I'd just like to tell you one thing before I move on. The previous two posts had been on my mind for years. I kept trying to find the time to write them and finally I just made myself sit down and do it. I stayed in Chattanooga Friday night after Chris' football game and finished part 2 in the hotel room Saturday morning. After I posted it, it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I've never experienced anything like that before.
Anyway, I bought a new toy last week, I don't know how to use it completely yet, but what I do know about it is pretty cool.
As many of you know, I've started studying music again. What I'm studying is not written music, it is more music theory and improvisation. The lesson last week flew by, it seemed like I sat down to the piano and then suddenly the teacher was looking at his watch saying it was time to go. What we are doing is basically taking a simple song (specifically Amazing Grace) and applying chord substitution techniques and things like that to make it different and more interesting, its pretty cool.
Anyway, the teacher sat down to play for a second and he played something that was really cool, it went by so fast that I didn't catch specifically what he did, and by the time I had a chance to ask him, I couldn't remember what it sounded like and he couldn't remember what he did. (Improvisation is like that)
Anyway, I decided that I needed to find someway to record the lesson. I went to Best Buy to buy a pocket recorder (like a digital dictation machine) Best Buy has begun selling music equipment at some locations, so obviously I had to go see what they had. I found my new toy...It is a Boss Micro BR Digital Recorder. This is an amazing device. Is is a four track digital recorder, it has a built in microphone, line in and guitar inputs. It has built in drum patterns and effects. It will play MP3 files at any speed. (This is valuable if a musician is studying a piece of music and wants to slow it down to learn passages that are played too fast to learn at full speed.)
It can mix down recordings to an MP3 or WAV file that can be downloaded to a computer to be placed on a web site or put on a music player. It can run on batteries or AC power (it goes through batteries pretty quickly). But it is about the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Perfect for songwriters or musicians that want to use it for capturing ideas, learning songs or practice.
When I get a chance (and have some time to get my chops back) I may post some music from it. This is going to be fun.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Do we really understand the world we live in (Part 2)
Years ago, I can remember watching a Saturday Night Live episode (I think it was SNL, I don't know for sure) but anyway, Robin Williams was on the show and was doing his thing. All of a sudden, he picked up a picture of Albert Einstein, he took on a serious tone and said "Look at those eyes, the lights are on and everyone's home".
I told a friend at work about that recently, she asked "Why did he say that?"
At the time Robin Williams did that, I didn't understand, not sure that I do now, but my guess is because Albert Einstein completely changed our understanding of the world we live in.
When Einstein was alive, there was a lot of work going on by many scientists in trying to understand things like electricity, magnetism, nuclear forces, gravity and light. These are the basic forces that our world operates under.
Light was a particularly interesting subject. In many ways, light behaves like sound it is a 'wave' that is transmitted, there is no physical particle of sound. The problem though, is that a wave must have a medium. Without water, there is no such thing as a wave in the ocean. Without air (or some other medium such as water) there is no sound. The problem with light was that it travels through the vacuum of outer space.
Scientists at the time theorized that light was a wave and therefore, there had to be a medium, we just didn't know what that medium was. They referred to it as the 'ether' and spent a lot of time and energy trying to find it. All of these experiments led to an interesting observation. No matter what they did, the speed of light was always the same. Let me take a stab at demonstrating.
Pardon my crude diagram, but imagine you are looking at two people from above. They are standing next to each other and 'Blue' throws a ball at a target that is 45 ft away. He can throw the ball so that it travels 90 ft in a sec (about 60 miles per hour). Both guys see the ball as traveling 90 ft/sec and it take half a second to travel the 45 ft to the target.
Now picture the same scenario, with a change, 'Blue' and the target are on a platform (picture they are on a train)that is traveling by at 60 miles/hr. 'Red' is watching from the ground. 'Blue' throws the ball at the target at the same speed. From his perspective, the ball has traveled the same 45 feet. But think about what 'Red' sees. Since the whole thing is passing by at 60 miles an hour, he sees the ball as traveling 180 ft/sec and the ball has traveled 90 feet instead of 45.
This is referred to as the concept of 'Relativity'. What you see and how you perceive things is based on your particular perspective. But what would happen if the ball had a speed limit that it couldn't break?
