A Doormat for a Carbon Footprint

Silja Tanner

ENG 090

Van Dyken

15 July 2012

A Doormat for a Carbon Footprint

Reduce your carbon footprint by donating to your local CO₂ reduction program and Go Green by buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and driving an electric car!  Do your part to lower greenhouse gas emissions by installing solar panels or the world’s carbon dioxide levels will increase so much that it will cause the global temperature to dramatically increase, causing ecological chaos!  Man-made global warming is a doctrine that has been vigorously pushed in the United States especially, but also worldwide.  It is a theory that man’s voracious energy use has resulted in vast amounts of wastes CO₂ gases that supposedly cause the entire globe’s temperature to rise.  By offsetting one’s “carbon footprint” or personal contribution to these emissions, and therefore, to the supposed global warming phenomenon, one can mitigate any shame or responsibility put upon them.  This can be done by buying into any product or activity labeled “Green” or “Clean Energy.”  But these labels prey upon the average concerned citizen’s guilt and can be quite misleading.   People should not feel the urgent need to buy such “Green” products as compact fluorescent light bulbs, electric vehicles, and solar panels because they do not reduce carbon footprints effectively.

Promoted by President Bush’s Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Light Bulb Law requires a phasing out of traditional incandescent light bulbs in favor of new compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL’s (energystar.gov).  These light bulbs use the heavy, toxic element mercury to light up.  They are able to radiate the entire spectrum – including Ultra Violet - which makes for a whiter light.  The UV radiation is minute, but adds up over time.  Breaking a CFL bulb releases mercury powder which is toxic to humans, especially children (chicagotribune.com).  The EPA’s cleanup procedure for a broken CFL goes beyond making sure all the glass slivers are picked up.  Among the numerous steps involved is evacuating all life forms and turning off central heating/AC systems for several hours (epa.gov).  Turning the children and pets out into the rain, heat, or cold or risk deadly exposure is a mighty inconvenience for only saving about $30 over the life of the light bulb in energy costs (chicagotribune.com).  Potentially harming one’s family and releasing mercury into the environment is a risk worth taking according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which reasons that a CFL requires less electricity and thus, less coal burned (which also emits mercury,) according to their 2005 National Emissions Survey.  But your local power plant may not even use coal.  Also, factory workers in China, who handle the mercury in order to manufacture the bulb, have become seriously ill (chicagotribune.com).  For all the promotion for compact fluorescent light bulbs, the benefits seem insignificant compared to the risks.

The Electric Vehicle, (EV) which uses a rechargeable battery, is a “clean energy” improvement upon the standard fossil fuel car.  But it is the battery itself is that makes these electric vehicles so cost-prohibitive to the average American and what is also so potentially damaging to the environment.  The battery packs must be replaced at least once over the lifetime of the car and costs up to $15,000 (usnews.com) on top of the car’s initial median price tag of $65,000 (scientificamerican.com).  The money saved from not fueling with gas would take 10 or more years to make up that cost (usnews.com).  Even President Obama’s tax credit of $7,500 (scientificamercian.com) for such a purchase many not lower the cost enough for mass consumers.  Made of lead, the batteries pose a health and environmental hazard if not handled or disposed of properly.  Also, there are setbacks to America’s unique motoring culture in which long drives along our open highways is a symbol of freedom.  For example, a fully-charged EV only has a range of about 25-100 miles (as opposed to 300 miles for a gas-powered car) and so requires a charging station’s frequent use (usnews.com).  But there is no infrastructure for the mere 12,000 charging stations nation-wide, even in invested, forward-thinking cities (usnews.com).  Besides, charging a battery takes much longer than it does to gas up: 30 minutes to 8 hours (fueleconomy.gov).  One must be completely dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint to use an EV – or else just use the EV for local commuting and a gas-powered car for extended travel.  But how practical is that?  In fact, to help extend range, most electric vehicles are actually hybrids, meaning they utilize internal combustion and fossil fuels as well as electricity (scientificamerican.com).  These hybrids emit tailpipe pollutants along with the power plants needed to make electricity for charging the lead battery (fueleconomy.gov).  Finally, due to President Obama’s fuel efficiency mandate requiring all vehicles to achieve 35.5 miles per gallon by 2025, gas-powered cars are edging out EV’s on fuel efficiency (usnews.com).  It seems the only reason to buy and tolerate an electric vehicle is the pure principle of hoping to reduce one’s carbon footprint.

