A tragic event.

This post isn't so much about the tragic event but the lack of knowledge about it by people I have talked to today. This is the event that happened early this morning in southwestern Arkansas. I live about 100 miles from where this happened. I spoke to  10 people about this event around 5pm this evening and of those ten only 3 knew anything about it. I first heard about it this morning around 10am but because I was no where near a radio was unable to keep up with the news. When I did get back to a radio I was able to get updates. My problem with the 7 that had no idea this event happened is the simple fact that they don't want to know what is actually going on around them and in the world. I believe that fear of truth is what enables many to remain christians.

What is the root of all evil?

I have been thinking about this some lately. I don't believe anymore that there is one cause for evil. I am just giving my personnel opinion on this, so like anything else I could be wrong. There are some things people say are the root of evil but only when viewed in the extreme are they able to stand alone. The three main factors I see as making evil come from people are religion, power, and money. None of these three are evil but are used by others to advance an agenda that harms more then it does good. There are very few if any major acts which don't harm someone some how.

I know that the three things I have listed aren't the only elements that lead to evil acts but I do see them as main causes. I will begin with religion. Is religion evil? I don't see religion as it was meant to be as evil but it is easily abused which leads to evil being committed in its name. What I know of history shows that religion has been used to advance many different types of actions. I believe that religion makes it easier for people to justify any action they take that they normally wouldn't commit. I could list all the acts that have been committed in the name of many different religions that are seen as evil in todays world. I don't think it is necessary to do that because most people already know what I would list. What we need to do is look at how people are in ordinary life in regards to their religious beliefs. Most people, no matter what religion, wants the world to believe that their religion is about love and peace. How do each of these different religions define what they call love? How do the people within each religion define love?

Power is something we all have to one degree or another. Like most things, power is easily abused and easily gotten when mixed with religion or money. Power give people the ability to help those in need. What makes someone in need? The problem I see with power is it makes many people believe they are above those under them. Most people who have power begin to forget what it took to get that power. We as people need to ask ourselves what we would do if we were in power? I like to believe that I would do what I could to advance our understanding the universe. How easy would it be for people with money to change my views? I have been poor my whole life. I have had to struggle many times to make it though the next week or mouth. Would I abandon my views if I knew I wouldn't have to worry about money or harm from others religions anymore? How can we stop religion and money from influencing people within power? If you were in a position of power would you want others restricting that power?

Lets get to what most people seem to thing the root of all evil is. When the original statement was coined, the odds are money was rare. While man was small barter and other means of trade were easily used. As mans knowledge began to expand, the ability of trade and barter became to complicated to work. We can still do some trading and barter today but it is usually in extremely small scales. Money isn't really the problem. It is the belief that money is the most important thing in life. Until extreme greed is gotten under control there is little that can be done about the effects of money. I figure here in the USA the best way to control greed is though taxes and eliminating private political contributions.

I believe that the real root of all evil is man and thier inability to understand all people are equal.

Was this punishment or an attack of the devil?

You always hear christians saying how this or that disaster is punishment from god. I always wonder what christians say when something happens to them. Do they go around saying that god is punishing them for their sins or do they blame the devil for these events.

        I had to work today and when I was headed that way I came upon a fire which was burning inside a church. The volunteer firefighters had only arrived shortly before me because they were just getting the hoses run out. I was unable to get a photo of all the smoke rolling out of the church because it would have been a bit dangerous to at that time.  There were probably 5 different fire engines from brush buggies to large fire trucks there. The second time I went by it I was able to get a few pictures that showed some of the fire trucks and this time there were at least 2 county mounties there with them. Since there were so many vehicles on or near the road this was as close as I felt it was safe for taking any pictures from a moving vehicle. This time by they seemed confident they had the fire out and were putting the hoses up. It had been about 2 1/2 hours since I first went by it.

      The third time I went by there were people trying to get some of the stuff from inside out into the sun to dry it seemed to me. From the photo above you can see some of the damage to the west side of the church up near the top. It didn't see to be as much fire damage but smoke damage and where they might have busted it away to get water to the fire.

