Doubt

After watching the movie Doubt in class today, I began thinking about the whole Catholic Church molestation scandals. A certain line in the movie struck me as being funny on the surface, but when I started to think about it it worried me a bit. Father Flynn was talking to the boys about girls and how to handle themselves around them. When a boy asks him what if every girl he asks to dance turns him down, Father Flynn replies "then you become a priest." This may make the boys laugh at the time but maybe Father Flynn really didn't mean it as a joke. Maybe these men are turning to religion because they can't find women to marry and, being human, they feel the need for companionship and they will take it any way they can find it. And even if the clergyman finds a woman that he could potentially date and marry, the church does not allow it. The molestation scandals could potentially be avoided if these clergymen were allowed to date and get married. Maybe the church could amend their rules to accommodate this new trend of lonely priests.

Educational Philosophy

We have spent a great deal of time in school up to this point. Most of us in this class have spent at least sixteen years in school to reach the point that we have today but what is the point of education? Is it to make us better more enlightened individuals? Maybe it is to train us for our future careers? What about to make us good consumers to stimulate the economy?

Depending upon what one views the purpose of education to be the methodology taken for that education can vary greatly. If education is to make us mindless consumers then maybe the best method is a rigid curriculum with frequent standardized assessments. Or maybe this is how we should be educating people to prepare them for the workforce. On the other hand, to be successful in a career people need to be independent thinkers with good leadership skills so maybe a loosely structured curriculum with both teacher and student driven aspects is best.

The Core at Champlain College is an experiment in educational philosophy. The idea that by mixing disciplines such as history, economics, philosophy, psychology, science, literature, arts, and aesthetics students can gain a better understanding of each by being able to analyze them from the perspectives of various disciplines. But yet for some reason many Champlain students in Core consider it to be stupid and a waste of time. The argument against Core that makes me the angriest is “This has nothing to do with my major so why should I have to waste my time learning it”. Champlain College is a four year liberal arts college. It seeks to give its students a liberal arts education which includes a cross section of many disciplines to ensure students are well rounded and prepared for the real world. If you are among those who do not want this then leave. There are many great two year technical schools that focus on teaching a skill or profession without the general education component.

In the Western World Philosophy, Immanuel Kant describes enlightenment as “man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage” and nonage as “the ability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance” (149). If the purpose of Education is to create enlightened individuals, which I believe it should be, then the Core’s goal of teaching us how to think is certainly pointed in the right direction. The problems associated with Core and any of its shortcomings are as much the fault of its students as its professors and administrators. Kant points out that laziness and cowardice are the primary reasons why “such a large part of mankind gladly remain minors all their lives, long after nature has freed them from external guidance” (149). If Core, or even education in general, is to succeed at created enlightened individuals then students need to break free from laziness.

Miss California

One of the Miss USA contestants, Miss California's Carrie Prejean, said that she believed that marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman. Here's a clip of her from the pageant.

She later claimed that "Out of all the topics I studied up on, I dreaded that one, I prayed I would not be asked about gay mariage. If I had any other question, I know I would have won." Well, how fortunately for her that she yes indeed received a question on the topic of gay marriage AND in fact was asked the question by celebrity-(ish) Perez Hilton who is homosexual.

This issue already has a lot of attention in recent politics and she did acknowledge that it could have been a potential topic to be asked upon. Should have studied harder, tsk tsk.

Her answer caused her to be faced with a lot of negative attention-- Perez Hilton blogged about her on his site calling her a 'dumb bitch' and went on with how her having 'half a brain' and even said he would've stormed up onto the stage and ripped her tiara off if she had won.

It amazes me that in 2009 we still manage to live in such a closed-minded society. This is exactly one of the things that's wrong with the world today. Yeah, I do believe that Miss California had every right to express HER opinion on gay marriage that "Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage." She later told Fox News that "By having to answer that question in front of a national audience, God was testing my character and faith. I'm glad I stayed true to myself." But when did we become such a religiously strict Christian society? (I'm not exactly sure what faith Prejean believes in.) In McDannell's Material Christianity, she states that Christians believe that "sexuality is God-given, homosexuality cannot be 'natural' " (pg. 217).

Still, I think that Miss California did not answer her question the way that a beauty queen should have. She wasn't asked what she thinks of same-sex marriage, she was asked if she believes that states should pass laws regarding same-sex marriage. And THAT is a completely different question than how she answered it. She was competing to be a representative of her state and country so she should have known that. Again, she definitely should have given more thought and much more carefully worded answer that didn't address whether or not she thinks same-sex marriage is wrong.

It's almost like we are going backwards; we fought so hard over the past years for our rights and beliefs, and now there are still people being told that they cannot marry because of their homosexuality. It's pretty silly that only FOUR out of fifty states make same-sex marriages legal. The other forty-six needs to realize that when religious and sacred meaning is taken away from the equation that homosexuality isn't a negative impact on our society.

