its toll on the recruits resulting in 11 out of the 18 mechanics in my unit being removed from training by the end of the cycle. I was dumbfounded when I found out that the Army would actually ditch 11 experienced mechanics because they did not have what it would take to “be a soldier” when these soldiers were not even going to be combat oriented. Just as the argument above, I assumed the Army did itself a disservice by removing 11 mechanics with prior experience.

About half way through the training cycle, a close friend of mine told me that he was dropping from the training. When I asked him why, he could not provide any reason other than that he was not cut out to be a soldier. The explanation made absolutely no sense to me because he had an awesome sense of humor, he was in better shape than most, and was a much better shot than anyone. If anyone was cut out to be a soldier, it was him. What I did not know at the time, was that he lacked the resiliency skills required to be a soldier. He could not cope with a tough time and if he couldn’t cope with being in training, how would he cope with being in a firefight in Iraq.

My answer to why the Army wanted its mechanics to be top tier soldiers and to why training was so difficult that even those who seemed to be the best would drop out was not found until my graduation. My battalion commander gave a speech explaining that we were all officially lethal assets to the United States Army who’s number one mission is to perform our duties as a soldier through our designated career field. He explained that we are all rifleman first, capable of taking the fight to the enemy at any time. Even as mechanics, cooks, aviators, and armorers, we could find ourselves operating in environments that only the strongest could get through. Those words struck a chord with me and allowed me to see the unique purpose of basic training.

The truth of the matter is, every job in the military can see combat and get thrown in the thick of it. Mechanics sometimes go out on convoys to fix vehicles and to provide support for the infantrymen during a firefight. Intel guys go out into the field to collect intelligence. Aviators fly in and out of hostile zones to provide support for the ground troops. Cooks are often attached to an infantry unit and sent to a small forward operating base to keep the soldiers there fed. In all of these circumstances, soldiers who are not infantrymen need to have the skills of an infantrymen while having the confidence of acting accordingly. If the standards were lowered just so they could have experienced mechanics, the soldiers would not have known how to handle the situation  endangering themselves and those around them. Along with that, even those who are a great shot could put the whole mission in jeopardy if they suddenly loose the heart to continue on. Once you are in the middle of a combat zone, there is no turning back.

While the argument that the Army is missing out and being unfair by having tough training demands has some substance, it’s just not feasible. The Army is not loosing anything when it drops someone because they potentially just saved that recruits life along with the lives of those they would have served with. The Army can teach anyone to be a mechanic and because of that, they do not care what background the recruit has. When it comes to the Army being unfair, I can say pretty bluntly that the military does not give a damn. For the same reason as why those who are blind are not allowed to be bus drivers, you cannot put people at risk to make some recruits feel better. It’s a tough organization but it’s the most lethal for a reason. The military knows what its doing and it needs to make the best of its all volunteer force.

The military is not alone in its search for resiliency. Those aspiring to be doctors not only have to be the top of the class in terms of academics, they must possess a unique set of resiliency skills to push them through long days filled with life and death decisions. Sound familiar? Medical school is so difficult because it only can use the best. In an interview with a Rowan students pushing to get into medical school, Daniel Hill, I asked him if he was angered by how difficult it is to get into and through medical school. He responded saying that “Medical school needs to be tough. In a career with life or death decisions made on a regular basis, there is no room for error. By being so selective, they limit the chances of someone who cannot handle the job making a poor decision.” Hearing that only solidifies by two claims. A strong sense of resiliency is required to be successful in such an important profession, and those who do not contain those skills have no place serving the country. Without being able to pull themselves out of the situation and find the inner motivation to complete the training, those recruits become a liability to the success of the organization as a whole.

Works Cited

Bornmann, J. W. (2009). Becoming soldiers: Army basic training and the negotiation of identity (Order No. 3349632). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304880565). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.rowan.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/304880565?accountid=13605

Davis, T. W. (2006). Effects of stress, coping style, and confidence on basic combat training performance, discipline, and attrition (Order No. 3207963). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304960885). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.rowan.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/304960885?accountid=13605

Hayden, Joanna. “Self-Efficacy Theory.” Introduction to Health Behavior Theory. Second ed. Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2014. 14-21. Print.

