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Rebel defined

By CHELSEA ARNHOLD

Marion High School reporter

In society today, a rebel is merely painted as one who goes against the ways of the law set by the state. But what if we took that a step further? What, really, is a rebel?

What society calls a rebel may be different from what you and I think of as a rebel. One definition is one who feels or expresses strong unwillingness. Well, in that case, we all are rebels.

I'm sure I can vouch for most of the Marion High School student body when I say we are unwilling to go to school at times, and you can be sure that we express it.

Who, and where, are the loyalists then? Who can really say that they never express unwillingness? Even dear old Grandma will tell you how much she doesn't want to go up all those stairs that lead to the church chapel.

Someone told me that they thought to rebel meant to go against the ways of the norm. So what is the typical standard? Let's see; go to school, get good grades, be a good boy or girl. OK, I could go for that, not always willingly though.

However, if normal is doing what everyone else does, I'm not so sure that I want to be part of that crowd. If everyone else is doing drugs and getting drunk on Saturday nights, I'd just as well stay home than to be part of that crew. Does that make me a rebel?

Sometimes rebels have a specific cause that they must stand for. For example, the rebels in the Civil War stood for what they believed in — state's rights. I believe sex before marriage is wrong. That doesn't mean that I am going march up to every person and tell him or her how wrong they are, but I can support what I believe by living my lifestyle in abstinence.

I hope I'm a rebel in your eyes if the cost of normalcy is so high. I hope you can see me as someone who stands for her principles; someone who is willing to go against the grain. If that makes me a rebel, so be it.

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