the reformity project

Sincerely,

Outrage continues to mount over the California rape case of former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner and those who’ve defended him, most notably his father.

In a letter to the sentencing judge, Dan Turner tried to downplay his 20-year-old son’s “20 minutes of action,” during which he raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. The dad blamed the resulting sexual assault conviction on a campus culture of “binge drinking” and “sexual promiscuity.”

After highlighting his son’s academic and athletic achievements, he bemoaned the fact that his Brock no longer had an appetite for his favourite snacks since the night of Jan. 17, 2015, when the rape occurred. He also detailed how challenging his son’s life would now be.

North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz decided this week to respond to the letter with one of his own, titled: “To Brock Turner’s Father, From Another Father.”

The pastor hopes his words, which can be read in their entirety below, can help change that and let survivors of sexual assault know they’re seen and heard.

Source

Does race or wealth have anything to do with how the media portrays these criminals? 

Yes, it does.

Does our justice system see only your skin color or sizes of your wallet? 

Yes, it does.

Can we do anything about this regularity? 

No, we can’t.

Because the law was created by white people only for white people. This is true.

#StanfordRapist

Nature Deficit Disorder: is phrase coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book ‘Last Child in the Woods’. It means that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.

Each day, we become more technological, separating ourselves from nature. There is nothing wrong with technology, but when it consumes us 24/7 we lose touch with reality. We work in front of a computer screen, to then we go home and sit in front of another computer screen verifying each and every one of our social media accounts and complain about how terrible it is to be in front of a screen all day at work. When we get tired of the computer screen, we sit in front of a television set. We are continually being bombarded will false illusion of happiness. That we must have the latest phone, the latest tablet or laptop, the latest video games, the latest etc. We become to believe that if we do not have these technological objects to occupy our time, then we are miserable. Somehow we have evolved into this delusion that 500+ social media friends, 1,000 plus likes, 1,000 plus followers and millions comments will somehow define who we are, and that my friends makes me sad. We have replaced in person conversations over coffee or tea, with a text message. We have replaced a hug with an emoticon. Instead of watching the sunrise and sunset, we stay indoors, just to admire it in a photo. Instead of using our time wisely and tryout new things like cooking delicious recipes we have never tasted, we prefer to 'save’ the recipe and mentally enjoy the food video or photo. With the intentions of cooking it when you get the chance, yet we never do. Can’t we see how superficially we are living? As the days pass us and we look at our reflection in the mirror, we realize we aren’t getting any young. Yet we dread looking at our past and realizing we have wasted our time living in delusions. ~Michelle G.

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” ~Richard Louv

Art by: Selman Design