I have gone to a Catholic school all of my life. I am not "extremely" Catholic, and I try to question my faith in as constructive ways as possible--for a scientist that is. There are many things that I don't--and won't ever--understand because that's just the way things are. However, being part of a "Catholic" community has taught me a few things about people.
Now I never like to make generalizations about groups of people, but I think it is easier to describe what I've learned by doing so. I have learned that there are about four types of people.
One, the person who is overly faithful and believes that everyone should share the same faith.
Two, the person who has a strong faith, but understands that there are many religions, and that there is no proof that any one person is right or wrong.
Three, the person that has no preference but understands that there is something out there that is greater than us.
And four, the person who just doesn't care at all (in all honesty, there really aren't too many of these people, so I won't go into it).
So I'm going to admit that the first type is quite annoying to me. With my experience with people of many faith traditions, I simply cannot hold that view or agree that it is valid. You can't tell me that God will throw me into hell for supporting immigrants in the United States (as one man held a sign that said this up in Postville). I hate to have a Star Wars quote in here, but Yoda said that, "Only the sith deal in the absolute." And by sith, he meant the evil and selfish. And that is true, if a person is so focused on him or herself being right, only conflict will come out of that.
I personally like the second person. They are focused and seem to have a clear goal in life, but they still understand the world--or I guess they simply understand that the world cannot be understood. They believe that no one person is right, but if you live by a good set of morals, then you are living a good life (the third person is also quite similar). However, as soon as one mentions the word "morals," the discussion of religion and where morals come from now comes into play.
All-in-all, I guess there are two types of people that I discussed. Those that deal in the absolute, and those that try to understand. And these two are like oil and water, they don't go together. It seems that if you get two of these people in a room to discuss something, nothing gets accomplished and tempers flair. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it would be better if we could all come to somewhat of an understanding.
So all this blabber that I just said gets me to this, I've had a lot of interesting conversations in my time at Loras College. I cannot say that Loras being a Catholic institution had anything to do with it, but I've had many--some had me up till three in the morning intrigued by the way other people view the world. I think it is awesome to share a great conversation with other people. It is a way to get to know how humanity works.
I do know one thing, though, I've never had to pull out a Dorothy Day quote or reference. It seems that when dealing with "backing up" your religion, I think it takes a personal understanding. You do have to know a bit about your religion, but you must be able to understand the view of the person you are conversing with. That is the key to what I've learn at Loras--UNDERSTAND, EVEN IF IT'S SIMPLY UNDERSTANDING THAT WE DO NOT KNOW.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Politics
When I first see the word "politics," I first think of a bunch of old men and women jabbering on about a ton of money, yet they know absolutely nothing except how to get elected. Heck, I know (and I'm not trying to be arrogant) that a few well-educated people could run this country a lot better than a bunch of old men and women that make way too much money.
Anyhow, what really comes to mind is basically everything. Everything from the little interactions with managers at work to people who try to please professors by being afraid to comment on something they do not think is right. Too many times, I see someone try to suck up to someone else and completely lose theirselves. Politics, to me, seems to ruin people--it makes people lose their true selves if they are not strong willed. And the thing is, politics is everywhere. How do you think a building is built? First, you've got to go through all the rules and regulations that other people came up with. Recently in the news, I have read that soon, all taxis in New York and a few other towns must be hybird vehicles. The problem is that these vehicles are shorter than the current Crown Victorias. There is also a federal mandate that requires all taxis to have a bulletproof barrier between the passenger compartment and the driver. Now, this means there is a safety issue: there is a very stiff material that is close to a passenger. Thus, the passenger will strike this unforgiving material in the event of an accident. Engineers have been warning the federal government of such an issue, but the mandate continues--thus the engineers are left without a solution yet, and taxi drivers will end up paying tons of money to meet the mandates. BASICALLY, a lot of politics is costing tons of money (because people who know nothing about cars aren't listening to the engineers who build the cars), and they are wasting tons of time. Therefore, I say POLITICS=WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Simply put.
Now enough of my own jabbering about what I think about politics. When I'm down at the Multicultural Family Center (MFC), I find myself thinking about safety. Last Wednesday, we took the kids to the playground at Prescott elementary school, and I worried about safety a lot. White Street is a very busy street, and these kids can be wild. It is hard to control many of them, so I feared that if one of them were to get hit by a vehicle, my tail would be sued. That is what type of politics is instilled in my brain, it seems to inhibit my judgement at times. Nonetheless, I had a blast. It just seems that I want to make sure that everyone is safe, and everyone follows the rules. That way, no one can ever say something poorly about the MFC.
Also, this Wednesday, we were cleaning up for the day, and one of the ladies that works there was cleaning up outside when she came in and said that some guy was getting all cranky about the sidewalk chalk that was a block away from his house. You've got to be kidding me! This guy is ridiculous. It is sad that people have the right to complain about such negligible matters. It's sidewalk chalk for heaven's sake. It'll wash off in the rain, and it is simply a few energitic kids having fun. We later found out that this gentleman is not very accepting of other races, and he complains a lot about the kids that come from the MFC. I've been working with these kids for a few weeks now, and I know that they are sometimes overly energetic, or sometimes they leave a bit of a mess behind, but they would never try to do anything that would upset someone. I just think it was a ridiculous situation. And again, politics caused much of the roots of this. Though the link may be difficult to follow.
