Foundations of the U.S

I'm going to go off of my last blog post on the topic of gay marriage. The whole dilemma here is that the supposed "seperation of church and state" isn't really implemented. Why you might ask? Because how can you separate a nation away from the church when that is exactly what it's constitution was built on? The constitution is based off old English law, which comes from the basic principles of Christianity (primarily Protestant) and the bible.

I don't believe there will ever be a seperation of church and state even it supposedly already is; and I don't think there should be. Our founding Father's planted our nation on a foundation of spirituality and a closeness with a heavenly god. That is the basis, that is the origin. Why should we go against what the founding fathers implented? Because we are a "progressing" nation a.k.a a nation with diminishing moral ethics. No, you don't have to practice Christianity. Freedom of religion is legit, but those "progressive" thinkers who believe we should just throw the constitution out and start from scratch are ignorant and delusional. This is America, if you don't like the moral ethics and foundation this country was built on, leave.

(By the way this is In no means talking about gay marriage and it being immoral. I actually support it 100%. I think there are other serious matters that should take so much time to be debated on.)

Controversy

Since I enjoy blogging about societal issues, I figure I'll blog about one that has been coming up a lot lately in the news and in everyone's daily conversations-gay marriage. Today the supreme court will hear arguments of whether the government should withhold federal benefits to same sex married couples.

Here's my two cents on the matter. The sex of the person, or whom they are married to should NOT determine the benefits they receive. It should be the status of the person, and the value they withhold in society, not if they like men or women. I would rather a same sexed couple who works hard, pays their taxes and contributes to society to gain benefits over a straight couple who is on welfare, doesn't work, dabbles in illegal activities etc.

Who one loves should not determine their status in this country and what they receive. All legal citizens of the United States should have the same rights as anyone else. I have been raised in a protestant, evangelical church my whole life. The church does not believe in same sex marriage. Of course since many of my facebook friends are my fellow church goers, my news feed is blown up with their opinions. One comment I found absolutely wonderful in "hitting the nail on the head" was a childhood friend of mine who attended church with me and now identifies himself as a homosexual. Another friend of ours posted a status about the fact it doesn't matter what side we are for on the issue, it's only causing greater division. In response to someone saying the bible calls homosexuality an abomination in the eyes of the lord he said this
"Leviticus contains laws for stoning, eating shrimp, raising sheep, selling your daughters, touching women on their periods, all of which were cultural and had to be repented by sacrifice. If you believe that Jesus died on the cross and created a true new testament and religion, then you would believe that his sacrifice denounced the cultural ways of Judaism, which would be called Christianity under the new laws.The reference to it in Romans was not something God or Jesus said, it was a letter to the romans on how to live more purely for god. At the time pagan temples were incredibly common in Rome, and one of the practices of pagan worship was to have religious prostitutes. Back then, women were not allowed to hold any ranking in the house of god, so all of the prostitutes were men. That reference is not referring to the love between men, but it's telling them not to enter pagan temples and take part in their practices."

The issue will forever be controversial, but if the only argument you have for not supporting gay marriage is that the bible says it is wrong, take a seat. This issue can be argued both sides with biblical evidence. The more Christians are going to preach that gay marriage is evil, the more no one is going to want to give their Jesus a chance. As someone once said "don't judge someone because they sin differently than you." As Jesus said to the adulteress I say to people opposing this issue "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Destiny

A question that I am constantly going over in my head is whether or not we are in control over our own lives, or if some form of higher power has it all planned out. Can we really change our own path or are we predestined to a certain path before we are even born? Is it possible to make some sort of mistake and miss out on what was meant for you?

I think the answer is a mix of yes and no. I do believe in a higher power and I do believe that higher power is in control of all and has the "final say," if you will. But I also believe we can miss out on our "fate." But sometimes missing out on fate may not be a bad thing. Maybe you weren't suppose to catch that train that the man with the piercing blue eyes was on; it was a good thing you dropped your cellphone retrieve it. Maybe that man who you felt you had a "moment" with would steal your heart, but maybe he would turn out to be a psychopath years later and leave you with nothing. Maybe that dream job you thought you had in the bag really wasn't your dream job after all; and whoever is "up there" watching over has a much greater plan for you than what you can think up for yourself. Unfortunately the answer is not that clear and simple, we just have to hope for the best.

Self Serving Nature

I was having a discussion with someone recently who calls themselves a socialist, we were discussing, well more of I was explaining why his beliefs could never be carried out in this country, or really any country for that matter. Though socialism looks good on paper, it just could never happen and function efficiently, ESPECIALLY in a nation that has always had a capitalist system. Now socialism isn't really what I desire to talk about. What I want to discuss is why it won't work, because of selfishness and greed.