The final time by the church I was able to get these last two pictures and it seems to me that most of the damage was on the inside unless the back of the church was burned a lot more then the other three sides. The top of the church had fallen in some but it didn't seem that the fire had gotten to far out of control by the time the fire fighters got to work. I would say they are probably lucky it was a Saturday morning, otherwise many of the people that came to fight it would have been at work or on their way to work.

   I wish I lived a little closer to where this church is located or knew a few people that lived in the area. I want to know what rumors are flying around about the cause of the fire. I could believe that many of the members are wanting to say it was arson or an attack by the devil. I very much doubt that they are going around saying they are being punished by their god. I figure it was an electrical fire but wouldn't be surprised if the reasons being used for the fire run the gambit from satanist to muslims. I have a brother that goes to church and runs the sound system. Many of these older churches are running probably 4 or 5 times as much electricity as they did when they were first built. The failure of the members to understand that with the added draw of power by many of the new systems they use is what happens when you think some god is watching over you.

         Right now I am working in an area where a tornado went though on April 30th. There are many in the area that seem to have the same mind set that anything bad that happens to them is the devil and all the good is because of god. Why do these people always want to blame sin when it happens to others but never blame their own sins when it happens to them?


Update: The police are investigating this as an arson fire. They have arrested a guy for burning another church in the area and suspect him of setting this one on fire.

Differences between scientist and those that are religious.

I do something still today that used to really piss my ex-wife off. I would find a subject and start thinking about it heavily. I have been reading a few old blogs I used to read often until they quit publishing. The one I was reading that led to this post was about how religious people claim it takes faith to believe in science. It seems to me that this type of statement requires you to redefine the word faith. We know that faith is believing something without the evidence to support that view. I know of no science that is based on no evidence.

I have conducted no studies nor do I plan to about this topic. The points I plan on making here are my opinions and mine alone. Some of the differences I see between these two types of people are scientist tend to avoid saying they are 100% sure and always welcome challenges. I have met a few theist that seem to welcome challenges but once you start showing the evidence against their view they tend to get less and less willing to accept anything but their own words. Most that believe in any religion tend to be 100% sure of their views and will throw any evidence out with the bathwater if it doesn't fit their views. Yes a scientist will have some faith in his/her new hypothesis but will tend to have more trust in his/her abilities. A scientist might not like it but if their idea is proven wrong to them, they will accept it and modify their views to fit the new evidence. Many religious people will ignore any evidence or throw the devil into the mix to avoid admitting they are wrong.  Most scientist will keep up with any advances in their fields and those that are related to it. I can't say that i know of any people who are religious that keep up with advances other religions make other then the methods which will get them more followers.

Do both scientist and theist use fear to advance their views? Is money the main reason either of these groups attempt to advance their views? I know theist use fear as a tool to advance their religion but I don't think it is used by most scientist. There are some but most people who use fear to advance science aren't actually scientist. The problem is that most non-scientist see the fear invoked by these other none scientist as coming from scientist. Yes money is always a factor in both fields. The difference I see is that most scientist use the money they struggle to get to help all of mankind while religions tend to use it to just advance their own views and could care less about the harm done to others. I have no way of knowing the full numbers but I would be willing to bet all I have that less then 50% of the money given to churches actually helps anyone outside of that church. I would be about 75% willing to bet less then 25% goes to those in need outside the churches.

Morals

I have been doing some research into morals and how we might come about with the morals we do. I know most religious people claim it is their god that gives us our morals but I just can't see that. The main problem I see with this claim is that christian morals change with society but by their claims they shouldn't change at all. I like the example of how the laws and morals of people began to change after women got the right to vote here in the USA. Once women started voting many politicians began to enact laws which helped women. It has taken many years but the morals of people have changed when it comes to many crimes committed against women. There are other areas where religious claim morals but their actions don't support their views. Some of these areas are charity, murder, rape, and war. They talk about how their god is all about peace but will condone all the above as long as it is for their god.

What christian principles do christians mean when they say

What christian principles do christians mean when they say that the US Constitution was founded on?  I have asked this of many christians that have claimed these principles are what it is based on. I have never gotten an answer to this question from the people who make these types of comments on the blogs I read. I have found a few sites that discuss these claims and will be doing a few post over the next few months reviewing them. Anyone interested in helping me with this check out this site. I figure I will make this the main one I will be reviewing. http://www.faithfacts.org/christ-and-the-culture/the-bible-and-government

Racism from my point of view.

