Political Mud Slinging

I receive emails or see on websites almost daily negative things about both presidential candidates (John McCain and Barack Obama) being slung from supporters of the other. I rarely see links to unbiased websites or other sources to be able to research things about the candidates. I would be more impressed by a candidate that simply told the positive things about himself with facts to back it up, rather than given us negatives about the other candidate that are generally blown out of proportion.

Is there not enough good within themselves to win the election without dragging the other down and without stretching the truth or lying?

Is it Wrong to Say That It Is Wrong?

I came across the name Orson Scott Card on the This Week in Tech (TWIT) podcast and in Twitter and Pownce posts. After the second thing that was of interest to me mentioned him I figured I would briefly take a look. I searched the archives of TWIT to see if I was remembering correctly that his science fiction work had been mentioned there. I seemed to recall that they were speaking of it in a positive light.

I should state up front that I have not read any of Orson Scott Card's work nor do I know much about him as a person. I was just struck by the language that was used as he and his work were discussed.

I was right Leo LaPorte had mentioned that he liked his work. I then saw a post by Leo following up since some of his listeners were upset that he liked his words. Leo defended by saying that he enjoyed his work, but did not agree with his politics. He refered to his views as homophobic.

I can follow that to some degree because I like some of Leo's work as well and don't agree with his politics. Especially the politics of labeling people as phobic.

I searched around a little further in different forums and found more talk of homophobia. A phobia being a fear. Does feeling that a practice is wrong means that a person is afraid of that practice or the people that practice it?

Are people that believe that it is wrong to kill animals for food scared of animals or of carnivors or omnivors? Since some people want to take God out of the role of law giver then who decides what is wrong and what is just fear?

This talk of being phobic is like a child calling someone chicken. I believe that taking potatoes out of a neighbors garden is wrong. What am I chicken? I believe that homosexuality is wrong. Chicken?

Can not a person express a belief without them being called names for holding that belief? It is as rediculous as the people that would ridule those that chose to be gay by calling them names or worse. Believing that a practice is wrong does not mean that you have to hate someone.

Some will argue that it is wrong when that expression of belief impacts others freedoms. Just like disallowing abortion impacts the freedom of a mother to not be burdoned by having to care for and raise a child. Or that allowing it also impacts the freedom of the child to live.

Sometimes we have to express that a practice is harmful to our society, even when it restricts what are allowed to do. We have laws against speeding because someone believes that it is a danger to society. Different states and localities have different speed lmits. Obivously those states with more restrictive speed limits are phobic.

Expletives on TV

I'm seeing some chatter on Digg.com about a fuss being raised by expletives being used on TV. Just like the debate on violence on TV, that I commented on a few weeks ago, both sides seem to be focusing on kids not hearing this stuff. This is not just about kids. This is about broadcasters and performers that are using their medium irresponsibly. Filling the masses minds with vulgarity is unhealthy for our nation. For an example of this you can read the comments on Digg.com on this subject. The comments are generally the unintelligent onslaught of people with limited vocabularies looking for a venue to spew anger.

On the topic of kids and parents paying attention to what their kids watch. It is true that parents should be engaged with their kids. However the kids are home when parents are not. Kids have access to TV when parents are not in the room or in the house. Kids can stumble across this stuff while surfing the channels.

Besides children watching this kind of trash that is mingled with our entertainment I'm getting sick of having shows I otherwise enjoy being brought down to that level. Profanity is not necessary for me to know that a character is very angry. Profanity is not necessary to tell a funny joke. Why must the majority have to put up with such intrusions in our favorite programs from the minority that control the media?

Some are talking about free speech. We live in a free country, but with freedom comes responsibility. Being crude not responsible.

Should this be an issue for the courts or the governing agencies to get involved in I don't know. Those who don't want this stuff in our media need a bigger voice. It is not being heard over the behemoths that run the networks. Unfortunately the only course maybe to sacrifice our favorite programs and turn the tube off.

The World Is Your Ash Tray

The main issues that impelled me to write this post has to do with dropping ash and cigarette butts anywhere one happens to be when driving. There are a few other behaviors that I think many people are oblivious to because it deals with smoking that otherwise would be considered inconsiderate and with some behaviors illegal if it was not related to smoking. I will mention a few of these as well.

• Flicking cigarette butts out the car window.
• I don't know why this always stuns me when I see it, but I just can't believe that people think this is acceptable.
• At the stop light, piles of cigarette butts in the median. Littering is still illegal, right?
• Driving down the road. Fire and gas tanks don't go well together. Always feels great to see a lit cigarette bounce out the window of the person in front of me and then see it bounce under my car.
  
• Flicking ash out the window and onto the cars beside and behind.
• Blowing smoke out the window that the person in the car behind gets to enjoy.
• People having to walk through a gauntlet of smokers in order to get in and out of a building.
• Everyone gets to breath, smell, and wear the smoke as they walk out the door.
• Smoke gets trapped inside the entry way of buildings.

In this post I will not discuss that sitting somewhere smoking is really no different that sitting somewhere shooting heroine. I also will not discuss the "right" to smoke and that other's rights end where mine begin. The point I am trying to make in this post is the following.

