This is a long-overdue post, and for that I beg your pardon.
Okay, that said...
It occurred to me not long ago that I’ve never really enumerated what, exactly, my political views are. Most of you probably think I’m a staunch supporter of American constitutional “democracy,” and to an extent, you’d be right. The American system of government works for a nation the size of America, but honestly, I don’t think it’s ideal.
Don’t worry, I’m not a socialist.
If you think about it for a moment, you’ll probably come to the conclusion that the founders of American government really didn’t have all that much going for them. They’d just come off a long, grueling war with the current world superpower, their country was all but starving, and to top it all off, they had to come up with a form of government that was at once daring and conservative. Obviously, these weren’t the most auspicious of circumstances, so the Founding Fathers should be applauded for their work.
Now that we’re living in a later time period, however, we can see that the Founding Fathers were not, perhaps, perfect. They knew this, of course, so they allowed for amendments to the Constitution. But has our society changed so much that our current form of constitutional government is no longer a viable option?
I would argue that the Constitution could still work, provided that the people exchanged entitlement for responsibility. But there’s still a huge potential for corruption when a substantial government presides over the people.
In order to eliminate that potential for corruption, one must either eliminate the people or eliminate the government. Either way, it turns out that everyone shares power to some degree. The difference is that if the people are eliminated, we get communism, whereas if the government is eliminated we get anarchy. Neither of these two extremes is necessarily desirable, but I think that the latter extreme is preferable to the former.
Don’t worry, I’m not an anarchist, either. Not entirely, anyway; the technical term for my view is a form of Lockean anarchism.
Ideally, in a Lockean anarchist society, the laws are made by the people directly—thus Lockean anarchism would only be feasible in a very small population—and enforced by private contractors. Everyone owns as much property as he or she wishes; indeed, labor is counted as property and therefore can be traded as such. Thus, if someone labors a lot, he or she can trade that labor for a large plot of land. The only proviso here is, in Locke’s words, that everyone should leave “enough and as good in common... to others” (i.e., enough property).
Taxes, as such, do not exist. There is no obligation to pay for roads or what have you, unless, of course, one wishes to use the roads etc. One only pays for what one uses.
I differ from this view in three major areas. First of all, I think that private contractors would allow for corruption. If one person or a small group of people took over law enforcement, for example, and used it for their own personal gain, the results would be disastrous. Therefore, I think that the enforcement of law and that sort of thing should be left up to the people.
Second, in order for the people to be able to enforce laws themselves, there would have to be a governing document. This document would be written by the founders of the society in very clear language, using precepts learned from the successes and failures of various constitutions. In a way, this document would itself be the government, because it would decide all matters of legality.
Third, for a Lockean anarchist society to truly function, people would have to behave in a non-human manner. I believe in the doctrine of total depravity; thus, I do not believe that people, of themselves, are capable of doing something truly good. With the help of God they can do good, but on their own, good is impossible. In an essentially unconstrained society, the basest parts of human nature would certainly come out, and the society would dissolve in moments. There is then a need for a small volunteer government to keep order.
With this small caveat, I effectively destroy my entire argument for Lockean anarchism. Anarchy does not coexist with government; the terms are mutually exclusive. While I would be ecstatic if Lockean anarchism worked, I know that it is very probably unfeasible on this earth, especially in this modern, irresponsible era. Thus, it is my ideal, but not my working model. And while American representative democracy is not ideal, it is certainly better than chaos—although I would prefer even less government than the Constitution allows, especially in regard to the courts.
That, then, is my political philosophy in a gnarled nutshell. It’s still sort of a work in progress, as I’m still attempting to hammer out a form of Lockean anarchism that would actually work. I could call it Paradoxian anarchism—an apt name.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Hmm...
Here's a random though wich just popped into my mind:
It seems that today there are many, many people who don't properly understand government. (including myself sometimes...) I was thinking that maybe this stems from the fact that nowdays most children in public, private and homeschools are taught mostly American history (and some only classical Roman and Greek histories - almost as bad). Both my parents were only taught American history themselves.
I think that from studying only our government and not seeing other governments and their mistakes (e.x. the French Revolution) people have never fully come to understand our government. This has also led to a generation of ungratefuls who complain about the American government. Although our government has it's problems, like everything in this sin-cursed world, our country has been blessed with the best government ever invented, and some of the best leaders of all time. I really saw all this myself after the last year in school - studying the time form 500 A.D. to the 1800's. It was interesting to see the French and American revolutions paralleled, and the many other forms of government and how that affects the world today.
That's just a random thought for you... I'm not a government or education specialist, so this might not all be true - just wanted to share that with you.
- Ellie
It seems that today there are many, many people who don't properly understand government. (including myself sometimes...) I was thinking that maybe this stems from the fact that nowdays most children in public, private and homeschools are taught mostly American history (and some only classical Roman and Greek histories - almost as bad). Both my parents were only taught American history themselves.
I think that from studying only our government and not seeing other governments and their mistakes (e.x. the French Revolution) people have never fully come to understand our government. This has also led to a generation of ungratefuls who complain about the American government. Although our government has it's problems, like everything in this sin-cursed world, our country has been blessed with the best government ever invented, and some of the best leaders of all time. I really saw all this myself after the last year in school - studying the time form 500 A.D. to the 1800's. It was interesting to see the French and American revolutions paralleled, and the many other forms of government and how that affects the world today.
That's just a random thought for you... I'm not a government or education specialist, so this might not all be true - just wanted to share that with you.
- Ellie
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Possibly the shortest "real" post I will ever do
People (esp. government types) need to talk less and do more.
...And that's all I have to say about that.
...And that's all I have to say about that.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Responsibility
In a follow-up to yesterday's post, how's this for a neat shift of responsibility: "'From the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,' Obama told reporters at the White House. 'As far as I'm concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster.'"
Okay, maybe it's just me, but I don't get the correlation here. It's BP's fault that this "horrific disaster" happened, so it's the government's job to oversee the cleanup?
This assumes that the government is the only entity capable of cleaning up an oil spill, which is painfully obviously not the case. If someone is responsible for a mess, it's not up to the government to micromanage the cleanup. It's up to the mess-maker. We all learned this when we were little kids. What's changed since then?
Again, the government needs to get out of the private sector. Otherwise, a whole bunch of almost-anarchists like me are going to take over in a few years...
Read the story the Obama quote was taken from
here and read another piece of the saga here.
Okay, maybe it's just me, but I don't get the correlation here. It's BP's fault that this "horrific disaster" happened, so it's the government's job to oversee the cleanup?
This assumes that the government is the only entity capable of cleaning up an oil spill, which is painfully obviously not the case. If someone is responsible for a mess, it's not up to the government to micromanage the cleanup. It's up to the mess-maker. We all learned this when we were little kids. What's changed since then?
Again, the government needs to get out of the private sector. Otherwise, a whole bunch of almost-anarchists like me are going to take over in a few years...
Read the story the Obama quote was taken from
here and read another piece of the saga here.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Goodness, how time flies...
Sorry I haven't posted for so long! My life of late has been extremely busy. Since I'm still pretty busy, I'm going to have to keep this post short and (hopefully) pithy.
So here goes nothing...
The environment definitely needs looking after. This BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico certainly is having adverse effects on the environment. But why isn't BP allowed to take care of the problem itself?
Apparently, the current regime believes that it has all the answers. Who in office now, though, has the expertise necessary to clean up an oil spill? No one. Why, then, does the government feel that it can take over BP's territory in such an egregious manner?
It could be any number of things. Personally, I believe that the current government has its own best interests in mind--not the best interests of the people. Throughout history, it is clear that more government consistently equals less freedom, more taxes, and less efficiency.
So the moral of this short "rant": the government needs to get out of the private sector posthaste. It's called the private sector--not the government sector--for a reason.
So here goes nothing...
The environment definitely needs looking after. This BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico certainly is having adverse effects on the environment. But why isn't BP allowed to take care of the problem itself?
Apparently, the current regime believes that it has all the answers. Who in office now, though, has the expertise necessary to clean up an oil spill? No one. Why, then, does the government feel that it can take over BP's territory in such an egregious manner?
It could be any number of things. Personally, I believe that the current government has its own best interests in mind--not the best interests of the people. Throughout history, it is clear that more government consistently equals less freedom, more taxes, and less efficiency.
So the moral of this short "rant": the government needs to get out of the private sector posthaste. It's called the private sector--not the government sector--for a reason.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Slight change...
From now on, The Food Dish is going to be solely a science and current events blog. No more tags. No more silliness.
Now, before you start to wonder if I'm joking or if I've just gone off my rocker, I'll explain.
Ellie and I decided that the content of this blog should be a little more professional and pithy. We also decided that it would be a good idea for me to create another blog for "personal" (read: silly/random/non-political) stuff... which means tags and the like.
So I'm not going away... I've just created a different blog, which you can visit here. Hope you enjoy!
Now, before you start to wonder if I'm joking or if I've just gone off my rocker, I'll explain.
Ellie and I decided that the content of this blog should be a little more professional and pithy. We also decided that it would be a good idea for me to create another blog for "personal" (read: silly/random/non-political) stuff... which means tags and the like.
So I'm not going away... I've just created a different blog, which you can visit here. Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
An ABCs post
Bleah tagged me with this so... I guess I better do it. =)
Sorry, guys... I'm not as cool as Bleah and Eldarwen, so I'm not going to use pictures. (Also, I can't seem to figure out how to get a picture in...)
Warning: this is going to be really random because I'm in a really goofy mood. =D
A. Automatic. A shade of black typically used in MS Word.
B. Bullet casings. They make very unique jewelry.
C. Cats. 'Nuff said.
D. Doberman-Pinschers. All-around cool dogs.
E. Edges. Especially, standing on edges of tall things.
F. Fudge. Very edible.
G. Goats. They look really weird and they eat everything they aren't supposed to, but they're really fun animals.
H. Horses. Also fun animals.
I. Independence. It's what America is founded on, after all.
J. Jumping. As long as I'm on a horse's back, jumping is fun.
K. Kittens. I know I already said cats, but kittens are just in a class of their own.
L. Laughing. Supposedly it adds years to one's life.
M. Meese. The plural of moose, of course.
N. Night. I can actually see relatively better during the night than during the day. Weird, I know.
O. Optics. I wear glasses, so optics are rather important to me.
P. Pine trees. Perfect for climbing, provided they're big enough.
Q. QWERTY. Makes typing easier than ABCDEF would have.
R. Riptide. A ballpoint pen that always finds your pocket and can transform into a sword on demand is just plain old cool.
S. Silence. They say it's golden.
T. Torcs. Symbols of ancient Celtic royalty.
U. Umbrage. An area of comparative darkness, according to Webster's, but it's here because it sounds funny and I couldn't think of another word for U.
V. Velocity. The higher, the better.
W. Wisdom. Proverbs says she's worth more than rubies.
X. Xylophones. They lend an attack sound to the string section in symphonies, so the strings can sound more like a weird piano. (I noticed that recently while listening to some Shostakovich and Stravinsky...)
Y. Yurts. The ultimate in decadent-looking yet portable housing. And it's a fun word to say.
Z. Zippers. I don't know what I'd do without them.
So there you have it. No theme whatsoever, other than Things I Like And Could Think Of Off The Top Of My Head.