Source

Piece and Quiet...Whats That?

In class we discussed how each of us as a different opinion about solitude and what that means to us. Some students said they rather be around people all the time and don't like being alone, while others said they like the piece and quiet. As I thought about my life, I realized that I don't like to be alone and I try to find something to do instead of being by myself. I'm the type of person who likes to keep busy and cannot just sit around and think or read. As the article "The End of Solitude" states, "technology is taking away our privacy and our concentration, but it is also taking away our ability to be alone." I agree with this statement 100% because when I'm on the computer I go straight for my email and get side tracked instead of going straight to finishing my homework. I believe that this is an ongoing problem and will get worse as technology advances more. Another problem is cell phones. We discussed in class how many students always have their cell phones on and they text all day long. As for me, I don't text during class because I get distracted and I miss important parts that the teacher is explaining. I find it rude to text when you are with your friends especially if you are at dinner with them or if your just hanging out together. Most of the time my cell phone is near me where ever I go, but I hardly get calls and most of the people I talk to on my phone are with me all day. I believe that technology is sometimes ruining our education because it distracts us more than it helps us.

As this commerical points out, young kids are texting more than ever and even adults are using their phones to text there friends. Many of my friends text their parents instead of calling them. I feel that texting is not a personal way to communicate and I think that by texting someone you are more likely to say your true feelings to them, then you would if you said it to their face. For examply many people break off their relationships with someone over texting and that shows that they don't have the guts to tell them to their face.
Cell phones can be helpful in many ways, but we have come to take advantage of the benefits and now they are ruining our way of life. Could each of you spend one day without texting somone?

Why Gay Marriage is Bad

Vermont recently overrode Governor Douglas' veto of same sex marriages.

I'd like to point out that an outstanding majority of people opposed to same sex marriage are very religious and many see it as redefining a sacred institution. A sacred, religious institution that is deeply embedded with rights granted through government. Many religious people also ignore and deny the separation of church and state which was reiterated in a series of court hearings such as Reynolds versus the United States and McCollum versus the Board of Education. I've also read arguments that identified Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptist Church as not bringing about the separation of church and state, which when read is clearly outlining the separation. He write's: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State," (Jefferson). It can be understood in the establishment clause of the United States Constitution found here that it was purposeful to separate the two and with a glance back at history should be maintained. This separation has given our country a lot of power to enable everyone to gain the rights that were left to be fought for by minorities overlooked when establishing themselves in a country of equality. As there are a lot of different arguments, I think that it is safe to say religion should be left to the individual, their God and their Church, not to oppress other peoples right to marry. The stigma in society of homosexuality was brought about by religion. If you look into the history of Ancient Greece you will see that homosexuality was an accepted practice until it was outlawed in Rome when Christianity gained power.

It is also believed that same sex marriage is bad for children and would be harmful taking away their right to a mom and a dad. In a society that is full of children without any parents at all, this seems ridiculous. Artificial insemination is also looked down upon for women in a committed relationship with another woman. How is giving a child life and being raised by two women bad? They never would have been given life if they hadn't been artificially inseminated. It is only an expectation of our society that a child should be granted a mom and a dad, even when divorce rates are high. So many children in this world would love to have two parents or even a single parent. If you google "same sex parenting" you will find little evidence that there is a harmful effect on children from having same sex parents. In return, you will find studies that show that same sex parents are just as good as heterosexual parents.

Last night aired the pageant competition, Miss USA, in which one of the contestants, Miss California, said that she believed that marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman, not same sex. In return she has been faced with a lot of negative attention. Past Miss USA winners have even come forward advocating for same sex marriage. I think that this shows that our society is making a turn around. This issue has had a lot of attention in recent political and social spheres. When religious and sacred meaning is taken out of the picture people realize that homosexuality and same sex marriage is not an evil curse on society.

When it comes to the argument of letting "the people" decide on same sex marriage I would like to put forth this from The Transformation of American Religion by Alan Wolfe. "Democracy, liberals of this persuasion believe, is a wonderful form of government, but when it comes to protecting the rights of religious minorities or nonbelievers, a nondemocratic institution like the courts is required to keep it in check," (257 Wolfe). A mixed constitution of the many, the one and the few creates a balance of power. This is why we have a mixture of types of governments, a democracy (legislative), a monarchy (president), and an aristocracy (judiciary). They keep each other in check and protect the rights of the minorities.

The End Of Christian America

Over the weekend I came across a Newsweek magazine that actually caught my eye.  The cover was all black and had the words, "The Decline and Fall of Christian America" in red text and in the shape of a cross.  I decided it was blog post material and my Dad was proud I was going to read Newsweek.