See, Einstein started thinking about the fact that the speed of light was the same no matter what they did during the experiments, and they did a lot. And he came up with the notion that "The speed of light is the same for all observers"
Now picture in diagram two that instead of throwing a ball, 'Blue' has a flashlight and turned it on. 'Red' and 'Blue' are (somehow) able to watch the light and tell you how fast it is going. 'Blue' says "it's going the speed of light" (big number), Red looks at it and says "you're right, it's going the speed of light". But hey wait just a second 'Red', it's going the speed of light plus 90 ft/sec right? Nope, it's going the speed of light. See, light has a speed limit, it travels at its speed limit all of the time. You can't add to it, it can't go any faster.
This fact has some huge implications.
Einstein was thinking about it and started thinking about questions like "What happened to the 90 ft/sec we just tried to add to the speed of light?" Well, the conclusion he came to was pretty startling. Time and space are adjusted to make up the difference. This was the basis of The Theory of Special Relativity.
This gets pretty difficult to explain, but work with me here. Let's assume that instead of going 60 miles/hour, 'Blue's' platform is traveling much much faster. And, let's say that 'Red' and 'Blue' have watches on and were able to see each other's watches (I know it's hard, work with me) When 'Red' looks at 'Blue's' watch, he sees it as being slower than his own. What's weird is, when 'Blue' looks at 'Red's' watch, he sees 'Red's' watching as being slower than his own. The greater the difference in speed between them, the bigger the difference in their watches would be.
It is at this point, you are saying, Donnie hasn't seen his marbles in a long long time. Just in case you think I'm making this up, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity. Einstein, changed our perception of the world we live in. His theory of Special Relativity has been verified by experiments. If you don't believe me, just google around on 'Special Relativity' and 'Time Dilation' stuff like that.
Ok, so I'll get to the point. Many times, religious folks look at the Bible where God says "In the first day I did this, in the second day I did that" and scientists look at the apparent age of the earth and say that Christians are nuts.
Was God speaking in Relativistic terms? I have no idea. When the Bible says "A thousand years is like a day" did he mean it literally, again, I have no idea. What I am saying is that time is not a physical constant in our universe. Christians need to include that into their interpretation of the Bible.
Holding it all together
I know that this is getting incredibly long, but like I told you, I've been thinking about this for a long time. In part one, I mentioned that a physics teacher told me about a verse in the Bible that really caught my attention. If I haven't lost you yet, please stay with me just a bit longer.
I mentioned that in Einstein's day, scientists were studying gravity, nuclear mechanic, electricity and magnetism. In simple terms, these are the forces that 'hold are world together'. I won't bore you with equations and stuff, but if you look at these forces mathematically, they are all very very similar, but different. Einstein theorized that these forces were all manifestations of a single force that exists. He called this his Unified Field Theory. Back in 1820, a big step toward unifying everything was made by James Clerk Maxwell. Prior to his time, magnetism and electricity were thought to be different. He found that magnets could be used to produce electricity and that electricity produced magnetism. Thus we now have the electromagnetic theory (and generators and hydroelectric dams).
Einstein was unable to find the Unified Field. Scientists are still working on it. Check out the Theory of Everything Scientists are working hard to formulate some explanation for how our world is held together.
Colossians 1 has a very interesting verse where Paul talks about the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. Here is the verse that is so interesting....
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Are scientists searching for the connection between our physical world and the spiritual? I don't know, but, in my humble opinion, I think they are. Like I said, if we are all searching for the truth, we will wind up at the same place...
P.S. When I finished this, I thought about a similar post that I wrote a year or so ago. If you are interested please read A Geek Finds God?
I told a friend at work about that recently, she asked "Why did he say that?"
At the time Robin Williams did that, I didn't understand, not sure that I do now, but my guess is because Albert Einstein completely changed our understanding of the world we live in.
When Einstein was alive, there was a lot of work going on by many scientists in trying to understand things like electricity, magnetism, nuclear forces, gravity and light. These are the basic forces that our world operates under.
Light was a particularly interesting subject. In many ways, light behaves like sound it is a 'wave' that is transmitted, there is no physical particle of sound. The problem though, is that a wave must have a medium. Without water, there is no such thing as a wave in the ocean. Without air (or some other medium such as water) there is no sound. The problem with light was that it travels through the vacuum of outer space.