I'm going to try to scrape together something less random and more... logical and substantial. =P If anyone has a topic they want me to write about, I'd love to hear it. =)
Sorry, guys... I'm not as cool as Bleah and Eldarwen, so I'm not going to use pictures. (Also, I can't seem to figure out how to get a picture in...)
Warning: this is going to be really random because I'm in a really goofy mood. =D
A. Automatic. A shade of black typically used in MS Word.
B. Bullet casings. They make very unique jewelry.
C. Cats. 'Nuff said.
D. Doberman-Pinschers. All-around cool dogs.
E. Edges. Especially, standing on edges of tall things.
F. Fudge. Very edible.
G. Goats. They look really weird and they eat everything they aren't supposed to, but they're really fun animals.
H. Horses. Also fun animals.
I. Independence. It's what America is founded on, after all.
J. Jumping. As long as I'm on a horse's back, jumping is fun.
K. Kittens. I know I already said cats, but kittens are just in a class of their own.
L. Laughing. Supposedly it adds years to one's life.
M. Meese. The plural of moose, of course.
N. Night. I can actually see relatively better during the night than during the day. Weird, I know.
O. Optics. I wear glasses, so optics are rather important to me.
P. Pine trees. Perfect for climbing, provided they're big enough.
Q. QWERTY. Makes typing easier than ABCDEF would have.
R. Riptide. A ballpoint pen that always finds your pocket and can transform into a sword on demand is just plain old cool.
S. Silence. They say it's golden.
T. Torcs. Symbols of ancient Celtic royalty.
U. Umbrage. An area of comparative darkness, according to Webster's, but it's here because it sounds funny and I couldn't think of another word for U.
V. Velocity. The higher, the better.
W. Wisdom. Proverbs says she's worth more than rubies.
X. Xylophones. They lend an attack sound to the string section in symphonies, so the strings can sound more like a weird piano. (I noticed that recently while listening to some Shostakovich and Stravinsky...)
Y. Yurts. The ultimate in decadent-looking yet portable housing. And it's a fun word to say.
Z. Zippers. I don't know what I'd do without them.
So there you have it. No theme whatsoever, other than Things I Like And Could Think Of Off The Top Of My Head.
I'm going to try to scrape together something less random and more... logical and substantial. =P If anyone has a topic they want me to write about, I'd love to hear it. =)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Tag!
Hic est Paradoxa. =P I feel very silly today. So...
Ashley at Random Thoughts tagged anyone who either loves black, owns a ferret, or plays guitar.
Well... I happen to love black, and I play guitar... sort of. =P No ferrets, thanks.
Anyway, here goes...
1. How many toes do you have?
Duh. 12. *sarcasm* What kind of question is that?
2. How many bones have you broken?
None that I know of. Although I may have done something goofy to my right eyebrow... a few years ago I got knocked on the head really hard right above my right eye and couldn't see out of half of that eye for a bit over a day. Occasionally I can still feel the weather changing in that bone...
3. Name an epic thing that you have done.
I wrote two "epic" fantasy novels, which, in my opinion, are putrid.
4. If you had a pet lemming, what would you name him?
IF. I would name him Pauline.
5. What color are the clothes you're wearing right now?
Blue jeans, greenish-blue shirt, brown sweatshirt, black socks.
6. How awesome are orca whales on a scale of one to ten?
Um... 5? They're kind of cool, I suppose.
8. How old do you want to be when you die?
Don't care. But I don't want to end up in a nursing home. Maybe die in the line of duty or something.
9. Name a pet peeve and an addiction.
Pet peeve, eh? Poor punctuation in scholarly publications. Addiction? I'm like a Jedi in that sense. I usually kick out anything that exerts control over my life (other than Christ-endorsed things such as parents and government).
10. Write a paragraph detailing your life. 100 word minimum.
Sorry, no can do. It's not that there isn't a life to detail; it's that I don't want to detail it on Blogger.
11. Name one thing that isn't really a secret, but that you haven't really gotten around to telling anyone.
Ummm... I don't know.
12. Name another pet peeve.
HTML.
13. Sprechen Sie deutsch?
It's actually Sprichst du Deutsch. And no, I don't. I got the translation from WordMonkey. Sprechen sie Deutsch means They speak German. =P
14. Tell a joke.
Sorry, I'm joke-challenged. =$
15. How many of the questions have you answered in a witty manner so far?
Define witty.
16. Compose a haiku.
It is five o'clock.
I should go and wash my hair.
But I don't want to.
(Yes, that was a haiku, if a very poor haiku.)
17. Have you ever noticed how sour candies taste even more sour if you rub them on the side of your tongue?
Nope. Probably because I've never rubbed sour candy on the side of my tongue.
18. What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Hilarious.
19. How many doors are there in your house?
I have no idea and I don't honestly care.
20. How would you solve a problem like Maria?
How would you catch a cloud and pin it down?
21. Think of something about yourself. Anything. Go on, think of it.
Um. I'm 5' 8".
Now think of something more interesting. Write it down here.
I've traveled out of the country three times and been to both Alaska and Hawaii. (Wait, that was two... oh well.)
22. What's wrong with your hands?
They're really long and skinny. My friend's brother-in-law says I have skeleton hands. But I guess that's good because I play the piano. Also, I have a giant scab underneath my right pointer fingernail because I accidentally slammed it in the car door and didn't realize it until I went to walk away and bent the finger backwards... it's a long, painful story. =P
24. What's your favorite show tune?
Um... like TV show? Probably Mission: Impossible (yes, that used to be a TV show).
25. Okay, you can tell us what that first thing you thought of for number 21 was. We all want to know.
Uh... you expect me to remember? Sorry, but my mind just discards all unnecessary information... and some necessary information, too.
I tag...
Anyone who dislikes sugar, knows what a Lotus Elise is (and why it's cool), or thinks that American Idol is overrated. Or all of the above.
Ashley at Random Thoughts tagged anyone who either loves black, owns a ferret, or plays guitar.
Well... I happen to love black, and I play guitar... sort of. =P No ferrets, thanks.
Anyway, here goes...
1. How many toes do you have?
Duh. 12. *sarcasm* What kind of question is that?
2. How many bones have you broken?
None that I know of. Although I may have done something goofy to my right eyebrow... a few years ago I got knocked on the head really hard right above my right eye and couldn't see out of half of that eye for a bit over a day. Occasionally I can still feel the weather changing in that bone...
3. Name an epic thing that you have done.
I wrote two "epic" fantasy novels, which, in my opinion, are putrid.
4. If you had a pet lemming, what would you name him?
IF. I would name him Pauline.
5. What color are the clothes you're wearing right now?
Blue jeans, greenish-blue shirt, brown sweatshirt, black socks.
6. How awesome are orca whales on a scale of one to ten?
Um... 5? They're kind of cool, I suppose.
8. How old do you want to be when you die?
Don't care. But I don't want to end up in a nursing home. Maybe die in the line of duty or something.
9. Name a pet peeve and an addiction.
Pet peeve, eh? Poor punctuation in scholarly publications. Addiction? I'm like a Jedi in that sense. I usually kick out anything that exerts control over my life (other than Christ-endorsed things such as parents and government).
10. Write a paragraph detailing your life. 100 word minimum.
Sorry, no can do. It's not that there isn't a life to detail; it's that I don't want to detail it on Blogger.
11. Name one thing that isn't really a secret, but that you haven't really gotten around to telling anyone.
Ummm... I don't know.
12. Name another pet peeve.
HTML.
13. Sprechen Sie deutsch?
It's actually Sprichst du Deutsch. And no, I don't. I got the translation from WordMonkey. Sprechen sie Deutsch means They speak German. =P
14. Tell a joke.
Sorry, I'm joke-challenged. =$
15. How many of the questions have you answered in a witty manner so far?
Define witty.
16. Compose a haiku.
It is five o'clock.
I should go and wash my hair.
But I don't want to.
(Yes, that was a haiku, if a very poor haiku.)
17. Have you ever noticed how sour candies taste even more sour if you rub them on the side of your tongue?
Nope. Probably because I've never rubbed sour candy on the side of my tongue.
18. What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Hilarious.
19. How many doors are there in your house?
I have no idea and I don't honestly care.
20. How would you solve a problem like Maria?
How would you catch a cloud and pin it down?
21. Think of something about yourself. Anything. Go on, think of it.
Um. I'm 5' 8".
Now think of something more interesting. Write it down here.
I've traveled out of the country three times and been to both Alaska and Hawaii. (Wait, that was two... oh well.)
22. What's wrong with your hands?
They're really long and skinny. My friend's brother-in-law says I have skeleton hands. But I guess that's good because I play the piano. Also, I have a giant scab underneath my right pointer fingernail because I accidentally slammed it in the car door and didn't realize it until I went to walk away and bent the finger backwards... it's a long, painful story. =P
24. What's your favorite show tune?
Um... like TV show? Probably Mission: Impossible (yes, that used to be a TV show).
25. Okay, you can tell us what that first thing you thought of for number 21 was. We all want to know.
Uh... you expect me to remember? Sorry, but my mind just discards all unnecessary information... and some necessary information, too.
I tag...
Anyone who dislikes sugar, knows what a Lotus Elise is (and why it's cool), or thinks that American Idol is overrated. Or all of the above.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Jehovah's Witnesses...
Yo, Ellie here. Here's a bit of something, even though it's not related to science. It's a paper I wrote for school, so yeah...
Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians; what's the difference? Many people don't know enough about one or both to look at the differences. Others simply don't care.
The Jehovah's Witnesses or “Russelites” were formed in 1870 by Charles Taze Russel. He decided he didn't like some of the ideas and doctrines taught in the Bible, so he removed them from his new religion and his own false translation of the Bible, the New World Translation. He started with the concept of hell, which he thought was unfair, even though Jesus mentioned hell more times than he mentioned heaven.
On July 1, 1879, Charles started a publication called the Watchtower, and later the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which is now the head of their religion. They believe that the Watchtower is the “only channel through which truth can come”, whereas Christians believe that the Bible is the sole basis of truth.
The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that “God” (The Father) created Jesus Christ in the form of Michael the Archangel. Their “Jesus Christ” is not the all-powerful Jesus of the Bible, and they believe that their “Jesus” is not an equal with God. They believe that “Jesus” or Michael existed in heaven as a spirit, then came to earth and became fully and only a man, with no supernatural divinity. This “Jesus” lived for 33 years and then died and was returned to heaven in spirit form. They do not believe in the Holy Spirit.
Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit exist together in equality as the Holy Trinity, three persons in one. Michael is just another angel created by God to serve him. Christians believe that Jesus Christ came to earth and became a man, retaining his full and absolute power and divinity, while being fully human. He lived on earth and died, then rose, body and spirit, from the grave and walked on earth a while longer before ascending to heaven.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that men have no souls, and there is only an afterlife for the most religious of their group: only the 144,000 chosen can attain an earthly “paradise”. And no one can know whether they will go to this “paradise”. The best they can do is to obey the Watchtower society and try to witness to others. Heaven is only inhabited by God and there is no hell or punishment for unbelievers. Those not “chosen” cease to exist when they die. The “chosen” get to live in the new earth or “paradise”. They have the ability to sin there, and if any one of them does an evil deed, he will immediately cease to exist.
Christians believe that all men have an eternal soul, and all men have sinned and are therefore damned and deserving an eternity in hell. But if a person places their faith in Jesus, God will “legally” consider you not only sinless but righteous! When a person dies, they either go to heaven or hell, depending on whether they accepted Jesus as their savior. Hell is a place of eternal torture. Heaven is a place of perfect, sinless happiness.
