Mask Project Paper

Will Klumpenhower
Humanities
10/6/14

As the frisbee sped towards the goal line, I knew it would reach my friend Harrison to
give the other team the win. Three times already I had swatted down passes, and I was confident
it would happen again. I ran over and positioned myself right in front of Harrison. I was six
inches taller, and could jump a foot higher than he could. But just before I jumped, I was pushed
from behind. As I stumbled forward, Harrison leaped up and caught the frisbee for the win. As
he jumped in triumph, I still congratulated him on his catch. As we headed back to the Church,
we talked as friends. Why? The presence of the Youth Group made all the difference, preventing
any altercations. It is a purifying atmosphere, like a sterilized tool, working to make me a
cleaner, more wholesome person. This is a shining example of how Christianity has influenced
me positively to be a kinder, more enjoyable person.
Socialization is absorbing the views, norms, and beliefs of society relative to your gender,
class, race, religion, etc., and of the people you associate with. Almost everything that happens is
socialization. It can be messages from the media, parental instruction, peer pressure, etc.
Socialization molds and shapes our lives to be what they are. There are two types of
socialization: positive and negative. In The Cycle of Socialization by Bobbie Harro, he focuses
on almost exclusively the negative cycle. He is a very smart man, way smarter than I am, but he
neglects a crucial element: the positive effects of socialization. Positive socialization can be even
more powerful than the negative, as evidenced by Acts 4 in the Bible. the Apostles were up
against the most powerful local authorities, and they didnt back down. In fact, they converted
more people as a result. This is about how my religion, Christianity, has been an example of
positive socialization.
One of the many advantages in being a Christian is that my Christian friends are some of
the best people I know. They love to have fun and joke around, but they are also conscious of
peoples feelings and know when to stop. My best life experiences have all been in the company
of my friends. On Thursday evenings, my highlight of the week occurs: Youth Group. We eat
dinner, which is always something delicious, then head to the park to play Ultimate Frisbee or
something else our pastor thought up. But whatever it is, its always great. Sometimes we go
around the neighborhood and play a game called Bigger or Better, and ask people if they have
anything bigger or better than a quarter that they would be willing to trade. We start out small,
but eventually we work our way up to many things. A couple weeks ago, we got a desk, two
mini-fridges, an old laptop, a box of brand-new books, a working vacuum, and a 100 CD
changer. All starting with a quarter! It is sort of a community service, getting rid of peoples old
junk, and its fun for us as well. If theres something in our loot we like, we can keep it, provided
someone else doesnt want it. All of these things are great, but the best part is just hanging out
with my favorite people in the world. It still wouldnt be close to as much fun if I didnt have my
Christian friends.
Another advantage of being a Christian is that it seems to me that people expect us to be
polite and trustworthy. Our parents, not wanting to let down these expectations, teach us to be
like this. This helps us in school, internships, and jobs, to name a few. (This is also helpful in
Bigger or Better.) No one ever got hired because they were disrespectful and dishonest. And no
one ever got to be President if they didnt seem to have some religious affiliation. People just
seem to trust Christians. Christians trust each other. The whole reason Communism failed is
because people still wanted a bigger piece of the pie (not to say that Christians are trying to
recreate Communism). In the Bible, there are references in the early church of people who
shared their belongings so freely, they were almost not theirs. These founding principles have
been carried on to todays Christians, causing them to be less greedy and more trustworthy. Also,
among each other, we may joke around, but it is uncommon that anyone feels uncomfortable. No
one feels like they have no friends or everyone is mean to them.
The largest benefit of Christianity, however, is the whole point of it: following Jesus. My
being socialized by my parents, my pastor, and the rest of the church have taught me to follow
him. I have seen him work numerous times in my life, including bringing back my lost cat and
helping me get a hit in baseball games. In the book of Genesis, when the first people sinned, God
cast them out of Paradise. But he also was kind to them. He could have just smote them down
right then, but he let them live for a while. Eventually, after Jesus died to cleanse us, the apostle
John sees a vision of heaven, which is uncannily familiar to the original starting point of the
world. It is really a quite brilliant scheme on Gods part if you look at all the evidence, which I
dont have time to list here, as it is practically infinite. I know this may not mean much, or even
anything to you, but I continually see him working, and it makes me want to follow him all the
more.
I have learned that society can influence you in terrible ways. It may seek to destroy your
life, or make you into someone youre not. It has turned the world into an evil and corrupted
place, as evidenced by Bobbie Harros The Cycle of Socialization. But it cannot, nor ever will,
unseat Jesus from his position of authority in a Christians life. It does not have the power, it
never had the power, and it will never have the power. When the power of negative socialization
comes against the power of positive socialization, only one can stand. And if the positive is
wielded in the hands of God, what hope does the negative have? The bond between myself, my
fellow Christians, and Jesus, is one that can never be broken. The positive socialization has
brought me to this point, and I am extremely grateful for it. Christianity is a sterilized tool, that
probes and operates on you, to turn you into that person that no measure, however infinite, of
negative socialization can touch.

What, then, will we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31, New International Version



Works Cited

The Bible. Inspired by God.

The Cycle of Socialization. Harro, Bobbi.