I was able to attend Professor Hubbs' lecture this morning, and while I could not hear all of it, I did hear and mostly agree with his comments on loyalty. I had never thought of it this way, but loyalty does disclude everything that is not agreeable with the thing you have loyalty towards. In answer to Professor Tatter's question of whether Auburn fans disrespected or disagreed with Alabama fans, it all depends on their degree of "loyalty". Because I am not a big fan of football in general, I do not understand it, but in my past experience, I have learned that Alabama fans hate Auburn fans for the most part, and vice versa. I think that by respecting and agreeing with the fans of another team, it is almost as though you support them in some way, and supporting a big rival means you aren't true to your team. I think this is unconsciously present in everything we do.

Another thing that I agreed with but had never noticed before, was what Professor Hubbs said about a community. He said a community wasn't the area that you were in, but a connection between its members. I had never thought of it in that way, and when I did, I realized he was right in most ways. Some of his examples were religious communities. The Muslim community has come together because they are all Muslim, not because they live on the same street or area. While I agree with that, most of these communities do center about an area. The Muslim community in Birmingham is a community because they are the Muslims that are in this area of town. The academic community of this school comes together for the academics, but also because they are all HERE. There is no location that defines them, but a location that involves them.

In this morning's lecture, I believe that those of us who attended were all brought to the realization that loyalty to one group automatically means disregarding others. When I used to think of loyalty this perspective of it never came to mind. I never tended to think that there was a good and a bad side of loyalty. I agree with Professor Tatter that the subject of loyalty was the most closely related idea to our class readings. Loyalty to one's race may not be a bad thing; it just depends on how extreme you are in supporting your race and if you go to the extent of thinking of someone else's race as being below you. One of the most definite example of loyalty that I have noticed in Alabama and the southern U.S. in general is a loyalty to religion. Even from an early age, the majority of southerners have a loyalty toward religion. I grew up in Air Force bases throughout Europe until I moved to Alabama when I was seven. The two environments are very different. When we moved to Montgomery, I kept wondering where my friends would go every Wednesday night and Sunday morning. Religion wasn't a heavy influence on base-housing, or in my family. I remember in fifth grade my class got on the subject of religion; and someone asked me what religion I was. I told them I didn't know, and then found them all giving me wierd looks and going silent. Some of them didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. Looking back on it now, it's easy to see that I was on the other side of their loyalty. The loyalty they had towards religion disregarded me for not having one. It is easy to see that when someone with loyalty to one thing meets with someone with loyalty to a conflicting thing there may be conflict between the two people. It all depends on how loyal you are to your own group, and if you exclude or think negatively of other groups. Disregarding someone and excluding someone are very different.

I was sitting in the back of the auditorium today during Dr. Hubbs' lecture and had a very difficult time hearing what he had to say. I was able to pick up on bits and pieces of it, and I did hear some of his discussion on loyalty. I had never thought of loyalty as having a potentially negative side. To me, loyalty has always been a great thing. I considered it very admirable to be loyal to your school, your community, your family, your religion, etc. I do agree that being loyal to something does make you biased towards its counterpart, and that can be a good or bad thing. I also think that the degree of loyalty has a lot to do with it. I am an Alabama fan, as is my entire family, but I do not hate Auburn fans. I do not particularly like Auburn football, but i do not dislike the people who do like it and neither does my dad who is definitely a much more hardcore Alabama fan than I. Religion is a much more touchy subject. I have lived in the south my entire life, and religion, mostly Christianity, is a huge part of life here. By nature, religion is an exclusive thing. I do not know of many religions that believe that their way is right, but so is everybody else's. I am a Christian. I have grown up in the Episcopal church and have been very active there since I was a small child. I believe that I my religion is the only right one and the only way to Heaven. That is what I have been taught, that is what the Bible says, and that is what I believe. Christ is the only way to Heaven, and in that sense, I guess Heaven would be an exclusive community. But there is a difference between disagreement and disrespect. I may not believe that Islam, Buddhism, or other religions are right, but that does not mean that I disrespect or dislike the followers of them. I still think that loyalty is a positive thing, but I understand that like most things, it can be taken to extremes. There are a lot of things i consider myself loyal to and am proud to be a part of, and while I may disagree with those whose loyalties lie in different places, I sincerely hope that my loyalties never cause me to look down on those different than myself.