Christianity Vs. The Watchtower
The Jehovah's Witnesses or “Russelites” were formed in 1870 by Charles Taze Russel. He decided he didn't like some of the ideas and doctrines taught in the Bible, so he removed them from his new religion and his own false translation of the Bible, the New World Translation. He started with the concept of hell, which he thought was unfair, even though Jesus mentioned hell more times than he mentioned heaven.
On July 1, 1879, Charles started a publication called the Watchtower, and later the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which is now the head of their religion. They believe that the Watchtower is the “only channel through which truth can come”, whereas Christians believe that the Bible is the sole basis of truth.
The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that “God” (The Father) created Jesus Christ in the form of Michael the Archangel. Their “Jesus Christ” is not the all-powerful Jesus of the Bible, and they believe that their “Jesus” is not an equal with God. They believe that “Jesus” or Michael existed in heaven as a spirit, then came to earth and became fully and only a man, with no supernatural divinity. This “Jesus” lived for 33 years and then died and was returned to heaven in spirit form. They do not believe in the Holy Spirit.
Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit exist together in equality as the Holy Trinity, three persons in one. Michael is just another angel created by God to serve him. Christians believe that Jesus Christ came to earth and became a man, retaining his full and absolute power and divinity, while being fully human. He lived on earth and died, then rose, body and spirit, from the grave and walked on earth a while longer before ascending to heaven.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that men have no souls, and there is only an afterlife for the most religious of their group: only the 144,000 chosen can attain an earthly “paradise”. And no one can know whether they will go to this “paradise”. The best they can do is to obey the Watchtower society and try to witness to others. Heaven is only inhabited by God and there is no hell or punishment for unbelievers. Those not “chosen” cease to exist when they die. The “chosen” get to live in the new earth or “paradise”. They have the ability to sin there, and if any one of them does an evil deed, he will immediately cease to exist.
Christians believe that all men have an eternal soul, and all men have sinned and are therefore damned and deserving an eternity in hell. But if a person places their faith in Jesus, God will “legally” consider you not only sinless but righteous! When a person dies, they either go to heaven or hell, depending on whether they accepted Jesus as their savior. Hell is a place of eternal torture. Heaven is a place of perfect, sinless happiness.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
New blog format
Hey everyone!
Now that Ellie's on board with me, I think I'm going to slightly change the way I post. I'll still do the occasional tag or "personal" item, but I'm going to try to be more consistent about posting serious posts... maybe a short weekly post on current events and a few (still-irregular) "articles". Perhaps Ellie can be induced to post a weekly science review or something.
Tell me what y'all think. =)
Now that Ellie's on board with me, I think I'm going to slightly change the way I post. I'll still do the occasional tag or "personal" item, but I'm going to try to be more consistent about posting serious posts... maybe a short weekly post on current events and a few (still-irregular) "articles". Perhaps Ellie can be induced to post a weekly science review or something.
Tell me what y'all think. =)
Monday, April 19, 2010
Yo...
Hey!!! Most of you already know me. My name's Ellie and my blog's over at http://cherokeland.blogspot.com/. Recently I started a new blog about the creation/evolution debate. Today Paradox suggested we combine the blogs, so now I'll be here on The Food Dish posting bits about science and creation/evolution. So there ya have it... :)
Also, I want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARADOX!!! Yes, it is her birthday, but she doesn't want me to say how old she is, so there... :P
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LOL thanks Ellie. I can edit your posts now... XD
Also, I want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARADOX!!! Yes, it is her birthday, but she doesn't want me to say how old she is, so there... :P
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LOL thanks Ellie. I can edit your posts now... XD
Monday, April 5, 2010
Some housekeeping...
First of all, Bleah, I haven't forgotten about your music tag. Unfortunately, my iPod has been kaput for the past two and a half months or so, and I haven't yet taken the time to charge it. I'll try to do that soon. =P
Ellie, I have Phillies Phan's copy of Writing Magic sitting next to me on the sofa... I'll post the gist of the Chapter 3 (it is Chapter 3, right?) and the writing prompts soon (probably Wednesday, because I have an exam tomorrow and I'll have to be studying for it). I'm also going to be sending a piece of my short story to you because (again) I think it might be a little too weird for general consumption. (Yes, I know, I really need to get rid of the creepiness that's been finding its way into my writing lately. Sorry.)
To everyone... I'll try ASAP to find a bit of time to write a post with some redeeming value to it. =P
Ellie, I have Phillies Phan's copy of Writing Magic sitting next to me on the sofa... I'll post the gist of the Chapter 3 (it is Chapter 3, right?) and the writing prompts soon (probably Wednesday, because I have an exam tomorrow and I'll have to be studying for it). I'm also going to be sending a piece of my short story to you because (again) I think it might be a little too weird for general consumption. (Yes, I know, I really need to get rid of the creepiness that's been finding its way into my writing lately. Sorry.)
To everyone... I'll try ASAP to find a bit of time to write a post with some redeeming value to it. =P
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
De Mortalis
What words does one say when one comes face to face with death?
For once, I am at a loss. As you all know, I have an opinion on most things. Now... well, I guess the cold, rational side of me has been taken over by my lesser-known emotional side. My rational side says that death is a part of life and therefore inevitable. My emotional side is screaming "NO!!"
You see, I just learned that my great-grandmother passed away. I wasn't super-close to her, but I was close enough to care about her. My family has known for a while that her body was slowly shutting down, but that doesn't make the actual death any easier to swallow. It would be one thing if we knew she was a Christian, but we don't.
(I keep saying "we." I mean "I." When I talk about touchy subjects, I tend to revert to collective pronouns.)
Oh, I'm not used to this. Typically, I'm so unemotional that I could pass for a Vulcan. "Pain is weakness leaving the body..." yada, yada, yada. (Yeah, I know that's not a Vulcan quote.) But now, my emotions are all over the place. Grief, like physical pain, comes in waves, I suppose.
I was going to make this a pseudo-deep musing on the brevity of human life--hence the Latin title, which is a somewhat morbid play on the Roman expression, "Di Immortales" (lit. "Immortal Gods"--kind of like "Oh my goodness"). But now that I'm writing (attempting to write), my thoughts are more like a pit of quicksand than a clear well. Obviously, I'm in no state to be writing anything, least of all "articles" with any sort of depth or lucidity. So I'll leave depth to David and Solomon.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
And finally, from a good friend of mine...
Psalm 73:28
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.
So with that, I'll put my trust in God and stop yapping.
(P.S. Forgive me if I sounded gothic. I'm not obsessed with death [although I did go through a slightly questionable phase during junior high/early high school]. I've just never seen "Azrael" this close before.)
For once, I am at a loss. As you all know, I have an opinion on most things. Now... well, I guess the cold, rational side of me has been taken over by my lesser-known emotional side. My rational side says that death is a part of life and therefore inevitable. My emotional side is screaming "NO!!"
You see, I just learned that my great-grandmother passed away. I wasn't super-close to her, but I was close enough to care about her. My family has known for a while that her body was slowly shutting down, but that doesn't make the actual death any easier to swallow. It would be one thing if we knew she was a Christian, but we don't.
(I keep saying "we." I mean "I." When I talk about touchy subjects, I tend to revert to collective pronouns.)
Oh, I'm not used to this. Typically, I'm so unemotional that I could pass for a Vulcan. "Pain is weakness leaving the body..." yada, yada, yada. (Yeah, I know that's not a Vulcan quote.) But now, my emotions are all over the place. Grief, like physical pain, comes in waves, I suppose.
I was going to make this a pseudo-deep musing on the brevity of human life--hence the Latin title, which is a somewhat morbid play on the Roman expression, "Di Immortales" (lit. "Immortal Gods"--kind of like "Oh my goodness"). But now that I'm writing (attempting to write), my thoughts are more like a pit of quicksand than a clear well. Obviously, I'm in no state to be writing anything, least of all "articles" with any sort of depth or lucidity. So I'll leave depth to David and Solomon.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
And finally, from a good friend of mine...
Psalm 73:28
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.
So with that, I'll put my trust in God and stop yapping.
(P.S. Forgive me if I sounded gothic. I'm not obsessed with death [although I did go through a slightly questionable phase during junior high/early high school]. I've just never seen "Azrael" this close before.)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
I got tagged by Ellie at The Random Saga of an Author and her Books!
The way I like to say hello:
Hi, Hello, or Hola! Como esta usted?
Once Upon A Time...(finish the sentence):
...in a land far away, there was an old, rusted-out Cadillac sitting in a field of solid-gold poppies.
When I was five my favorite item was:
Paper and pens... they count as one item IMO.
What I like between two pieces of bread best is:
Anything but peanut butter.
When I grow up I want to be a/an:
International human rights lawyer (and author on the side, perhaps).
I like:
Books. And the occasional action movie (of The Matrix or Bourne variety). And rock music. And... well, why don't you just read my profile page...?
I really, really want:
My room to magically clean itself...
I desperately need:
Jesus
If I could color my hair any color I would color it:
It's already colored the color I want it... brown with blond streaks.
People often call me:
Not really. They usually text me. (You didn't think I was going to tell you my name, did you?)
I'm terrified of:
Terrified? Nothing. I mean, I don't like spiders and I'd rather not run into someone who's been in the slammer for assault or what have you, but I'm not terrified of stuff.
The way I like to say goodbye:
Bye, See ya, or Adios
The only rule for this tag (which is originally Bleah's) is that you have to make your own tag and slap it on the end. So I guess I'll give it a shot...
I'm currently reading:
Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style by Mark Garvey
My favorite website (other than Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is:
I Can Has Cheezburger?
My favorite word and its definition are:
exiguous, meaning scanty
My favorite quote is:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot
The reason I blog is...
I thought there weren't enough youngish bloggers. *sarcasm* Actually, I got invited to the Jabberings blog, so my reason was posting fiction. Now... I blog because I want to encourage other people to search for truth through nonfiction articles and various fiction. And it's fun. =D
If I could live in any other time period and place, it would be:
Ancient Athens. Other than present-day America, Athens was the best time/place to be a woman.
My least favorite food item is:
Sushi. Hands down.
My main goals in life are:
To go into other countries--mainly Eastern European, since I've got a lot of Eastern European in me--and work with international human rights organizations to crack down on human traffickers and the like. After that, I want to become President. (Like that'll happen. =P)
The weather outside is:
Too cold for me. I want to live in California.
Other than blogging, my three favorite things to do are:
1. Read
2. Write
3. Draw/paint
It took me ______ to make this tag.
All day. Admittedly, I did homework and some other stuff, but I'm really bad at thinking of this type of questions.
So... I hope that worked. =P
I tag anybody who feels like doing this. =D
The way I like to say hello:
Hi, Hello, or Hola! Como esta usted?
Once Upon A Time...(finish the sentence):
...in a land far away, there was an old, rusted-out Cadillac sitting in a field of solid-gold poppies.
When I was five my favorite item was:
Paper and pens... they count as one item IMO.
What I like between two pieces of bread best is:
Anything but peanut butter.
When I grow up I want to be a/an:
International human rights lawyer (and author on the side, perhaps).
I like:
Books. And the occasional action movie (of The Matrix or Bourne variety). And rock music. And... well, why don't you just read my profile page...?
I really, really want:
My room to magically clean itself...
I desperately need:
Jesus
If I could color my hair any color I would color it:
It's already colored the color I want it... brown with blond streaks.
