My views on some problems. Part 1

I haven't been posting anything lately and have even cut down on how much I have been commenting on the blogs I like to read. I have been working 6 days a week and have been pretty drained with no desire to do my normal typing.This post I am just going to talk about some of the events going on that have a direct effect on the lives of most people and what might be some ways to make things better.

Afghanistan.
  I believe that the actions within Afghanistan have really hurt the USA and most other countries in the world. We, as a nation, have sunk billions into a bottomless pit yet have done nothing that was originally suppose to be done. If the former President had actually pushed for completing the original goals, we would probably have already been out of Afghanistan and many of the problems that have arisen from it wouldn't have happened. I am probably wrong about us being out of Afghanistan. People in power in the USA seem to think we have to be present in all the nations of the world. If the people in power could do it without losing the lives of thousands, I believe they would put forces in Iran and North Korean to impose their views on the people of those nations. Has the current President done anything to bring the original focus of going to Afghanistan back to the fore front? I don't believe he has and in the end this could be our Waterloo. The surge that was suppose to solve the problems within Afghanistan, as some believe it did in Iraq, hasn't worked any better then it has in Iraq. I know many people do believe the surge worked in Iraq but it is pretty common to hear about some group bombing another in Iraq. When enough foreign forces leave Iraq you will see a large increase in the amount of violence and the current Iraqi government will fall apart. I don't see the change of command in Afghanistan as solving any problems but just adding more problems then as a nation we are able to afford. The problems won't be solved by throwing more money and lives at them. I think we should give the Afghan and Iraqi governments final notice that our forces will be removed within the next 6-9 months and if they aren't ready to handle the withdraw, so be it. I also believe we need to remove all our forces from foreign soil. We cannot nor should we be the nation that tries to solve all the worlds problems. We can be a part of the problem solving but by trying to push our solutions onto other nations have us where we are today.

Gulf Oil Spill.

   I believe that both the US government and BP really screwed the pooch on this one. I also blame the courts for these types of actions but haven't really got true evidence for this. They have allowed companies like BP to become the same as humans and we know how easily humans can screw things up. The problem is there really isn't anything government can do to some company or even the company leadership. Because BP is seen in the same light as a citizen, then the company should be arrested and confined as any other person would be if they did something like this. How would you arrest a company? Easily. I would say freeze their funds within the USA and file papers to have the accounts frozen in any country we have treaties with. The fault for the spill lies with the agency that allowed BP to operate it rig below the standards and with BP and its failure to obey the rules. The company contracted to operate it for BP should also be held accountable for its failure to think about safety first over money. As Americans we should be pushing both state and federal government to really get behind the research into new fuel sources. The focus should be on renewable fuel. I would say any company that comes up with a viable renewable fuel should be given tax free status for a set number of years and if they share the technology with others, they should be given even more. I know that the search for a renewable fuel is extremely difficult but think it should be a priority. Look at the disaster of the ethanol attempt. I think the focus of an new fuel source shouldn't be on automobiles so much as on transportation systems and industry. Many people think that cars use a lot of fuel but when it comes down to it the rail and trucking industries use millions of gallons a day. It won't be anytime soon that we will be able to solve these problems but it does need to become a serious search instead of just words the politicians say.

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