Personal Experience?

Personal Interview?

Survey (will officially publish on “Counterintuitive” soon)

P1. In the Declaration of Independence it says, “All men are created equal,” but how true does that hold today? . As the last presidential election advanced the American people began to see many clear divides within the American people. On the topic of crimes, specifically hate crimes there are many people who believe hate crime laws should not exist, because rather than help avoid conflict and unify people it is creating a larger divide and reinforce that Blacks are different than Whites. While the opposing side does not believe people should not be punished for their crimes they just believe that the hate crime laws should be repealed and not affect the case.

P2. The argument that J. Wilson an author for alibertarianfuture.com is that hate crimes do not exist and hate crime laws do more damage than good. This would be a valid argument if and only if all people were treated equally. America has an extensive history of racism and inequality starting from the time this land was settled. The white man came and took the land of the native Americans. Fast forward a few years and later came the importation of African American slaves. They were treated poorly like animals and were not seen as human. After the Civil War when the slaves were freed, America was still a white mans country, African Americans were still extremely mistreated and had little to no opportunity to get ahead and live a normal life equal to that of the white man. This carried on for over one hundred years until the civil rights movement, but prior to the civil rights movement Blacks and Whites were segregated and Blacks got the short end of the stick with poorly maintained schools and public amenities. Although we have come extremely far as a country we are far from seeing everyone as equal, and its no longer just an issue of African American and Whites, now there are hispanics, asians, and people from the middle east. Wilson argues that hate crimes only serve to show that there is an evident difference between races. While equality is the goal, it does not mean we are working toward being the same as one another. The truth is people in America are different color does exist and it is completely okay to be different, that is what makes America great. If hate crime laws were not in place it is very likely that this country would still be like it was before the civil rights movement, because more people would take advantage of the fact that they are in the majority.

P3. Another topic people may argue is that the justice system in America has been proven to be in favor of the middle and upperclass caucasian male. There are countless examples of the same crime being committed by people of two different races and the evidence shows that the caucasian person most of the time gets a lighter sentence. For example more recently the case of Brock Turner and Cory Batey. They were both college athletes who committed rape while girls were under the influence. Turner only received 6 months but ended up receiving no jail time because the judge felt that Brock was truly sorry and was an outstanding athlete. Cory Batey on the other hand received 15 years of prison. The crime was very similar almost identical while part of it could’ve been that Brock had a better lawyer however the drastic difference severity of punishment is astonishing. Another issue going on in America is police brutality towards minorities. Over the past couple of years there have been multiple murders of unarmed minorities by police officers. Many times the police officers who committed these offenses were let free. For example the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson; a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager and had the charges dropped. Or the NY police officer who killed unarmed man Eric Garner using excessive force by choking him;this police officer was also not indicted for this murder. those are only two examples of the many times this has happened. The divide in America is too deeply embedded in our way of being that for everyone to be equal is not a realistic goal. Which is why I emphasize that hate crime laws are necessary because it does help even the scale and the system can sometimes work for people who deserve justice.

P4. Finally even though everyone is equal and no one race religion or belief is superior to others everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, no one should be dehumanized for being themselves. For example the Charleston murderer killed 9 innocent people simply because they were black. His only motive was hatred, no other reason. Non of those people deserved to die so he should get a harsher punishment. Hate crime laws have proven to work and they have played a big role in significantly lowering hate crimes because people think twice before committing an act of violence or verbal abuse to someone that is different than them because they know the price to pay. That is why today in age people do not celebrate the oppression of others on a large scale because over the years hate crime laws have helped advance the equality amongst races, sexes and religions that live amongst each other.  Everyone is equal, there should be no divide, we should unite all together as Americans more than anything else. That is the only way this country will continue to progress. So yes hate crimes are very real and in situations such as the one in Charleston there is no other explanation for it.

Work Cited

“There Is No Such Thing As A Hate Crime.” A Libertarian Future. N.p., 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. https://alibertarianfuture.com/big-government/police-state/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-hate-crime/

Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/hatecrimes.aspx

What Motivates Hate Crimes?

