21st Century Literature - Essay

Mixed Marriage

Mixed marriage happens when people of different religions and beliefs marry. Since the Catholic Church already approved of this said marriage, there are surely inevitable pros and cons. As a Born Again Christian myself, there are some opinions I can say about mixed marriage.

I disagree on the idea of a mixed marriage because even though two people love each other, there are some sociological factors that they need to consider and that is their religion. One of the possible problems of a mixed marriage is the dispute and disagreement between families of both parties. Our families play a big role in our faith, they were the ones who taught us about religion so their opinions about mixed marriage surely matter. If two families with different religious background meet, there will be conflict and misunderstanding because of the contradictions of their doctrines.

Another possible problem of a mixed marriage is how it will affect on their children. Since marriage will be the start of procreation, it will be a big problem for the child on which religion it will follow. Let’s say for example, my husband is Roman Catholic and he plans to baptize our future baby in the Catholic Church while my family insists that I should dedicate the baby in our own church. It will surely cause a conflict on where we want our child to believe, whether it be the teachings of a Born Again Christian or the doctrines of the Catholic Church. In the future when the child grows up, it will only bring confusion when he begins to ask about his religion. The children will be forced to take sides between the religion of the mother and father, worst case scenario, it will develop into a huge family problem and the children will choose to take no sides and believe in neither religions.

My only solution of the problems resulted by mixed marriage is conversion before marriage. One party should submit to other religion if he or she truly loves his/her spouse. We have to keep in mind that although we are free to love whomever we want, we need to adjust and adapt to the differences in order to fully accept one another.

21st Century Literature - Essay

The Justice System

“Hangga't marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan, at ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman”       –Tatsulok, Bamboo

        “As long as many fall into poverty, justice is just for the rich”

Justice is the quality of being just and by just is being morally right and fair. In a country where the law is easily bribed with riches, the justice system of the Philippines only favored the rich and powerful. It is totally unfair for the poor because even if they’re innocent, they can’t afford to have a lawyer good enough to defend them in court. Another fault of the Philippine justice system are the corrupt officials. Politicians who want to have more money and power will break the law and be able to get away with it simply because they have the money to clean their names. Situations will be twisted, the right will be wrong and the wrong will be right. What’s ironic is that, people who should be role models of impartiality like the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, are the ones who break the law. It makes me want to lose hope for the betterment of the citizens of this country.

I believe that this kind of justice system in the Philippines should be abolished. How can we expect a good development for our country if we continue to be like this? If we only take the initiative to do what is right, we can certainly see a better future.

Stop bribing, stop corruption and most of all, stop doing what is wrong. We should accept the consequences of our actions, even if we are punished because we certainly deserve it. The justice system maybe so great, but at least there’s hope and room for a better change.

21st Century Literature - Essay

Racism

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines racism as the poor treatment of or violence against other people because of their race.

Racism is wrong, hating other people for their skin color is wrong and it will never be justifiable. You can be white or be a man of color but deep inside we are all the same. We breathe the same air and the same color of blood flows through our veins. Why do we even class ourselves according to our skin color when we all die and rot someday?

I once experienced racism, it was when I wasn’t entertained in a souvenir shop because there were a lot of Caucasian tourists even though I came first. It hurt me because it showed my inferiority complex as a dark-skinned Filipino. We shouldn’t let anybody treat us differently based on our skin color. You don't fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity.

Racism is something we can abolish if we help each other to educate why it is immoral. We can teach the future generation about racism so that they can learn to accept differences and treat everyone as equal.

21st Century Literature - Essay

The Female Voice

"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard." ―Malala Yousafzai

                Science define women as an adult human being who is biologically female that is capable of bearing offspring, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg on the true essence of a woman.

In this patriarchal society, a woman’s voice is sometimes hard to hear because of misogyny. Misogyny is defined as the hatred or prejudice against women or girls. It is the social cancer that hinders the voices of women to be heard. This world is not fair because whether we like it or not, men are usually more favored than women.

