"Religion" As Opposed to "Christianity"

When most people hear the word "Christian", they categorize Christians in with all other religious sects that "believe in God". To these people, all Christians (as well as all other "religious people") are the same, fire and brimstone, judgmental religious fanatics who damn those who don't share their same beliefs. Some religious sects might look at the world this way, but "Christians" as I know them are not like this. I am a Christian and I wouldn't dare "damn" others because I think that I'm perfect in any sense of the word. On the contrary, I sin horribly every single day, over and over again. There are many powerful people who call themselves "Christians" who I don't agree with at all. Though it isn't my right to say whether or not they are true believers, I highly doubt that they truly are. There are those fire and brimstone fanatics and they give the rest of us a bad name, so when people look at Christians they assume that they are all like the extreme, judgmental "whatever-they-ares" (I call them this because I'm not really sure what they believe).

The Cause for Torture

In Michael Levin's essay, "The Case for Torture", he argues that although torture might not seem morally acceptable, it is indeed necessary at times. In the movie "Wanted", there is a similar idea shared by an elite league of assassins, which is, "Kill one, save a thousand". This might seem like a harsh idea, but this is essentially what Levin is saying in his essay. He isn't saying that we should just kill/torture whenever we see fit, but when there is no other option and time is of the essence and the lives of innocents are at stake, then drastic measure have to be taken. I agree with Levin, particularly because of the analogy that he gives with the mothers and their newborn babies. Personally, I know if anyone kidnapped or hurt my family, there wouldn't be many things that I wouldn't be willing to do in order to ensure their safety. I don't believe that I am the ultimate judge, and I don't think that Levin believes this either (I believe that God is our judge and ultimately He will make the decisions), but the "torture" that he is referring to isn't on the grounds of vengeance or "justice", instead it is for the safety of others, done in particular when the tortured party's crime is going to harm many innocent victims.

Work Ethic

What Ehrenreich was trying to say in her essay is that "yuppies" (the "over-achievers" of the mid to late eighties) had a place in the work force, but their own self-absorbtion and pride became their downfall. Yuppies strived to work more than the average person was expected to work, and they actually seemed to enjoy working (I have no idea how they could possibly enjoy it), and they preferred working to the everyday luxuries in life. Yuppies worked so much so that they could have the best of the best in life, and anyone who didn't have "the best" wasn't worth their time. Yuppies looked down on these "normal" people as if they were the unwashed masses, it was a kill or be killed world to the Yuppies and they had to be on top. I agree with Ehrenreich 100%, as important as a good work ethic is, all other jobs are just as important in some other way, shape, or form. We still have "Yuppies" today in a way. There will always be those of us who have a strong drive when it comes to work, and greedy over-achievers are the ones who usually have this strong drive (basically the same thing as a Yuppie). However, we need McDonald's workers, trashmen, plumbers, and so on. Without these "lesser jobs" as Yuppies would probably have put it, we wouldn't be able to function day to day because someone HAS to get it done. Plus, even trashmen and plumbers can have strong work ethics, and just because they might not make as much money that doesn't mean that they're "lesser" than the working class.

Give Me That Old Time Feminism

I am not sure what Ehrenreich was exactly trying to get at in this article, but I believe she was hinting to the fact that Feminism is blown completely out of proportions at times. As she said, in many other cultures/countries around the world, women get absolutely 0.00% rights, period. However, a lot of the rights that some women are arguing for in our country are minimal and not at all important in the greater scheme of things. I don't want to sound like a chauvinistic, sexist jerk by saying this, but I agree with Ehrenreich for the most part. I agree that women should be grateful for what we (they) have in the USA, especially when compared to the way that many women have to live in many other countries around the world (Islam women for instance). I don't believe that anyone should be treated like a slave or a disposable object, but at the same time I don't believe that we are free to do anything that we feel like doing (males and females), even in a "free" country such as our own. Now granted I am a male, so feministic arguments don't really pertain to me, but these arguments come down to the moral beliefs of the individual and not going against the moral standards that they have established for themselves (and morally I know where I stand, which goes against premarital/free sex regarding men or women period).                                                                    