P1. Hate Crimes are defined as a crime motivated by racial, sexual or other prejudice, typically including violence. Hate crimes happen everyday in America and around the world and we are living in a time when hate crimes are growing in popularity. Hate crimes happen in the form of extreme terrorism, violence, and most commonly verbal abuse. However the motivation behind hate crimes is not as simple as prejudice towards a group of people. Many times people just try and find a scapegoat for issues they cannot explain or resolve. It expands to peoples mental health, their place in society, their self esteem and just the nature of humans in general.

P2. A study was conducted at the University of California studied 550 perpetrators of hate crimes to find commonalities in their backgrounds and motives to find the real cause of Hate crimes. What this study found is that perpetrators of hate crimes are not psychopaths or clinically mentally ill. However they are usually very troubled individuals who have high levels of aggression and antisocial behavior. This makes a lot of sense because people who are anti-social are usually very closed off to the world and only know themselves and their kind of people. For example Person 1 has a Muslim friend and understands that not all Muslims are bad and it is only a very small percentage of Muslims who have radical beliefs and are willing to kill and commit acts of terrorism to protect their radical beliefs. Then there is Person 2 who has never had a Muslim friend or has never met a Muslim they are more likely to believe that all muslims are the same way because of the grouse acts of a very small group of people that are portrayed all over the media. With them dealing with high aggression as well they are quicker than most other people to jump to the conclusion and stereotype an everyday person and initiate aggression towards them. An article in the New York Times told the story of Rajpreet Heir a Indiana born United States Citizen who was verbally abused by a white man on the subway. He told her that her people were the cause of all problems going on in the middle east and that he hoped she would get sent back. Rajpreet has absolutely nothing to do with anything going on in the middle east and was simply profiled and attacked. This man probably does not personally know any other muslim people.

P3. That leads into another cause for hate crimes and that is in a time of crisis we as humans protect ourselves and our own people. The man on the subway that verbally abused Heir asked her if she had ever seen a marine and if she understood what they had to go through. It is very possible that this man may be a veteran or he may have family in the military serving overseas. Those are his people he sees it unfair that they have to risk their lives fighting to protect countries other than his own. In many ways this is not a very far fetched idea, we live in a diverse world and people have grouped together to survive since the beginning of time. The reason this does not work very well in America is because there is no determined rules of what you must look like and believe to be an American. Americans come in all different ethnicities, religions and sexualities. This diversity leads to people forming smaller groups such as White America, Black America, LGBT, Latinos… etc. People stick together with the ones they have the most in common with. This becomes a huge problem because we are all Americans and should be in one group not divided. So when someone sees their group or their “America” being affected in a negative way then they begin to blame others they find a scape goat for their problems and stereotype people into larger groups that they may not belong to.

P4. There are levels to the motivation behind hate crimes. For the people who are troubled and anti social that maybe are more controlled, now have a group of people who find it acceptable to commit these crimes. Durning Trump’s presidential campaign he targeted different communities in a very negative way. When he said that many of the immigrants coming from Mexico only brought crime, it made it acceptable for people to dislike people from Mexico because it initiates the mindset that if some of them are brining crime their people as a whole must be bad. The same issue arose when the travel ban was placed. It ignited the mentality that if the President of the United States said that people from select countries could not enter the country they must all be bad. There are many examples of this going on in the world today. When people find a scapegoat that is widely accepted it becomes okay for them to act aggressively towards that scapegoat. So if people who previously did not have a reason to commit a hate crime and showed aggressive and antisocial behaviors now have the motivation to do so as its accepted by the group the group they identify with.

P5. Overall these tendencies in character are usually a direct cause of a persons up brining. If a child grew up in a home where things were dealt with violence or verbal abuse, they are more likely to grow up and handle their problems in the same manor. Also the way they interacted with others while growing up plays a huge part in the motivation behind hate crimes. If people grow up only knowing other people like them it creates an in group bias because they do not know about outside groups. The less people know about other groups the less they empathize with them which makes it easier to go against them and commit these hate crimes. Overall hate crimes are not just about prejudice they are much deeper and it speaks to the character of the way people are raised in America.