Overall, I personally am sick of all the situations where politics comes to mind (especially during a political season). It makes me so mad when I see people who do not even consider the side of others. But anyhow, I could ramble on for hours about my disgust with politics and how it complicates everything.
Anyhow, what really comes to mind is basically everything. Everything from the little interactions with managers at work to people who try to please professors by being afraid to comment on something they do not think is right. Too many times, I see someone try to suck up to someone else and completely lose theirselves. Politics, to me, seems to ruin people--it makes people lose their true selves if they are not strong willed. And the thing is, politics is everywhere. How do you think a building is built? First, you've got to go through all the rules and regulations that other people came up with. Recently in the news, I have read that soon, all taxis in New York and a few other towns must be hybird vehicles. The problem is that these vehicles are shorter than the current Crown Victorias. There is also a federal mandate that requires all taxis to have a bulletproof barrier between the passenger compartment and the driver. Now, this means there is a safety issue: there is a very stiff material that is close to a passenger. Thus, the passenger will strike this unforgiving material in the event of an accident. Engineers have been warning the federal government of such an issue, but the mandate continues--thus the engineers are left without a solution yet, and taxi drivers will end up paying tons of money to meet the mandates. BASICALLY, a lot of politics is costing tons of money (because people who know nothing about cars aren't listening to the engineers who build the cars), and they are wasting tons of time. Therefore, I say POLITICS=WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Simply put.
Now enough of my own jabbering about what I think about politics. When I'm down at the Multicultural Family Center (MFC), I find myself thinking about safety. Last Wednesday, we took the kids to the playground at Prescott elementary school, and I worried about safety a lot. White Street is a very busy street, and these kids can be wild. It is hard to control many of them, so I feared that if one of them were to get hit by a vehicle, my tail would be sued. That is what type of politics is instilled in my brain, it seems to inhibit my judgement at times. Nonetheless, I had a blast. It just seems that I want to make sure that everyone is safe, and everyone follows the rules. That way, no one can ever say something poorly about the MFC.
Also, this Wednesday, we were cleaning up for the day, and one of the ladies that works there was cleaning up outside when she came in and said that some guy was getting all cranky about the sidewalk chalk that was a block away from his house. You've got to be kidding me! This guy is ridiculous. It is sad that people have the right to complain about such negligible matters. It's sidewalk chalk for heaven's sake. It'll wash off in the rain, and it is simply a few energitic kids having fun. We later found out that this gentleman is not very accepting of other races, and he complains a lot about the kids that come from the MFC. I've been working with these kids for a few weeks now, and I know that they are sometimes overly energetic, or sometimes they leave a bit of a mess behind, but they would never try to do anything that would upset someone. I just think it was a ridiculous situation. And again, politics caused much of the roots of this. Though the link may be difficult to follow.
Overall, I personally am sick of all the situations where politics comes to mind (especially during a political season). It makes me so mad when I see people who do not even consider the side of others. But anyhow, I could ramble on for hours about my disgust with politics and how it complicates everything.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Service Projects
First of all, I'd like to talk about my service at the Multicultural Family Center thus far. It is a wonderful time when I get down there. I arrive, and the kids that come on a regular basis recognize me and seem to take a liking to me. They have TONS of energy, and they can wear you out or get a little loud. All-in-all, its a great opportunity to be a part of their lives.
Basically, my job is just being down there and helping out. When things get busy, there can be a lot of kids packed into a tiny building. Wednesday, with the beautiful weather, we took the kids over to the Prescott playground where they all had a great time. We were hanging on the monkey bars, playing basketball, and just messing around having a grand ole time. It brought back good feelings of childhood. But the great thing is how the kids enjoy it as well. I know that many of them don't have an older person to play these games with them. I think it allows them to enjoy it more when others join them. Plus, I had a lot of fun helping them have fun.
As far as our group service project goes, I think we're headed down the right path. Once we gather all the relevent information that we need about the happenings in the Washington Neighborhood and the Bee Branch line, things will start to fall into place. Getting a hold of the city's information was crucial, and with information from actual city council members, we are well on our way to getting the information we need. So long as the others get the call to the people for the oral history, we'll definitely accomplish our goals.
In general, things are going pretty well. As for myself, I'm enjoying the work at the MFC, and as a class, we're moving right along on our data gathering. It was a slow start on both projects, but I think that once we get going on these things, everything will fall into place just right, and rightly so.
Basically, my job is just being down there and helping out. When things get busy, there can be a lot of kids packed into a tiny building. Wednesday, with the beautiful weather, we took the kids over to the Prescott playground where they all had a great time. We were hanging on the monkey bars, playing basketball, and just messing around having a grand ole time. It brought back good feelings of childhood. But the great thing is how the kids enjoy it as well. I know that many of them don't have an older person to play these games with them. I think it allows them to enjoy it more when others join them. Plus, I had a lot of fun helping them have fun.
As far as our group service project goes, I think we're headed down the right path. Once we gather all the relevent information that we need about the happenings in the Washington Neighborhood and the Bee Branch line, things will start to fall into place. Getting a hold of the city's information was crucial, and with information from actual city council members, we are well on our way to getting the information we need. So long as the others get the call to the people for the oral history, we'll definitely accomplish our goals.
In general, things are going pretty well. As for myself, I'm enjoying the work at the MFC, and as a class, we're moving right along on our data gathering. It was a slow start on both projects, but I think that once we get going on these things, everything will fall into place just right, and rightly so.
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