Science Knows Best?

Many people put a great deal of faith in science to explain why things are the way they are. We believe what it tells us to the point of changing our belief when it admits to finding new evidence. One thing to remember about science is that what we are told is the interpretation of the evidence by a group of people. What we are not told, but can be found if you look, is that there are groups of people who have different interpretations of the same evidence that are plausible. Take for instance, Global Warming. At one point, scientists thought that the world was getting progressively cooler, experiencing Global Cooling. at some point it changed to Global Warming because we experienced higher than what we think is normal temperatures. Now it has changed to Global Warming that is also causing severely cold temperatures. This time, scientists have it right... right?

Don't misunderstand me. I do not advocate trashing our planet or being environmentally irresponsible. We should take care of the planet we live on. I am not saying that science is all bad either. What I am saying is that science does not have all the answers. It is not infallible.

And when science and politics agree, you should be concerned.

I am reminded of an independent movie called Absolute Zero, a global disaster film, where the main character, a scientist, kept saying that "science is never wrong". The only problem is that, in the movie, science was wrong several times.

Science will never have all the answers. Science is not infallible. It has done many good things but is far from perfect.

Health Care Bill not what it seams.

There has been much talk of President Obama's health care bill and people protesting it at events known as Town Hall Meetings. I commend those protesting and encourage others to follow along. There are many dangers with this bill that will lower the quality of health care in the US.

In theory it is a good idea. Health care that anyone can afford is a great idea. It doesn't bother me that I am paying for it while non-taxpaying immigrants receive health care. Things like this cost money and immigrants, legal or illegal, are people too. Everyone deserves health care without having to worry about the cost. Unfortunately the Health Care Bill goes further than this.

Under the health care bill your treatment will be weighed, the cost vs. benefit. If you are elderly, mentally handicapped, basically unable to contribute to society, you will be less likely to receive care than someone, younger and mentally fit. It is called Utilitarian Bioethics and is in partial practice today. If you can't contribute to society or live what is considered a "good quality of life" then you will be left to die while others are treated. Some of you may say, "This sounds like a good idea." If so, than you are a worse breed of monster than anything in the movies. And if this wasn't bad enough, the bill is giving the government control over more of our lives.

Under this bill the government will have more control of your life. Wills and living wills, how you die, what kind of care you receive, access to your financial and medical records. It is a step to government control over our lives because they don't feel we should be left on our own to make these choices. When will we say ENOUGH!! When will we start to realize that this was not the country the founding fathers wanted. It was the kind of government the early settlers fled.

Remember, the government is still by the people, for the people. Let these jokers know we are fed up. Tell them their job is on the line. We don't have to elect them again. Tell them to shape up or when we review their performance at the next election, we will have to let them go. We need more of these protests. Let your voice be heard and heard loud. Our anthem, "They Don't Really Care About Us"(yes M.J. is gone but it just works out so well)

The Definition of Truth

I realized today that we have a hard time defining truth. It is quite a scary thought because then you wonder, are we able to tell the difference between truth and lies. Try defining it yourself and see what you can come up with. Try asking other people to do it and see what you get. The problem is that we complicate the answer with perception when they are two separate concepts. People used to think that everything revolved around the earth but now we know the earth revolves around the sun which revolves around the galaxy which is also in motion. People used to think the earth was flat but now we know it is more like a sphere. All of these supposed truths are now false but at the time they were accepted. how do we know that what we know now is true. Well let me give you a few definitions that should help explain all of this.

Truth - what is

Perception - how we choose to see truth

This is how you define truth and perception. Truth is not what we want to believe but perception is. Perception is often how we want to see truth to fit our ideals. Sometimes our perception of truth is accurate and sometimes it is not. It is up to us to discover if what we perceive is truth

We Don't Decide If We Get a Raise

Has an employer come to you and asked, "Do you deserve a raise?" and "How much should you get?"
It would be absurd for them to do so even though we would love for that to happen. Instead, our bosses decide how much of a raise we deserve and if we deserve a raise at all. If makes sense that way otherwise we would give ourselves as big of a raise as we wanted and businesses would have to charge outrages prices. In the end, the economy would collapse. So explain to me why lawmakers and government officials get to decide when they should make more money and how much they should make. They decide they are not making enough money so they pass a bill and attach a rider to increase what they are paid. And in the money has to come from somewhere so in the end we pay more in taxes. Tell me why this works for government and not for the rest of us.
I am not saying that people who run the government should not be paid a decent amount of money. Running a state or a country is no easy task and they deserve to be paid fairly. But how much they should be paid should be decided by the people they work for, the people who voted them into office. We should have to vote on weather or not their pay should increase based on if they deserve it. After all, the money comes from us. We pay their wages so we should decide if the people running the state or country deserve to be paid more. We are their bosses and we decide if they get hired or not. Why should it be their decision to increase their pay?