Work Cited

Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/hatecrimes.aspx

North, Anna. “When Your Commute Includes Hearing ‘You Don’t Belong in This Country’.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/opinion/when-your-commute-includes-hearing-you-dont-belong-in-this-country.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FHate Crimes&_r=1

“Hate Crime Laws.” The United States Department of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

https://www.justice.gov/crt/hate-crime-laws

What classifies as a hate crime

P1. Criminals all have different motives for committing crimes. They commit crimes out of necessity, greed, revenge, or even mental illness. In 1968 a Statue was created that made it a crime to use or threaten to use, force to willfully interfere with any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin and because the person is participating in a federally protected activity, such as public education, transportation, employment… etc. Hate crimes are many times tricky because people do not get convicted for hate crimes. People are tried for the crime they committed (assault, murder, robbery) and if discovered that the crime was motivated by any kind of prejudice this may allow the court to extend the sentence of the person being tried. However it is left to the jury to find the motivation of the crime unless the suspect openly admits his motivation. The hate crime statue is a great thing because targeting a group of people for their race religion or sexual preference is terrorism. So it is counterintuitive that a country fighting terrorism is participating in terrorism many times on a smaller scale but not always.

P2.The New York Times reports hate crimes and incidents in a section called “This Week in Hate.” One of the articles was about Rejpreet Heir a young women born in Indiana who was riding the subway when she was verbally assaulted by a man. He began by asking her if she knew what United States Marines had to see and go through for this country because of people like her. The man was clearly referring to the conflicts going on in the middle east involving ISIS and other terrorist groups that identify with the muslims religion. Heir has brown skin and resembles someone who might be of middle eastern descent, which is why the man targeted her. The then proceeded to say that she did not belong in this country saying “I hope you get sent back to Lebanon.”

P3.There are many things wrong with what this man did such as targeting a random person to take out his frustration for the issues happening today. Heir did not initiate the man she was just taking a ride on the subway, she was targeted by the man’s prejudice. However what I find the most counterintuitive is that this man is wrongly discriminating and harassing someone who is part of his group. Just like the white man, Heir is an American citizen who was born in America, which is something the two have in common. In the middle east a radical group of Muslims by the name of ISIS are killing people who don’t follow the extreme beliefs that they do. Although not as severe in a sense the man was doing the same thing by publicly humiliating this women.

P4. By law that incident was not considered a hate crime punishable by prison its simply one of thousands of discrimination acts that happen daily. However one can argue that although the act was not physically violent it was verbal and mental abuse. Heir was publicly embarrassed for something she absolutely nothing to do with her. She has to deal with the mental damage done by the words he said. She felt rejected by her own group of people as she is an American and another American was excluding her from the group labeling her as Lebanese while the people around simply acted as bystanders and did not come to her aid. Although no violent acts were caused the man was clearly motivated by his own prejudice.

P5.That however is not always the case there have been many times when people have crosses the line of verbal abuse. In Phoenix AZ a homosexual couple moved into a neighborhood. In the months following their move they experienced a number of break ins, and vandalism to their property. However no arrest were made and no one can actually prove that the crimes committed were motivated by prejudice. However one can assume is motivated by hate if these acts vandalism are not a regularity in the community. The police department has just allowed this to keep occurring because there is no solid proof of this being a hate crime. It is just another instance that shows how difficult it is to classify a crime as a hate crime.

P6. In the first couple of weeks of President Trump being in office reporting of hate crimes have surged. Trump received much of his support for his views on immigration stating that immigrants bring crime to America. In reality immigrants commit less crime than native born American citizens. However his promises of building a wall, deporting millions and closing our borders gained him a tremendous following. While in offie we have seen that his immigration policies and remarks have been ineffective and he ended up doing more harm than good. Now prejudice is at a high and demonizing the people we live with is tearing apart our country not growing us together. It is almost as if people are afraid of minorities becoming the majority which is still far from happening so they begin to spew hate and prejudice to avoid that happening.