Like Haller, I too was sitting in the back of the auditorium on the floor and was not able to hear everything Dr. Hubb's had to say. The main things he kept mentioning that i continued to pick up on were Gone With the Wind, loyalty, and Greensboro, Alabama. Sadly, i was unable to piece these three ideas to gether so i was a bit lost during his lecture on his writings. In response to Dr. Tatter's question about the loyalty of football fans and their regard to the opponents, I have been around and experienced the disrespect that Alabama fans have toward Auburn and vice versa. If my family heard me yell "ROLL TIDE", they would disown me. I beleieve that the degree of loyalty one person may have and how extreme they are with it basically depends on the individual. One person may go to any extreme to be as disrespectful and rude as possible about whichever football team. If anyone has experience an Auburn v. Alabama game, you know where i am coming from. Both sides of fans get a little ridiculus. I do agree with Haller when she talks about religion. There is a very prominent difference between dissagreement and disrespect towards others beliefs. I am also a Christian. I have been raised in a Christian atmosphere my entire life and I believe that the acknowledgement that Jesus died for our sins and that he is the son of God are the building blocks one needs to be accepted into heaven. This does not mean that i condemn any other religious beliefs, i simply disagree. Heaven may be exclusive, but every one has the choice of whether or not they choose to agree with this belief.

I really enjoyed Professor Hubbs presentation today. I thought the comparison to Gone With the Wind was very humorous and interesting. However, it did make me think about loyalty in a different way. I don't think that loyalty to a certain school means that you have to degrade another school. I mean, I am loyal to BSC but that doesn't mean I think UAB or UofA are bad schools. I would certainly come to the defense of my school if someone tried to say something negative about it though. I am not involved in a Greek organization, but I have heard girls in certain sororities talk bad about other sororities. I think everyone just wants to believe that they are involved in the best group or school or whatever. Loyalty to my church goes a little deeper. Loyalty to my church is like loyalty to my God. God is the most important thing in my life. Everyone is welcome to worship with me who wants to worship. However, I would like them to be serious about it. I guess that sort of sets a distinction with what kind of people I want to go to church with. You asked a question about all religions being equal and I may be treading on a fine a line, but my answer is no. I don't think all religions are equal. If I said that I did, then I wouldn't be faithful to my own religion. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes because I know that everyone has their own beliefs, but this is just what I believe and I have that right. So does everyone else. I think the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. And yes, Heaven will be an exclusive community for all those who have accepted Him. As far as the neighborhood I grew up in, it was pretty much just white middle class citizens. We were a predominately white community with only white children in our schools. There was no diversity like at BSC. I really appreciate the differences that I have come across in college. It's so much better than being in a small neighborhood where you have to conform to everybody else. In my neighborhood, if something happened, everybody and their grandma knew about it within five minutes of it happening. Everyone was nosey and if they saw someone walking down the street that they didn't know, they would call the police even if they didn't do anything. It was so typical and boring. The part in Prof. Hubbs lecture that I really appreciated the most was when he quoted a woman from the old South saying that "Cotton was all they ever talked about". The thing that strikes me as funny about this is that my grandmother still talks about it from time to time. I can't imagine how much she would've talked about it back then. I also liked how he said that "Communities are relationships among people." I never thought about it that way but it seems pretty true. He has a way of keeping the listener's attention.

I was in the back of the auditorium as well so I couldn't quite understand the lecture. Dr. Tatter's discussion helped me better understand, though. The comment about loyalty certainly hits close to home. At our highschool, we had an intense rivalry with the other private school in Mobile. We were the Saints and they were the Bulldogs. We thought they were all snobby and elitist. I'm not sure what they thought of us but I'm positive it wasn't very nice. The annual football game set us against even our closest friends at UMS( the "other" school). My brother went there and the rivalry followed us home. It made for some interesting late-night wars. I know that loyalty goes beyond schools and sports. For me, in particular, i am very loyal to my family and get extremely defensive when they are hurt or insulted. The same goes for my church. I am a Catholic Christian, so I am very passionate about the Church. I tend to get defensive when it is insulted. Loyalty has definately been a huge factor in my life growing up. I don't know if it's a Southern thing but, of everything my parents taught me, it is definitely one of the most important lessons.