Scientists at the time theorized that light was a wave and therefore, there had to be a medium, we just didn't know what that medium was. They referred to it as the 'ether' and spent a lot of time and energy trying to find it. All of these experiments led to an interesting observation. No matter what they did, the speed of light was always the same. Let me take a stab at demonstrating.
Pardon my crude diagram, but imagine you are looking at two people from above. They are standing next to each other and 'Blue' throws a ball at a target that is 45 ft away. He can throw the ball so that it travels 90 ft in a sec (about 60 miles per hour). Both guys see the ball as traveling 90 ft/sec and it take half a second to travel the 45 ft to the target.
Now picture the same scenario, with a change, 'Blue' and the target are on a platform (picture they are on a train)that is traveling by at 60 miles/hr. 'Red' is watching from the ground. 'Blue' throws the ball at the target at the same speed. From his perspective, the ball has traveled the same 45 feet. But think about what 'Red' sees. Since the whole thing is passing by at 60 miles an hour, he sees the ball as traveling 180 ft/sec and the ball has traveled 90 feet instead of 45.
This is referred to as the concept of 'Relativity'. What you see and how you perceive things is based on your particular perspective. But what would happen if the ball had a speed limit that it couldn't break?
See, Einstein started thinking about the fact that the speed of light was the same no matter what they did during the experiments, and they did a lot. And he came up with the notion that "The speed of light is the same for all observers"
Now picture in diagram two that instead of throwing a ball, 'Blue' has a flashlight and turned it on. 'Red' and 'Blue' are (somehow) able to watch the light and tell you how fast it is going. 'Blue' says "it's going the speed of light" (big number), Red looks at it and says "you're right, it's going the speed of light". But hey wait just a second 'Red', it's going the speed of light plus 90 ft/sec right? Nope, it's going the speed of light. See, light has a speed limit, it travels at its speed limit all of the time. You can't add to it, it can't go any faster.
This fact has some huge implications.
Einstein was thinking about it and started thinking about questions like "What happened to the 90 ft/sec we just tried to add to the speed of light?" Well, the conclusion he came to was pretty startling. Time and space are adjusted to make up the difference. This was the basis of The Theory of Special Relativity.
This gets pretty difficult to explain, but work with me here. Let's assume that instead of going 60 miles/hour, 'Blue's' platform is traveling much much faster. And, let's say that 'Red' and 'Blue' have watches on and were able to see each other's watches (I know it's hard, work with me) When 'Red' looks at 'Blue's' watch, he sees it as being slower than his own. What's weird is, when 'Blue' looks at 'Red's' watch, he sees 'Red's' watching as being slower than his own. The greater the difference in speed between them, the bigger the difference in their watches would be.
It is at this point, you are saying, Donnie hasn't seen his marbles in a long long time. Just in case you think I'm making this up, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity. Einstein, changed our perception of the world we live in. His theory of Special Relativity has been verified by experiments. If you don't believe me, just google around on 'Special Relativity' and 'Time Dilation' stuff like that.
Ok, so I'll get to the point. Many times, religious folks look at the Bible where God says "In the first day I did this, in the second day I did that" and scientists look at the apparent age of the earth and say that Christians are nuts.
Was God speaking in Relativistic terms? I have no idea. When the Bible says "A thousand years is like a day" did he mean it literally, again, I have no idea. What I am saying is that time is not a physical constant in our universe. Christians need to include that into their interpretation of the Bible.
Holding it all together
I know that this is getting incredibly long, but like I told you, I've been thinking about this for a long time. In part one, I mentioned that a physics teacher told me about a verse in the Bible that really caught my attention. If I haven't lost you yet, please stay with me just a bit longer.
I mentioned that in Einstein's day, scientists were studying gravity, nuclear mechanic, electricity and magnetism. In simple terms, these are the forces that 'hold are world together'. I won't bore you with equations and stuff, but if you look at these forces mathematically, they are all very very similar, but different. Einstein theorized that these forces were all manifestations of a single force that exists. He called this his Unified Field Theory. Back in 1820, a big step toward unifying everything was made by James Clerk Maxwell. Prior to his time, magnetism and electricity were thought to be different. He found that magnets could be used to produce electricity and that electricity produced magnetism. Thus we now have the electromagnetic theory (and generators and hydroelectric dams).
