You Are Who You Are But Is That All You Can Be?

It seems to me that in today's society we try to justify things to easily. Things that people could have been hanged for a couple of centuries ago, we now pass off as insignificant. Today everyone always has an excuse for what they did, and often that excuse releases them from deserved punishment. Although I do feel the punishments of several hundred years ago were a little extreme, I also think that society now lets us get away with too much. For instance, I think it's completely out of line for a child to be stoned to death for talking back to their parents; but I also feel that some kids today need to be slapped around a few times for the things they say. But the truth is, we are all prone to sin and can fail at any given moment.

I finished reading the book Frankenstein a couple of weeks ago, and although the story was somewhat boring and highly depressing at times, I found that the book had a lot of depth to it. The monster that doctor Frankenstein creates turns malicious and violent, which can be traced back to his biological source and lack of human nourishment. The Creature blames his behavior on this and uses it as an excuse to make the lives of others as miserable as his own. At certain points in the story you grow compassionate towards the Creature because of his loneliness, while at the same time you condemn him for the havoc he has wreaked. I think we often see this in our world today. A person may have done something terrible that truly can be traced back to their nature, but does that make it justifiable?

A common debate similar to this that we hear about today is the issue of sexual orientation. Homosexuals often use the excuse that they were "born this way" and can't really help it. As a Christian I disagree with that because I do not believe God would create one to live every day of their life in that manor. Although we should still be loving and accepting of them, I do not think we should accept it as fact that that is who they are and it cannot be changed. It is simply an excuse. It is our nature to sin, but do we just accept that and decide it to be a hopeless case? No, we push past that and realize there is something we can do about it instead of making excuses for ourselves.

Scientific research has found that many of our most violent male criminals have an extra y chromosome in their genes which gives them more "manliness" and causes them to be more aggressive. Scientists wonder if many criminal cases could have been avoided if it wasn't for this. So it becomes a major controversy: Are the people really guilty if it is simply in their nature to be this way? This is a very complex issue and I'm not going to side either way, but I do think it is important to remember that we all have to work with what we are given and control whatever emotions or desires we may have. And even if this does become excusable, what happens to the criminals then? Are they released into the world to cause more trouble and ruin more people's lives? Like I said, it is a very complicated issue but I am just using it as an example.

It just seems to me like we are all constantly making excuses. When is the last time you have admitted that you have done something wrong just because you messed up? There is nothing wrong with failure as long as we overcome. Yet we continue to make excuses to justify our own mistakes. It seems like over half the kids in America are "diagnosed" with ADD. While there are some kids who truly do have these sort of problems they must deal with, it has now become an easy excuse for disruptive behavior. When will will attempt for more than just the status quo? We must endeavor beyond what is thought of as acceptable by society. Because, honestly, society will accept almost anything today.

~*Elizabeth