The way that Professor Hubbs stumbled upon his material amazes me. What are the odds that a person will one day walk into your office and hand you what he considers to be a useless diary and a few years later, after diligent searching and writing, you will walk out of that same office knowing that you have just published two books that originated from that material? That simply astounds me. Professor Hubbs’ incredible luck and diligent dedication is a real inspiration to me. It is like the story of Brad Pitt one day working at El Pollo Loco and the next day staring in a movie beside a Hollywood heart throb. Professor Hubb’s tale is almost as romantic as the views of the new South that he acquired along his microfilm and print odyssey.
I have only watched Gone with the Wind once. Because I never lived in a cotton plantation in the old South, I assumed the movie fit the time period like a leather glove. When I read my history books that was how the plot appeared to be laid out. I imagined hoop dresses, formal parties, and cotton plantations. Slaves filled that background, but were thought of as less than human. Communities must have had a family feel about them. Plantation mothers and children must have met for tea and courtships must have been extensive and elegant.
While listening to Professor Hubbs’ presentation on Confederacy and community, things started clicking in my head. In a money grubbing society where cotton raped black soil year after year and slaves perpetually burned under a humid red sun, the fairy tale houses and hoop dresses were as much of a façade as old West storefronts. How could a community grow in a land rabid with cruelty?
In the new South, the South in which I have been raised, there is not much industry or as much cotton. However, the community that Professor Hubbs describes is certainly prevalent. That is what struck me the most. Southern communities are exclusive. I think that exclusion and loyalty can be good things. What would happen if BSC opened the Honor’s Program to just anyone? Quality and personal attention would take quite I fall. What if all neighborhoods were equally priced and equally open? Crime rates would be horrible in all areas. What if Harvard or BSC were not exclusive? The education given by those schools would not be revered. What if medical schools were not exclusive? Anyone could cut open Grandmother’s heart or treat little Johnny’s mental disorder.
Sometimes exclusion and loyalty are necessary evils in order to promote the best possible operation of a system. However, the South took it to extremes. To this day in many parts of this state (whether we choose to ignore it or not) racial exclusion and tension still exists. Children are still taught to hate and to look down on others. In short, if one does not agree with the social norm, they are, to varying degrees, shunned from the community. I have seen it in my hometown and in my high school.
As for religious exclusion, I have never felt it in my church. People are always invited, always welcome. In my experience, it is more a case of individuals choosing to exclude themselves from a religious experience. When something of that nature is freely offered, it is a person’s own doing if he or she does not receive. The same goes for eternal placement. Will only a few people be in Heaven? Is not that the equivalent to asking if Hell is real? I feel that it is a personal choice. Few people spend an entire life span forced into religious devotion. There are such a large number of churches, especially in the South, because of the tendency towards community and loyalty. If one feels unwelcome in one, then there is sure to be another for that person.
However, in the modern South, at least in some urban areas and at most high-level learning institutions, open community is progressively forming. There will forever be exclusive organizations. That is life, despite any amount of whining. Even so, if we individually heed Professor Hubbs’ advice, there will be an ever brighter outlook for tomorrow. We must learn from history so we do not repeat it.

Throughout the lecture all I could think was, "Greensboro? Tara? Why doesn't Professor Hubbs come to Sand Mountain, Alabama?" I feel like I have grown up in an area that is full of the "old south" sense of community, relationships, and loyalty. We may not have grand plantation style homes with wrap around porches and hundred year old weeping willows in the front yards around every corner, but in that sense of community, relationships, and loyalty, we are distinctively southern...and I have always hated it.

