Quote- Bill Clinton

"Nearly anybody can learn nearly anything they need to know. Nature has something to do with it, but I think Nurture has something to do with it... I think Nature made Einstein's massive brain and made him what he was but Nurture can make nearly everyone seem to be above average intelligence if they have the right sort of nurturing early as well as formal schooling and academic challenges and adults who believe in them when they're children. So, I really believe it's a little bit of both, but I think most of us are... we're all capable of doing more than we think."
From the documentary "Wordplay"

This one's for the boys

So, there are roughly 2 guys that read my blog, but I respect both their opinions dearly, so maybe I'll just let them answer this and see where it takes us.

Modesty.

That's the issue of the day. Let's pretend for a moment that women don't struggle with lust. Let's pretend that we don't have a single unclean thought when we see a guy with chiseled shoulders and tight abs playing two-hand-touch on the beach. We good Christian women want to be modest so we are very careful about the way we dress. If anything is too low-cut or too short or too tight or too sheer, we're reprimanded for "leading men astray". Here in Kenya, we're even discouraged from wearing jeans because "it's all men can think about."

So the question is this: How much of that is our fault?

Seriously. I'm not being bitter or demanding; I'm just asking a question. How much responsibility do we have when it comes to the issue of men and lust?

If we're honest, we can say that no matter what we wear, some man somewhere will likely think unclean thoughts about us. In some Muslim countries, a woman can be killed and/or dismembered simply for wearing makeup or painting her fingernails because that distracts men from their pursuit of God. So, where do we start/stop?

We want to look nice. We want to take care of ourselves and our appearance is really an extension of our personality. So if we feel gross and grungy, we'll probably be wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweats. But if we feel good about ourselves, blessed, secure, and confident, we will be more snazzy in the way we dress. But how do we balance that with being modest?

And how much responsibility do men have to, say, look the other way?

Race and Relations

The issue of race relations is caused by people making value judgments on other people based on the color of their skin or what region they call home. In some areas of the US, we've gotten very good at avoiding this, and I'm glad that I was raised to believe, as Dr. King said, that we can live in a world where people "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".

However, I now live in Kenya and I'm finding it very difficult to adjust to this culture where people are judged almost solely by their skin color. I have to wrestle with the preconceived notions that all white people are rich, all asians know martial arts, and (to the locals), even the level of darkness in the skin says something about who you are.
It's a series of assumptions that I'm trying to fight, but my efforts are made nearly void because I have light skin.
In January of this year, we saw people do horrible things to each other simply because of what tribe they were from. At home, we're taught not to make gross generalizations about any group of people. But at my place of work, that's all they know. "Those Kikuyus are thieves," they say, and continue to assert that, yes, ALL of them are. "Those Kamba..." "Those Luo..." "Those Arabs..."
And then they ask me why white people hate black people so much. I can't answer that because I don't know any white people who hate black people. But hey, I know plenty of black people who do believe this, and hate white people because of it.
It's a vicious cycle.
I try to provide unifying potential. But the people I work with just assume that somehow I'm trying to usurp them, to enslave them again.
And sadly, there's nothing I can do about that.