Einstein was unable to find the Unified Field. Scientists are still working on it. Check out the Theory of Everything Scientists are working hard to formulate some explanation for how our world is held together.
Colossians 1 has a very interesting verse where Paul talks about the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. Here is the verse that is so interesting....
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Are scientists searching for the connection between our physical world and the spiritual? I don't know, but, in my humble opinion, I think they are. Like I said, if we are all searching for the truth, we will wind up at the same place...
P.S. When I finished this, I thought about a similar post that I wrote a year or so ago. If you are interested please read A Geek Finds God?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Do we really understand the world that we live in? (Part 1)
This is one of those blog posts that has been brewing for a long time. I'm even more excited about it because today I decided to break it up into two pieces. (My first multiple segment post)
To get your attention, I'll ask a science question.
If a bullet is fired from a gun (parallel to the ground), and a second bullet is dropped from the same height, which bullet will hit the ground first? (Assuming the ground is perfectly level and the bullet fired from the gun doesn't hit anything first)
If you (like I) you watched Bugs Bunny as a kid, you might think that bullet fired from a gun would travel at a level height until it ran out of speed, and then fall to the ground. (A lot of stuff in Bugs Bunny was really funny on a scientific level, but I digress). The fact of the matter is, the bullets will hit the ground at the same time. The path of a bullet, if allowed to travel unobstructed, is actually a curve, not a straight line.
In college, I had to study a lot of physics and a lot of math. I was very fortunate because my first job was in the field of Medical Physics, so I actually got to use some mathematics and physics in real life, and I have an appreciation for science and scientists. I am by no means an expert, but at some level I have at least a basic understanding.
I've been troubled many times because many people think science and religion are at odds with one another. One of my long standing beliefs has been that if scientists and religious folks are honestly seeking truth....then they will both arrive at the same conclusion. Many times I watch for scientific breakthroughs that confirm statements that are in the Bible. A few years ago, I had a high school physics teacher reference a verse in the Bible that amazed me. I'll tell you the verse and why it is so amazing in a minute, but its going to take some discussion to get there.
The reason that the bullets hit the ground at the same time is because of gravity. Under Newton's Theory of Gravity, it can be described mathematically as
The m1 and m2 are the masses of the two object being studied, r is the distance between them and G is the gravitational constant. (Sorry, had to get geeky there for a second.) In the case of a bullet, m1 might be the mass of the bullet, m2 would be the mass of the earth, r would be the height that the bullet was at when it started. As you might notice, the fact that the bullet is traveling at a high rate of speed has no effect in the equation.
The fact that the two bullets hit the ground at the same time surprises many folks. (I know a certain middle school science teacher that subscribes to the Bugs Bunny theory of gravity.) I was explaining this to my son and I demonstrated it by doing this simple little experiment.
Take two tennis balls, or any other kind of ball that wont hurt anything. Set one on a table, hold the other at the same height as the table. Push the ball on the table off as hard as you want to, but try to drop the one in your hand at the moment the first one leaves the table. You will find that no matter how hard you push, the balls will hit the floor at the same time.
Newton figured that out a long time ago. He understood the world he lived in....as far as he knew. The next post will expand on that just a touch....
To get your attention, I'll ask a science question.
If a bullet is fired from a gun (parallel to the ground), and a second bullet is dropped from the same height, which bullet will hit the ground first? (Assuming the ground is perfectly level and the bullet fired from the gun doesn't hit anything first)
If you (like I) you watched Bugs Bunny as a kid, you might think that bullet fired from a gun would travel at a level height until it ran out of speed, and then fall to the ground. (A lot of stuff in Bugs Bunny was really funny on a scientific level, but I digress). The fact of the matter is, the bullets will hit the ground at the same time. The path of a bullet, if allowed to travel unobstructed, is actually a curve, not a straight line.
In college, I had to study a lot of physics and a lot of math. I was very fortunate because my first job was in the field of Medical Physics, so I actually got to use some mathematics and physics in real life, and I have an appreciation for science and scientists. I am by no means an expert, but at some level I have at least a basic understanding.
I've been troubled many times because many people think science and religion are at odds with one another. One of my long standing beliefs has been that if scientists and religious folks are honestly seeking truth....then they will both arrive at the same conclusion. Many times I watch for scientific breakthroughs that confirm statements that are in the Bible. A few years ago, I had a high school physics teacher reference a verse in the Bible that amazed me. I'll tell you the verse and why it is so amazing in a minute, but its going to take some discussion to get there.