One can look at different streets in my town and, for the most most part, not just tell who lives on that street, but who's FAMILY lives on that street. In some cases the street will even be the sir name of the family. It's eerie in a way. People grow up on Sand Mountain and they have kids. Their kids will come back to live on Sand Mountain and they will have kids. Their kids will grow up...and so on. In most cases, the families (grandparents, kids, grandkids) will end up on the same street or same piece of land because that is how it has always been done. I read last year in my local newspaper about a few older citizens who have never left Sand Mountain. NEVER. This amazed me. I mean yeah, ok, I guess loyalty is a good thing in some cases, but THAT loyal? I could not imagine living a life in which I had never seen a city, ocean, or any other animal besides a cow.

My family, however, is a little different. We are "transplants". My mom was a traveling "city girl", my dad was a corn bread eatin', rockin' chair sitten', cotton pickin', country boy from south Alabama. And somehow we ended up as aliens to this warped universe called Sand Mountain. I don't have grandparents, and the rest of my family is scattered across America. We don't live on "Wilson Road." And I DON'T plan on moving back to Sand Mountain to raise my kids. Wow, my family is weird. We don't "fit in" with the rest of my community. I don't fit in, I guess like Gretchen didn't fit in in our story today. (Except I'm not a disturbed child that throws things in toilets and chases her imaginary enemy.) During an interveiw for a county wide leadership program when I was asked the question, "Do you plan to return to Sand Mountain after college?" I was criticized for answering "No." So I kind-of "get" the whole southern community concept... and being excluded from it.

As far as being loyal, what stuck with me after the forum was one of the things Professor Hubbs said about loyalty. "Inclusion and exclusion...the dark side of loyalties." We can't be loyal to everyone. I guess I am a naive idealist, but I always thought you could be loyal to everyone. You can't. Like Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Tatter both touched on, having a loyalty to one group means you can't be loyal to another group. I thought your questions were interesting, Dr. Tatter, about one's loyalty to their faith and heaven being an exclusive community. Although I have been taught the concept of "Heaven and Hell" my entire life, and as a Christian I should believe it, I really have a hard time doing so. I want to believe that everyone's faith is the "right one." I have a really hard time believing that my Hindu friends are going to Hell. I'm sure some think that I am not loyal to my Christian faith because I can't believe that mine is the only religion that is right. I just don't like the idea that Heaven is exclusive. I know I should believe that Heaven is exclusive, but I can't. I like to think of my God as a loving and merciful God, not a scary, fire throwing, damning God.

Wow. I'm sorry I wrote so much. I hope I made some sense. Props to those of you who read this after seeing how long it was;). I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Being one of the people who were lucky enough to actually be able to hear, I found Professor Hubbs' lecture pretty interesting. I have seen Gone With the Wind and had always just assumed that it correctly portrayed the South before and after the war. The concepts he brought forth were new to me, but they also made alot of sense. Now that I think about the U.S. in the light of being a "pioneer" type society I realize that it is very true. I look at the history of our country and even what goes on now in respect to our roots and see that our country is much different from most other cultures in the world. I remember there being a few times when I would talk to someone from another country or see a movie that portrayed a family from another country and be in awe of how differently they treated family and area connections. They barely ever moved out the town they grew up in and much of life was centered around extended family and tradition- even in marriage and career choice. I look at my life and the countless times we have moved, how for the last 12 years of my life lived more than 3 hours from my nearest relatives, and how my family have always been the "loners" when it comes to be included in any type of community and the differences are once again magnified. I relate more to the town of Greensboro before the war, and I understand how American's can be viewed as very independent in those matters. We don't hesitate to move away from family for a better job. We don't often honor our roots or really even think about them. I suppose that this is a stereotype we deserve.
On the matter of inclusiveness in certain groups, I have seen that many times growing up. Shortly after moving to Alabama when I was seven, I began attending a small private school and continued going to that same school until my junior year of high school. I remember many times the additions of new students to our close knit group. Many times the new kids would not stay very long because we a very exclusive group. If we didn't like the person or didn't think they fit, they were never given the privilege of feeling as if they actually belonged. Now there were many times that this was not done necessarily on purpose, but when you grow up in a certain group, it's hard to see things change. I was just lucky enough to come early. I changed schools for my senior year and remember everyone being very nice in my new environment, but still knowing that I didn't have the years of experienc that all the others had in that group or school. I also faced anger from my friends that I had left because my leaving had created quite a wave. There are also the stereotypical high school groups- the nerds, the jocks, the cheerleaders etc. Any of these groups could choose to include others, but they often don't. The supposed differences are too much to allow for any change. Unfortunately this exclusivesion goes a step further into ridicule and abuse-like it did in the post-war South.

