1. Much of the world’s violence today centers on hatreds among Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Yet, when you extract the most important beliefs of these religions, they are essentially identical. One God created the universe and all the people and creatures that occupy it; God should be loved and worshipped; people should make sacrifices to honor God. All three religions believe in those most important tenants of their religion. The way worship and sacrifices are performed differ in style, but that does not subtract from the value of these different religions. So when a terrorist kills in the name of his/her religion, imagine the questions God might ask them in their next life. These might include “why did you kill these people that believed in me?…loved and worshipped me?…..honored me with personal sacrifices? Does a terrorist actually believe he has a satisfactory answer for those questions?
2. Evolution versus Creationist theory. Religion is based on faith, not science. Creationist theory which teaches that God created all creatures and people as they are today or if extinct, as they were when they were alive and there has never been evolution is a matter of faith. There is no science behind it. To call it science cheapens the faith of those who believe in Creationism. Religion needs to keep out of science. Look at the Catholic Church imprisonment of Galileo centuries ago because he believed that the earth was round and (heretically) circled the sun. Most scientists believe in God. Their study of science only reinforces their faith. Who are we to tell God that he only could have created us and the creatures of the earth as we always were and never have allowed evolution? What sets man apart from all other living creatures is that God infused each of us with a soul that brings life after death. If he chose to wait until a creature evolved who was worthy of that blessing, he could have done it that way. Right now, scientific theory strongly backs up evolution. If evolution is someday proven to be a fact and not a theory, it takes nothing away from God nor the soul he has infused us with.
Having said that, religion should not be taught as Science, especially in our schools, as it is being attempted. Also, if there is no evolution, Creationists need to explain how, since we are all descended from one man and woman of the same race and color (since Eve was taken and made from the body of Adam per the Bible), Adam and Eve, man has ‘evolved’ to have color and facial differences – White, black, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Eskimo, pygmies, etc.. If there is no evolution, then wouldn’t we all have the same color and facial features. We know that all these races and colors are the same human race, by their identical DNA, by the fact that we all have similar blood types that can be safely transfused between the races, and by the fact of our common high intelligence.
3. The age of the earth. Some people believe in the strict interpretation of the Bible; some who believe think much of the Bible is figurative, not literal. Those who believe literally in the Bible believe it sets the age of the earth and the entire universe at less than 7,000 years old. That means dinosaurs lived with man and not millions of years ago despite scientific carbon dating. That means all the stars we see now are less than 7,000 years old. How do you explain that some stars that are millions and even billions of light years away are able to be seen. That should be impossible if they have only been in existence less than 7,000 years. Maybe that means that the usage of “day” in the six days that God created the universe and all its inhabitants in the Bible was merely a term that ancient man could better understand than “light years”. Could ancient man have understood the complexities of the science that God may have utilized to create the universe? Should God have infused ancient man with this knowledge or leave it as one of the many things man needed to learn on his own? Most importantly, shouldn’t religion spend its efforts on the morality needed to live a life worthy of the rest of mankind and most importantly God, rather than enter into scientific debates? Isn’t there a great need for that now?
4. Why did God, through human surrogates, write the Bible? Two major reasons come to mind. Establishment of the fact that there is only one God and God is the creator of the universe and everything in it. Secondly, establishment of moral values and laws for mankind to live by. Take those moral values and lessons literally from the Bible. It seems unlikely that God created the Bible as a science book. He left it to man and man’s intelligence to find out on his own how to develop tools, engines, electricity, fossil fuel extraction and usage, clothes, shelter, agriculture, cars, planes, mathematics, etc.. Why would he then give us a detailed account of the science of creation? Wouldn’t he leave it to us to discover for ourselves, just as he did for everything else? And if he did give us all those scientific details and there enormous timelines in the Bible, could early man have really comprehended it? Is it no wonder that the details of creation in the Bible may have purposely been meant to be ‘figurative’ in scope except for the cause of it all – God himself? He may have wanted us to use the intelligence he gave us to make these discoveries as he did with all the other discoveries man has found and is still finding. It gives purpose to life.
5. Gay Marriage.
If being gay was merely a lifestyle ‘choice’ and all of mankind chose it, then mankind would cease to exist in a little over a hundred years. That alone should indicate that gay sex and therefore marriage is a perversion. It is not in the interest of society to endorse gay marriage because in effect it would be endorsing its own extinction. The sanctity and values of marriage should not be diminished by making gay marriage or unions a legal institution. At the same time, other important points need to be made. There should be no violence against gay people. That is totally immoral and intolerable. There should be no discrimination in terms of jobs, housing, voting, etc.. Also, whether homo or heterosexual, can’t we all “go back to the closet”? Our children are learning much too much about sex at too early an age. Some experiment with sex before the age of 10! Part of the reason is they are exposed to so much talk and video about sex and they are naturally curious. It isn’t fair to them. Keep your sex life private no matter what you are.
Getting it Right - Welcome
The goal of this blog is to publish my thoughts on a variety of economic and political topics in the hopes that people who find them educational or beneficial will utilize them and/or forward to others who might find them interesting and/or worthwhile to promote to others, possibly including politicians who can push some of these ideas to fruition. The topics in my blog are meant to be of value on a long term basis, not a daily diary or political issue of the day log. If the information posted is useful to you, by all means utilize it and/or forward it as you see fit. If not useful, then merely ignore it. There are no universally agreed upon truisms and too little tolerance between some of those with opposing viewpoints to successfully convince the people with hardened opinions to move away from them. I am an analytical type person who will try to be as factual as I am able.
I disdain the current popularity of name calling and condemnation of viewpoints with no factual alternatives or logical solutions given that I see so often. If you don't have a solution based on fact and logic, then opt out of the discussion because you have nothing to contribute. My background is a degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and 39 years working in middle management jobs for a major retailer. My opinions are forged on the personal experence of life, family, friends, and work as well as triumphs and mistakes that I have made and hopefully learned from. My hope is that this blog helps you.
My first topic will be about personal finance. I chose that one first because most of us work long and hard just to survive but not all of us realize our dreams of becoming financially independent from the labors of our work. Much of our political votes/thinking also focus on the economy and in particular how well we are personally doing financially.
It is relatively simple, without sacrificing the enjoyment of living for 'today' and even at moderate incomes, to retire as a millionaire or multi-millionaire, if you focus on that goal consistently from a young age. It is also simple to ensure that your child or grandchild retires rich. It merely requires a one time gift of just $2,000 invested wisely and the passage of time. Please read my first post on this blog to learn more.
An index/schedule of past and future posts and their dates will always be updated so that it becomes the first post that you see below. If the date of a post that you wish to read is preceded by the word "Posted", then find it below or click on the title in the Blog archive to review.
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