Hate crimes are very real and relevant especially in todays world. Although a good statue is in place a better one needs to be presented. One that makes it easier to differentiate hate crimes, because hate crimes are a form of terrorism the same issue that we are fighting for overseas. ISIS killing innocent people who don’t follow their muslim values is the same as attacking a hispanic person who may be an American Citizen simply for not being white or for being hispanic. It happens everyday in America, minorities being attacked it is not publicized because its not a good look for the country but it does indeed happen.

Work Cited 

North, Anna. “When Your Commute Includes Hearing ‘You Don’t Belong in This Country’.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/opinion/when-your-commute-includes-hearing-you-dont-belong-in-this-country.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FHate Crimes&_r=1

“Hate Crime Laws.” The United States Department of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

https://www.justice.gov/crt/hate-crime-laws

Soros, George. “George Soros: When Hate Surges.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/opinion/george-soros-when-hate-surges.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FHate Crimes

All in Your Head

“It’s all in your head,” isn’t as false as a statement as some people make it out to be. There’s an unprecedented number of people in this world who have been made to believe that mental illness is not an actual “sickness.” These people contribute to the stigma, either making it hard for people to get help (if they are a politician), or they make mentally ill people ashamed or afraid to get help. The most commonly used arguments are the following: Depression is just extreme sadness, anxiety is just a nervous habit, and bipolar disorder is crazy mood swings. In Thomas Szasz’ writing, “The Myth of Mental Illness 101” he says that “illness refers to a bodily lesion, that is, to a material – structural or functional – abnormality of the body, as a machine.” Meanwhile, the definition of illness is “a disease or period of sickness affecting the body or mind.” An illness does affect the mind, proving mental illness to be an actual illness. The brain is an organ that works like the rest of the body’s organs, so why should mental illness not be classified as an illness?

Mentalism. Otherwise known as sanism, is a form of discrimination because of a mental condition a person has. Phrases such as, “How can there be something to discriminate if mental illness is all in one’s head?” or “People don’t get discriminated for mental illness, that’s bull.” Discrimination can come in many forms, some not as prominent as others. The definition of Discrimination is, “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things.” Let’s say that there’s a person who had just been discharged from an inpatient facility where they’d been living, working on themselves for the past month. Random people walking along the street know what the building is, and they stare at the former patient. They take their children and direct them other way, they eye the person and their minds go, “this person is crazy.” No, they are not crazy, they just spent a month trying to rehabilitate themselves and find new ways to cope with the issues that life has handed to them. They did not ask for this illness to be served to them like a steak at a steak house, but here they are. Diagnosed and living with this illness that has the potential to kill them. No one discriminates cancer patients for having cancer. It’s something they can’t control, same as mental illness, which is lost in the minds of neuro-typical people.

In an article named, “I Don’t Believe in Mental Illness, Do You?” Michael Cornwall argues that mental illness is not an illness, but it is madness. Cornwall says he sees people with “mental illness” as “a person who may have various experiences of human emotional suffering which sometimes takes the form of madness.” He makes a strong argument about how “our culture and world is rife with polarizing beliefs,” and goes into detail about how a leader of a peer recovery group had said that full recovery was achievable, so another peer called him a Nazi. He then feared that if a mad person were to hear this, they would believe another holocaust is in the works, and that they would contribute to that. He’s basically saying that a mad person would be triggered by a small event such as that above, and their madness would spiral. Madness used to mean mental illness, yes, but there’s some kind of demeaning meaning behind the word now when referred to that. Ask anyone with a mental illness if they’re “mad” their response would most likely be something along the lines of, “Yes, I’m mad because you asked that question. And no, because I just have a disorder.” Mostly it’s been the entertainment industry that’s responsible for turning madness into a demeaning term. Usually writers or directors instruct the killer in the movie to be considered mad. The Joker, Freddy Kruger, Mike Meyers. All characters that have the potential to be mad. But that’s not the case with the majority of the mentally ill population.