I agree with what Jessica Dunn said about how she always thought that the civil war was like Gone With the Wind. It's funny how we allow ourselves to really believe what a movie would portray for a war, when we know that movies are not reality. I enjoyed the lecture by Professor Hubbs', and I agree with him about how a community can get clicky. I am not saying that I agree with the way that the Greensboro community handled outsiders, I just agree with how they became a "community". I loved the part when Professor Hubbs' talked about a community not being a community with out relationships between neighbors. Especially now a days, when no one knows their neighbors. I think it is simplie because we are totally consumed with all the things that we have to do and don't have the time to meet people.
The reason why I can see why the people of Greensboro were such a tight woven community is because they all believed in the same thing. Just like when you are finding your best friend in first grade, you find the person who is most like you. I have always had better relationships with people who believed in the same values that I did. The reason why no one will let the outsider into their community is because they do not want change. Change causes people to have to adjust and if the community is doing well, why change it. No, they did not go about the best means of asking people to leave, but they were still trying to protect themselves from the outside war. When I lived in Gulfport, MS my grandfather was the priest at my church and so we knew everybody. We all had the same religious beliefs and felt comfortable around each other. When I moved to Birmingham it was a hard change for my family because our comfort zone was gone. We didn't know anybody and when we would go to find another church, the people there were close, which made us feel left out. You don't go to a place that you don't feel welcome. I don't know why people even attempted to go to Greensboro if they met the people and knew they weren't wanted.
In regard to loyalty I would have to say that according to professor Hubbs, to be completely loyal to anything you would have to shut other things or people out of your life. Like football, I am an Alabama fan, so for me to be loyal I would have to dislike every other team that played Bama. My parents have always taught me to be open minded and not to close off possibilities, which makes it hard for me to really believe in this type of loyalty. One thing that I do get heated up about is religion and politics. There are people in this world today that truly believe that their religion is completly right, and that everyone else is going to hell. I don't care what religion a person is because that shouldn't matter. I guess it is just like the people in Greenboro because they are one sided. It is there way and no other way. That whole idea seems so stubborn and ignorent. At my church people are allowed to come as they please. Of course it is going to be a little exclusive to those who believe in our beliefs, only because others would normally not come. I do think that all religions are equal because they are all beliefs in some type of higher being. I think heaven will be filled with a lot of people, because God forgives people for their sins, as long as they want him to. I don't think God wants people to go to hell only when they do something very bad and don't ask him for forgivness.
I grew up in a small neighborhood where everyone was pretty close. Our neighborhood was not exclusive as much as the parents where with in the neighborhood. All the old people were in a group, then the people with older children, then with younger children, and etc. My parents had a group of people they would have parties with and spend time with because they had children around the same age. One lady that was crazy lived across the street and everyone couldn't stand her. She would give all of us kids Chocolate and ruin our dinners. I didn't know any better, but my mom really didn't like the lady.
Nosey neighbors are those who have nothing else better to do with their time. My neighbor now, is very sweet but has way to much time on her hands. She reports to my parents anytime I come home and how long I stayed and with who. It is like she has a permanent camera filming my house. She tends to report people to the police, if she doesn't like them, if they let their dogs run in her yard, or if they don't look like they live in our neighborhood. That sounds awful but you don't want strange people walking around that don't live there. They could be planning on stealing all of your stuff when you leave on a trip for Christmas.

