Dalits are on the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system, which was put into place 3,000 years ago. The Indian constitution outlaws the caste system, but just as with racism here in the States, it still exists and the result is still visible.

They are considered less than human in their society and are forced to live separate and not participate in social life, and are thus banned from schools and temples. The occupations they hold are those considered ritually impure, such as street sweeping, latrine cleaning, and disposing of dead bodies.

“Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted, three Dalit women raped, two Dalits murdered and two Dalit houses burned, according to the Human Rights Education Movement of India, yet only one percent of those who commit crimes against Dalits are ever convicted” – GFA Dalit Facts They are the majority of people you will find living in the slums of India. You can read more about them here.

They seem to be a people without hope, but this is not true because God loves them and values them. Gospel for Asia has a ministry devoted to helping the Dalits. GFA is touching the Untouchables by teaching the adults to read, giving the children an education, and planting churches. Plus Dalits are standing up for themselves and speaking out for their own rights, including Meira Kumar, who is not only the first woman to be elected to the Indian Parliment, but also the first Dalit.

I don’t want to sound like an infomercial, even though all the information contained within was obtained from GFA or Wikipedia. I
was not compensated in any way for this post. I just wanted to raise awareness about an oppressed people group that have been heavy on my heart.  When I heard that today was Human Rights Day, and that the focus this year is anti-discrimination, the Dalits immediately came to mind.  If you want to support GFA in their ministry to the Dalits, you can make a one-time donation or by sponsoring a Dalit child through their Bridge of Hope program, where they provide children with education, nutrition, and medical care.

If anyone knows any non-monetary ways of helping, such as letter-writing, please comment so myself and others can know. Let’s put an end to the discrimination that the Dalits face every day due to unethical social structure in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and elsewhere.

Note: The pictures contained within this post are not necessarily of Dalits, but any that were tagged with “India” and “Poverty” on stock.xchng

Me Encanta is a sporadic series where we are thankful for the simple things in life. A small post about what brings a smile to my face.

It’s been over a year since my last Me Encanta post. I thought this would be a simple enough thing to keep up with, but alas, I am human. I am thinking of making this on a certain day, but I am afraid it wouldn’t be as spontaneous. Of course, I can jot it down whenever I think of one so I can have a nice list when it’s time. If I do do a day, I’m not sure which day. I was thinking Mondays, for a nice way to start the week, but there is something else I want to participate in that is on Mondays. We’ll see. On with the encantas!

Me Encanta…

• The way my kitten will climb onto my lap while watching tv and find a good spot (as long as i’m not eating)
• The way my husband makes quesadillas.
• The smell of cold.

How about you, what gives you the happies? Leave a comment or ping/trackback to your own post!

How to Be an Obsessive Fanatic
Author:Becky Grove
Date completed: October 7, 2002

When it’s your birthday, no one ever knows what to give you. You are being featured in something, but the writer — a close friend — doesn’t know what to put under “interests.” Is any of this sounding familiar? Then this is just what you should be reading. Sure, you have lots of interests, but no one ever seems to know what they are. This is because you don’t show it; you aren’t that enthusiastic about it. Reading this will help you show the world your love, because everyone has to be obsessive about at least one thing.

Before you start you need to choose something to obsess about. It can be practically anything, such as movies, music groups, singers, bands, TV shows, actor/actresses, or books. To make things simple, I am going to be talking about movie obsessions, but these steps apply to anything. When choosing a movie, make sure it’s a movie that you already love, or else it won’t be fun. Once you choose a movie its time to start on the journey to obsession.

The first and most obvious step is to watch the movie repeatedly. If you get an eye roll from someone around you when you turn on the movie for the hundredth time, then good job; you are on your way to obsession. One very important part is that you must own, if nothing else, a copy of the movie. The DVD, if available, is most desirable because of the special features. It is good to have a back-up copy on video just in case you lose your first video or the DVD, or if you leave it at someone else’s house. The back up copy can be something that you taped off the TV since it’s only going to be used in case of emergencies.

When just watching the movie doesn’t satisfy you anymore it is time to move on to the second step. The second step is to go online. There is a lot to do on the Internet, but at this point you are only doing two. One is to find all the pictures you can of scenes and actors from the movie and, print these out, set them as your computer’s wallpaper and screensaver, and save them for later use. Put the pictures you printed out in your notebook, on your walls, or wherever you would like them. The other is to find out all the information you can on the movie. This includes the names of all the actors, the other movies they were in, and official and fan web sites. Also, if it’s not included on the DVD, find out about bloopers, background information, and comments of fans or the director. List and print out everything you found. Save the links on your computer for future reference.

The third step is to buy the movie’s products. There are three different sets of merchandise to buy from. These are electronics, apparel, and miscellaneous. Electronics consists of copies of other movies the actors have been in, the soundtrack, and games that have been made from the movie, if any. Apparel consists of clothes, jewelry, buttons, patches, and backpacks. Miscellaneous consists of commodities to put in your car or room, such as: dolls, stickers, stuffed animals, board games, and key chains. Note from modern-day Becky: haha i’m such a girl. What about action figures and whatever else fanboys get?? Guess that falls under dolls… Some movies have a fourth set, which consists of trading cards. You should get these if the movie does offer them. They offer amusement and fun facts.

The fourth step is to attempt contact. Enter all the contests and sweepstakes you can that involve the movie. Be on the look out for local events involving actors from the movie. These two does not guarantee contact, but writing letters does. Write letters to the actors, and request an autograph. Since you are in the mood for writing letters, then write letters to the company (Disney, Columbia, etc.) asking for them to release the director’s cut of the movie.