You're Not Not Entitled to Your Own Opinion (New)

I both agree and disagree with Stokes' statement of "we aren't entitled to our own opinions". I really think it depends on what you're talking about. If one says that every one of us is entitled to all of his/her own opinions, then we must respect each others' opinions and treat everyone's opinions as equally right and valid. Granted, most people use this as an excuse to justify their incorrect or off the wall beliefs/personal convictions, so if one is going to stand by the belief that "we're entitled to our opinions", then he should have valid evidence to back up his claims (whatever they may be). Obviously, even if everyone is entitled to their opinions, someone has to be wrong (most of the time). I can believe that dogs can talk, but just because this is my opinion, obviously dogs cannot talk (stupid example I know but I'm just trying to prove a point). If we are going to stand by the belief that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we must completely set aside all prejudice against others' beliefs and treat them as equally acceptable opinions as our own.


Patrick Stokes, Lecturer in Philosophy at Deakin University, in his essay "No, You're Not Entitled to Your Opinion", claims that no one is entitled to their own opinion, they're only entitled to statements that they can back up with fact. He says that often people use this excuse to defend their ignorant claims/beliefs, so that they don't have to base their opinions off of fact. There is a great distinction between "opinion" and the "cold, hard truth", someone's opinion will not change the irreversible truth. I agree with Stokes for the most part, I have certain personal beliefs/convictions that I see as pure fact, however others might not agree with my "opinion". For the most part (99.9 percent of the time) I agree that opinions should be backed up with fact, but sometimes opinions cannot always be backed up with physical facts, instead personal experiences can sometimes influence our beliefs/opinions. This is very hard to explain but I have my "opinions" because of cold, hard truth that I've observed throughout life.

If I Inherited a Fortune...

I have been very blessed in life, I've never gone without anything that I've needed (I have so many things that I absolutely don't need). I've never truly known what it means to be hungry or to suffer financially. However I'm going to have to work for things in life, because I definitely won't be inheriting a fortune from any of my relatives. I used to be the guy who wanted the white picket fence, 401 K, a trophy wife, and 2.5 kids (I still don't understand how that's possible). As I've gotten older I still want all that, but I've found that I don't want to settle down and have kids just yet. One day, I don't know how long from now, I want to do a lot of travelling (across the US and other countries) with my soulmate (who knows I might not ever find her). Whatever happens with my life, I just know that I won't have to have a lot of money to be happy. Don't get me wrong, I want to have money (I'm not greedy but I have to eat), but I just don't see myself making a fortune. I'll just see how life turns out, only God and time (but mostly God) will tell.

Fear As a Relative Term (Part 2)

We started calling out the man's name, but there was no answer. So we all ran back inside where there was light, and presumably we would all be safe there, but on the way back to our rooms (thinking that maybe the missing man had returned during our abscence) we saw the dark figure running down the giant flight of stairs next to us. This all happened so fast that, even in the light, we couldn't tell who (or what) ran down the stairs. We ran back to our rooms where we finally thought we were safe. After an hour or so of sitting in the light, too afraid to turn them off or go to sleep, fearing that we may be murdered in our vulnerable state. We finally settled down to sleep and we turned off all the lights, still afraid and slightly on edge. This is when we started hearing noises in the darkness, and one boy claimed that it was coming from under his bed. When he flashed his flashlight under the bed, the missing man jumped out and scared the living daylights out of every kid in the room. 