Society has created this so-called stigma against mental illness. The sad fact is that the neuro-typical population believe there cannot be a stigma since mental illness does not exist. Though it does exist. The definition of stigma is, “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.” An example of marks of disgrace against mentally ill people is the fact that they are called crazy, unstable, violent, mad, dangerous, or insane. Those kind of words can tear a mentally ill person down more which contributes to their illness, making it even harder for them to find ways to feel better about themselves. It is very hard for people with mental illness to keep jobs. For people with depression, they struggle getting out of bed. Sure, the people are medicated but the medication for mental illness is often slept upon and is very hard for those who need to be treated to get. And even with the medication, the symptoms are not completely gone. It takes years of therapy to get to the point where someone can finally feel okay again, or even well enough to get out of bed. Some stigma’s against the illness is that everyone has these symptoms sometimes, so how can it be specific to someone? Brains are different. They can be compromised, and some people have too much going on in their brain and chemicals are mixed, which can cause an illness.

In conclusion, at the end of the day mental illness is an illness and people need to accept that. Sure, the neuro-typical population is learning to come around, but we as a society still have a long way to go before the stigma ends. There is such a thing as stigma against this illness and it needs to be stopped because if it isn’t then the people who are plagued by this illness will not get the help they need to power through it.

Works Cited

Cornwall, PhD Michael. “I Don’t Believe in Mental Illness, Do You?” Mad In America. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

“Mentalism (discrimination).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2017. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Wyatt, Randall C. “Thomas Szasz on Freedom and Psychotherapy.” Thomas Szasz Interview. N.p., 2001. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

The Bravery of Fear Tactics

Prioritization of individuals in the United States has become a very controversial issue. Since the inception of the united states there has been an unbalanced system that does not provide for the rights of all the citizens that chose or were forced to live in this country.”American constitutionalism developed in its own national climate, and was nurtured and maintained by home-grown institutions” Henkins is describing how progressive American ideals had been for their time. American law in terms of providing a more interactive law system was ahead of other countries. The legal system in America was also very reactive to horrors seen around the rest of the world and tried to appease the majority of citizens. Historically the American way of life has been in conflict with the ideologies of fascists and in that way America can be characterized as one of freest countries in the world.  The dehumanization of non white christian males is evident throughout the country’s existence and many still feel that burden today. There has been many movements of individuals working to fix the rights of those who have been denied the promise of a better life through biased and unrealistic thinking.

Its clear that no one looking at the country from a historical lens can defend this kind of blatant apathy towards certain individuals. However, there is a sentiment throughout the country that feels these complaints are unoriginal and views these calls to action as unnecessary harping on a subject that has been long settled decades ago. The gist of their argument is that searching for an ideal situation such as rights for everyone is unrealistic because complete equality is unnatural. They have strong attraction to white American nationalism which they believe is the true nature of American. Groups fighting against the rights of the non stereotypical American citizen tend to not be a minority, male and see no reason for the uproar because they do not feel their rights being trampled on.

It is easy to characterize the opposition of my position by saying they simply do not understand the issue and that to solve the problem all that is needed is education for the matter at hand. Although that is true for certain individuals there is a far more sinister motivation in others. The best way to understand this motive is to understand what it means to have privilege in the United States and to understand how privilege is given out. With equal and fair treatment given to individuals in this country that means the country becomes more aware of distribution of power in the country. There are certain powers that exist to keep this shift from happening out of fear that they will held in judgement for their actions and their power will diminish.

This criticism are never described in this telling of a way. They instead appeal to certain urges within the individuals they are trying to convince in order to justify their non balanced views of the way American should be ran. This is very easily viewable in how the republican party handles how their policies are written. There is a clear need to protect christian rights and identities that are not controversial. Politicians constantly use fear as a motivator to convince certain people that others are not as deserving of rights because their way of life contradicts the American way. This however is untrue because America at least in a modern sense carries itself as a secular country and gives thee appeal of everyone having the same chance to work in a capitalistic system to be successful.

Work Cited

Henkin, Louis. “Rights: American and Human.” Columbia Law Review, vol. 79, no. 3, 1979, pp. 405–425., http://www.jstor.org/stable/1121801.

Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. (2010). Immigration and religion in america: Comparative and historical perspectives. Contemporary Sociology, 39(2), 139-140. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.rowan.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/220165319?accountid=13605