The reason that the bullets hit the ground at the same time is because of gravity. Under Newton's Theory of Gravity, it can be described mathematically as
The m1 and m2 are the masses of the two object being studied, r is the distance between them and G is the gravitational constant. (Sorry, had to get geeky there for a second.) In the case of a bullet, m1 might be the mass of the bullet, m2 would be the mass of the earth, r would be the height that the bullet was at when it started. As you might notice, the fact that the bullet is traveling at a high rate of speed has no effect in the equation.
The fact that the two bullets hit the ground at the same time surprises many folks. (I know a certain middle school science teacher that subscribes to the Bugs Bunny theory of gravity.) I was explaining this to my son and I demonstrated it by doing this simple little experiment.
Take two tennis balls, or any other kind of ball that wont hurt anything. Set one on a table, hold the other at the same height as the table. Push the ball on the table off as hard as you want to, but try to drop the one in your hand at the moment the first one leaves the table. You will find that no matter how hard you push, the balls will hit the floor at the same time.
Newton figured that out a long time ago. He understood the world he lived in....as far as he knew. The next post will expand on that just a touch....
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Some political thoughts...
When I was growing up....I hated arguments...I couldn't even watching the political talk shows on Sunday mornings, because I hated to watch people argue. It made me uncomfortable.
Whether its because I'm older, or because I've spent the last year arguing in one way or another, I'm completely comfortable with arguments. I've found that I can listen to someone's points respectfully and respectfully present my own thoughts and ideas. If we cannot reach an agreement, the we can agree to disagree....respectfully. (See the theme here?) You don't have to agree with me, whether or not you can respect my point of view, I will always respect yours.
The recent Presidential election along with some friends with differing political viewpoints have helped me to refine my own political views. Some may be exactly what you expect...some may surprise you...but I'd like to express them here. Your comments are always welcome, though, if anyone gets too nasty, I'll edit them or delete them. That is my right as the blogger.
Let's tackle the toughest ones first.
Abortion
One of the problems with a lot of issues, is that they are discussed as black and white issues when there are usually many many shades of gray. Abortion is one of those issues in my opinion. Since I've never carried a child, I can't imagine what it is like. I know that I've heard many reasons that someone would want to end a pregnancy. The government can't possibly pass a law that addresses all of the circumstances surrounding that decision. There is also a lot of arguments about when the 'fetus' becomes a 'child'. When does this new life have rights separate from the rights of the mother? I don't know the answers to these questions. What I do know is this, regardless of when an abortion occurs, you are ending the life of a child. Should the government allow that? They have decided that they should. I'm ok with that. I don't have to like it, it's more of an acceptance than anything. However, I cannot and never will support the idea of two people making a bad decision, creating a child, and then ending that child's life. I call it retroactive birth control. I can't accept it, there are too many people that would love to have a child.
Marriage (Gay or otherwise)
My viewpoint: Marriage is a spiritual union created and controlled by God. He defines marriage and is the ultimate authority on it. His perfect plan for marriage is defined here...
Genesis 2
(Sorry, I had to include the naked part)
Anyway, my point is, God defines marriage. To my understanding (which I haven't researched fully) men began leaving their wives during the middle ages because they were unhappy for whatever reason. Since it was not accepted for a woman to work at that time, these women were left destitute. The governmental authorities stepped in and began holding men financially responsible for the welfare of theirs wives even when they left them. So, as I see it, in any marriage, there are really two connections, one is spiritual (the real marriage) and the other is legal (financial responsibility).
Now some reality. God's perfect plan for marriage is this: One man, one woman for life.
Matthew 19
Many years ago I had someone ask me "Would you allow an 18 year old to control all of the decisions in your life?" The obvious answer is NO! His next statement was sobering...."Do you realize that most of the decisions that control your life are made when you are 18?"
The truth is...our world is horribly broken. Some people decide that a homosexual relationship is what they want and need. Some decide after some period of time that the promise that they made when they were in their teens or twenties was a mistake. We all change over time, God knows that, he made us. His plan for marriage had to be that you would accept and adjust to the changes that your spouse goes through. Some decide they cannot do that and decide to divorce. Some states have made that very easy by instituting the "No Fault Divorce". No legal proof of grounds is required, you just decide it's not working, let's end it.