People often call me:
Not really. They usually text me. (You didn't think I was going to tell you my name, did you?)
I'm terrified of:
Terrified? Nothing. I mean, I don't like spiders and I'd rather not run into someone who's been in the slammer for assault or what have you, but I'm not terrified of stuff.
The way I like to say goodbye:
Bye, See ya, or Adios
The only rule for this tag (which is originally Bleah's) is that you have to make your own tag and slap it on the end. So I guess I'll give it a shot...
I'm currently reading:
Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style by Mark Garvey
My favorite website (other than Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is:
I Can Has Cheezburger?
My favorite word and its definition are:
exiguous, meaning scanty
My favorite quote is:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot
The reason I blog is...
I thought there weren't enough youngish bloggers. *sarcasm* Actually, I got invited to the Jabberings blog, so my reason was posting fiction. Now... I blog because I want to encourage other people to search for truth through nonfiction articles and various fiction. And it's fun. =D
If I could live in any other time period and place, it would be:
Ancient Athens. Other than present-day America, Athens was the best time/place to be a woman.
My least favorite food item is:
Sushi. Hands down.
My main goals in life are:
To go into other countries--mainly Eastern European, since I've got a lot of Eastern European in me--and work with international human rights organizations to crack down on human traffickers and the like. After that, I want to become President. (Like that'll happen. =P)
The weather outside is:
Too cold for me. I want to live in California.
Other than blogging, my three favorite things to do are:
1. Read
2. Write
3. Draw/paint
It took me ______ to make this tag.
All day. Admittedly, I did homework and some other stuff, but I'm really bad at thinking of this type of questions.
So... I hope that worked. =P
I tag anybody who feels like doing this. =D
Friday, March 26, 2010
Obviously, I've made a few changes...
So... I was goofing around with Blogger in Draft today and got into the template designer.
That was pretty much one of the best moments of my day.
Since the only computer language I've ever learned--or, more accurately, tried to learn--was for Blender, I stink at HTML. So whenever I would try to play with making my own templates in Blogger, I ended up getting error messages all the time, which definitely put a damper on my creativity.
So now that I use Oxi-Clean... wait, wrong sales spiel. (I don't actually use Oxi-Clean. And it's completely unrelated to blogging. Sorry.) Yeah, I know, I sound like one of those TV testimonials. "Blogger in Draft has changed my life..." or not. But it is cool! =D
If you don't mind, I'd like some feedback... I'm not sure how well the text color and the background image like each other. Other sets of perhaps less burned-out eyes than mine could probably make a better assessment at this point. =P
That was pretty much one of the best moments of my day.
Since the only computer language I've ever learned--or, more accurately, tried to learn--was for Blender, I stink at HTML. So whenever I would try to play with making my own templates in Blogger, I ended up getting error messages all the time, which definitely put a damper on my creativity.
So now that I use Oxi-Clean... wait, wrong sales spiel. (I don't actually use Oxi-Clean. And it's completely unrelated to blogging. Sorry.) Yeah, I know, I sound like one of those TV testimonials. "Blogger in Draft has changed my life..." or not. But it is cool! =D
If you don't mind, I'd like some feedback... I'm not sure how well the text color and the background image like each other. Other sets of perhaps less burned-out eyes than mine could probably make a better assessment at this point. =P
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
On a lighter note...
...I've been tagged by Bleah at ~With Love And Kisses~! So... here goes...
List 3 of your favorite books (not including the Bible):
Like last time, these aren't in order. And they're just my favorite books at this moment. That may change within the next 5 minutes. =P
1. Sahara by Clive Cussler (Weird, I know... but it has such a wonderfully--maybe overly--intricate plot.)
2. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
List how many followers you have:
5--I'm a relatively new blogger. =P
List your favorite Bible verse you've learned:
"But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8
List 4 of your favorite bands that are CHRISTIAN:
(I'm supposing that Christian means comprised of Christians but not necessarily under a Christian record label.)
1. Fireflight
2. Flyleaf
3. Decyfer Down
4. Newsboys
=D Thanks, Bleah! That was fun.
I tag...
Ellie
Phillies Phan
Ashley
Joshua
(so basically, all of my followers except Bleah, who tagged me... lol)
List 3 of your favorite books (not including the Bible):
Like last time, these aren't in order. And they're just my favorite books at this moment. That may change within the next 5 minutes. =P
1. Sahara by Clive Cussler (Weird, I know... but it has such a wonderfully--maybe overly--intricate plot.)
2. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
List how many followers you have:
5--I'm a relatively new blogger. =P
List your favorite Bible verse you've learned:
"But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8
List 4 of your favorite bands that are CHRISTIAN:
(I'm supposing that Christian means comprised of Christians but not necessarily under a Christian record label.)
1. Fireflight
2. Flyleaf
3. Decyfer Down
4. Newsboys
=D Thanks, Bleah! That was fun.
I tag...
Ellie
Phillies Phan
Ashley
Joshua
(so basically, all of my followers except Bleah, who tagged me... lol)
Monday, March 22, 2010
General Welfare
Last night, an historic bill was passed in the House of Representatives in the name of "protecting the General Welfare." I think that anyone who reads this blog is probably somewhat acquainted with my views on that subject, but I thought I'd put in my two cents anyway, partially because I'm really upset with the "blue dog" Dems and the government in general and partially because I just did a post on promoting the general welfare that I would now like to amend.
For the record, I don't believe that it's the government's responsibility to make everybody happy. However, the government should at least try to keep most of its citizenry happy. It's quite apparent if you look here that most people don't want this particular species of healthcare reform. (Obviously, the vote on the page is mine.) Therefore, by passing this bill, the House of Representatives was actually destroying the general welfare. The general welfare is what the people want, not what the government says the people should want.
Also, general welfare is not entitlement. We as a people are not entitled to a posh life. The government was not put in place to make everybody successful. The government's job is to protect the constitutional rights of the people, which are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. This is a far cry from the feeling of entitlement that is so prevalent today. (See Equality, Parts I, II, and III.) Don't be deceived, people; the government knows about this feeling and is using it to twist the American people into complicity with a scheme that can only ruin the nation. We've seen what "healthcare reform" does in Canada and the UK and other countries, and we don't need that horrid muddle here.
Just because everybody who's anybody in the world has a socialized healthcare system doesn't mean that America has to as well. We are America, the Land of the Free... not the Land of the Entitled. We do not follow. We lead. So following all the other civilized nations, lemming-like, in their descent into mayhem is not acceptable no matter how the government spins it.
There's still hope; this snafu of a bill isn't law yet. It has to get through the Senate first and then across the President's desk. And even if (when) this bill does get rammed through, it won't be the end of the world. God has something lined out for us. It will be hard. It will probably involve chastening, so to speak. But in the end, it will be worked out for good, at least for those of us who are Christians (Rom. 8:28-29). So let that be our hope. Someday, somehow, everything will get better... even if we have to wait until the other side of eternity to see it.
For the record, I don't believe that it's the government's responsibility to make everybody happy. However, the government should at least try to keep most of its citizenry happy. It's quite apparent if you look here that most people don't want this particular species of healthcare reform. (Obviously, the vote on the page is mine.) Therefore, by passing this bill, the House of Representatives was actually destroying the general welfare. The general welfare is what the people want, not what the government says the people should want.
Also, general welfare is not entitlement. We as a people are not entitled to a posh life. The government was not put in place to make everybody successful. The government's job is to protect the constitutional rights of the people, which are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. This is a far cry from the feeling of entitlement that is so prevalent today. (See Equality, Parts I, II, and III.) Don't be deceived, people; the government knows about this feeling and is using it to twist the American people into complicity with a scheme that can only ruin the nation. We've seen what "healthcare reform" does in Canada and the UK and other countries, and we don't need that horrid muddle here.
Just because everybody who's anybody in the world has a socialized healthcare system doesn't mean that America has to as well. We are America, the Land of the Free... not the Land of the Entitled. We do not follow. We lead. So following all the other civilized nations, lemming-like, in their descent into mayhem is not acceptable no matter how the government spins it.
There's still hope; this snafu of a bill isn't law yet. It has to get through the Senate first and then across the President's desk. And even if (when) this bill does get rammed through, it won't be the end of the world. God has something lined out for us. It will be hard. It will probably involve chastening, so to speak. But in the end, it will be worked out for good, at least for those of us who are Christians (Rom. 8:28-29). So let that be our hope. Someday, somehow, everything will get better... even if we have to wait until the other side of eternity to see it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Libertarianism, Hedonism, and a few other Isms
I haven't done a substantial post recently (sorry), so I was going through some "articles" I'd written a bit ago. I came up with this. Hopefully I'll get up the nerve to do a post on the healthcare bill soon, but until then, this will have to do.
And for those of you who were wondering, yes, I do write out nearly all my "real" posts well before I actually post them. =P
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I read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged a few months ago, and I was discussing it and the libertarian movement with my mom recently. Basically, we came to the conclusion that hedonism is equal to Objectivism (Rand’s espoused philosophy), which in turn is approximately equal to libertarianism. Thus, by the substitution property of equality, hedonism is approximately equal to libertarianism.
Yes, I just said what you thought I said.
Why? Well, let’s begin with a few definitions. Libertarianism, in its essence, is basically state-condoned anarchy, which necessarily allows the people to do whatever they want. Hedonism is the pursuit of personal pleasure at all cost. Objectivism is, according to Rand, “[The] concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
Now with those definitions, it should be pretty clear that hedonism and libertarianism are both pretty nearly equal to Objectivism, and thus pretty nearly equal to each other.
If you’re a Bible-believing Christian, or at least a Constitution-loving American, this is a problem. If people are allowed to do whatever they want, and doing whatever they want involves hurting someone else, isn’t that sort of a violation of the constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? On the flip side, if the government restricts the people’s ability to hurt other people, even if it makes them happy, isn’t that also violating their rights?
This is where “promoting the General Welfare” comes into play. By necessity, to promote the welfare of the people as a whole, the government must violate the rights of a few people. This seems uncomfortable at first glance; however, when people decide to use their rights as license rather than as liberty, they must forfeit their rights. Rights are not right when used to harm other people.
So should everyone give up their rights in the name of General Welfare? No. That would be swinging the pendulum too far in the direction of totalitarianism. If the people give up all their rights, welfare isn’t general anymore. The government would be the only thing left to protect the people, and we’ve all seen what happens when that’s the case. Thus, rights are necessary.
What am I advocating, then? Conservatism? Liberalism? Constitutionalism?
None of the above. I’ll do another post sometime on the subject of political parties. This isn't the post for such a discussion. So I’ll leave you with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.”
And for those of you who were wondering, yes, I do write out nearly all my "real" posts well before I actually post them. =P
---
I read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged a few months ago, and I was discussing it and the libertarian movement with my mom recently. Basically, we came to the conclusion that hedonism is equal to Objectivism (Rand’s espoused philosophy), which in turn is approximately equal to libertarianism. Thus, by the substitution property of equality, hedonism is approximately equal to libertarianism.
Yes, I just said what you thought I said.
Why? Well, let’s begin with a few definitions. Libertarianism, in its essence, is basically state-condoned anarchy, which necessarily allows the people to do whatever they want. Hedonism is the pursuit of personal pleasure at all cost. Objectivism is, according to Rand, “[The] concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
Now with those definitions, it should be pretty clear that hedonism and libertarianism are both pretty nearly equal to Objectivism, and thus pretty nearly equal to each other.