I have been asked to write a post on my take of racism. I'm not sure i am the best person for doing this. First I need to give some background about myself and why I feel I am not a typical white male in regards to racism. I am from Arkansas and lived in a rural area that left me little chance of contact with other people other then at school and teen hangouts. The county I am from had 5 different school districts and of those five, three of them were all white students. One of the two had just a few years before I graduated gotten its first black students. The biggest town, population wise, was the main area where there were blacks residing. I can't be sure but would say between 85-95% of the black population lived within a small area of that town.  It wasn't until I had turned 18 that I can honestly say I had any real contact with people of the black race. The contact I had until Oct. 81 was during sporting events and a couple of times at summer camps. One of the summer camps I went to when I was around 11 or 12 was the first time that I recall this group having a desegregated camp.
It was also at this age I saw the effects of racism for the first time.

I went to school at a small school that was one of the all white schools. The town only had about 500-600 residents when I was 12. Because I lived about 6 miles from town I seldom got to hang out in town other then when we had peewee football practice. A bunch of us would share bikes and go riding all over town. One day me and a friend were riding past this house that was near the school and saw a younger black couple moving into a home. I'm not sure if it was one or two weeks later but me and the same friend rode by that same house and it was completely different. All the windows had been busted out and there was a lot of graffiti painted on it. I never said anything about it until many years later and it was odd how some people reacted to it. The rest of the racism up until I left Arkansas for the army was whites talking shit that they had no reason for saying. I never said anything back and at times laughed at their jokes. Even today the town I went to school at is just over 97% white.

In 1981 I went into the army and for the first time I actually was forced to begin to understand that things weren't like I was always told they were. I guess I knew much of what I was taught as a child wasn't the truth but avoided questioning it. It wasn't until I got to my first duty station in Germany that I really started opening my eyes to the fact that other then skin color most people want the same things for their life. I have to give credit for this to SPC. Allen. He was actually very patient with me even though he really didn't have to be. Of course it took a few more years before I really got a basic understanding of how racism has truly hurt this nation. I guess the second big racist thing I saw happened while I was in the army.

I wasn't real big at hanging out with the people involved in this event but did know them all. The people involved were all white and the victims weren't actual people but the image that these guys presented. They were know within the unit as racist but they tended to keep it hidden from those in command. What final got them was a photo they took of a rope around the neck of a bust of a man that was black. Like most racist they weren't big on the brain power. They passed the photo around for others to see and a copy of it made it to the unit commanders attention. They were gone in a couple of weeks.

Earlier I talked about an event when I was around 12 and how some peoples reactions to the event were odd. I was attending PLDC, Primary Leadership Course, while in the army and one of the topics was racism. Some of the other students thought that race relations within the USA was pretty good but I disagreed with them. I used the two stories as examples of how there are still many racist out here and that to believe it is pretty good was foolish. They didn't actually believe my stories until one of the instructors took my side with me. What I found odd was that two of those disagreeing with me and not even believing me were black. We were in Kentucky and I knew black guys who wouldn't even stop at gas stations unless they were with others.  It really did surprise me that they couldn't believe how racist the area around Ft. Knox was. While I was there one of the main leaders of the KKK lived about 15 miles from the base.

Have I beaten my racist upbringing? No I can't say I have completely beat it. The reason I say I'm not a good example is I am not a very active person when it comes to making friends. I has a small group of people I call friends and the rest are just people I know. I have a set of rules I use to define what makes a person a friend and there have probably been less then 100 people in my 46 years that fit these rules. I would say less then 10 of those were people that have been non-whites. Even within the army I was a bit of a loner and prefer it that way. Some people might say 100 friends is a good number but you have to understand I have known several thousand in this time. While I was in the army I would meet around 100-150 new people every 12-18 months due to normal rotations within the army. I still have to be aware that I can easily base my opinion on peoples skin color not on their actions.

Where I live now the race relations have gotten better then they were back in the 70's and 80's. I know there are still problems and until everyone decides to base their views of people on actions instead of what their skin color is, it will be a problem.