Are Unions to Blame

Way back when unions were first formed they were a good thing to have. They protected workers rights, fought for fair wages and benefits, and protected from dangerous working conditions. Now they seem to work to get workers the most wage for the least amount of work. I believe you should protect workers from unfair practice but when they prevent an employer from being able to fire an employee who should be fired, they have gone beyond protecting workers rights. I was taught by my grandparents that hard work and going above and beyond was the way to do things. Unfortunately a union stands for getting longer breaks and more time off. And we wonder why we are the fattest nation. I can see why automakers want to send our jobs overseas. We ask for so much money that it becomes too expensive to employ us and so our jobs are lost. I understand wanting to earn more more money but that money has to come from somewhere. Why do you think the cost of everything keeps going up. More money is demanded and in turn, costs rise and things get more expensive. In the end it all comes down to greed which is not only in unions but in every workplace and government office. We worship the almighty dollar and don't want to earn it but have it given to us instead.

Evolution or Adaptation

One of the hottest debates between Christians and the Scientific community (not to say that there aren't Christian scientists) is evolution or creation. This blog is for Christians who believe that Darwin was completely full of crap.

Truth be told, I believe in creation and intelligent design but it would be foolish to believe in intelligent design and not believe in adaptation. How else would you explain the different races of humans and the different species of one type of animal. Sure God could have created all the different types of animals but not giving them the ability to adapt to changing surroundings would ensure the extinction of all life as we know it. My belief is that god created humans and all the different types of animals with the ability to change to fit the different climates as the world was inhabited. It makes the most sense and explains why so many of us are different and how we can have so many different races with different skin colors. It also explains why so many types of animal species exist in different parts of the world.

Parents Don't Do Enough

As some of you can tell, I am about stirring the pot and causing discussion and I will not refrain from telling readers how I feel about a certain topic. With upcoming release of the new Grand Theft Auto game, I felt the need to talk about the controversy surrounding video games and their affect on society.

Now I am big on video games. I own 4 systems and have games spanning 5 (the PS2 also plays Original PlayStation games). One of my personal favorites is the Blood Rayne games which combines violence, blood, gore, and a very sexy main character. As much as I love these games, I also am a big advocate of the rating system to help parents know which games to let their children play or to keep them from playing. I do not feel that a 10 year old needs to be playing a game like Grand Theft Auto. Despite the rating system, every time something bad happens where a school is assaulted by students with guns the blame is put on these games that these kids were allowed to play as wall as the music they listened to or the movies they watched.

While I feel it is inappropriate for young kids to play violent games or watch violent movies, I makes me sick that people fail to blame parents for not raising their children more diligently and taking responsibility for what happened. And place the blame mostly on the children who commit these acts of violence. I know it is a big politically correct thing where we need to be understanding and I do see the need to be delicate about it. I am not a heartless bastard. And even mental illness can be an excuse for such behavior. But for those of you who blame music, video games, or movies for the behavior of these troubled youths or violence in society, I have a few questions. Who let then play these games? Who let them watch these movies? Who let them listen to this music? Who didn't teach them from an early age that the violence in these games is wrong? The answer, their parent(s).

This new age parenting of making deals with your kids, respecting their privacy, and letting them be "free spirits" is a bunch of crap. As a parent you have a responsibility to raise you children and control what they watch, listen to, and play. You have the responsibility of teaching that killing is wrong and attacking people for no reason is wrong. Especially if they hear of something violent happening in the news. That is when you need to talk to them instead of just letting them hear about it and saying nothing. And you children do not have a right to privacy (technically Americans don't have that right to begin with). They have a right to be provided food, clothing, shelter, and loving parents. If your child proves that he can be trusted then by all means give them some privacy but not to the point that you stop being a parent. If your child doesn't show you that they can be trusted you don't give them privacy. You take it away, and you check on them to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. And you never make deals with kids. You need to be a parent and set rules and guidelines just like there are laws that must be followed in the real world.

The bottom line is that you can not trust society to ensure your child will know right from wrong. You must take responsibility as a parent for their actions and set an example for your children as well. The best way to teach your child is by what you do because that is where they learn the best. All the words in the world will be just wasted if your actions defy your words. I know some of you will say "parents can only do so much" but the problem is that parent don't do the "so much" that they can do. Often they fall short and the child is the one they hurt by not doing all they can do.

I welcome your comments, both good bad on all of my blogs.