Once a novelty – and an eyesore – solar panels have improved so much that they are widely available to any American who can afford them, with prices starting at $15,000 to panel a suburban home’s roof (livestrong.com).  Solar energy is a renewable, and therefore, a “Green” power source in which a computer chip-like device called a photovoltaic (pv) cell captures the energy in light’s wavelength.  Theoretically, if enough solar panels, full of these pv battery cells, were placed around the world, then there would be few greenhouse gases emitted and unlimited, free electricity would be available.  But making these pv cells and the rest of the panel may be more harmful than it is worth.  Manufacturing them is a dirty and energy-intensive undertaking (low-techmagazine.com) mostly because the battery is made of lead and the components are made is under-regulated factories in China and India (ncpa.org).  These factories emit heavy metal pollutants into the air while consuming vast amounts of energy – all to make those “clean” solar energy panels.   Consequently, lead emissions and poisoning have increased in those countries since the advent of solar panel manufacturing (ncpa.org).  Moreover, sunlight is required to make solar panels work, but not everywhere in the world gets much sunlight.  People in Phoenix, Arizona may benefit from a solar panel infrastructure, but people in Forks, Washington (low-techmagazine.com) would not.  Construction of “solar farms” – vast tracts of land affixed with rows and rows of shiny solar panels – have become popular.  But these farms do more ecological harm than good (israelnationalnews.com,) even in a desert setting, because natural habitats of animals are destroyed when setting up the necessary processing equipment and electric lines, besides land stolen for the panels themselves.  Birds and bats often get blinded and killed by the panels’ reflections.  The Israel Parks and Nature Authority states that whole species could go extinct due to solar farm implementation (israelnationalnews.com).  Altogether, making and purchasing solar panels is an enormous expenditure for a product whose contribution to reducing air pollutants may be nonexistent.

All these products may live up to their hype after all in the near future.  Though there is a huge initial energy and/or monetary cost and health risk to manufacturing compact fluorescent light bulbs, electric vehicles and solar panels, in the long run, they make up for it in both cost and emissions.  As electrical consumers or producers, they all have the potential to significantly reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil, increasing security and financial stability (fueleconomy.gov).  If your power plant uses coal, then you can feel better about reducing pollutants when using CFLs or charging your EV.  Any combination of these three products will save household money spent on electricity, once the initial cost is overcome.  If America’s infrastructure would change to accommodate them, then greenhouse emissions could drastically reduce.  Technology is rapidly improving upon any defects such products may have, such as reducing mercury content in CFL’s (epa.gov), increasing EV battery power and range (scientificamerican.com,) and using current solar panels to make new ones (low-techmagazine.com).

Assuaging guilt seems to be the driving factor for the frantic creation and use of these technologies.  Although there is modest momentum for “Green” products, individual carbon footprint reductions are miniscule.  Most Green products are cost-prohibitive to those below the upper-middle class American.  So, unless these costs plummet, the average good-intentioned citizen cannot participate in the movement.  There also needs to be a change in infrastructure with the best example being charging stations for electric vehicles (usnews.com).  There is no major electrical grid exclusively for solar panels – a mix of coal, nuclear, etc, is still required (ncpa.org).  And CFLs are not yet made in every variety of light bulb used, though most will fit into current fixtures (chicagotribune.com).  Most outstanding is how these products are created in the first place: in energy-guzzling, pollutant-emitting factories.  Weighing these costs with the questionable good done for the environment does not add up to saving the world from so-called manmade global warming.

The “Green” and “clean energy” labels prey upon the average concerned citizen’s guilt and can be quite misleading.   People should not feel the need to buy such “Green” products as compact fluorescent light bulbs, electric vehicles, and solar panels because they do not reduce carbon footprints effectively.  The man-made global warming fabrication has an undeniable, persistent hype underlined by the “Green” and “clean energy” movements which aim to reduce man’s output of carbon dioxide emissions into Earth’s atmosphere.  While reducing one’s personal carbon footprint is not an unworthy endeavor, the general populace of America should be aware that most products or services that carry the “Green” label, may not always be so clean and green.