The silencing of the female voice is so common in our culture that  women learn to accept it so automatically that we question our own authority. We should fight against this prejudices because I believe that every woman is strong. Maybe not in the literal sense physically but in mental and emotional sense that they learn to stand up for their own rights. Us, the women should not be scared of how the society defines us to be but rather the society be scared of what difference we can make with our voices. But we can't achieve this difference if we continue to be mum about our own opinions.

There are many women who made a great change because they let their voices be heard, one example is Malala Yousafzai. It is not only her age that made her remarkable but because she was a girl. That didn't stop her from fighting for her own rights. If she can do that by using her own voice then I don't see any excuse for us to not use our own voice and make a difference. We shouldn't be like Penelope who didn't speak out her own voice in the story "The Odyssey".

 Every voice deserves to be heard be it from a woman or a man because there should be fairness in this society. According to our philosophy, we are the author of our fate and the captain of our soul. It is our own choices that will define our own essence as a human person. It is either we choose to shut up and live our lives without a legacy or maybe we can create a huge difference and that is by letting our voices be heard.

21st Century Literature - Essay

Interracial Relationships

Interracial relationships involves lovers between different races, cultures, traditions, languages, religions and social status. It may be not as big of an issue but it is surely a subject looked down by a minority.

I have no resentment towards interracial relationships. I believe that we are free to love and be loved in return. Whomever we want as long we truly felt the happiness it will bring upon us. When we love, we see past these differences that separates us in the eyes of the society. It is our own heart who loves, not our race, not our cultures and most especially not our skin color.

I have a huge respect towards interracial relationships because they are dealing with different cultures and trying to seek a common ground. Although we are free to love, we are not entitled to the opinion of others because that is beyond our own control. Imagine dating someone with different upbringing, I’m sure it will be hard and needs a lot of adjustments in order for the relationship to work.

Many can judge a Filipina for marrying a Caucasian man but we have no right to be. This kind of interracial relationships shows us a lesson that even if you come from the different sides of the globe you can still find love with each other. They should be respected just as any other relationships because they are no different.

Love is universal, it is a feeling felt by everyone regardless of skin color and any other conditions. You can’t teach your heart who to love rather your heart choose to whom it will beat for.

21st Century Literature - Essay

I am a Star

Just like our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal, I am also a star. I likened myself as the Northern star, Polaris. Many people believed that The Polaris is the brightest star in the night sky and the one closest to the North Pole, that fact has made this star a blessing to travelers throughout the Northern Hemisphere, both over land and sea. Finding Polaris means you know the direction north. I am star people will look up to when they are lost that when they will see me, I can give them hope and direction to keep moving forward. Through me, I give light to my loved one’s darkest nights and will provide companionship in times of melancholy. Also, even if I’m long gone, just like a star I can still provide light to this world through the legacies of my good works I will leave behind.

21st Century Literature - Essay

Arranged Marriage

Arrange marriage is the wedlock without love between husband and wife but rather an agreement that involves other reasons such as political interest and elevation of social status and such. What will be my stand regarding this idea? What can happen in an arranged marriage?

I don’t agree on the idea of arranged marriage because there are many possible problems that can happen in the long term. First is the arranged couple, they will live an unhappy life being wedded to a person they don’t love. There will be no joy waking up in the morning married to a stranger. Another problem is, throughout the whole process, the marriage will not work out because there is no sincerity. Last possible problem is commitment. Without love, there will be cheating and philandering. It will be possible that there will be no trust, faith and commitment to both parties.  Yes, arranged marriage in some situations can be an advantage like strengthening of family ties and political interests but we have to take in mind the lives of the couple.

We should choose on whom we want to spend our lives with, not our parents, not our society and certainly not our situations. I can’t imagine a life being arranged married to a person that I don’t love, it will be a disaster for sure because I am a really hopeless romantic person. I can only think about my future children growing up in a loveless household, such a pity. I don’t want them to grow-up with parents who are together because of an arrangement rather than love.

Love is something that can’t be forced. It happens in the right moment, in the right time and to the right person chosen by your heart, not by someone else.