So, back to my point, Marriage is a spiritual institution defined by God. In a perfect world, marriage as defined by God would last a lifetime. In our broken world it does not.
The problem with 'Gay Marriage' is the word marriage. I think if a different term was used, it would be more widely accepted. The homosexual community is asking for the legal rights that heterosexual couples have. This may shock you, but I really don't have a problem with that. However, it is not marriage, it is a legal partnership. All of the rules applying to married couples should also apply when ending a homosexual partnership.
My belief is that we will all stand before God and give an account for our lives. All of our lives are broken in one way or another. Spiritually, our only hope is Jesus. It is only through his sacrifice that we can be reconciled to God.
Socialism
To me, the effects of socialism comes if you take economics out of the picture. The best example of its effects comes from education. In any classroom, you will have children with an amazing amount of intellect. You will have some with less intellect that work really hard. You will have some with intellect that choose not to use it. Lastly, you will have some that work very hard, but simple do not have the intellect required to pass. In a socialistic classroom, all of these students received the same grade. This may seem very ideal and fair. But what does it do to the drive and incentive for those with high intellect or those who are willing to work very hard? They see that even though there are those who choose not to work hard, they are all treated the same. The incentive to achieve, is taken away. In my opinion, all students become mediocre.
In reality, we give higher grades in education as an incentive. Economically, those who are talented or work hard should also receive incentives to continue to achieve.
How then are the poor to be taken care of? In reality, there are those who, through no fault of their own, are economically challenged. Single mothers who are poorly educated, the disabled (mentally or physically) and many many others who are unable to care for themselves financially. Those who do well financially are responsible for helping the poor. There are many who do. Unfortunately, there are many who are selfish and refuse to give to others. These are usually used as the examples to show that unbridled capitalism is bad. They deserve to be chastised. But when the government gets involved, the effects are usually bad. The government (and our newly elected President) have made it clear that they intend to forcibly remove the financial incentive from the wealthy and give it to the economically challenged (moving towards the egalitarian society) If that is the best answer we can come up with, that's fine. However, just in the education example, please don't gripe when the overall effects of that come to fruition.
Public Education
I support the ideals of public education, but I send my children to a private school. The goal of public education is that every child should have access to education. This is good and correct. My only problem with public education is that they are now required to remove God from the entire education process. Based on my beliefs about our world and its creation, I do not believe that you can ignore God and accurately teach mathematics, science, human behavior, history or any subject.
There are others in this world that do not believe in God, and wish to be free from and forced education that includes him. That is fine. However, that results in a warped view of this world as I see it. Therefore, I pay the taxes to support public education, and I also pay tuition to educate my children as I see fit.
Unfortunately, being an institution run by the government, public education is in quite a mess. I hate that. Raise my taxes to help pay for the poorly run program if you must, my children will go to a private school. If you can give me some credit for not using the services I'm paying for, I would appreciate it.
Well, I can't think of anything else at this point. I'm sure that I am incorrect on some points. It's ok to be wrong. But it's my blog, I'll cry if I want to (cry if I want to)
Whether its because I'm older, or because I've spent the last year arguing in one way or another, I'm completely comfortable with arguments. I've found that I can listen to someone's points respectfully and respectfully present my own thoughts and ideas. If we cannot reach an agreement, the we can agree to disagree....respectfully. (See the theme here?) You don't have to agree with me, whether or not you can respect my point of view, I will always respect yours.
The recent Presidential election along with some friends with differing political viewpoints have helped me to refine my own political views. Some may be exactly what you expect...some may surprise you...but I'd like to express them here. Your comments are always welcome, though, if anyone gets too nasty, I'll edit them or delete them. That is my right as the blogger.
Let's tackle the toughest ones first.
