I had a very interesting conversation with my family while driving around Atlanta a few days ago, and I just remembered that I wanted to post about it.
My immediate family members are all practicing Catholics. My two younger brothers and I went to a convent-grade school/junior high, a Franciscan high school, and my middle brother and I are currently attending a Catholic college. I've studied my faith, its history and traditions, and the Bible fairly extensively. I'm certainly not the best Christian or Catholic ever to walk the face of the planet...but I know my stuff and I practice what I preach.
However, my family also raised me to use my brain...this sometimes can catch my mother off guard when it comes to matters of faith. She is a wonderful woman and easily one of the most truly Christian women I have ever or will ever know.
I have begun to label myself a Deist Catholic. Deism is a philosophical interpretation of God and faith applied to religion...Deism.com defines deism as such:
Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.
While I don't buy into the deist philosophy one hundred percent, I very much appreciate its emphasis on using one's own brain to figure things out.
With the background set up now, I can get to the conversation.
My mother is intrigued by miracle stories, both modern and Biblical. I...am skeptical. The topic of conversation in the car on this particular day was the multiplying of loaves and fish (...the story would have first appeared in Mark, as it was the earliest Gospel written, so I'm going to refer to this particular version...Chapter 6 verses 34-44). Mark writes that Jesus went out to a deserted place; this means of course that he probably was out in the desert. Some 5,000 people followed him in the hopes that he would preach to them.
I don't even like to drive around for work each day without a bottle of water and an apple in the car...the idea that 5,000 people picked up and ran headfirst into the desert and then many hours later said to themselves, "CRAP! We didn't bring any food!" is one hundred percent ridiculous. The solution is somewhat less miraculous and awe-inspiring but just as important to Jesus' message.
When the people in the front of the crowd with food saw that Jesus was instructing his Apostles to share their food with those people who maybe hadn't realized how long they would be outside and hadn't brought enough sustenance, they acted in accordance with the instructions and began to pass around their own food. These acts of goodwill made their way among all the people present until all 5,000 people had enough to eat. I mean...they followed him to learn, right? The miracle story isn't about Jesus' power...it's about his revealing man's capacity and willingness to help himself, which is a great message!
My mom did concede this particular argument to me, which is always nice.
I won't claim to have a realistic interpretation of every miracle story or a logical explanation for every religious phenomena. And I'm certainly not an authority on all things Christian...but I would implore all Christians to think for themselves once in a while. God gave you a brain so you could use it.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Cosmic Rays
A new study has been published that says the sun no longer causes warming...
Ok, that's not exactly a fair statement...but it is fishy-sounding
"This paper re-enforces the fact that the warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity"
- Dr Piers Forster
You'll have to read it to get the full idea, but essentially, these scientists have taken measurements of the sun's activity over the past 30 years or so, and have concluded that the activity has no effects on modern warming...
If we can't predict the weather on a daily basis, how can we possibly figure this garbage out?
Bah...that's all I've got.
Peace out.
Ok, that's not exactly a fair statement...but it is fishy-sounding
"This paper re-enforces the fact that the warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity"
- Dr Piers Forster
You'll have to read it to get the full idea, but essentially, these scientists have taken measurements of the sun's activity over the past 30 years or so, and have concluded that the activity has no effects on modern warming...
If we can't predict the weather on a daily basis, how can we possibly figure this garbage out?
Bah...that's all I've got.
Peace out.
He's Alive
Hey everyone.
It has been too long. I hope you all had a magnificent Fourth of July.
I've been up to quite a bit lately. I spent the last week in Atlanta, GA for a wedding. I also wanted to spend some time with my mother's side of the family, as I will not get to see a lot of them for a significant amount of time. While in Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to see two very excellent movies, Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers.
Both are full of action and witty dialog. I've seen both three times already...so trust me, they are worth the price of admission.
Die Hard focuses once again on Bruce Willis' character, Detective John McClane. Both Willis and McClane are starting to show their ages...but that's ok. It makes the action scenes, most of which are of course completely over the top, even more badass...The film is as full of hilarious dialog as it is explosions...it is as good as the first movie, if not better.
Transfomers pays perfect homage to the television series. It is goofy, unbelievable, and chock full of ridiculous action. After seeing this film, my cousins and I got into our car and proceeded to look for the "turn into a giant robot button." I guarantee you'll want to do the same.
I've also been spending a lot of time with my psp lately. Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls is a Gameboy Advance title (which I own legally for that particular system) that I have been playing on my psp. It's a remake of both FF1 and 2...tons of stuff to do, simple and enjoyable combat system...but way too many random battles. It's almost enough to detract from the game.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
It has been too long. I hope you all had a magnificent Fourth of July.
I've been up to quite a bit lately. I spent the last week in Atlanta, GA for a wedding. I also wanted to spend some time with my mother's side of the family, as I will not get to see a lot of them for a significant amount of time. While in Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to see two very excellent movies, Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers.