Though both of my parents were "born and raised" in the same Alabama small towns of Evergreen and Ozark in which my grandparents still live today, my parents gave my sister and me quite a different childhood. I have lived in four small Alabama towns, one small Florida panhandle town (which is 30 minutes from the Alabama state line, so it's quite similar to it's neighboring "northern" communities), and presently call the big city of Montgomery home as of June 2004. Why, you may ask, have I moved from small town to small town? No, my parents are not gypsies; they are both United Methodist ministers. We move from town to town under the direction of our Bishop. I have lived and breathed the horrors of exclusion by peers and adults alike simply because I was not born in their respective communities. I was denied scholarship opportunities and leadership positions by adults during my senior year of high school in a particular small town because "(they) hadn't watched me grow up from a baby in the hospital" or "(my) parents made too much money at the church" [give me a break....my parents are definitely NOT preachers for the money....if those people only knew], while the bank president's twin daughters, who had grown up in the community, were given the majority of the money available and honored distinctions. Exclusion hurts. Fortunately, not all small towns are like the hypocritical town that I called home during my sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. A fine line exists between loyalty to one's community and "down right nastiness." I believe education of character in one's whole being is fundamental in the cycle that continues in the small towns in which I have lived. I have noticed that if parents teach children to be exclusive to "outsiders," then the children will act in that manor; however, if parents teach their children to have an open mind and heart to people from different regions, then, most likely, their children will show actions of inclusion. It's a cycle passed down through each generation; I have found that most children act like their parents--whether the children will recognize that fact or not.
One place that I've always found total acceptance is in the churches that I have worshiped. My parents truly believe in John Wesley's (the Methodist founder) guiding faith principle of God's grace. With grace, an overwhelming sense of love and acceptance should flow into one's life. During confirmation (United Methodist classes in which adolescents are instructed in the fundamental principles of the faith), my parents, who taught my class, shared an analogy that I have vividly carried and practiced in my life. Heaven is on a mountain top. Many different roads, some more winding or more narrow or longer than others, start in the valley and drift up the mountainside.
United Methodism and Christianity are certainly not the only "right" beliefs. Religion is a personal experience that should not be judged by others who may condemn "outsiders" for differing beliefs.
Jesus came to Earth and broke bread (crucial to early societies concerning forgiveness) and made friends with all people despite their station in life. I believe that God is Love, and He doesn't exclude any religion or faith. I agree with Mr. Wesley in the respect that God provides a prevenient grace--it's available to everyone! I would feel like a hypocrite if I even thought about excluding someone for not sharing in my own beliefs. For me, Heaven will not be a place with a United Methodist street, an Episcopal street, a Southern Baptist Street, a Pentecostal street or a Catholic street. We will all live together and will be bound together by our common love and belief in God.
A community and conforming to a community's standard is what one makes it.

I was very interested in Dr. Hubb's lecture but I was in the back and couldn't hear very well. However, I really enjoyed what I did hear. I had never really heard anyone actually speak on southern distinctiveness. I think that everyone groups up knowing that there is a difference between the North and the South. I think that the stereotypes come mostly from TV and movies and things like that but I had never heard anyone actually try to explain why and how those stereotypes came about.
I to believe the loyalty Dr. Hubbs spoke of is still prevelant today, however in different froms than it was back during the Civil War. To me loyalty means sticking up for and standing beside someone, place, or thing no matter what. For example, I believe that I am a very loyal friend because I am always there when my friends need me and if someone else tries to put them down I stand up for them. Now in my community loyalty is a different thing. I live in the big community of Shelby County, Alabama. It's made up of mostly well-to-do families whose husbands play golf and wifes are soccer and tennis moms. We belonged to a country club and enjoyed all of the benifits of that life. Loyalty in that kind of atmosphere appeared in many different forms. There was political loyalty where people tryed to vote to do what was best for our county. There was club loyalty where if you were a member at Heatherwood you only played golf and tennis there and you played a lot. And then where was loyalty between schools. The area I live in is expanding very rapidly and so there are many high schools. I was the president of my class at Oak Mountain so my job was to inspire loyalty or "school spirit" in my class. It was not an easy job and it was mostly accomplished during homecoming week when we were actually competing. Loyalty in that case involved cheering, dressing silly, and supporting our school and grade. Now if I expand to larger schools that brings me to Alabama and Auburn football. One of the oldest riverlies in Alabama. Some people go to the extreme in their loyalty to their team but I prefer to take a much more passive approach to football. I am an Alabama fan but I don't put down Auburn or Auburn fans, it's their choice who they want to cheer for an I wont try to sway them, even if I think they are wrong. This kind of loyalty can be extremely fierce in Alamaba and it can bring out the best and worst in people. My opinion of Greek organizations is kind of the same. Just because your a member of one doesn't mean you have to hate the others. I am very loyal to my soriety but that doesn't mean that I don't like the other ones. I don't have any problems with them, they are just different. Kind of like the North and South most Southerners don't have a problem with people who live in the North they are just different. I think that you can be loyal to one without hating the other.