The fifth and final step is to share your fondness of the movie. You do this by making web sites, screen names, and email addresses that has to do with the movie. Use the pictures and information from step two for your web sites. You also do this by joining numerous fan clubs, online groups, mailing lists, message boards, and street teams. That way, you can talk about the movie all the time with others who love it.

Now that you are an official obsessive fanatic there are some rules you need to follow. Those are to keep executing all that you learned, and make sure you annoy your friends and family by sleeping, eating, and breathing your obsession. You’re not going to get just gift certificates now that people know what you like.

I thank God for my husband.  He is wonderful, so caring, and my very best friend.  There are not enough words to describe how much i love Him.  I praise God every day for putting this man into my life.  On Sunday our pastor did a thanksgiving sermon, and saved some time for people to come up and say what they are thankful for.  My DH goes up and say “Proverb 18:22 says ‘he who finds a wife finds a good thing.’”  Squee!

• The way my husband makes Turkey sandwiches
• Extra tomato from sandwich as a snack
• Chevron around corner from house: $2.05/gal (Arco i pass on way home is $1.99, but it’s all about Chevron and Shell for me)
• Credit score up to 683 ^__^
• Only one more day of work until a four day weekend & turkey, POTATOES, and pumpkin!

6 Cup O’ Noodles
2 Ragu Sauce packets
bread
2 Pillsbury Cookie Dough Country Crock
3 Chicken Helpers
4 Hamburger Helpers
2 Progresso soups
5 Lipton Rice
2 boxes of pasta

Total: $38.12
Preferred savings: $30.50

Then for buying enough of the featured items, we got $15 in store credit. So we essentially got all that for $23.12. Now that’s what i’m talking about!

…the dark/light swirls that appear when cream is poured into a cup of tea.

…the lack of traffic on holidays (the bright side of having to work).

^__^

Overall, I thought the movie was a bit far-right, but as exemplified in many scenes, there are times when extreme measures are called for. I would say that the main focus of the movie is that war is necessary and that peace doesn’t solve anything. We are stuck in the 60′s because the professors indoctrinating new generations are hippies set on passing on their ideals to sheltered kids looking for a way to rebel against their conservative parents paying for their education. I liked how obvious it was that the protagonist was missing so much. They show him in Cuba, raving about the healthcare system there and doesn’t see the corruption and very undesirable methods present. There were many potshots taken at him, the ACLU (my favorite scene), and liberals in general.

What bugged me was the large percentage of white people in the movie. The movie starts out with a block party picnic, which is already unrealistic to me, but it doesn’t say what state it is set in, maybe somewhere in the midwest where this stuff still happens. So that could explain why every person at the picnic was white, except for one black lady, who got hit with a frisbee. That really struck me as odd that the one non-white person was the one hit. What are they trying to say there. The only other time where you see a lot of (American) non-white people is when they are in an alternate present, a “what if Lincoln was a pacifist?” and Michael Malone had a bunch of slaves. If they want an accurate portrayel of America, then they need more African-Americans, Asians, hispanics, etc. Also not have country music as the favorite of patriots. A lot of people dislike country music, not just democrats. I guess it fits best, but it had too prominent of a role. Well, i guess it could’ve been worse. This all coming from a white conservative that likes country music. ^__^ Also, I can’t stand it when people try to be humorous by making kids be potty-mouths. That is just me though, and it’s nothing like Will Ferrel’s Landlord video.

The movie did leave me with a weird feeling though, because it portrayed Americans in such a way that sadly enough, seems to be true. Yes, we are a fortunate and blessed country with an abundance of wealth and freedom (collectively; i’m not saying every American is) but that doesn’t make us the best. It radiated off this feeling of “we are better than them.” It all felt a little over the top, but I suppose you have to exaggerate to catch attention. Patriotism is pride for your country, but not to the point where we diminish others. We should be helping out the other countries, but not so much with our government force (charity is not the government’s job) but private organizations. I’ve been really moved recently by reading Revolutionizing World Missions by Dr. K.P. Yohannan, the founder of Gospel for Asia. He stated that physical means will never end poverty, only the power of the Gospel. Those who aren’t Christians may not want to admit it, but our country was founded on Christian values, and that is why we are so strong today. The morals behind our laws were influenced by biblical morals. So yes, pride for our country should be present but we should help the others through missions and private charity groups and government when necessary. A movie can’t cover everything though, and one mustn’t get confused and think it’s a Christian movie. Saying “God bless ___” and the presence of the Ten Commandments in a courtroom is the extent of Christianity present in the film. Except for video propoganda presented by Rosie O’Connell, but you’ll need to watch to see that for yourself.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the movie and had quite a few laughs. Again, my favorite part is the ACLU lawyers scene. My least favorite part was the audience. It bugs me when people clap at the end of movies (or at the beginning of movies like in the opening credits of The Dark Knight when Ledger’s name came up) but it irks like none other when people clap, hoot, and holler during a movie. Who knew a room full of old people could be so rowdy? Oh yeah, it was dark (naturally), but i’m pretty sure 90% of the people there were white and over 55. I told Nathaniel he was probably the youngest and darkest person in the room.

Bottom line: Go see it, no matter whether you are red, blue, or purple. Especially if you like Michael Moore. Or Leslie Nielson. Or JFK.

–Martin Luther, “Defense and Explanation of All the Articles,” Second Article (1521).