Both are full of action and witty dialog. I've seen both three times already...so trust me, they are worth the price of admission.
Die Hard focuses once again on Bruce Willis' character, Detective John McClane. Both Willis and McClane are starting to show their ages...but that's ok. It makes the action scenes, most of which are of course completely over the top, even more badass...The film is as full of hilarious dialog as it is explosions...it is as good as the first movie, if not better.
Transfomers pays perfect homage to the television series. It is goofy, unbelievable, and chock full of ridiculous action. After seeing this film, my cousins and I got into our car and proceeded to look for the "turn into a giant robot button." I guarantee you'll want to do the same.
I've also been spending a lot of time with my psp lately. Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls is a Gameboy Advance title (which I own legally for that particular system) that I have been playing on my psp. It's a remake of both FF1 and 2...tons of stuff to do, simple and enjoyable combat system...but way too many random battles. It's almost enough to detract from the game.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Results
I passed! I scored very well, and was exceptionally pleased with the results. I won't receive my language until just prior to BTC is over, but I can live with that. All four of us that took it on Friday passed, which was nice.
After the test, I spent some time going over my contract and the Delayed Enlistment Program rules with my recruiter. Apparently, there's going to be a class-of-sorts every couple of Saturdays once school starts up. That'll be nice...good refreshers for the material I've got to start studying...alphabet, marching, drill, rank structure...thanks to ROTC, I know a good chunk of it already, but practice will certainly make it more clear and in the forefront of my memory.
So the last hurdle, other than BCT and DLI of course, will be the security clearance check, which ought to be no problem...I'm a good kid with a clean record, heh.
That's all for tonight.
Peace out.
After the test, I spent some time going over my contract and the Delayed Enlistment Program rules with my recruiter. Apparently, there's going to be a class-of-sorts every couple of Saturdays once school starts up. That'll be nice...good refreshers for the material I've got to start studying...alphabet, marching, drill, rank structure...thanks to ROTC, I know a good chunk of it already, but practice will certainly make it more clear and in the forefront of my memory.
So the last hurdle, other than BCT and DLI of course, will be the security clearance check, which ought to be no problem...I'm a good kid with a clean record, heh.
That's all for tonight.
Peace out.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
DLAB
I'm taking the Defense Language Aptitude Battery in the morning...this will determine what languages I qualify to learn out in Monterey...
I need to score a 95 out of 176...
According to About.com not a whole lot of people who take it actually pass the DLAB...I won't lie and say I'm not nervous, but I am pretty confident I will do ok...I hope, heh.
The only part that really concerns me is the audio-rules part...the most difficult part.
When I return, I'll post a full update of the results. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
I need to score a 95 out of 176...
According to About.com not a whole lot of people who take it actually pass the DLAB...I won't lie and say I'm not nervous, but I am pretty confident I will do ok...I hope, heh.
The only part that really concerns me is the audio-rules part...the most difficult part.
When I return, I'll post a full update of the results. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day
It's a scorcher here today...thank goodness for air conditioning and cool-basements.
This week, I was fortunate enough to be able to get to two baseball games in two days! I'm not an enormous sports fan, but who in their right mind would pass up opportunities to attend games of any kind? Certainly not this guy.
At yesterday's game, to celebrate the Army's anniversary, a group of young men and women received their oath of enlistment on the field before the game in front of the 30,000+ people in attendance. How cool is that? All I got was a tiny room with some flags, heh. Good for them.
Some unexpected news coming out of the BBC today. Apparently, the Iranian government has been cracking down on political activism among its university-level students and professors. According to the article, "29 have been arrested in the last two months for political activism and 207 were taken before disciplinary committees in the last 40 days alone." Under the previous regime, only four were taken per month on average.
The campaign to rid the schools of "liberal" ideas and practices all began in December when the students of Amirkabir University called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a dictator to his face.
I will never understand why prominent liberal groups in America don't take a strong, vocal stance against radical Islam and oppressive regimes like Iran's current government. These people enforce laws based entirely on one interpretation of one religion...where's the ACLU when you actually need it? If these people truly stood by their principles, we'd have a lot more support for our current leaders' policies in the Middle East.
Maybe things are changing for the better in the media...the story did come out of the BBC afterall.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
This week, I was fortunate enough to be able to get to two baseball games in two days! I'm not an enormous sports fan, but who in their right mind would pass up opportunities to attend games of any kind? Certainly not this guy.
At yesterday's game, to celebrate the Army's anniversary, a group of young men and women received their oath of enlistment on the field before the game in front of the 30,000+ people in attendance. How cool is that? All I got was a tiny room with some flags, heh. Good for them.