If you’re a Bible-believing Christian, or at least a Constitution-loving American, this is a problem. If people are allowed to do whatever they want, and doing whatever they want involves hurting someone else, isn’t that sort of a violation of the constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? On the flip side, if the government restricts the people’s ability to hurt other people, even if it makes them happy, isn’t that also violating their rights?
This is where “promoting the General Welfare” comes into play. By necessity, to promote the welfare of the people as a whole, the government must violate the rights of a few people. This seems uncomfortable at first glance; however, when people decide to use their rights as license rather than as liberty, they must forfeit their rights. Rights are not right when used to harm other people.
So should everyone give up their rights in the name of General Welfare? No. That would be swinging the pendulum too far in the direction of totalitarianism. If the people give up all their rights, welfare isn’t general anymore. The government would be the only thing left to protect the people, and we’ve all seen what happens when that’s the case. Thus, rights are necessary.
What am I advocating, then? Conservatism? Liberalism? Constitutionalism?
None of the above. I’ll do another post sometime on the subject of political parties. This isn't the post for such a discussion. So I’ll leave you with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.”
Pay no attention to the counter at the bottom of the page
It died. Sorry. I'm working on finding a new one that doesn't randomly reset to 62 when I'm not looking.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Fine. I'll just post the URL.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DW9beVhGlBg/S5ZZ12A-dGI/AAAAAAAAAkY/8rM1PAgWJlw/s1600-h/beyondyourimaginationaward.jpg
Okay... something isn't working here
I think Blogger is kinda wonky right now. I'll have to try again later.
I got an award!
Thanks, Ellie!
[beyondyourimaginationaward.jpg]
Not sure how that pic is going to work... I've never really posted pics before.
The Rules (copied directly from Ellie =D):
1. List 8 stories or books that you would like to live in.
2. List 8 other bloggers who deserve this award.
3. Comment on their blog and tell them they won an award.
8 books... in the order I thought of them (i.e., no particular order)
1. Beowulf
2. The Pendragon Cycle (NOT The Pendragon Series--this is totally different)
3. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
4. LotR (even though that answer is really hackneyed by now)
5. The Bible (esp. Genesis and the Gospels)
6. Till We Have Faces
7. The Hound of the Baskervilles
8. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
8 bloggers who deserve this award... Ellie got some of the people I was going to do. Oh well. Guess they can get the same award twice... lol.
The numbers mean nothing. I'm not ranking people here. It's just so I can keep track of how many people I've put down without counting all the time. =D
1. Ashley http://imabitrandom.blogspot.com/
2. Bleah http://blonde4christ.blogspot.com/
3. Madeline http://steppingheavenward-myjourney.blogspot.com/
4. Kelly http://kellymarple.blogspot.com
5. Phillies Phan http://godissoveriegn.blogspot.com
I need to follow more blogs or something. This shouldn't be so hard.
I hope this isn't a girly award, because my next three "recipients" are guys... =$
6. Spencer http://drpaleophd.blogspot.com
7. Joshua http://awarriorsheartj.blogspot.com
8. B.L.S. http://leemac5.blogspot.com
Okay, now to comment on the blogs of people I don't really know...
[beyondyourimaginationaward.jpg]
Not sure how that pic is going to work... I've never really posted pics before.
The Rules (copied directly from Ellie =D):
1. List 8 stories or books that you would like to live in.
2. List 8 other bloggers who deserve this award.
3. Comment on their blog and tell them they won an award.
8 books... in the order I thought of them (i.e., no particular order)
1. Beowulf
2. The Pendragon Cycle (NOT The Pendragon Series--this is totally different)
3. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
4. LotR (even though that answer is really hackneyed by now)
5. The Bible (esp. Genesis and the Gospels)
6. Till We Have Faces
7. The Hound of the Baskervilles
8. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
8 bloggers who deserve this award... Ellie got some of the people I was going to do. Oh well. Guess they can get the same award twice... lol.
The numbers mean nothing. I'm not ranking people here. It's just so I can keep track of how many people I've put down without counting all the time. =D
1. Ashley http://imabitrandom.blogspot.com/
2. Bleah http://blonde4christ.blogspot.com/
3. Madeline http://steppingheavenward-myjourney.blogspot.com/
4. Kelly http://kellymarple.blogspot.com
5. Phillies Phan http://godissoveriegn.blogspot.com
I need to follow more blogs or something. This shouldn't be so hard.
I hope this isn't a girly award, because my next three "recipients" are guys... =$
6. Spencer http://drpaleophd.blogspot.com
7. Joshua http://awarriorsheartj.blogspot.com
8. B.L.S. http://leemac5.blogspot.com
Okay, now to comment on the blogs of people I don't really know...
Friday, February 26, 2010
I am way too busy, so I haven't posted lately
...which is terrible, I know. But seriously... when you have to write one full-length essay and five or six half-length essays for one (yes, one) college application, you don't really have time to do anything else.
So that means I've been almost totally blind to the outside world--except for the Olympics--for the past week or two.
Oh, yeah, and there was that healthcare "summit." I didn't actually watch it yet (I will sometime relatively soon), so I can't comment like I'd like to right now. However, there is one thing I'd like to point out that's been bothering me for a while.
My mom noticed that the president called everyone at the summit by their first names. No "Senator So-and-so" or anything like that. Personally, after Senator Feinstein's little problem with a high-ranking general calling her "ma'am," I thought at least one person would have a bird.
Not so. Everybody took it in stride, oddly enough.
This kind of rubs me wrong, and not just because it was done by a president with whom I don't agree. It seems that recently, especially under the Obama administration, we've lost respect for elected officials. Have you ever noticed that nobody calls the president by his title? It's either Mr. Obama, Obama, or The President. Nobody I've heard, not even liberals, call him Mr. President or President Obama.
This makes me wonder why. Then I realize that the why doesn't really matter. Those of us who are Christians are called to respect authority. This doesn't mean we have to agree with the authorities; obviously, if the authorities sanction abortion, we shouldn't agree with them, and should actually resist (peacefully). However, we are still to honor and respect them.
Thus, I think that this trend of neglecting to call elected officials by their titles is dangerous. They worked for those titles, after all. And even if we have difficulty respecting the people in the office, we should at least respect the office.
Anyway, that's all I'll be able to post for a bit. Hopefully I'll get to watch that healthcare summit soon and then be able to comment on the actual substance of the matter.
So that means I've been almost totally blind to the outside world--except for the Olympics--for the past week or two.
Oh, yeah, and there was that healthcare "summit." I didn't actually watch it yet (I will sometime relatively soon), so I can't comment like I'd like to right now. However, there is one thing I'd like to point out that's been bothering me for a while.
My mom noticed that the president called everyone at the summit by their first names. No "Senator So-and-so" or anything like that. Personally, after Senator Feinstein's little problem with a high-ranking general calling her "ma'am," I thought at least one person would have a bird.
Not so. Everybody took it in stride, oddly enough.
This kind of rubs me wrong, and not just because it was done by a president with whom I don't agree. It seems that recently, especially under the Obama administration, we've lost respect for elected officials. Have you ever noticed that nobody calls the president by his title? It's either Mr. Obama, Obama, or The President. Nobody I've heard, not even liberals, call him Mr. President or President Obama.
This makes me wonder why. Then I realize that the why doesn't really matter. Those of us who are Christians are called to respect authority. This doesn't mean we have to agree with the authorities; obviously, if the authorities sanction abortion, we shouldn't agree with them, and should actually resist (peacefully). However, we are still to honor and respect them.
Thus, I think that this trend of neglecting to call elected officials by their titles is dangerous. They worked for those titles, after all. And even if we have difficulty respecting the people in the office, we should at least respect the office.
Anyway, that's all I'll be able to post for a bit. Hopefully I'll get to watch that healthcare summit soon and then be able to comment on the actual substance of the matter.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Cold Showers, Trials, and Sin
This post won't be political either. But I'm not sorry... the topic I've been thinking about is much more important than politics, though it may not seem that way at the beginning.
So for the last few nights, I've been staying in a hotel. It's a nice hotel, too; it has comfy beds, a nice flat screen TV, a big shower, free wireless, and all the important stuff like that. All told, it's a pretty posh place (sorry for the alliteration).
Oh, yeah... the shower. Forgive me if I sound princessy, but I really, really dislike cold. No matter how you dice it, cold is Bad.
Anyway (can you tell I'm tired? My thoughts are not particularly lucid...), I went to hop in the shower the first night I stayed at this hotel. Based on my experience with the rest of the hotel, I expected nice, warm water, which would lead to a nice, relaxing shower. I'd been traveling since about 6 that morning. The last thing I wanted was what some crazy people term "a refreshing shower".
Well, God knew that what I needed wasn't probably what I wanted at that moment. I turned on the water, and it came out cold. Not like swimming pool cold or even Atlantic Ocean cold. This water could have been taken directly from the snowbanks outside my room. It was practically glacial.
Needless to say, I'm a sinful human being. Therefore, when I realized that the hot water was going to be lukewarm at best, I got into a bit of a tizzy. It sounded something like this:
"Oh, please. This is a nice hotel. Can't they keep track of their hot water? Honestly, people. It's not that hard to keep the water hot."
After fiddling with the faucet for a while: "For the love of all that's good and holy, what's the matter with this thing?? I don't want to take a cold shower! I get hypothermia at the drop of a hat! I need heat!"
Obviously, I didn't go into this situation intending to post about it on The Food Dish as a study of trials. If I had, it would have sounded something like this:
"Praise God for running water! The people in Haiti would be so happy for this abundance of water. I wonder how the relief efforts are going down there..."
And so on. Unfortunately, I was so focused on myself that the cold seemed all the more immediate.
Then, as I was attempting--unsuccessfully--to rinse the shampoo out of my hair without getting cold water all over the rest of me, I had an epiphany. What if I convinced myself that the water was warm? This resulted in the following mantra.
"It'swarmit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmDARNITit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmBLASTYOU,IT'SWARMit'swarmit'swarmit'swarm."
The success of this method is limited at best. Like the Hindu and Buddhist mantras, it affords only momentary distraction.
After I was done, I leaped out of the shower and dried myself off quickly. It was only after I was sitting in bed watching TV and trying to warm my icy feet that I realized that I shouldn't have been complaining... or even mantra-ing, if that's a word. (Yes, it did take me that long.) Thus, I asked God for forgiveness.
Funny how life works, isn't it? We see how other people sinfully respond to trials and we say, while looking down our noses, "Oh, I would never do that." Well, think again. We all have sinful natures. We do respond in anger or bitterness or impatience or whatever. We all have a huge predisposition for selfishness (which is our fault, by the way). I was angry that my shower wasn't exactly how I thought it should be. My shower, petty as it was, had become the idol of my heart. I wanted that relaxing shower, darnit, and I was going to get it. I was yelling "WHY CAN'T THIS THING WORK?!" when I should have been saying "I'm so sinful that I don't even deserve to be alive. Comparatively, a cold shower isn't that big of a deal."
Well, I guess you see where I was going with that now. (You're probably also thinking, "Wow, this person is really odd," to which I would say, "Yes, you're quite right.") Our responses to trials show the true nature of our hearts. We put on this super-Christian exterior when all the while, we've got sneaky little sins gnawing away at our hearts. I'm not saying that we should just allow these sins to surface at random. That would be problematic, to say the least. What I am saying is that we should deal with these little sins before they become big sins. In my case, I need to deal with the anger/impatience/bitterness flash that resulted in me getting upset with an inanimate object (the faucet) and blaming the nice hotel people who had nothing to do with it. If I don't deal with this (which I am in fact doing), when something big comes along, I'll be ill prepared to overcome it.