Works Cited

Biello, David.  Why Electric Cars Will Fail…and Have Already Triumphed.  20 May 2011           Scientific American.  http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/05/20/why-         electric-cars-will-fail-and-have-already-triumphed/  16 July 2012

Burnett, Sterling.  Solar Power: Bad News on the Jobs and Environment Fronts.  1 September      2011  National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).              http://environmentblog.ncpa.org/solar-power-bad-news-on-the-jobs-and-environment-        fronts/   16 July 2012

Cleaning Up a Broken CFL.  Environmental Protection Agency.     http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html  16 July 2012

De Decker, Kris.  The Ugly Side of Solar Panels.  3 March 2008  Low-tech Magazine.com              http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/03/the-ugly-side-o.html  16 July 2012

The Editors.  Jump-Start Electric Car Market Via Buyers, not Automakers.  15 July 2012      Bloomberg.com  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-15/jump-start-electric-    car-market-via-buyers-not-automakers.html  16 July 2012

Energy Star.    http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/lighting/cfls/downloads/EISA_Backgrounder_FIN            AL_4-11_EPA.pdf?6bd2-3775  16 July 2012

fueleconomy.gov.  U.S. Department of Energy.  http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml/ 
            16 July 2012

Hausfather, Zeke.  Superfreakonomics’ Climate Contrarianism: Do Trees and Solar Panels            Warm the Earth?  23 November 2009  The Yale Forum.            http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2009/11/superfreakonomics-climate-           contrarianism/

Hoffman, Leslie J.  The Future of Electric Cars.  14 March 2012  The Connecticut Post.             http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/The-future-of-electric-cars-3406614.php  16 July        2012

Lev, David.  Study Slams Plans for Negev Solar Farms.  21 July 2011
            Israeli National News.   http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/145963 
            16 July 2012

McClatchy, Terri Bennett.  The Good, Bad, and Ugly About CFL’s. 26 April 2010
            Chicago Tribune.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-home-0426-clfs-         20100426,0,2225600.story  16 July 2012

2005 National Emissions Inventory.  Environmental Protection Agency.     http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cfl-hg.html  16 July 2012

Newman, Rick.  5 Reasons Electric Cars Will Disappoint.  28 October 2010  US News.              http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2010/10/28/5-reasons-electric-cars-         will-disappoint  16 July 2012

Sherwood, Chris.  Bad Things About Solar Panels.  26 April 2011  livestrong.com              http://www.livestrong.com/article/129740-bad-things-solar-panels/  16 July 2012

Compare-and-Contrast Essay

Silja Tanner

ENG 090-166

Van Dyken

1 July 2012

Getting Fit With Strength Training: Machine Weights vs. Free Weights

Getting fit or keeping in shape requires three things: excellent nutrition, aerobics, and weight-lifting.  Most people know that exercise and eating well contribute to good health, but until recently, lifting weights has been seen as something only body builders like Arnold Schwarzenegger did.  In fact, according to livestrong.com, in 2011, only about 21% of American adults lifted weights.  In reality, you cannot burn as many calories to lose weight or maintain muscle mass into old age unless there is some kind of strength training integrated into your life.  There are two kinds of weights to lift: machine weights, which are any high-tech machines affixed to the ground and whose weights are connected to it like a Bowflex system, and free weights, which are low-tech and move freely through the air like a dumbbell.   While machine weights and free weights are similar in their fitness value, they are different in their expertise required, cost, and effectiveness.