Some unexpected news coming out of the BBC today. Apparently, the Iranian government has been cracking down on political activism among its university-level students and professors. According to the article, "29 have been arrested in the last two months for political activism and 207 were taken before disciplinary committees in the last 40 days alone." Under the previous regime, only four were taken per month on average.
The campaign to rid the schools of "liberal" ideas and practices all began in December when the students of Amirkabir University called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a dictator to his face.
I will never understand why prominent liberal groups in America don't take a strong, vocal stance against radical Islam and oppressive regimes like Iran's current government. These people enforce laws based entirely on one interpretation of one religion...where's the ACLU when you actually need it? If these people truly stood by their principles, we'd have a lot more support for our current leaders' policies in the Middle East.
Maybe things are changing for the better in the media...the story did come out of the BBC afterall.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Thank You for Smoking
A brilliant movie...
One of my room mates introduced me to the film over Spring Break while we were in Florida. A few friends and I came across it tonight in a local video store and decided to give it another watch. It was even more fun the second time around.
Thank You for Smoking follows Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for Big Tobacco, on his journey to further his industry's agenda while coming to grips with his role as a father. Aaron Eckhart is marvelous as the silver-tongued hero of the smoking industry. You will laugh until your sides split...and not once does it feel like an anti or pro-smoking advertisement...no one is safe! Rather than radically defending one side or the other, it presents the issues as they are in real life, and then stands by its message of free choice, allowing the viewer to make his or her own decisions.
I also saw Knocked Up last night. This movie is also wonderful. I went into the experience with fairly low expectations...a movie about an unwanted pregnancy has to be about abortion...well, much to my surprise and delight, the issue only arose twice for less than a minute each time.
Knocked Up addresses parental responsibility and facing the consequences of the choices we make, for better or worse. The chemistry among the cast members is marvelous, and it was fantastically written. Language and adult-content make it fairly un-kid-friendly, but for anyone old enough looking for a good way to spend an evening, go and see this one.
In other news, it's nice to see France's conservatives are doing so well in the elections, as it's been a fairly uphill battle for them to this point.
One more thing...This is older news, but if you haven't seen Global Warming: The Great Swindle, watch this series of videos:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
I think the best part of this video comes in the form of the debates that spring up in the comments below...really...check it out. You can read about people like srfurchick88 who believe that (and I quote) "...whatever the FACTS are might be different or similar to my point of view, but no matter wat the facts are it still does not change my POINT OF VIEW.. I BELIEV WHAT I BELIEVE."
Debate needs to be reintroduced into mainstream education. Way too many people today confuse fact with opinion (or "POINT OF VIEW" as srfurchick88 might call it). The fact (pun intended) of the matter is that in the end, science is what it is...and politics, public opinion, and political agendas won't be able to change anything.
In other words, to reference yesterday's posting, no matter how many pretty pictures you paint of a velociraptor munching lettuce, given the chance, one would still eat your face.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
One of my room mates introduced me to the film over Spring Break while we were in Florida. A few friends and I came across it tonight in a local video store and decided to give it another watch. It was even more fun the second time around.
Thank You for Smoking follows Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for Big Tobacco, on his journey to further his industry's agenda while coming to grips with his role as a father. Aaron Eckhart is marvelous as the silver-tongued hero of the smoking industry. You will laugh until your sides split...and not once does it feel like an anti or pro-smoking advertisement...no one is safe! Rather than radically defending one side or the other, it presents the issues as they are in real life, and then stands by its message of free choice, allowing the viewer to make his or her own decisions.
I also saw Knocked Up last night. This movie is also wonderful. I went into the experience with fairly low expectations...a movie about an unwanted pregnancy has to be about abortion...well, much to my surprise and delight, the issue only arose twice for less than a minute each time.
Knocked Up addresses parental responsibility and facing the consequences of the choices we make, for better or worse. The chemistry among the cast members is marvelous, and it was fantastically written. Language and adult-content make it fairly un-kid-friendly, but for anyone old enough looking for a good way to spend an evening, go and see this one.
In other news, it's nice to see France's conservatives are doing so well in the elections, as it's been a fairly uphill battle for them to this point.
One more thing...This is older news, but if you haven't seen Global Warming: The Great Swindle, watch this series of videos:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
I think the best part of this video comes in the form of the debates that spring up in the comments below...really...check it out. You can read about people like srfurchick88 who believe that (and I quote) "...whatever the FACTS are might be different or similar to my point of view, but no matter wat the facts are it still does not change my POINT OF VIEW.. I BELIEV WHAT I BELIEVE."
Debate needs to be reintroduced into mainstream education. Way too many people today confuse fact with opinion (or "POINT OF VIEW" as srfurchick88 might call it). The fact (pun intended) of the matter is that in the end, science is what it is...and politics, public opinion, and political agendas won't be able to change anything.
In other words, to reference yesterday's posting, no matter how many pretty pictures you paint of a velociraptor munching lettuce, given the chance, one would still eat your face.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
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