So... moral of the story: trials, no matter how stupid, inane, and petty, bring out our true colors. Thus, we need to make sure that our true colors won't defile the name of Christ. If we can remain gracious and joyful, especially in the midst of trials, everybody's lives will be a whole lot easier and Christ's name will gain a good reputation.
So for the last few nights, I've been staying in a hotel. It's a nice hotel, too; it has comfy beds, a nice flat screen TV, a big shower, free wireless, and all the important stuff like that. All told, it's a pretty posh place (sorry for the alliteration).
Oh, yeah... the shower. Forgive me if I sound princessy, but I really, really dislike cold. No matter how you dice it, cold is Bad.
Anyway (can you tell I'm tired? My thoughts are not particularly lucid...), I went to hop in the shower the first night I stayed at this hotel. Based on my experience with the rest of the hotel, I expected nice, warm water, which would lead to a nice, relaxing shower. I'd been traveling since about 6 that morning. The last thing I wanted was what some crazy people term "a refreshing shower".
Well, God knew that what I needed wasn't probably what I wanted at that moment. I turned on the water, and it came out cold. Not like swimming pool cold or even Atlantic Ocean cold. This water could have been taken directly from the snowbanks outside my room. It was practically glacial.
Needless to say, I'm a sinful human being. Therefore, when I realized that the hot water was going to be lukewarm at best, I got into a bit of a tizzy. It sounded something like this:
"Oh, please. This is a nice hotel. Can't they keep track of their hot water? Honestly, people. It's not that hard to keep the water hot."
After fiddling with the faucet for a while: "For the love of all that's good and holy, what's the matter with this thing?? I don't want to take a cold shower! I get hypothermia at the drop of a hat! I need heat!"
Obviously, I didn't go into this situation intending to post about it on The Food Dish as a study of trials. If I had, it would have sounded something like this:
"Praise God for running water! The people in Haiti would be so happy for this abundance of water. I wonder how the relief efforts are going down there..."
And so on. Unfortunately, I was so focused on myself that the cold seemed all the more immediate.
Then, as I was attempting--unsuccessfully--to rinse the shampoo out of my hair without getting cold water all over the rest of me, I had an epiphany. What if I convinced myself that the water was warm? This resulted in the following mantra.
"It'swarmit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmDARNITit'swarmit'swarmit'swarmBLASTYOU,IT'SWARMit'swarmit'swarmit'swarm."
The success of this method is limited at best. Like the Hindu and Buddhist mantras, it affords only momentary distraction.
After I was done, I leaped out of the shower and dried myself off quickly. It was only after I was sitting in bed watching TV and trying to warm my icy feet that I realized that I shouldn't have been complaining... or even mantra-ing, if that's a word. (Yes, it did take me that long.) Thus, I asked God for forgiveness.
Funny how life works, isn't it? We see how other people sinfully respond to trials and we say, while looking down our noses, "Oh, I would never do that." Well, think again. We all have sinful natures. We do respond in anger or bitterness or impatience or whatever. We all have a huge predisposition for selfishness (which is our fault, by the way). I was angry that my shower wasn't exactly how I thought it should be. My shower, petty as it was, had become the idol of my heart. I wanted that relaxing shower, darnit, and I was going to get it. I was yelling "WHY CAN'T THIS THING WORK?!" when I should have been saying "I'm so sinful that I don't even deserve to be alive. Comparatively, a cold shower isn't that big of a deal."
Well, I guess you see where I was going with that now. (You're probably also thinking, "Wow, this person is really odd," to which I would say, "Yes, you're quite right.") Our responses to trials show the true nature of our hearts. We put on this super-Christian exterior when all the while, we've got sneaky little sins gnawing away at our hearts. I'm not saying that we should just allow these sins to surface at random. That would be problematic, to say the least. What I am saying is that we should deal with these little sins before they become big sins. In my case, I need to deal with the anger/impatience/bitterness flash that resulted in me getting upset with an inanimate object (the faucet) and blaming the nice hotel people who had nothing to do with it. If I don't deal with this (which I am in fact doing), when something big comes along, I'll be ill prepared to overcome it.
So... moral of the story: trials, no matter how stupid, inane, and petty, bring out our true colors. Thus, we need to make sure that our true colors won't defile the name of Christ. If we can remain gracious and joyful, especially in the midst of trials, everybody's lives will be a whole lot easier and Christ's name will gain a good reputation.
Friday, January 29, 2010
A "Proper Post"... or so they say...
You thought you were going to read about politics, didn't you? Sorry to disappoint. But I really, really don't feel like commenting on 70 minutes of propaganda... er, I mean, the State of the Union address. I was actually going to do a post on socialism and ambition, but I got bored with it. Therefore, something "novel" is on the way.
And yes, that means novel in all senses of the word. I hope.
Recently I entered a novel-writing competition for homeschoolers. (I'll post an update on that when I have an update to post.) To those of you who know me: yes, I'm finally letting my work see the light of day beyond the Jabberings blog.
Anyhow, I thought I'd post a wee bit of one of the books I submitted. This is not a repeat of any Jabberings post... this is entirely new material, people. So enjoy... if you dare. =P
I posted it from MS Word in Courier... not sure how well that's going to work out... somebody tell me if it's goofy.
As far as the storyline goes, suffice it to say that an assassin (Luke) has just been caught by the U.S. government because he was trying to pick off a reporter. When he was being interrogated, he injected himself with a chemical that knocked him out for a few days and... you'll see. Marie is Luke's boss.
If you know anything about car chases, please tell me. I'm not really sure that I captured the feeling of the car chase in this scene very well.
Anyway, moving on...
----------
Luke woke up in the prison morgue the day after he had injected himself. There were bright lights shining on him and people were murmuring next to him. He realized that he was on the autopsy table. He opened his eyes quickly and sat up with a ramrod-stiff back for shock effect. The coroner, doctors, and nurses stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Where are my clothes?” he asked, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. A nurse fainted, and one of the doctors handed him his clothes with shaking hands. Luke took them and got dressed quickly.
“Now if you wouldn’t mind opening the doors I’d be much obliged,” he continued. None of the doctors moved. Then the coroner shook his head.
“You’re still a prisoner,” he quavered.
“Not exactly. I was clinically dead, you know, so technically I’m no longer a prisoner,” Luke returned, and shouldered his way to the doors. The doctors half-heartedly tried to stop him, but it was no use. He got to the doors and found that they were locked. The doctors were buoyed by this and tried to stop him again, more vehemently, but he had the T-119 out in an instant and he burned out the lock on the doors with it. A doctor reached for the lock, but his hand was blistered by the residual acid and he jumped away, clutching his hand. Luke went through and, on a sardonic whim, waved goodbye to the autopsy room.
Upon exiting, he was confronted by a guard, whom he injected with E-37 and relieved of his weapons and uniform. Luke went out quickly, garbed in police officer gear, and got out of the gate to a well-armored police car that happened to be idling outside. He drove away in it, and none of the other officers seemed to notice.
He didn’t bother to look in the rearview mirror until he was well away from the prison. When he did, he noticed that he was not alone. Another prisoner was sitting in the back. He looked haggard, and there were circles under his eyes.
“What’re you in for?” Luke asked.
“Assault on a federal employee. I didn’t want the bugs in my house and told the installer so a little more forcibly than he liked, I guess. I didn’t hit him that hard—”
“I see. Where are you supposed to be going?”
The prisoner cocked his head and eyed Luke suspiciously
“You’re the escort. You’re supposed to know that, not me,” he frowned. Luke shrugged.
“Guess I don’t. By the way, I’m not exactly an escort. Think of me more as a… as a guardian angel. Maybe demon would be more accurate. I’m not going to take you to another prison. I just got out of that one. I’m not going anywhere near any others,” he said. The prisoner nodded pensively.
“So can you get me out of these handcuffs?” he asked abruptly.
“Sure.” Luke handed him the handcuff keys, and he proceeded to unlock the handcuffs. At that moment Luke happened to look in the rearview mirror again.
“Looks like we’ve got a little company,” he quipped. The prisoner twisted around in his seat, and his face fell.
“They want you to pull over,” he groaned. Luke glared at him in the rearview mirror.
“Do you mind telling me something I don’t know? Buckle up. I’m going to see just how well this thing can go. They picked a fight with the wrong person,” he growled. He contacted Marie through his implant then.
“Can you possibly remote pilot my helicopter to my location? I’m in a bit of a bind and I think it would come in handy,” he declared. Marie was silent for a moment.
“It’s on its way,” she replied at length, and hung up. The prisoner looked at Luke from the backseat.
“Are you crazy, mister? There’s no way anybody can pilot anything to you now. Airspace is completely restricted. No civilian aircraft,” he frowned.
“My stuff isn’t quite civilian,” Luke responded cryptically. “Hang on.”
He said it so conversationally that the prisoner didn’t catch on right away and got thrown against the back of the seat. He clung to the door for dear life. Luke sped around a corner, tires squealing. He had the gas pedal floored. The speedometer climbed higher and higher. On a straight stretch, it got up to 150 miles per hour. A fierce grin crossed Luke’s face. He was going fast and loving it.
“I should’ve been a racecar driver,” he muttered. The prisoner, on the other hand, was hugging the bars and the door alternately.
“Can’t you slow down?” he moaned.
“Not unless you want to get caught,” Luke retorted, and threw the car into a tight curve. He saw city traffic up ahead.
“Looks like we’re going a different route,” he remarked. The prisoner’s eyebrows arched, and he closed his eyes and clutched the door tighter. Luke drove up over the median into the oncoming traffic lanes.
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get us both killed?” the prisoner screeched. Luke turned on the siren and lights and wove back and forth between the honking cars.
“Don’t worry. I’ve done this before.” The prisoner leaned back in his seat, white-faced.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispered breathlessly.
“Oh yeah, I do,” Luke chuckled, and drove the wrong way through a tollbooth. The toll collector yelled at him and shook her fist. Luke only grinned at her and kept going. The tollbooth strained out several of the pursuing cars, so only three were left in the chase.
Then four police motorcycles pulled out in front of Luke, who cursed at them and veered sharply to avoid them. They stayed in front of him, however, forcing him to slow down. He hissed with frustration and slammed his fist into the steering wheel, blasting the horn and startling the police officers. They swerved slightly, which gave Luke just enough time to gun the motor and ram into the back two. They went down on either side of the car, forcing the pursuit cars to slam on their brakes. The other two sped up, but then dropped back beside Luke’s car. They pulled out their guns. Luke ducked and yelled at the prisoner to do the same.
“Your helicopter is waiting at the end of 17th street,” Marie said over Luke’s implant.
“13th… 14th… 15th… 16th…” Luke counted under his breath.
“17th!” he shouted, and spun into the street. The prisoner started saying his rosary. Cars came left and right, honking at Luke and causing massive pileups. Luke raced to the end of the street and leaped out of the car. He had the presence of mind to open the prisoner’s door, and the prisoner jumped out and ran. The helicopter’s shields deactivated just long enough for Luke and the prisoner to get in. The prisoner gawked at it for a nanosecond, but Luke screamed at him to get in, which he did with no further discussion. Luke closed all the doors and started the rotors.