I am well aquainted with the idea of loyalty to one group leading to hatred for another. Though I was not able to attend the lecture due to an illness, I have witnessed loyalty and the resulting prejudice multiple times in my life. I am Italian and Belgian, and my parent's relationship was not unlike that of Wet Side Story. Though this conflict has long been resolved, I experienced the same tension from my dark haired, dark skinned classmates in grade school. In high school, I was labeled a "nerd" by one group, a "prep" by another, and "weird" by yet another, so I never really fit in anywhere. We had sport rivalries with other schools, and though there was never really any conflict due to differences in schools, there were fights due to differences in "race." I think that Professor Hubbs had a very valid point about loyalty. I also believe that he was right about community. Not many people realize what they do when they talk about people who are different in front of their children. I once went on a beachtrip with a very southern family, and my friend's parents were talking about things that could be considered racist. When my friend just came out and made a very racist comment about certain police members, her parents just drove on in silence. I guess after a while, you just get used to it.

I have mostly thought of loyalty as an honorable trait; a trait to be admired. However, the exclusive nature of the loyalty that Dr. Hubbs spoke about was not admirable at all. The community spirit and support associated with loyalty are positive results, but when loyalty is taken too far and based upon discrimination, rejection, or extreme competition these positive results are overshadowed by their negative counterparts.

I have, like may others who have posted, felt excluded at various schools I have attend because I wasn’t there when everyone was playing with play-do in preschool, or at their roller-skating birthday parties every year since second grade. When I was younger I used to wish that I had never moved, that I had lived in the same house all my life so that I could share those memories and be part of those friendships. Instead, I moved often during my childhood; I even attended three high schools. The last high school I went to was by far the smallest and I noticed the exclusive loyalty of that particular school more than any other I had attended. Most of the people there had been together since kindergarten, and their parents had been friends almost as long as they had been alive. In the beginning, I often felt left out, like I was missing something, whenever I hung out with them. I never knew the stories they brought up, and if it asked to hear them to understand they would dismiss me, saying that it didn’t matter. When disagreements happened I was always in the wrong; if I had been there long enough I would have known better than to do whatever I did that they considered unacceptable.

After I had been at the school for awhile and began to feel more comfortable I realized I was acting with the same warped loyalty that had excluded me. When a new student moved in my senior year, I found myself leaving him out or ignoring him just because he wasn’t like us, because he hadn’t been there. Once I realized what I was doing however, I made an effort to befriend him and made a really good friend who I would have never noticed if I had kept my “exclusive” loyalties.

I was one of those who sat in the back of the auditorium, but from what I heard, I agree with Professor Hubbs definiton of loyalty. I have a loyalty to the South. I will live in the South all my life because it is my home, and it is where I belong. Speaking of homes, I am involved in Sigma Chi fraternity, and I am loyal to the brothers and my fellow pledge class. For the most part, one will not find my wandering around Fraternity Row looking for a place to go because my home is at Sigma Chi. I was honored to be admitted to pledgeship so I have no reason attempting to find another place to go.

Enough about my fraternity--let me attempt to tackle this heaven and hell thing without getting to wound up about my religion. I believe Heaven will be an exclusive place to an extent because one has to think about what it takes to get into such a wonderful place. I believe one gets into Heaven by grace alone, through faith alone. Nothing else can get you into Heaven. Those who have faith that...(John 3:16) and ask for the Triune God's forgiveness and accept the fact that He has given it to you by His grace will be saved and may enter into His kingdom. Now it is not exclusive in the fact that God had made His choices and we as humans cannot do anything about it. That would be predestination and not something that I believe. Back to the faith through grace... if one decided to reject this free gift then of course he/she will not receive the Kingdom of God.