Each type of weight system requires a little know-how.  If you are starting to exercise for the first time, weight machines are an excellent start.  They are easy to use with pictures of the muscles they work and instructions on how to use them, or one can just watch the person in front of them to figure out how to use the machine.  There is less intimidation because there is only one way to use any particular machine, usually.  But for a beginner faced with a multitude of barbells and dumbbells it may seem impossible to know what to do with any of them.  Machine weights require no expertise on proper form like with free weights because the machine supports and stabilizes the body, reducing the risk of injury.  Machines also control the body’s preferred range of motion – the range of flexing and extending for a joint – making sure that joints are not over-extended, which also causes injury.  However, there are free-motion and cable machines which can offer more variety of exercises but have a higher learning curve, requiring more skill than the normal weight machines lined up around the weights room.  A beginner may be intimidated by all of the free weights piled up in a gym or on sale at a store: hand-held weights, medicine balls, ankle weights, kettle bells – it can all be confusing as to where to start or what to do.  That is why a personal trainer may be required to teach proper movement and posture within an exercise to avoid injury and boredom.  So if you are a beginner, machines may be the best way until you feel comfortable enough to try learning how to use free weights.

Machine weights work less of your total body and so are limited in function which is why classic bodybuilders use free weights because they are versatile and effective.   When you either sit or lie down on machine weights, they are able to isolate certain muscles in the body.  This support you receive by sitting or lying down does not allow other major muscle groups or any stabilizing muscles like in your lower back or thighs to work.  This can be useful if you only want to build up a certain muscle, but if you only use machines, then you are not getting “real life” strength that will help you lift heavy objects, for example.  This also requires you to use multiple machines in order to get a total body workout and it does not burn as many calories as with free weights.  However, the isolation may be useful when you have an injury and do not want to recruit other muscles or joints that may be sore, allowing you to stay in shape while recovering.  On that note, machine weights do not wear out the body as much as with free weights.  For example, using a machine that simulates the bench press does not put much stress on the shoulder, thereby reducing strain.   Along with that is the fact that the weight you lift with a machine is not the actual weight you would lift with free weights because you are not training your other muscles as well.  Free weights allow the body to move naturally through real life motions like squatting and lifting objects over your head consequently performing better at building muscle, increasing metabolism, and burning calories.

Since most machine weights are in a gym, you’ll need access to a gym which will require a membership fee unless your insurance company covers the cost or you are active duty military or a military dependent.  The cost of the weight machines themselves can be quite expensive if you are considering purchasing them for home use.  Cable machines, such as BowFlex, can retail starting at around $800.  Free weights are also plentifully available at any gym, but like with machines, you must pay the membership fee.  If you are new to free weights, it is best to hire a personal trainer who can show you proper form with a variety of techniques.  Personal trainers can charge an average of $50 an hour.  But free weights are the best for home gyms because they don’t take up the space that a range of machine weights will and for the price of about eight hours with trainer, you can acquire a variety of dumbbells, medicine balls, and a weight bench with a bar and disks.

With two kinds of weights systems to utilize, machine weights and free weights, it is easy to incorporate strength training into your routine.  The fitness value of the two systems is significant, though they do differ in their expertise required, effectiveness, and cost.  While machine weights are excellent for beginners, free weights may require some experience before they can be safely used.  Machines can isolate certain muscles while free weights strengthen the whole body and the cost seems to be about the same for either. You don’t need to be as extreme as Arnold Schwarzenegger to be a weight lifter.  Just two or three days a week of strength training, in addition to aerobics and eating well can significantly increase or maintain your health for the rest of your life.

Silja Tanner's Narrative Essay

Silja Tanner

Professor Van Dyken

ENG 090

25 June 2012

The Dolphin

The pain was subsiding, finally, like a dark, raging, Siberian sea coming to rest. The abuse of seven years’ marriage had ended, leaving numerous scars on my psyche.  I gained three more scars after a surgery confirming a disease that had been causing me such agony like a circle of barbed wire around my abdomen with hot daggers constantly slicing through.  I was finishing up my last years of a miserable ten-year block of service in the Air Force and I had ended up in San Antonio taking care of three children and dealing with my depression.  But soon an old friendship blossomed into sweet romance and brought out the full, silver moon over a warming, choppy ocean.  In the spring of 2010, after years of useless treatments and hormone therapy failed to alleviate the physical pain, my doctor reluctantly offered a radical hysterectomy guaranteeing a cure to my painful disease.  “Besides”, he bemoaned, “You’re infertile as it is.”  He offered the procedure reluctantly because I was only 27 but as I had tried everything else, he was willing.  By then, an old friend and I had found true love with each other and married, bringing together his son and my three young ones to try to become one family. 

