TA - Early Affirmative Action

My last paper in this class is on the topic of the Indian Placement Program, in the broader context of Affirmative Action. I had the idea before I began this paper that this topic would be (BY FAR) the easiest to write about, since - after all - I'm a Native American! Wouldn't this naturally be easy? Unfortunately I have discovered that the matter of my race/blood/genes/heritage/whatever has no influence whatsoever on the ease or depth of my research.

That's a bummer.

But hey, life goes on! I'm discovering more and more about this topic as the time goes by, such as many of the benefits the Navajos especially received at the hands of this program in the Church. My mother is one of those beneficiaries, along with many of her siblings.

I've also learned some of the darker sides to this topic: broken families, abuse, cultural dilution, and psychological problems for the students. Mind you, I do not believe some of these claims nor many of the others that I didn't list here (such as stealing children - come on, let's be honest). But for the Native American/Navajo people this issue was a controversial one. I mentioned that in the past tense since the Indian Placement Program ended in the 90s - and I'll have to do more research on that to figure out exactly why. :-D

I think that the point I want to get out of this paper is that Affirmative Action will always be a two-sided debate, no matter which end you approach it from. I think that this instance of A.A., which I like to call Early-Onset Affirmative Action, is the best way to go about raising the level of Native American society: it gives the child opportunities! It opens his/her eyes to the world that they have all around them! It also gives these children an understanding (if they're willing to accept it) of the value of hard work.

There is a lot more involved in this whole debate, as well in my own position here in this post, but I believe that the idea of Affirmative Action now (i.e., hire/enroll the minority over the majority regardless) is inherently flawed. How can you expect to fight inequality with inequality? Give the minorities opportunities from their childhoods and make them aware that to achieve success in this world they must work for it.

FW - Independent Intelligence

In the oncoming turbulence of the movie The Golden Compass, I have repeatedly heard the vilifications of the book (by Philip Pullman) by BYU students that have not even opened it. I must admit that these situations have begun to try my patience, and I now find it difficult in the extreme not to become angry in my defense of the book. What makes me the most angry in these discussions is the fact that these "defenders of the faith" have not even read the books in question, but have heard that they were written by an atheist.

Since when do we as a church tell our members to believe what they are told, or what they read, by the virtue of man's authority alone? We are at Brigham Young University; the very namesake of this institution is quite likely hopping up and down (as much as a spirit can) in frustration over the gullibility/naïvety of this generation of Saints. Brother Brigham's sermon on Feb 20, 1853 described how we as church members should not take the words of the leaders of the church as truth solely on the merit of the leaders of the church being men of God, but that we should still find our own answers from the ultimate source of truth: the Living God. God alone can tell us the truth of all things, and we should build our testimonies on that fact, ability, and privilege.

This principle can be applied to literary matters as well. These books by Philip Pullman have become a hiss and a byword among many a Christian sect, much more so in the past few months than ever before. It is now fashionable for a Christian to hop onto the "Protest Pullman" bandwagon - but when has jumping on a bandwagon ever been a good idea?

Students of BYU, Latter-day Saints, people in general: learn to make decisions for yourself, based on your own observation and personal revelation (the two work together, remember). Be independent in your thoughts, relying on our God for your guidance, and not the snivellings of so-called "Christians" who have the gall to defame children's literature while defying the very precepts of the Bible they claim to follow.

"O be wise; what can I say more?"
-Jacob 6:12