“Come on, come on, come on!” he grumbled. The rotors started turning, and the helicopter lifted off. A police car rocketed by just underneath it as it lifted off, and the car crashed into a building. Luke powered up all the helicopter’s shields so he could go undetected and flew away toward Sigma.
A few minutes into the flight, he got a direction from Marie to go to Camden.
“I think you might find something of interest at 1253 Ravenswood Lane. Be prepared to confront somebody you’ve been chasing. Call Edgar Lockhart at (609) 353-1228. He should be able to tell you what’s going on,” she said, and would say nothing more. Luke did as he was told, and arrived in Camden at precisely the right moment.
Weird, I know. But I would like to learn how to write a car chase. =D
And yes, that means novel in all senses of the word. I hope.
Recently I entered a novel-writing competition for homeschoolers. (I'll post an update on that when I have an update to post.) To those of you who know me: yes, I'm finally letting my work see the light of day beyond the Jabberings blog.
Anyhow, I thought I'd post a wee bit of one of the books I submitted. This is not a repeat of any Jabberings post... this is entirely new material, people. So enjoy... if you dare. =P
I posted it from MS Word in Courier... not sure how well that's going to work out... somebody tell me if it's goofy.
As far as the storyline goes, suffice it to say that an assassin (Luke) has just been caught by the U.S. government because he was trying to pick off a reporter. When he was being interrogated, he injected himself with a chemical that knocked him out for a few days and... you'll see. Marie is Luke's boss.
If you know anything about car chases, please tell me. I'm not really sure that I captured the feeling of the car chase in this scene very well.
Anyway, moving on...
----------
Luke woke up in the prison morgue the day after he had injected himself. There were bright lights shining on him and people were murmuring next to him. He realized that he was on the autopsy table. He opened his eyes quickly and sat up with a ramrod-stiff back for shock effect. The coroner, doctors, and nurses stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Where are my clothes?” he asked, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. A nurse fainted, and one of the doctors handed him his clothes with shaking hands. Luke took them and got dressed quickly.
“Now if you wouldn’t mind opening the doors I’d be much obliged,” he continued. None of the doctors moved. Then the coroner shook his head.
“You’re still a prisoner,” he quavered.
“Not exactly. I was clinically dead, you know, so technically I’m no longer a prisoner,” Luke returned, and shouldered his way to the doors. The doctors half-heartedly tried to stop him, but it was no use. He got to the doors and found that they were locked. The doctors were buoyed by this and tried to stop him again, more vehemently, but he had the T-119 out in an instant and he burned out the lock on the doors with it. A doctor reached for the lock, but his hand was blistered by the residual acid and he jumped away, clutching his hand. Luke went through and, on a sardonic whim, waved goodbye to the autopsy room.
Upon exiting, he was confronted by a guard, whom he injected with E-37 and relieved of his weapons and uniform. Luke went out quickly, garbed in police officer gear, and got out of the gate to a well-armored police car that happened to be idling outside. He drove away in it, and none of the other officers seemed to notice.
He didn’t bother to look in the rearview mirror until he was well away from the prison. When he did, he noticed that he was not alone. Another prisoner was sitting in the back. He looked haggard, and there were circles under his eyes.
“What’re you in for?” Luke asked.
“Assault on a federal employee. I didn’t want the bugs in my house and told the installer so a little more forcibly than he liked, I guess. I didn’t hit him that hard—”
“I see. Where are you supposed to be going?”
The prisoner cocked his head and eyed Luke suspiciously
“You’re the escort. You’re supposed to know that, not me,” he frowned. Luke shrugged.
“Guess I don’t. By the way, I’m not exactly an escort. Think of me more as a… as a guardian angel. Maybe demon would be more accurate. I’m not going to take you to another prison. I just got out of that one. I’m not going anywhere near any others,” he said. The prisoner nodded pensively.
“So can you get me out of these handcuffs?” he asked abruptly.
“Sure.” Luke handed him the handcuff keys, and he proceeded to unlock the handcuffs. At that moment Luke happened to look in the rearview mirror again.
“Looks like we’ve got a little company,” he quipped. The prisoner twisted around in his seat, and his face fell.
“They want you to pull over,” he groaned. Luke glared at him in the rearview mirror.
“Do you mind telling me something I don’t know? Buckle up. I’m going to see just how well this thing can go. They picked a fight with the wrong person,” he growled. He contacted Marie through his implant then.
“Can you possibly remote pilot my helicopter to my location? I’m in a bit of a bind and I think it would come in handy,” he declared. Marie was silent for a moment.
“It’s on its way,” she replied at length, and hung up. The prisoner looked at Luke from the backseat.
“Are you crazy, mister? There’s no way anybody can pilot anything to you now. Airspace is completely restricted. No civilian aircraft,” he frowned.
“My stuff isn’t quite civilian,” Luke responded cryptically. “Hang on.”
He said it so conversationally that the prisoner didn’t catch on right away and got thrown against the back of the seat. He clung to the door for dear life. Luke sped around a corner, tires squealing. He had the gas pedal floored. The speedometer climbed higher and higher. On a straight stretch, it got up to 150 miles per hour. A fierce grin crossed Luke’s face. He was going fast and loving it.
“I should’ve been a racecar driver,” he muttered. The prisoner, on the other hand, was hugging the bars and the door alternately.
“Can’t you slow down?” he moaned.
“Not unless you want to get caught,” Luke retorted, and threw the car into a tight curve. He saw city traffic up ahead.
“Looks like we’re going a different route,” he remarked. The prisoner’s eyebrows arched, and he closed his eyes and clutched the door tighter. Luke drove up over the median into the oncoming traffic lanes.
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get us both killed?” the prisoner screeched. Luke turned on the siren and lights and wove back and forth between the honking cars.
“Don’t worry. I’ve done this before.” The prisoner leaned back in his seat, white-faced.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispered breathlessly.
“Oh yeah, I do,” Luke chuckled, and drove the wrong way through a tollbooth. The toll collector yelled at him and shook her fist. Luke only grinned at her and kept going. The tollbooth strained out several of the pursuing cars, so only three were left in the chase.
Then four police motorcycles pulled out in front of Luke, who cursed at them and veered sharply to avoid them. They stayed in front of him, however, forcing him to slow down. He hissed with frustration and slammed his fist into the steering wheel, blasting the horn and startling the police officers. They swerved slightly, which gave Luke just enough time to gun the motor and ram into the back two. They went down on either side of the car, forcing the pursuit cars to slam on their brakes. The other two sped up, but then dropped back beside Luke’s car. They pulled out their guns. Luke ducked and yelled at the prisoner to do the same.
“Your helicopter is waiting at the end of 17th street,” Marie said over Luke’s implant.
“13th… 14th… 15th… 16th…” Luke counted under his breath.
“17th!” he shouted, and spun into the street. The prisoner started saying his rosary. Cars came left and right, honking at Luke and causing massive pileups. Luke raced to the end of the street and leaped out of the car. He had the presence of mind to open the prisoner’s door, and the prisoner jumped out and ran. The helicopter’s shields deactivated just long enough for Luke and the prisoner to get in. The prisoner gawked at it for a nanosecond, but Luke screamed at him to get in, which he did with no further discussion. Luke closed all the doors and started the rotors.
“Come on, come on, come on!” he grumbled. The rotors started turning, and the helicopter lifted off. A police car rocketed by just underneath it as it lifted off, and the car crashed into a building. Luke powered up all the helicopter’s shields so he could go undetected and flew away toward Sigma.
A few minutes into the flight, he got a direction from Marie to go to Camden.
“I think you might find something of interest at 1253 Ravenswood Lane. Be prepared to confront somebody you’ve been chasing. Call Edgar Lockhart at (609) 353-1228. He should be able to tell you what’s going on,” she said, and would say nothing more. Luke did as he was told, and arrived in Camden at precisely the right moment.
Weird, I know. But I would like to learn how to write a car chase. =D
Monday, January 25, 2010
Will post properly soon...
...but I'm a little busy right now, so anybody who ever reads this will have to wait a day or three before I post something new. Sorry to disappoint. =P
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Equality, Part III
Now… how is banning certain people from receiving certain perks promoting equality? I fail to see why homeschoolers should be excluded from some scholarships. I also fail to see why we dither so much about “race.” So what if people are different colors? Their personal worth is exactly the same. And why do we call it race? There’s only one race: the human race, which we are all a part of. To make delineations between African-American and Caucasian, Native American and Mexican is artificial. We have been told for too long that our skin color matters, so we segregate ourselves without realizing it.
Unfortunately, the government certainly isn’t helping in this department. With all the affirmative action and the special privileges for minorities, the government has only succeeded in making those minorities dependent. It’s probably intentional, which makes it all the more despicable. In essence, the government is telling these people that they can’t make it on their own. According to the government, they need clubs and special rights and the like to be able to do things. What could possibly be more debasing?
I’m not trying to compare my civil privileges—or lack thereof—as a homeschooler with those of minorities; far from it. I know that my situation is far removed from theirs. However, the underlying problem is the same. We, as human beings, are sinful. Therefore, we don’t like people who aren’t like us. We like conformity. We don’t like to stick out from a crowd, and similarly, we don’t like others to stick out from a crowd. When somebody is a little brighter or prettier or faster than we are, we’re envious of them. When someone is a little dimmer or uglier or slower than we are, we look down on them. When someone is just plain different, we ostracize them because… well, they’re different. And being different like that just might be catching. For America's sake, I hope it is.
Unfortunately, the government certainly isn’t helping in this department. With all the affirmative action and the special privileges for minorities, the government has only succeeded in making those minorities dependent. It’s probably intentional, which makes it all the more despicable. In essence, the government is telling these people that they can’t make it on their own. According to the government, they need clubs and special rights and the like to be able to do things. What could possibly be more debasing?
I’m not trying to compare my civil privileges—or lack thereof—as a homeschooler with those of minorities; far from it. I know that my situation is far removed from theirs. However, the underlying problem is the same. We, as human beings, are sinful. Therefore, we don’t like people who aren’t like us. We like conformity. We don’t like to stick out from a crowd, and similarly, we don’t like others to stick out from a crowd. When somebody is a little brighter or prettier or faster than we are, we’re envious of them. When someone is a little dimmer or uglier or slower than we are, we look down on them. When someone is just plain different, we ostracize them because… well, they’re different. And being different like that just might be catching. For America's sake, I hope it is.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Equality, Part II
With freedom naturally comes equality. When I say equality, I’m not talking about everybody having the same everything. I’m talking about equality of personal worth. All human beings have equal worth in the eyes of their Maker. As a person, I am worth neither more nor less than the President of the United States. While he certainly is worth more in relation to position and responsibility, he is a person, just like me. Thus, his personal worth is no greater or less than mine.
However, most people get this sort of equality mixed up with another sort. To use Jacksonian terms, there is equality of opportunity, and there is equality of result. Too often people equate the two things, which are in fact far from the same. Equality of opportunity guarantees the same opportunities to everyone. It does not, however, guarantee that everyone will take advantage of those opportunities equally. Equality of result guarantees that everyone will get exactly the same thing out of their opportunities. Thus, it necessarily offers varying levels of opportunity to different people.