The scars on my heart were healing as the sun was in full heat over a gently waving, blue ocean that slowly dragged my old pains out with the tide.  The doctor’s offer was tempting; it would be an end to the agony that was becoming debilitating.  Plus, the military offered 50% disability for such a surgery and I was seeing dollar signs.  Besides, between the two of us, my new husband and I already had four children and if we really wanted more, we could adopt.  I accepted the doctor’s offer.  But something kept tugging at my brain, telling me to reconsider.  So after the last meeting in the doctor’s office, I asked Heavenly Father in prayer every night for a week what I should do.  I unglued my own will and listened to He whom I’d asked.  The answer was clear: “There’s someone waiting for you.”  I pictured a little child lying on its belly looking over the edge of heaven’s clouds down to earth and waiting for their turn.  The doctor was relieved at my decision and gave me one last dose of hormones before I left the military and his care.

I began my new life as a stay-at-home mother and found my niche as an intern at a dojo.  After a while, though, I began to see babies everywhere.  Church is always full of them and soon it became difficult to be seated in a row behind a family with a baby.  My sunshine husband was feeling the same ache that had begun to grow in my heart; we wanted a child together.  Still assuming that, for the time being, I was infertile, we talked of adoption.  Meanwhile my last hormone shot had worn off but I allowed a couple weeks’ gap in birth control - what was the rush?  But a few days into my first pack of pills I was perplexed at the range of symptoms I was experiencing: nausea, moodiness, etc.  When the light bulb went on at the possibility of my being pregnant, I became giddy with joy, but I kept the thought secret from my husband.  What a wonderful surprise it would be if it were true!

I purchased an at-home pregnancy test and chose to take it the next morning when my dear husband would be getting up for work. With much giddiness, I jumped up out of bed before him and took the test, trying to suppress my hope while the test results appeared.  Hubby’s alarm blared.  He pressed snooze.  The little test stick finally resolved and I compared its results to the code on the box.  I squealed, but double-checked just to be sure.  This time I jumped for joy – the result was positive!  I had the promised baby growing inside me.  Love overflowed my heart’s ocean as waves, pushed by flourishing gusts, left me in peals of laughter.  Still giggling madly, I danced from the bathroom to our bed where hubby was now getting out of bed.  He smiled bemusedly at my antics as he shuffled to the bathroom.  “I’ve got something to show you,” I sang, then pointed to the test stick on the counter.  Laughter bubbled out again at his bewildered face.  “What’s that?” he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.  “It’s a pregnancy test – I’m pregnant!”  I exclaimed.  He dropped his hands from his face, showing bulging eyes.  He had not been expecting this at all and was quite awake now.   “It’s a Godsend,” he sighed dreamily and hugged me fiercely.  We both cried with joy.  That afternoon, he presented me with a bouquet of sweet baby’s breath to celebrate.  The smell filled the house and our dreams with the hope of this little one to come.

It was a whirlwind pregnancy.  But it did not go smoothly and I ended up on bed rest before we had to move to Denver in my last month of carrying the baby – a girl – who was spiritedly strong and healthy despite my fragility.  Out other children were so excited to be joined by another sibling.  When she was born we all felt a little closer to each other.  Baby Ellie connected us by blood and by love.  She offered us a new beginning in a new city.  The pregnancy was also a chance for my husband to demonstrate just how very tender and obligingly patient he could be for me.  I felt even more cemented to him. 

The doctor who told me I was infertile probably meant that I should not have any more children.  He just wanted to cure my pain.  But now there is no ache.  That child I envisioned waiting for her turn on earth is in my arms every day.  She very nearly was not, if I had chosen money and to be pain-free and had not chosen to match my actions with the Master Planner.  I am glad that I was willing to put my immediate wants aside and to comply.  As my little daughter nears her first birthday, I see in her a dolphin that emerges from the glittering sea; she is a healer and a rescuer.  She healed the pain I had been carrying and she rescued my mixed family by uniting us. 