Abortion
One of the problems with a lot of issues, is that they are discussed as black and white issues when there are usually many many shades of gray. Abortion is one of those issues in my opinion. Since I've never carried a child, I can't imagine what it is like. I know that I've heard many reasons that someone would want to end a pregnancy. The government can't possibly pass a law that addresses all of the circumstances surrounding that decision. There is also a lot of arguments about when the 'fetus' becomes a 'child'. When does this new life have rights separate from the rights of the mother? I don't know the answers to these questions. What I do know is this, regardless of when an abortion occurs, you are ending the life of a child. Should the government allow that? They have decided that they should. I'm ok with that. I don't have to like it, it's more of an acceptance than anything. However, I cannot and never will support the idea of two people making a bad decision, creating a child, and then ending that child's life. I call it retroactive birth control. I can't accept it, there are too many people that would love to have a child.
Marriage (Gay or otherwise)
My viewpoint: Marriage is a spiritual union created and controlled by God. He defines marriage and is the ultimate authority on it. His perfect plan for marriage is defined here...
Genesis 2
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [g] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [h] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [i] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [j] '
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
(Sorry, I had to include the naked part)
Anyway, my point is, God defines marriage. To my understanding (which I haven't researched fully) men began leaving their wives during the middle ages because they were unhappy for whatever reason. Since it was not accepted for a woman to work at that time, these women were left destitute. The governmental authorities stepped in and began holding men financially responsible for the welfare of theirs wives even when they left them. So, as I see it, in any marriage, there are really two connections, one is spiritual (the real marriage) and the other is legal (financial responsibility).
Now some reality. God's perfect plan for marriage is this: One man, one woman for life.
Matthew 19
1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"
4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'[a] 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'[b]? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
7"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
8Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."
10The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."
11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage[c]because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."
Many years ago I had someone ask me "Would you allow an 18 year old to control all of the decisions in your life?" The obvious answer is NO! His next statement was sobering...."Do you realize that most of the decisions that control your life are made when you are 18?"
The truth is...our world is horribly broken. Some people decide that a homosexual relationship is what they want and need. Some decide after some period of time that the promise that they made when they were in their teens or twenties was a mistake. We all change over time, God knows that, he made us. His plan for marriage had to be that you would accept and adjust to the changes that your spouse goes through. Some decide they cannot do that and decide to divorce. Some states have made that very easy by instituting the "No Fault Divorce". No legal proof of grounds is required, you just decide it's not working, let's end it.
So, back to my point, Marriage is a spiritual institution defined by God. In a perfect world, marriage as defined by God would last a lifetime. In our broken world it does not.
The problem with 'Gay Marriage' is the word marriage. I think if a different term was used, it would be more widely accepted. The homosexual community is asking for the legal rights that heterosexual couples have. This may shock you, but I really don't have a problem with that. However, it is not marriage, it is a legal partnership. All of the rules applying to married couples should also apply when ending a homosexual partnership.
My belief is that we will all stand before God and give an account for our lives. All of our lives are broken in one way or another. Spiritually, our only hope is Jesus. It is only through his sacrifice that we can be reconciled to God.
Socialism
Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.
Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights.
To me, the effects of socialism comes if you take economics out of the picture. The best example of its effects comes from education. In any classroom, you will have children with an amazing amount of intellect. You will have some with less intellect that work really hard. You will have some with intellect that choose not to use it. Lastly, you will have some that work very hard, but simple do not have the intellect required to pass. In a socialistic classroom, all of these students received the same grade. This may seem very ideal and fair. But what does it do to the drive and incentive for those with high intellect or those who are willing to work very hard? They see that even though there are those who choose not to work hard, they are all treated the same. The incentive to achieve, is taken away. In my opinion, all students become mediocre.
In reality, we give higher grades in education as an incentive. Economically, those who are talented or work hard should also receive incentives to continue to achieve.
How then are the poor to be taken care of? In reality, there are those who, through no fault of their own, are economically challenged. Single mothers who are poorly educated, the disabled (mentally or physically) and many many others who are unable to care for themselves financially. Those who do well financially are responsible for helping the poor. There are many who do. Unfortunately, there are many who are selfish and refuse to give to others. These are usually used as the examples to show that unbridled capitalism is bad. They deserve to be chastised. But when the government gets involved, the effects are usually bad. The government (and our newly elected President) have made it clear that they intend to forcibly remove the financial incentive from the wealthy and give it to the economically challenged (moving towards the egalitarian society) If that is the best answer we can come up with, that's fine. However, just in the education example, please don't gripe when the overall effects of that come to fruition.
