Religious and Liberal: Self-Promoting

This is a follow up on my blog post, Oxymoron: Religious and Liberal. That post was more background and history then how my beliefs coincide and even support each other. I will focus on the latter part here.


Article of Faith

In 1842, Joseph Smith wrote a letter to John Wadsworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, in which he outlined the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which are now called the Articles of Faith. The eleventh article says "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." 


I truly believe this.

Oxymoron: Religious and Liberal

In today's society, it seems being religious means you are conservative and being liberal means you are not religious.  But that's not necessarily true.

City of Cambridge Seal

I want to explain how I am both religious and liberal.

I was raised as a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but I was raised in Cambridge, MA, one of the most liberal cities in the world.  I went to church every Sunday but I also went to inner-city public schools and was part of a gymnastics/hip-hop group called Jam'nastics.

My parents took us to church every Sunday and held family home evening every Monday teaching by word and example about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how to be accepting of other people's differences.

Prohibition vs No Child Left Behind

Both pieces of legislation had very good intentions. Prohibition was an effort to protect women and children from abuse of alcohol*.  The "No Child Left Behind"(NCLB) law was an effort to provide an equal opportunity to succeed for all children**.

Neither worked.

Prohibition was passed as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution on January 16, 1919 and repealed by the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933. 


The "No Child" law was proposed by President Bush on January 23, 2001 and enacted on January 8, 2002.  On February 9, 2012 President Obama approved waivers of the law to 10 states.

Turning Points

Both pieces of legislation had some sort of negative turning point.  Today, ironically, in 1929, the Valentine's Day massacre took place, which made people think that the positive outcomes of prohibition might not outweigh the negative ones.

Some might say the turning point for NCLB was when the GOP went back on a promise to provide more federal aid for low-scoring schools to improve. Others might say it was when President Obama announced waivers for 10 states on February 9, 2012.

Really? You Think That?

There are many flaws that are arising with increased participation in the digital world. Here are some of these problems:

• Miscommunication
• Misunderstanding Sarcasm
• An Increase in Contention

Miscommunication

The more we write the more we will be misunderstood.  It's bound to happen.  This is a gigantic problem.  We've seen it on Google+ and also on Facebook.

Sarcasm

Another problem is that no matter how many times you try, you cannot type sarcasm.

I know I've tried.

Sarcasm in blogging, texting, commenting, tweeting, etc. is practically impossible to convey. The only way it can sort of work is if the person knows you really, really well. And even then it usually doesn't work.

This can lead to all sorts of problems.

The First Printer

The first printer in British North America, Stephen Daye (1594 – 1668), emigrated to Cambridge, MA in 1638.  He printed the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in the American colonies.

This picture is a plaque that was found in the basement of 15 Dunster St. Cambridge, MA.  It inspired the name of the restaurant called The First Printer, which is located at the same address.

The restaurant opened last week.

Revolution - American vs Arab Spring

So I've been thinking a lot about revolutions since my Enjoy the Revolution blog post. 


When we think about revolution we can't help but think of the Beatles:

How do revolutions start? What is the relationship between different revolutions? In particular, what are the relationships between the Arab Spring and the American Revolution? 

Dynasties - Ming to the Patriots

A dynasty is "a sequence of rulers from the same family, stock, or group."

This is the article that inspired this post:  Are The Patriots Building Another Dynasty?

The Patriots dominated the league when I was in high school, winning the Superbowl my freshman year, my junior year, and my senior year.  They went from underdogs to heavy favorites under the direction of their wise coach, Bill Belichick, their savvy owner, Robert Kraft, and their now super-star quarterback, Tom Brady.

After that they were still good.  They went 16-0 in the regular season, which had never been done and hasn't been done since.  But they lost in the Superbowl to the Giants mostly due to some bad luck on their part and a ridiculously lucky catch on the Giants part.

I want to compare the Patriots to another dynasty, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Can't Catch Me

Lots of people and police departments have started using these little GPS's to track the cars of spouses, teenagers, grandparents, and suspects. It seems like a  definite intrusion of privacy.

But is it all bad?

I read about someone that used it to find their elderly parent who got lost driving in New Jersey.  Another guy was able to find out his wife was being unfaithful and gained an advantage in their divorce case. Cops have also used them to catch bad guys.

But the supreme court ruled against a police department in United States vs. Jones saying it was a violation of the 4th amendment.  Here is a NY Times article on the subject.

 In the GPS Case Issues of Privacy and Technology

I'm glad they ruled against the police officers.   I personally don't like the idea of somebody tracking my every move.  But the court's ruling doesn't stop somebody from throwing a GPS on my car.  

I'm okay with Open Science and Open Source software but I'm not okay with Open Phil Locating.

Chant This!

Music in Western Civilization started under the control and patronage of the Roman Catholic Church.  

First was Gregorian chant.