Stefani Mindrebo, Period 2, 12/13/2022

 Socio-political Consciousness:

Growing up, I always admired the brightly colored Christmas lights lining the houses along my street and the warm ambiance that always came with December. While the holidays were a time of religious admiration and celebration for my peers, I was raised atheist. I was not taught to “love God”, or to “repent my sins” - and I have no desire to. For instance, Eve was created for Adam, from his rib; she was portrayed as a woman who was created for a man, rather than for herself or the wellbeing of society. Furthermore, all throughout the Bible, sexist teachings are reinforced, as women are continuously portrayed as signs of temptation and sin FOR men. While we no longer live in a society where women are expected to aspire to stay at home and serve their “superior” husbands, the misogynistic teachings of the Bible pose societal issues that are still present today. Despite the fact that employment within the engineering field has grown by over fourty eight percent over the course of the past decade, women only make up fifteen percent of the workforce. Not only are we underrepresented, but the pay gap between men and women performing any job is substantial, with a woman earning eighty two cents on average  for every dollar made by a man. 

Despite my beliefs pertaining to the Bible, I respect the fact that some people practice and value its teachings. As a result, I made sure to always remain open minded and accepting of conversations pertaining to religion. This turned out to be especially true over the course of this past month, particularly when Mr. Misciana came and lectured us on our current Bible unit. Rather than closing myself off to new beliefs and the beauty that comes with appreciating others’ culture, I remained open minded and found his lecture to be extremely interesting. In fact, Mr. Misciana’s lecture inspired me to begin listening to a podcast within which the beliefs of the Bible are broken down and analyzed by Atheists. Not only does this podcast cater to my own enjoyment, but listening enables me to continue learning about the beliefs held in the hearts of so many, while still staying true to what I believe in.