Fear As a Relative Term

"Fear" really is a relative term because what scares me might not scare other people. What I am afraid of has drastically changed over the years, but when I think about "fear", one particular instance in my life comes to mind. When I was like 8 or 9, my uncle and aunt invited me to go to a kids' camp retreat with their church. My uncle was the pastor of this church, so he knew everyone going and he was somewhat in charge of the whole thing. On the first night there, my uncle and the other adult men told all the guys about a killer who died at the camp years ago. Of course they tried to creep us out by saying that if you stayed up at night you could see him walking around the camp. As creepy as all of this was, none of us really thought anything of it until people started disappearing. I believe it was one of the adults who disappeared first, and so naturally my uncle said the we should go looking for him. We went outside, when it was completely dark, and started looking for him. This was so long ago so I'm really fuzzy on the details, but I think this was when we saw a dark figure running past us. Naturally we all screamed like little girls, and this is when we began to doubt our sanity. Was it the man we were looking for, or was it the man who died so many years ago?

Bad Guy or Good Guy

My experience with (many) women has been that they say they want a "good guy", but they go for the "bad guys". I don't want to group all of them into one category, because I've met many girls who really do want a good guy, but sometimes you can't really tell what kind of girl they are until you've spent time around them for a while. I have a 14 year old sister who looks like she's 16 or 17, so recently she's had many "suitors", many whom she's been interested in. Now from what I've perceived, she doesn't like the guys that I would consider the "good guys". She would argue with this, saying that so and so is a nice person, but she sees him from a female's perspective, and not from a male's perspective (my perspective in this case), so she does not see him the same way that I might. Maybe I think so differently because I don't consider myself a "bad guy". I'm not bragging when I say this because (believe me) I am far from perfect, but I've always tried to be myself instead of trying to be someone different for a girl I'm attracted to, and in many cases this results in me not ending up with her.  

You Are Not Not Entitled To Your Own Opinion

I both agree and disagree with Stokes' statement of "we aren't entitled to our own opinions". I really think it depends on what you're talking about. If one says that every one of us is entitled to all of his/her own opinions, then we must respect each others' opinions and treat everyone's opinions as equally right and valid. Granted, most people use this as an excuse to justify their incorrect or off the wall beliefs/personal convictions, so if one is going to stand by the belief that "we're entitled to our opinions", then he should have valid evidence to back up his claims (whatever they may be). Obviously, even if everyone is entitled to their opinions, someone has to be wrong (most of the time). I can believe that dogs can talk, but just because this is my opinion, obviously dogs cannot talk (stupid example I know but I'm just trying to prove a point). If we are going to stand by the belief that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we must completely set aside all prejudice against others' beliefs and treat them as equally acceptable opinions as our own.

Social Menial

I can't really compare Facebook with Twitter or anything else because I don't have a twitter, and I can't compare smart phones because I don't have one (I have an old crappy phone). At one time in my life I would have cared about all of this. When I first got a Facebook several years ago I would check it several times a day and always update my status. Ever since they changed Facebook and made it more complicated, (in my opinion) I don't care about it as much and I rarely update my status. I don't have a Twitter because I can't get past the fact that people "follow me", that just sounds creepy to me. Another  reason that Facebook isn't that big to me anymore is that I can't check it whenever I want to. I don't have a smart phone and the phone that I do have doesn't have internet on it. I'm not complaining because I know that this isn't something that I HAVE to have, but if I did have a smart phone I would probably check my Facebook more often so that I could read all the useless crap that people put on there.

Scooping Duty

I lifeguard at the Bell Road YMCA and every day that I work there something weird seems to happen in some way or another. Kids throw up in the pool all the time, and it seems like every time that they do I am the one who has to clean it up. One time this little kid puked in the pool and of course I was the one who had to scoop the chunks out of the water. The little boy's father was extremely apologetic and I told him it was alright and that that just happens sometimes, he couldn't have prevented it. However I didn't really feel like I said about the situation. I was ticked. His vomit had spread all over the kiddie pool and every time I would scoop some out and dump it, I would come back to find more bits to fish out. If I had been assigned with this cleaning task 6/7 years ago I would have been very hesitant. When I was younger, for some reason I was deathly afraid of puke. I can still remember coming home from school one day in the 4th grade, and my sister was sick. When she puked I ran all the way to the other end of the house and locked myself in the back room until I was sure that she wasn't going to do it anymore.