Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Many religions claim that it’s never too late to be saved, but one sect takes this concept to a whole new level.  While most denominations teach that an individual is ultimately damned or saved immediately after the moment of death, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that even after we die, we can have more chances to be saved than there are stars in the sky.  Mormons believe that when a person dies, their soul goes to Spirit Prison, but that it can still join Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom if the person is baptized.  Therefore, believing that every individual is entitled to be saved from eternal damnation, the Mormons uniquely perform post-mortem baptisms for people of all religions–even Holocaust victims.  Despite the generous implications of good will behind this practice, many members of the Jewish community claim that the posthumous baptisms of Holocaust victims is both disrespectful and harmful.  However, this claim is both incorrect and hypocritical–it brashly asserts that the practice of posthumous baptism has harmed even a fly, while simultaneously reflecting an ignorant superiority complex held by the Jews, whose pretentiousness has led them to rudely believe that their religion is better than that of the Mormons, and also to forget their own harmful spiritual practices.

TV robs the souls of adolescent girls. Adolescent girls in the United States are over sexualized by the Television industry, music industry, and by the media. They are undervalued and their lack of worth as compared to boys their age are constantly being reinforced to them in the music they listen to and the perception of themselves they buy into which is exploited by advertisers. Adolescent girls have been told by society and the media that their worth is based on their physical appearance and their body, and therefore try to look “womanly” to subconsciously impress boys which perpetuates the ideal that women have to look sexy for men as their roll in society. Even parents can fall into the trap of valuing daughters for their beauty and their sons for what they can accomplish which stems at a very young age. Despite the ruthless efforts of advertisers in the media and other outlets who conspire to trick young girls into buying into what they are offering, we as a society have to end the stigma that the objectification of women is acceptable and instill this ideal in our youth. Sexual liberation is okay, but there is nothing liberating about over-sexualizing young girls who are no where near ready to exist as sexual beings.

Everyone perpetuates rape culture. The culture is so ingrained in our environment, which has forced it to mistakenly evolve into a normal way of thinking. In order to fix this error made by history, a conversation of rape culture must be implemented to improve ideals, protect victims’ rights, and prevent people from becoming rapists. This conversation is one that must be had, despite the resistance of stubborn, close-minded individuals, as well as those who have become victim of rape culture.

The fact that 72 percent of professors teaching at an American university are liberals and only 15 percent are conservatives is outrageous. Consequently, there is a high likelihood that teachers will bring liberal beliefs into the classroom. While some professors persuade liberalism, others intentionally indoctrinate students. This affects our generation in many ways. Some examples are, teachers fail to adequately challenge liberal undergraduates which results in leaving many of them unprepared for the real world, and it leaves conservative students afraid to express their beliefs in the classroom because of the professor failing them for not conforming.

From the perspective of a U.S. citizen, the world may not appear to be all that treacherous. We are well isolated from many dangers in the world, which are brutal realities for many, and if interested can safely observe them on television from our living rooms. That is only if we are interested though. Sadly, most of us are not concerned with the trials of refugee populations. We should be though. The United States of America is one of the greatest nations of all time, and what makes us great is our ability to share our own freedom with those who need it most. At the turn of the 19^th century, our nation was stuffing itself with immigrants in search of a better life. During WWII, we put an end to Hitler’s fanatical reign of terror that took the lives of 12 million. It is because of our history and essence of freedom that we owe ourselves to the less fortunate. It is our duty as U.S. citizens to not only accept refugee populations into our borders, but to fully integrate them into our society.

The NSA is doing more harm than good to everyone but there is not enough being done to stopping it. In its attempts to keep the United States secure, it is overstepping its boundaries in every major country in the world, including the United States. The American government is built on a system of checks and balances but there is nothing checking the NSA. The court that is supposed to keep the NSA in check, approved over 2000 applications for surveillence in 2012 with no rejections. The NSA watches over ally countries of the United States as well as the American public which is unneccessary to its security as well as an intrusion of privacy. Starting with Edward Snowden’s revelations, reform for more transparency has begun but there is much more that we as Americans can do to move this process along.

Getting gutted, mutilated, and devoured by wild animals is not the most common (or ideal) cause of death these days, but it once was. As a result of this, we humans have evolved a very strong sense of fear, but now we don’t utilize it; and many think being afraid is something best avoided. Fear however is not a heinous or poisonous thing. Rather it is a super tool that can now, due to the much more peaceful lifestyle we have, be totally exploited as a means to achieving a higher quality of life.

SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment claims to have been providing personal, interactive and education experiences with wildlife sea creatures for more than 50 years. The park creates orca shows year-round featuring “specialized” whale trainers. They take the responsibility to have held the first birth of a killer whale in captivity. What  visitors do not know is that Sea World is harming ocean life. SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment needs to take responsibility for their horrible actions and shut themselves down. Research shows that Sea World Parks and Entertainment’s captive lifestyles for orcas whales shorten their life expectancy, and blame their animals for injuring the trainers.

When presidential corruption surpasses all the limits and the entire nation suffers because of unfair one-sided laws and low salaries, every next decision made by the president can be turned into provocation against the society and cause big revolutionary movement. After pilfering as much as he could from the country’s coffers, Viktor Yanukovich declined to join the European Union. The agreement meant a lot for the country’s economics progress and for the further improving relationship and merging with the EU. Instead, the president made an announcement about his decision to start working closer with Russia.The country, well-known for it’s imperialistic tendencies , subordinating all smaller and weaker countries and treating those just as inferior provision providers, couldn’t possibly satisfy the needs and the pride of Ukrainian nation. That’s when the history of Ukrainian 2014 revolution started, more commonly known here as Euromaidan.