By Dan Kinder, InterHigh Mentor, Junior @ UC Berkeley

I always knew elements of culture broke into our lives in subtle ways, but sometimes it takes a real life object to set me off thinking about it. The other day I saw a girl at the BART station carrying a bag with the catch-phrase “Live Your Life” printed on it, in very large colorful letters. My first lingering thought was: wow, isn’t that incredibly narcissistic? Of course she probably didn’t really think about it, and it turns out she’s not alone; After a little searching I found out this is the major motto of our clothing friends over at American Eagle (In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not really ‘up’ on fashion trends, I tend to wear cheap shorts and either meaningful or free tee-shirts). Nonetheless, the question remains: are we as narcissistic and self-engrossed as our clothing claims?
If you own these kinds of clothes, or worse yet, have some of this “Live Your Life” gear, you might be a little upset. Or angry. I hope it’s both, really. Truth is, I hope those of us who wear logos on our clothes that we never even think about feel ashamed, because it goes to show how not only are we each failing to think critically as individuals, but even our hive-minded group-thinking is at the mercy of trends.
Don’t quite see what the big issue is? Not yet frustrated with the mottos of our generation? Well then lets talk a little bit about Sin. Some people say it’s doing bad things, but they’re talking about sins, not Sin. Some of the better informed say it’s separation from God; True, but it’s an incomplete definition. Want to know what Sin is? It’s when we shake our fist at God, and say “God, I’m gonna live my life how I want to,” separating ourselves from the Giver of Life. Of course we usually do it with through actions rather than words, like Adam did, but the meaning is the same.
I hope our little motto just got a lot more scary. The point is, think about what Your clothes are telling the world. It may be as obvious as the American Eagle motto. It may be phrases that just push the boundaries a bit. Worse yet, it may be clothing with no words at all, which proclaim a scandalous  or unchristian identity.

Stop, and think about it.