Silja Tanner's Descriptive Essay

Silja Tanner

ENG 090-166

Van Dyken

18 June 2012

Emerald May

The magnolia tree used to be much taller.  But now as I hugged it with one arm and looked up into its canopy, this tree in the front yard of the house I’d always known seemed just the right size for a teenage girl.  The lowest branch was only up to my shoulders, but it wasn’t always so.  Climbing it now was easy as I found my way to the top of the tree where there was a branch system that made a cradle just right for one as petite as myself.  With joyous familiarity, I rested back upon the branches and centered myself in my world.  May blossoms were looming all around me: those pure white magnolias as large as my head.  Their deep, heady fragrance filled the air, and I was willingly overcome by it.  Languidly, I fingered one of the smooth, dark green, glossy leaves with its fuzzy underside beneath a crown of a magnolia. I knew better now than to actually touch one of the velvet petals, lest the alabaster turn brown. The South Louisiana sky was a deep blue at the zenith that faded to pale turquoise at the horizon.  My cradle faced the south where, only a mile away, the Mississippi river flowed mightily and I took comfort from its strength.  I look to my left where, only five miles away, is Lake Borne and the marshlands which open into the Gulf of Mexico.  Continuing the circle of water, I tilt my head back to look north.  The overflow canal borders my backyard and a few miles beyond that canal lies Lake Ponchartrain like a small sea whose bridge spans 25 miles.  And to the west is a humble canal beyond a small forest with blazing trees at every sunset and no name.  Encircled as I am by such powerful waters, my world is secure.

I now felt rooted again.  My high school life is one of frenzied cacophony, strengthening stresses, and exhaustion.  But now I was ready to go.  The nameless forest to the west had been calling me all through the busy week.  It bids me rest there; it misses me.  It’s just a tiny wood, I know now, but the half square-mile stretch behind nearly every house on the street is simply unfathomable to a little girl, such as I still was.  My side yard marked its eastern border, but the entrance was down the dead end street.  Only fifty paces or so and the asphalt was conquered by the encroaching grass.  This was where the magic began.  The trees grew thickly here where the main trail started; they were both sentinels and the portal.  I plunged into the friendly forest and as I walked, I greeted all the plants who I’m sure were happy to see me, too.  Some of them chided me for being away so long.  The Chinese tallow trees, the canes of Indian gum, elm, and oak all grew densely together and I touched any leaves of theirs within my reach.  There were vines of mirliton, which I didn’t know until ten years later that the rest of the world calls chayote.  My mother and grandmother eagerly harvest this vegetable as well as the blackberries which we sometimes collect together by the bucketsful.   Their brambles were everywhere, winding their way wildly wherever they pleased.  “May is blackberry time,” I sing aloud as I follow the familiar path.

I’m not the only kid to make the woods their playground, though, as evidenced by the Wicca’s circle further off the path in a tiny clearing.  It is believed that ancient spirits live here, having been pushed back by urbanization to this tiny patch of wilderness. I move on to find more friends in the red bud, ash, and pine.  There are saplings in every free space, trying to make the woods even more packed with life.  Rich earth, decaying leaves, and crisp green life are as overwhelming to my senses as the magnolia.  Finally, the bend in the path brings me to my marker on the right: a knotted tallow tree.  I plunge right into the thicket behind the tallow.  There is no path. I’ve made my own, and I make my way over low brambles under branches and around saplings until I come to The Spot.  A towering ash tree hails me happily.  He is criss-crossed with, and surrounded by, blackberry brambles that make a natural arbor.  The construction is low enough so as to fit one sitting teenage girl.  I crawl into it and lean my back against the ash and gently remove some snagged golden hair. 

Here the outside world does not exist.  My noisy siblings and endless schoolwork and activities have not followed me here.  I cannot even remember how or why I found this spot.  It felt like I had always been here.  Though other kids prowled the woods, too, I was assured of my solitude in this natural cave.  The wind blew through the trees making them talk and I wished with all my might to decipher the language.  Though I could not understand the trees, they still dance spiritedly for me, but little of the breeze makes it through to The Spot.  The sun overhead sends down swaying yellow and green light, making emeralds of the tree leaves as it warms my bones through.  There were many ripe blackberries on the bramble above me, enticing me with their rich fruity aroma and so I reach up and pluck a few.   The tartness makes my face pucker.  By the time I finished three or four handfuls, I could make out the babbling of a stream and smell its water.  Perhaps there would be an egret there!   A sudden gust of wind surges through the trees and I will the trees to talk to me, to let me understand their sighs.  The attempt fails, but I got the feeling that the wind and trees are at least fond of me for trying.  So I talk to them, instead. 