Public Education
I support the ideals of public education, but I send my children to a private school. The goal of public education is that every child should have access to education. This is good and correct. My only problem with public education is that they are now required to remove God from the entire education process. Based on my beliefs about our world and its creation, I do not believe that you can ignore God and accurately teach mathematics, science, human behavior, history or any subject.
There are others in this world that do not believe in God, and wish to be free from and forced education that includes him. That is fine. However, that results in a warped view of this world as I see it. Therefore, I pay the taxes to support public education, and I also pay tuition to educate my children as I see fit.
Unfortunately, being an institution run by the government, public education is in quite a mess. I hate that. Raise my taxes to help pay for the poorly run program if you must, my children will go to a private school. If you can give me some credit for not using the services I'm paying for, I would appreciate it.
Well, I can't think of anything else at this point. I'm sure that I am incorrect on some points. It's ok to be wrong. But it's my blog, I'll cry if I want to (cry if I want to)
Monday, November 3, 2008
A weekend to remember....
Friday Night....Halloween on 2nd Avenue
Spent the day with Sarah on Saturday
Her surprise 13th birthday party was Saturday Night Happy Birthday Sarah
Sunday, I went to an AA meeting with my nephew followed by a real Sunday Dinner at Momma's house.
Watched the Titans win.
Got the books set up for my new business and mailed my first invoices this morning...
God is so Good...
Spent the day with Sarah on Saturday
Her surprise 13th birthday party was Saturday Night Happy Birthday Sarah
Sunday, I went to an AA meeting with my nephew followed by a real Sunday Dinner at Momma's house.
Watched the Titans win.
Got the books set up for my new business and mailed my first invoices this morning...
God is so Good...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
You can't get more Nashville than this....
One of the tracks on my "Chet Atkins -- A Master And His Music" CD is a track of Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton playing and singing "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind". To be honest, I don't know that I had ever heard that song before, but after I did some looking into it, I found out that Dolly Parton wrote it, and it has been done by several artists.
Anyway, in listening to that track, I couldn't help but notice the mutual love and respect between these two artists that comes shining through. I don't think I've ever heard a song where two people care for each other so much and are having a great time playing music. I found it on youtube...
Ever since I bought this CD, my guitar player friend and I have been talking about it. We talk about the styles of different musicians and what makes them great. Chet Atkins, though he had the ability to smoke a guitar like none other, was famous for not playing a single note that wasn't necessary. That's one of the things that made him great.
My friend (who is from Washington state originally) made the remark that while living in Washington, everybody there thought that Nashville was a hick town, no shoes, uneducated, hillbillies. After moving here though, his eyes have been opened to what Nashville is all about. I gave him my usual speech that we like for everyone to think Nashville is backward, and, that he is welcome here as long as he doesn't call a bunch of friends and relatives and get them to move here ;-)
When I moved back to Nashville during the summer, I started going out and experiencing some of the night life in this town. I had really never done that before. I must tell you, it is a great time. Lot's of great music and people come here from everywhere. On Halloween night, I went to 2nd Avenue just to see what was going on. Luckily I took my camera. What a great time. Here are some photos..(If you dislike guitars or pretty women, then don't look.)
Photos
Anyway, in listening to that track, I couldn't help but notice the mutual love and respect between these two artists that comes shining through. I don't think I've ever heard a song where two people care for each other so much and are having a great time playing music. I found it on youtube...
Ever since I bought this CD, my guitar player friend and I have been talking about it. We talk about the styles of different musicians and what makes them great. Chet Atkins, though he had the ability to smoke a guitar like none other, was famous for not playing a single note that wasn't necessary. That's one of the things that made him great.
My friend (who is from Washington state originally) made the remark that while living in Washington, everybody there thought that Nashville was a hick town, no shoes, uneducated, hillbillies. After moving here though, his eyes have been opened to what Nashville is all about. I gave him my usual speech that we like for everyone to think Nashville is backward, and, that he is welcome here as long as he doesn't call a bunch of friends and relatives and get them to move here ;-)
When I moved back to Nashville during the summer, I started going out and experiencing some of the night life in this town. I had really never done that before. I must tell you, it is a great time. Lot's of great music and people come here from everywhere. On Halloween night, I went to 2nd Avenue just to see what was going on. Luckily I took my camera. What a great time. Here are some photos..(If you dislike guitars or pretty women, then don't look.)
Photos
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