I am not an ash tray. My vehicle is not an ash tray. The world in general is not an ash tray.

Violence in Entertainment Media

I happened across a post on Digg about a debate on whether the FCC should put policies in place to attempt to curb the violence on TV. http://digg.com/television/Debate_Should_the_FCC_Curb_TV_Violence I'm not sure whether they should or shouldn't, but I did notice something about the discussion of this topic in the debate and by people who "debate" privately.

The debate seems to focus on protecting the children. That is a great goal, but I think it becomes using the children as a way to advance an agenda. What about protecting the adults. Of course, I am an adult, so I don't need as much protection as a child, but even adults are influenced and impacted by what they see and hear.

Also, I don't want fluff in the things I watch. Unfortunately I find a show I like and there ends up being fluff. By fluff I mean gratuitous sex and violence. At least one commenter on Digg talked about not needing to see Jack Bauer in 24 torture someone or be tortured to advance the story line. I have been thinking about this a lot and am considering not watching 24 next season for that very reason. I like the show, but that stuff is too much. Not because I am squeamish, but because I don't need to spend my time watching something like that week after week.

I have noticed a similar trend with Dead Zone. This last season seemed to add a lot more profanity.

Don't Buy Gas on May 15th - Are You Kidding Me?

Spam irritates me anyway let, but some just really underscore what a thoughtless practice forwarded messages to everyone in your inbox or even encouraging other to do so can be. I admit I do find information that I pass on to groups of friends via email. I usually judiciously pick which friends the subject might be of interest to and only send to them, not my entire mailbox. Another practice I have begun is putting everyone I am sending to in the BCC field and not the TO field. I think this helps with keeping the email addresses of those I send to private from each other. Most mass mailings I get have not only the names and email addresses of the most recent people this was sent to on the TO line, but also those that it was sent to previous in the body of the email as history. Thus, giving all of their friends and families names and email addresses to complete strangers.

The spam that I am ranting about today is the Don't Buy Gas on May 15th email. This is a great example of people just quickly forwarded on a message without actually thinking about what they are sending. How about not driving on that day. That would actually cut down the amount of gas that is being purchased from the gas companies because it is not being used. Not buying gas on a certain day does not lessen the amount of gas that is purchased that week. One will buy the gas on the 14th or the 16th and still give the money to the gas companies.

Growing Up

I have had a chance to ponder some things lately as I have seen news stories and TV shows that cover topics about violence in schools. I have also had to ponder other social problems. It seems that much of the times the problems partially stem from adults that haven't grown up. Adults that perhaps don't do the follies they did in their youth, but glory in them and would do them again if they had the chance. Adults that perhaps continue to do the follies of their youth (drinking, sleeping around). Adults that don't do the follies of their youth because their spouse or social group would frown on them, but still find them enticing. Adults that think that it is ok to do the follies of their youth because they are an adult now, but kids shouldn't do that.

I'm not articulating all of the scenarios well, but I think these attitudes are edging our moral standards to a point that extremes are now catastrophic and not just out of line or extreme. The rebellion we find from our youth comes from hypocrisy that they see in us. In the lack of boundaries until it is too late and too extreme to get a hold of.

When our kids see us pursuing our selfish motives because we can get away with it and are entitled to it they see no reason not to pursue their selfish desires. If those desires happen to be destroying those that have hurt them emotionally then violence can occur. If those desires are to be close to the opposite sex then pregnancy or disease or violence can occur.

Immigration Reform

There is a lot of debate right now on the solution to the number of people coming across the border. There also seems to be a lot of contention between illegal immigrants and American citizens. This contention seems to be spreading into contention between Hispanics in general and other American citizens.

I believe that we do have problems with the large amount of Mexican immigration, especially illegal immigration. The problem I want to comment on today is our response, as American citizens, to it. There are many examples of things we could do to improve our response to Mexican immigration. I will focus on the language barrier.

"They need to learn English"
Let me start out by saying that I believe that if you move to a place where they predominantly speak a different language than you, then you should learn that language. This isn't happening as often or as quickly as it should. Programs or incentives or something for people to do this might help. I do not know. While we work to figure these things out, the problem still remains that there are a large number of people in this country that do not speak English.

We can complain that they don't speak English and we can continue to leave communication between us in an impassable condition or we can do something. If you frequently interact with people who are Hispanic, Korean, Indian, or whatever you could help your situation by learning their language.

America is one of the few countries in the world where the majority of the population isn't fluent in a second language.

My position that we should do what we can to fix the results of a bad situation does not mean that we stop attempting to find a way to eliminate the bad situation. One might look at one's inability to communicate in the language of those around as their problem, but learning other languages than your native language could also do a lot to coexist peacefully.

Better to Obey than to Sacrafice

Today while I was reading 1 Sam 15 I noticed
22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

It was good timing since I had just watched the Da Vinci Code. One of the characters that went around murdering and such, but at night would pray and whip himself to either atone for his sins or to be close to Christ by experiencing what he did.