It is good to hear my own voice.  My little wood becomes my diary as I work out aloud the knotted thoughts in my head.  A long while after I have finished speaking, I notice that the trees have been calm this whole time – they were listening to me.  I still myself with them, feeling empty, weightless, and clean.  The sun moves slowly until it drops behind the western tree line and the emeralds become long, dark shadows.  “You may go,” the forest tells me, “just come back soon.”  Without ceremony, I wriggle out of my hiding place and lope through the grove and back on to the main path, saying goodbye to the life and magic enclosed by the portal-sentinels.  Then my shoes find asphalt.  Ahead, my grand magnolia awaits me.  She has missed me.

Silja Tanner's Summary Response Essay

Bullying is a sad reality that affects many people – children and adults.  There are as many approaches to handling the situation as there people.  Mr. Huff, in his article from Bully-Proof Kids denounces the Christian philosophy of “turning the other cheek” as ineffective against bullies.  While expounding an FBI study of bullies, he also gave a description of himself as a typical victim: weak, unsure, and wilting.  In his hatred of bullies, he reduces them to animals.  What’s worse, he equates turning the other cheek with running away or being a coward.  I believe he does not fully understand this, the most fundamental Biblical principle, as he could not give an explanation of it.  The Bible teaches that when someone strikes you on the face that you are to turn the other cheek to allow that person to strike both cheeks.

Turning the other cheek does not demand that one surrender their dignity or give their power away!  It is standing your ground while offering the bully a chance for redemption.  For this philosophy, there must be brotherly love towards the bully.  He is correct in saying that bullies pick on those who seem weak and so he equates turning the cheek with weakness.  It can be assumed that Mr. Huff lacked self-confidence and portrayed an effete character.  In the FBI study he focused on how criminals choose their victims and surmised that the Bible’s teaching was to blame – that it invites a bully’s attention.  How far from the truth this is!  Being prepared to turn the other cheek does not mean that someone is a coward – on the contrary, it means that they are strong and compassionate. 

Many bullies are not malicious by nature and are only lashing because they were mistreated also.  If they are given the chance to have someone be kind to them, then the need to hurt others can be diminished or healed.  This approach does work in many instances.  For example, a boy in my high school was abused by his father and came to school every day with scorn on his tongue, belittling anyone who looked at him, and often got into fights.  But I knew that he was just hurting and just needed some kindness.  So everyday I smiled at him and endured his hurtful comments until he realized that at least one person cared about him.  His pain eased and he started smiling at others, who then befriended him.  There was no cause for him to bully anymore.

To associate bullies with animals strips them of their humanity and allows for hatred.  This solves nothing, and indeed, exacerbates the situation.  The philosophy of good will to all people, the aforementioned “turning the other cheek,” also prescribes a limit of 70 times 7, which means try to help your fellow human being – bully or not - for as long as you can.  But the time may come when it does no good for either of you.  Some bullies genuinely enjoy seeing others miserable.  But so long as one has firm self-confidence, no one will ever take your power from you; that is something that only you can give away.  An example of this is my ex-husband, whom Mr. Huff would call an “energy-sucker.”  For years, I loyally turned the other cheek to his abuses in the hopes of helping him and our marriage, but when it was clear that no change was coming from him, I turned away and left.  Turning the other cheek does not tell us to be a door mat!

Mr. Huff’s case is tragic on at least two counts. Firstly, that through all of his 12 years of childhood education he never strengthened his character so as to not be a target, nor did he ever care for what those who bullied him were going through.  But that he feels he has to blame a philosophy of which he seems ignorant is also sad.  The problem here and with so many bullying situations is not the Christian principle of love.  The problem is with a lack of self-confidence and empathy on the part of the victim and of the bully.

Bullying Article

Page one of Silja Tanner's In-Class Essay

Page 2 of Silja Tanner's In-Class Essay

The original article