Words: 1548
Over the years have learned to become more accepting and inclusive of all sexual orientations and overall worldviews. This can be seen particularly in my top points on the hermeneutic circle and how I have used my social location to influence my views on justice and sexuality. The hermeneutic circle is a tool that can be very easily related to the life that have lived so far. This ranges from academic to personal to employment. Having a wide variety of points on the hermeneutic circle is something I see as a vital part of who I am, and ultimately makes up who I am today.
The first point on the hermeneutic circle that I believe is apt to my life is the very first one. What is the community of accountability for me in my life? I personally serve many roles to please other people. The first example would be in my service organization. Am the District Secretary, and my job is to assist the District Governor with anything that they might need throughout the year. Rarely complete any task with the thought in mind of how it will affect me personally. On a more educational level, complete all my assignments to please my professors and abide by their rules or guidelines. NT simple write a paper how I choose to; I have to follow the guidelines that were set for the assignment. The next point on the circle would be the second one. What are some of my loyalties stated or implied? This point brings me back to my service organization I am a member of. Whenever people ask me to describe myself, I begin with a member of this organization because I am loyal to them and their mission. It is something will always believe in and stand by. Another think I would say, but very different, would be that am Irish American.
I identify as an Irish American because I am loyal to my family and their roots, but also to the fact that I was born in America and am an American Citizen. What attitude toward social change is being exemplified by my life choices? This is the next point that relates to my life. I believe that social change in America is desirable by the majority of Americans, however it is something we have trouble figuring how to do. Myself believe that we need social change, but also have a strong feeling it will not happen. Many people are stuck on what happened in the past, and need to move on to how to change the true.
We can never change the past, and that is where us as Americans are getting stuck. The last point goes hand in hand with my next point pretty well in the context I see it in. What are my thoughts in regards to truth claims? I personally believe that there are never ways to 100% find the truth in situations and that goes back to social change. Any truth can be debated in the eyes of anybody because we are able to have our own opinions on things in today’s society. Just because I believe that something is true, doesn’t mean another person has to believe in its truth.
Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions on things and each person can have their own idea of what is true and what is not. Along with that, all truths are open to examination and interpretations. Just because I believe that something is true doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind later on. Always allowing for possible revisions and re- imagination. The status of historical claims is something I see as a secondary method or way to explain my position or stance on situations. Ultimately believe that this goes back to the idea of social change and the past stopping us from moving forward.
I believe that everything that has happened in the past, both historical and not, has made us the country we are today and we have no need to dwell on that past. When I am making claims always allow room for others to contest or disagree with what I have said, and never take offence if someone does. Being a member of such a service based organization we are always bouncing ideas off each other and giving each other feedback. I will admit that everyone contributes that one idea that changes the entire year and then there is always at least one idea which you regretted saying.
Therefore I am always open to comments on my ideas and claims made. In my role as a Transition Leader at Default, I have constantly received feedback from my fellow peers, and value their input and opinions. Receiving feedback from others is a vital part of growing and is something I think everyone should use in their life. Knowledge comes from a multitude of places, and therefore there are many different types of knowledge. The main source of knowledge I use is from experiences. I always remember things that have tried before, ending both good and poorly. This is how I learn what to, or not to do, in the future similar situations.
The other source Of knowledge I use is my peers. Learn from my fellow peers almost daily, and it is always so relatable. Having someone else around my age to help guide me through situations really helps during the tough times. All of these points from the hermeneutic circle are all dictated and influenced by my social location. Social location can consist of many different things but the one that define my location the most are my ethnicity, my economic class, and my gender. All three of these social location pieces play a ole of describing who I am as a person.
When someone asks me what my ethnicity I am very proud to speak about that. I love being an Irish American, and would love that chance to learn more about my heritage one day. Having this outlook on my ethnicity has enhanced my ethical worldview in the way that I am very open and eager to explore new cultures and ethnicities. Just recently I had the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Arabic culture and the Muslim ethnicity. Allowing myself to open my eyes to new ethical worldviews has been a part of me that I have loved exploring the past few years.
There is one thing that hinders this, and that is my economic class. I would consider myself to come from the middle economic class, as in I can’t always afford everything my heart wants. I would love to take the time to expand my ethical worldview horizon, but I sadly can’t afford to do so. I am never ashamed to say am from a middle class family, but sometimes it hurts your chances to take part in some amazing experiences. Hopefully one day the idea of economic class cannot be a factor when attempting to further your worldview, but as of right now it is hindering my ability.
Finally, my gender is one that plays and interesting role in social location. I myself identify as a male and prefer masculine pronouns. However, over the past few weeks I have learned that not everyone is so simple. This is the reason that gender plays such a huge role in my eyes. I have never had any issues with my gender and it never accrued to me that others might while growing up. Gender is something is assigned to us, and is not something that we get to choose, and therefore almost always will have an effect on each persons social location.
It doesn’t matter what you identify as or what you prefer to be called, your gender will be your gender no matter what. All of these aspects of my social location all come together to help create my overall definition of the word justice. Justice is something that I do not fully believe in, however have defined it in a very clear way in my life. Justice is when the correct punishment or reward is assigned to an action completed by a human, animal, or entity. The problem I have with this is who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong?
There has always been some grey rear when it comes to right and wrong because it is not always so clear. Also, in some situations we might say it is right and then someone else might consider it to be wrong. Should one person punish a person while someone else praises another? I do not believe that this will change until we come up with an ultimate way to clearly define something as right or wrong. Overall, everything that has any form of meaning in my life has formed together to make me the human being I am today. Will this be different then every single other human on the planet? Of course it will, but that is also makes us who we are.