The article reminded me of a similar article we read at the beginning of the semester entitled "Pew In The Pews," by Alan Wolfe.  However, this article focused on Albert Mohler Jr. who is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  After Mohler read the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey he was shocked to see that Americans claiming no religious affiliation has doubled since 1990.  Mohler went on to say that "a remarkable culture shift has taken place...the consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crises which threatens the very heart of our culture."  A reason why the percentage of Christians in America are declining is that they are starting to understand the separation of church and state.  My opinion is that Albert is jumping the gun a little too quickly.  Just because the Christian numbers are declining does not mean that America is in a post-Christian state, just a less-Christian state.

The article went on to talk about the reasons why many conservative Christians are now entering a "post-Christian phase."  This is because they have not won their battles against same-sex marriage, abortion, and prayer in schools and they feel as if their faith is going nowhere.  In a Newsweek poll only 62 percent of Americans think the U.S is a "Christian Nation,"under Obama, while 69 percent did when George W. ran the country in 2008 which help show the fall of a Christian America.  It's not that people are not spiritual anymore, in fact 30% of people would rather call themselves "spiritual" rather than "religious."  

The article identified that Conservative Christians are the ones not ready to accept the way of life now compared to how it was many years ago.  They need to realize that "the Christian God is not dead, but he's less of a force in U.S politics and culture than at any other time in memory."  Conservatives do not need to abandon Christianity or their faith just accept the way religion is heading in today's world.  A quote from the article that I think describes today's way of life is "American public life is neither wholly secular nor wholly religious but an ever-fluid mix of the two."  Do you feel this way too? :)

Meacham, Jon. "The End Of Christian America." Newsweek. 13 Apr. 2009. 11 Apr. 2009

April 7th, 2009, A day to remember

Today, April 7th, 2009, Gay marriage was legalizied in Vermont. As the fourth state to recognized gay marriage. This was a big deal for a Vermont, because once the first vote passed 95-42, Governer Jim Douglas made a big commotion when he publicly stated that he would veto the bill if it ends up on his desk. And well when it did, he picked up his pen and vetoed the bill. However, with a 25-3 override vote in the senate, and a 100-49 vote in the house, April 7th is a memorable day for gay couples. A day to remember, when they are given more rights, and able to legally get married. According to the Burlington free press article, Jim Douglas was expecting to happen. So what if he was expecting this, was the point in vetoing the bill to begin with when there are other things that need to still be figured out? Watch the video to see his reaction. It's the third movie down. 

So what does this mean now for gay couples? Even though the positive things that come out of the law, it means that they can file taxes together. Well, at least only in Vermont. It is only aloud to file state taxes. Federal taxes still need to be files separately. With the pass of this new law, there were some changes to it before it was passed through the house and. Some of the changes that happened. "Before, the Bill stated that religious communities do not have to perform or recognize a same-sex marriage ceremony, the House decided to take it one step further.'A religious hall, they will also have the same exemption. They do not have to offer that under the public accommodations law,' Campbell said" (Kennedy). This was a big step for the house to decided to pass the law. Click here to see the whole article from Fox 44 News. 

This related to our class because we have been talking about how religion effects our everyday lives. This bill wouldn't have passed without any religious beliefs taking place. Obviously the downfall to that is that if a gay couple wants to marry in a Church, they need to make sure that the Church allows it first. But that is a minor bump in the road compared to everything that has happened up until this point. 

Kennedy, Ben. "Same-Sex Bill Breakdown." Fox 44 News. 7 Apr. 2009. 7 Apr. 2009

What is religion?

What is religion really? Is it the belief in a god or multiple gods? Is it the belief in certain values and beliefs, or is it a mix of all of these. I looked up the definition on line and only one of the entries did not use religion in the definition and really spelled out what I believe religion is on a very basic sense. I went to Merriam-Webster Dictionaries site and looked up religion. The fourth definition is ": a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith". To me this says that religion is a belief toward a set of beliefs, values and a system to believe and have faith in. Sometimes people just need to know someones there or know they are apart of something bigger. Also, having a community there with beliefs to follow, can help guide us through life. Through this course this question has come up a lot and of course there are many different views of what people think religion really is. There is no one definite answer to the question.

The other day I was watching one of my favorite shows, Family Guy, and it was the episode where Peter Griffin starts his own religion. He decides to build the church of the Fonz and people come. People partake in the service worshiping the beliefs of the Fonz and are all apart of the community. They have beliefs, values, and community to follow after. It is very simple but it is by the definition I go by, a religion on a basic sense.



I could not find the entire clip so The rest of it will just have to be discussed. Peter has conversations with his father who is strongly Catholic and who believes its a scam and a disc-grace to religion. In the end he realizes what Peter has done and that it really is a religion, and secretly worships the Fonz. This goes to show that some may not believe it at first but when you really look deep down and look at the simple facts, religion is about community, values, and beliefs; not about Gods, prayer and organ music.



"religion." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 2 April 2009