This movie also made me think about how everyone involved in the quest for the Holy Grail were unhappy. There was so much darkness and contention. Coming to Christ is about peace and light.

More Death

I saw an interview with Elder Russle M. Nelson who is a retired surgeon and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The article was titled "Death is part of life, ex-surgeon says"

He talked of death being an important part of God's plan.

He talked about people relating to him that they could see him working on their bodies while they were dead before being brought back.

He talked about being "troubled by extraordinary efforts to prolong life "that are unreasonable,""

He touched on something that I commented previously about in my Death post. The article talked about that "Those who mourn fulfill God's command, he said, to love each other sufficiently that they shall weep for those who die.""

Elder Nelson states, "Is the veil thin (between life and death)? Absolutely. They are not far away from us."

Oil Prices Rant

With Exxon posting record profits it has brought me back to a rant I have had for several years as I have seen several oil companies posting record profits.
Some would argue that we would cheer on a company in a different industry if they made profits like this, even if their product is more expensive. The problem is that we can't choose not to buy gas for the most part. They could charge us anything they wanted to. I pay for the gas not just for my car, but also for the gas of companies that I buy other products and services from, since they are forced to raise their prices when gas prices are up. Unfortunately I don't get to charge my employer a higher rate if gas goes up in price.
The auto companies are being slow to get alternate fuel vehicles to market. The gas-electric cars are such fluff. You are still using gas and not really using that much less of it.
Where is the competition? Where are my choices?
I guess Exxon has more than made back the cost of the clean up of its oil tanker. My guess is that even before gas prices took a spike they made back that cost in the first few weeks after the accident.

Forgiveness

I have thought about the concept of forgiveness for a long time. I have seen people screaming that a person must be punished by the legal system for something they did to them or their family. I have heard them saddened because the punishment was not severe enough. It has made me think about how I would respond to something that was done against me or my family. I really want to be a forgiving person, but how would I act if it happened to me.

Do people really feel better when they have gotten revenge or is it never enough? Does it just leave them bitter inside?

Is the purpose of the legal system to exact revenge on criminals? Is it to only punish them? What good have we done if we just punish people? Do the people that were wronged really feel better after the person has the punishment enacted on them? Does their bitterness go away?

I have been reading about the woman who was hit by a frozen turkey while she was driving and forgave the kid that threw it at her. I then read as people questioned her motivation for forgiving him.

Obviously we can not just let people be unaccountable for their actions, but what good does it do to just punish them and think that is going to enough to make them change their ways? If you have a child do you just punish them without then following up and try to help them understand why what they did was wrong? Would a child that was just punished and had love removed from them grow to want to do better?

WHY?

People always want to know WHY. Why did this happen to me? Why would God allow this?

It is for our good. It teaches us things (compassion, patience, and so on). If you were never sick would you appreciate being well? Would you know what warm was if there was not hot and cold? Would we be able to be compassionate if we had never had any trials of our own? What sort of people would we be if all of the adversity was taken from the Earth?

Death

Why is death in our culture such intense sorrow? Is it because it is unexpected? Is it because it is a tradition to be that way? Is it because others around us are being that way? Is it because we don't actually understand death, even though many of us profess to believe in a better life after we die?

What is the difference between someone moving away and someone dieing?
Say my son gets a fantastic job. It pays great. It comes with a beautiful house and he is set for life. The problem is that he is moving somewhere that it will be a long time before I can afford to go visit him and for whatever reason he can’t get back here to me for some time either. Do I fall to my knees and say, “God why have you done this to our family?” I should ask God to share with me his plan for me and show me the good that can come from this experience.

Death is simply a vehicle to another place. A place that we can go someday too. Why do we miss someone so much more when they die than when they move away? In our day of easily transferred text, pictures, and even video does it make moving less painful. In a different age was moving more bitter like death?

I have felt the sting of death that is left with a survivor. I have thought of missing someone who has died grow up and do the things we all have done. I have thought of others that have died and will not see others grow up. Should I be that way? Is not God in control? Has he not designed this mortal existence to be for my good? Will I really have missed out on anything?

Grace vs Works

Over the years I have had many conversations with people about being saved by faith. The conversations have tended to end up at "Are we save by grace or by works?" I don't think it is an either/or situation.
One is saved by grace by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior. We accept that grace doing what he has asked us to do. If we don't keep His commandments, then we don't accept Him.
Some might say that men aren't perfect so we can't keep His commandments. One of the things he has asked us to do is repent. If we do that on a daily basis we can get better at keeping the commandments. He knows our hearts.
In the comments I will include scripture references that talk about grace and works.
People tend to make faith synonymous with grace. Doesn't faith indicate action? When the scriptures talk about faith are they talking about grace? There is one that often gets sited about being saved by grace through faith. It talks about not being saved by works because people boast about their works, but that does not mean that faith does not include continual action. We cannot earn our way into Eternal Life, but we must continually strive (do our best) to do what he has asked (keep his commandments). What ever we fall short on his grace makes up the rest, but only if we are striving to keep the commandments.