For example: a rich kid from Malibu will be able to make his way in the world easily enough; thus, he doesn’t need help. In fact, he needs to be repressed so he won’t upset the balance of “equality.” On the other hand, a poor kid from Watts won’t have an easy time of it. Thus, he needs a lot of help so he can rise to the level of the rich kid. Further, since the rich kid has so much extra cash, most of it should be taken away from him and given to the poor kid—once the government skims its bit off the top.
Obviously, it’s true that the kid from Malibu will have a much easier time than will the kid from Watts. But does that mean that the government should work to make life easier for the kid from Watts and harder for the kid from Malibu? No. That is the job of kind, caring individuals, not the government. Once the government starts forcing very different (diverse, if you like) people to have the same results, no matter what their opportunities, no one is equal anymore.
However, most people get this sort of equality mixed up with another sort. To use Jacksonian terms, there is equality of opportunity, and there is equality of result. Too often people equate the two things, which are in fact far from the same. Equality of opportunity guarantees the same opportunities to everyone. It does not, however, guarantee that everyone will take advantage of those opportunities equally. Equality of result guarantees that everyone will get exactly the same thing out of their opportunities. Thus, it necessarily offers varying levels of opportunity to different people.
For example: a rich kid from Malibu will be able to make his way in the world easily enough; thus, he doesn’t need help. In fact, he needs to be repressed so he won’t upset the balance of “equality.” On the other hand, a poor kid from Watts won’t have an easy time of it. Thus, he needs a lot of help so he can rise to the level of the rich kid. Further, since the rich kid has so much extra cash, most of it should be taken away from him and given to the poor kid—once the government skims its bit off the top.
Obviously, it’s true that the kid from Malibu will have a much easier time than will the kid from Watts. But does that mean that the government should work to make life easier for the kid from Watts and harder for the kid from Malibu? No. That is the job of kind, caring individuals, not the government. Once the government starts forcing very different (diverse, if you like) people to have the same results, no matter what their opportunities, no one is equal anymore.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Equality, Part I (of 3)
Okay. I’m homeschooled (for a few more months, anyway). Thus, the following will be biased toward homeschoolers/homeschooling.
We talk about equality, right? Everybody wants equality, or so they say. More often than not, the equality people talk about is forced equality (i.e., socialism, forced busing, etc.), which is really not equality at all. Real equality gives equal opportunities to everyone… even the “alternative” people.
For the past hundred-odd years, homeschoolers have been looked upon as different. Admittedly, we are. We prefer not to be fed government propaganda by the public school system. We like to have the freedom to learn what we want to learn, not what some self-styled expert tells us we should. That’s not to say that we don’t do math and English and all that business. We do, usually. And we generally score higher on standardized tests, to boot.
So why are we largely looked upon as some blight? Why do the people in government ban us from certain scholarships and other opportunities? Are we not equal to publicly educated students? Are we somehow inferior? Less human? Less cultured? Less… what? What is the matter with us?
Perhaps the problem is that we are just a little too American. We are an independent breed, we homeschoolers, which was lately an American ideal. Somehow, between the New Deal and Change We Can Believe In, we lost sight of the reason America exists. While I have established that I don’t think the Revolutionary War was “morally right,” this doesn’t negate the fact that America was founded on a desire for freedom. Not conformity. Not bureaucracy. Not socialism. Freedom.
We talk about equality, right? Everybody wants equality, or so they say. More often than not, the equality people talk about is forced equality (i.e., socialism, forced busing, etc.), which is really not equality at all. Real equality gives equal opportunities to everyone… even the “alternative” people.
For the past hundred-odd years, homeschoolers have been looked upon as different. Admittedly, we are. We prefer not to be fed government propaganda by the public school system. We like to have the freedom to learn what we want to learn, not what some self-styled expert tells us we should. That’s not to say that we don’t do math and English and all that business. We do, usually. And we generally score higher on standardized tests, to boot.
So why are we largely looked upon as some blight? Why do the people in government ban us from certain scholarships and other opportunities? Are we not equal to publicly educated students? Are we somehow inferior? Less human? Less cultured? Less… what? What is the matter with us?
Perhaps the problem is that we are just a little too American. We are an independent breed, we homeschoolers, which was lately an American ideal. Somehow, between the New Deal and Change We Can Believe In, we lost sight of the reason America exists. While I have established that I don’t think the Revolutionary War was “morally right,” this doesn’t negate the fact that America was founded on a desire for freedom. Not conformity. Not bureaucracy. Not socialism. Freedom.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
"Morality", Part II
So, to more or less pick up where I left off (though I won’t discuss secession in this post), the logical conclusion to my reasoning is that the Revolutionary War was “morally wrong.” I know a lot of people will look at that and say, “Hold it. Isn’t standing up for what you believe in right? Isn’t fighting for freedom right?” Well, yes. Knowing what we believe and defending it is most certainly right. Fighting for freedom is right also, provided we stay within the law.
Provided. What a terrible word. Because of it, entire empires have fallen.
Anyway, most Christians are familiar with Romans 13:1-2,* which says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” To me, these verses clearly state that we, as Christians, are to defer to any and all authority, insofar as that authority isn’t telling us to disobey God. Thus, for the Americans to fight the British for independence isn’t biblically—or, by extension, morally—acceptable. The British weren’t telling the Americans to disobey God, so to fight the British for independence was unacceptable.
I’ve heard all kinds of counterarguments to Romans 13, ranging from the Machiavellian (“The Americans wouldn’t have gotten freedom without violence”—as if we’re entitled to freedom) to the non sequitur (“Since the rest of Romans 13 says that the authorities will reward good and punish evil, we’re only supposed to submit to authority if it does those things”—even though Romans 13 was written when Nero was the patently ungodly and unfair “governing authority” of Rome).
The non sequitur is almost plausible if we don’t consider any other verses that relate to authority. However, upon further searching, these verses come up. When taken together, they essentially tell us to obey authority without argument. For example: 1 Peter 2:13-17 – “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” Titus 3:1-2 – “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.” Mark 2:17 (and Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21) – “And Jesus said to them [the Jewish spiritual leaders], ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.’ And they were amazed at Him.”
… And so on and so forth.
If I continue in this vein, I’m apt to get preachy. Therefore, to spare my readers, I’ll assume that I’ve established that, according to the Bible, disobeying authority is wrong.
“Now wait a minute,” most people will cry. “What about Martin Luther King, Jr.? And what about Gandhi? Were they wrong to peacefully resist unfair measures?” The key word here is peacefully. In America—and in several other countries—It is legally acceptable to peacefully protest a law that appears unfair. In fact, this action seems to have become somewhat normal. Thus, to join a march or something comparable is not morally wrong (unless it becomes violent). We are remaining subject to the governing authorities while expressing our desire for change of some kind.
None of this is to say that I don’t believe that freedom shouldn’t be protected. We in the United States have a lot of legal freedom, which we should protect with legal measures. Are we really “endowed by our Creator with… liberty,” though? Biblically, no. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we have a right to liberty. Thus, it’s biblically wrong to fight illegally for liberty, since liberty is a privilege, not a right, and since it’s wrong to disobey authority.
I’ve packed a lot into this post, and I’m sorry for its slightly horrendous length. I’ll split the next topic into smaller sections that will hopefully be easier to read. =P
*In all Bible quotations, I’ve used the New American Standard Bible.
Provided. What a terrible word. Because of it, entire empires have fallen.
Anyway, most Christians are familiar with Romans 13:1-2,* which says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” To me, these verses clearly state that we, as Christians, are to defer to any and all authority, insofar as that authority isn’t telling us to disobey God. Thus, for the Americans to fight the British for independence isn’t biblically—or, by extension, morally—acceptable. The British weren’t telling the Americans to disobey God, so to fight the British for independence was unacceptable.
I’ve heard all kinds of counterarguments to Romans 13, ranging from the Machiavellian (“The Americans wouldn’t have gotten freedom without violence”—as if we’re entitled to freedom) to the non sequitur (“Since the rest of Romans 13 says that the authorities will reward good and punish evil, we’re only supposed to submit to authority if it does those things”—even though Romans 13 was written when Nero was the patently ungodly and unfair “governing authority” of Rome).
The non sequitur is almost plausible if we don’t consider any other verses that relate to authority. However, upon further searching, these verses come up. When taken together, they essentially tell us to obey authority without argument. For example: 1 Peter 2:13-17 – “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” Titus 3:1-2 – “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.” Mark 2:17 (and Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21) – “And Jesus said to them [the Jewish spiritual leaders], ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.’ And they were amazed at Him.”
… And so on and so forth.
If I continue in this vein, I’m apt to get preachy. Therefore, to spare my readers, I’ll assume that I’ve established that, according to the Bible, disobeying authority is wrong.
“Now wait a minute,” most people will cry. “What about Martin Luther King, Jr.? And what about Gandhi? Were they wrong to peacefully resist unfair measures?” The key word here is peacefully. In America—and in several other countries—It is legally acceptable to peacefully protest a law that appears unfair. In fact, this action seems to have become somewhat normal. Thus, to join a march or something comparable is not morally wrong (unless it becomes violent). We are remaining subject to the governing authorities while expressing our desire for change of some kind.
None of this is to say that I don’t believe that freedom shouldn’t be protected. We in the United States have a lot of legal freedom, which we should protect with legal measures. Are we really “endowed by our Creator with… liberty,” though? Biblically, no. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we have a right to liberty. Thus, it’s biblically wrong to fight illegally for liberty, since liberty is a privilege, not a right, and since it’s wrong to disobey authority.
I’ve packed a lot into this post, and I’m sorry for its slightly horrendous length. I’ll split the next topic into smaller sections that will hopefully be easier to read. =P
*In all Bible quotations, I’ve used the New American Standard Bible.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
What were we expecting...
...when we elected the current president? Really. Seriously. What were we expecting?
We were told we'd get change (which is an unfortunate choice of words, since it could be construed to refer to income tax refunds), and I think we've gotten it. The Senate has passed one of the most socialistic bills in American history. Several states are griping about it and waving secession around like a gun.
Is that gun loaded, though? Would any state have the audacity to actually secede? Further, would that be legal and/or moral? And are legal and moral (i.e., biblically acceptable) the same thing?
I've been plagued with these questions for some time now. Most every time I think about them, I end up tying myself in knots and staring blankly at my computer screen for several minutes. Primarily, the question of moral versus legal is the one that really twists my brain--and feelings--around. You see, if it isn't moral to secede, then it wasn't moral for the Founding Fathers to fight the Revolutionary War, and if that wasn't moral, then...
Because I'm a bit pressed for time, you'll have to wait for my next post to see the conclusion of that line of reasoning. How's that for a cliffhanger? =P
We were told we'd get change (which is an unfortunate choice of words, since it could be construed to refer to income tax refunds), and I think we've gotten it. The Senate has passed one of the most socialistic bills in American history. Several states are griping about it and waving secession around like a gun.
Is that gun loaded, though? Would any state have the audacity to actually secede? Further, would that be legal and/or moral? And are legal and moral (i.e., biblically acceptable) the same thing?
I've been plagued with these questions for some time now. Most every time I think about them, I end up tying myself in knots and staring blankly at my computer screen for several minutes. Primarily, the question of moral versus legal is the one that really twists my brain--and feelings--around. You see, if it isn't moral to secede, then it wasn't moral for the Founding Fathers to fight the Revolutionary War, and if that wasn't moral, then...
Because I'm a bit pressed for time, you'll have to wait for my next post to see the conclusion of that line of reasoning. How's that for a cliffhanger? =P
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