The human instinct is to progress and gain more in one's life. Greed is a human trait that simply cannot be avoided. As much as I want to believe I am a "good person," which don't get me wrong I believe I am; but I understand that I am indeed greedy and selfish at times. I am not always thinking of myself, in fact I find myself to be a pretty selfless person by nature and my upbringing. My father has always been a very selfless man, doing whatever he can with the little he has to help other people and that instilled in me what I call "bleeding for someone who is bleeding." When someone close to me has a burden, I feel as though I share that with them. And I like to help in whatever ways I can and I do. But I know for a fact I have a selfish nature because I am human and it is inevitable.

I know for a fact if I lived in a system where everyone was paid the same regardless of their job title I would definitely pick the easiest and most simple career. Why would I spend time and money in university when I will make the same amount of income if I am working at a coffee shop or flipping burgers? Human nature is selfish, and yes we can overcome our selfish desires most of the time, but at the end of the day every human being has the same instinct regardless of how "selfless" they think they are. Selfishness is the root of all evil because from selfishness all the other "evils" branch. That is just where it begins.

Relationships

Lately I've been thinking a lot about relationships, relationships of all kinds. Whether these relationships be friendship, romantic, work related; they all need effort and time to flourish and survive. But all relationships at times need a little space. And if relationships aren't given that necessary space one may begin to resent the other. So is it possible to have enough "space" in a relationship without it fizzing away to nothing?

And what happens when one side feels that they are putting in more effort than the other? Is it easier to try and make it work than to simply walk away and take your cards off the table? It seems like no relationships can ever be in perfect harmony; but maybe they aren't meant to be. Maybe our relationships are a constant reminder that as humans we are imperfect, and working together is the only way to function.

Leap of faith

In my last post I discussed fear. As I've been thinking about fear, I also began thinking about what to do when you have big decisions to make. What to do you when suddenly your everyday life seems mundane? What do you do when you realize you are not where you are suppose to be? Many things can prompt this feeling. It can be a sudden surge of boring over your life, or someone could be making you feel like you should be somewhere else.

What's worse than feeling like you're in the wrong place? Feeling like you don't have the means to get you to where you need to be:finances, time, maturity.. So is anything really possible if you set your mind to it? Cam you pack up and move, or love someone who is far away, can you do these things without fear and still be happy?

Fear

Every single member of society is familiar with how it feels to fear. Whether they fear burning alive, drowning, death or in some cases even love; everyone fears something. A lot of what comes with fear is change-the fear to change brings along fear in other forms. So why is it that so many of us fear change? Is it because anything out of our normal routine seems daunting? Or is it because our minuscule minds have wired us to not want to step out of our comfort zones and experience something different?

When speaking for myself, I'd say I do not fear much. Of course the fear of dying in a gruesome way is something I would say frightens me a bit; besides that not much scares me. I've never been afraid of change and I've never been afraid of love. I believe both go hand and hand because when you love someone, whether it be romantically or a platonic love, it changes you.

This is what is wrong with the world, I believe. Everyone is too busy thinking about themselves and worrying about tomorrow that we don't stop and take part in what needs to be done now. Because of our inability to love and not to fear wars break out, riots begin and revolutions sweep nations because everyone is putting themselves first. So many people are afraid of putting others before themselves (we can blame this on selfish human instinct.) But this whole fear of change and fear or effecting one's norms can severely effect those around us. Whether we ignore the homeless man begging for change when we think he is just some bum loser; worried he will take our money and buy drugs or booze, or if we block out a potential lover for the fear of getting hurt. Fear keeps us from stepping out of the comfort zone of our everyday lives and doing things that can CHANGE someone's life in a good way; even our own.

Underlying Issues of Hysteria

I am going to begin to shy away from the examples of Mass Hysteria throughout history simply because I am running out of events to discuss. But I do believe what I would like to talk about still entwines with my orginial ideas mentioned in previous posts. I plan on my future posts being about human nature and the different behaviors and attitudes in society that contribute to the general issues (mass hysteria can be seen as one of them)

I believe ethocentrism is a huge issue in all culturals and especially today. Living in America, this is is the melting pot of the world. Though the majority of us living in the U.S are more aligned with Western Culture, we do have sub cultures as well such as Mexican Americans, Asian Americans etc. These sub cultures all practice different ideas and beliefs, and this can cause conflict. A great example of this is seen in gang wars (if any of you have seen Freedom Writers you may have a better understanding of what those are.) For some reason human beings are unable to get along and be accepting of one another. Ethocentrism is the belief that one's culture is superior to anothers. Prejudice is still a gigantic issue, and not just white people against people of color, it's every race, no one is excluded from this. It is an issue that is on going and seems to have no solution. Until people begin to be more accepting, chaos in society will continue to flourish.