Tackling the Issues vol.3 July 31, 2006
Posted by Matt in Uncategorized.Tags: beliefs, bigotry, discrimination, homosexuality, issues
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Originally posted 7/31/06
Well, it’s time to get back to clarifying my positions on the last What Do I Believe blog post and today we begin with statement number 4:
4. I am a social libertarian – meaning that, though I may not like the idea of things like gay marriange, I oppose the government’s involvement in personal matters.
I will start by saying that I believe that discrimination is always wrong and we should always strive to preserve human rights for everybody. Most of all, our government should never show bias against any group of people. I understand the long-held position against gay rights that many in the Christian community take, but I have to disagree – not on moral grounds (that’s another topic for another day), but on my view of the role of government in the personal lives of people.
Do we really want our government to start telling us (again) who can and can’t get married? Regardless of morality issues, should we really begin passing laws to keep consenting adults from marrying each other?
I believe that it is not the government’s job to force one group’s moral views on the rest of the general population. If anything, the feds should be looking to protect the individual rights of everyone – as long as they don’t infringe on others. It is the job of parents to raise their children with the values that they choose to give them – and those values may fall on any side of the idealogical spectrum.<br
Tackling the Issues vol.2 July 28, 2006
Posted by Matt in Uncategorized.Tags: Christians, nonviolence, peace, poverty
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Originally posted 7/28/06
We’ve been taking a more detailed look at my latest What Do I Believe? blog entry because I want to try and answer people’s comments from that first entry. So, now I want to take a look at numbers 2 and 3 from the list:
2. I believe that the peaceful solution is always the best one, though sometimes military force must be used. I, like nearly everyone else, approved of the post-9/11 war against the Taliban, but I was against the Iraq war from the beginning.
3. We have the responsibility, as the richest and best equipped nation in the world, to protect those that are downtrodden. Instead of fighting an endless war for disputed reasons, we should be in Sudan and other places where people are being slaughtered by the thousands. Our financial interests should not rank higher than mass genocide.
Mike mentioned in his comments that it seems as though it would be hard to resolve these two points and I agree with him. I’ll admit that it is hard and sometimes I don’t know exactly where I stand on things like this. My pacifist nature as a Christian makes me question whether it’s ok to have any support for military conflict – even if it’s for the greater good… Which brings us to another question: Is it ok for Christians to serve in the military? I know that I could never serve in the miltary with a clear conscience – I would never be able to justify killing another human being.
That being said, we do have a responsibility as the strongest nation and as on the earth and as relatively wealthy individuals to help those that are less fortunate. For years, it seems as though the United States has thrown money at the problems in poor places like Africa, but that money has not gone to help those who really need it. I can’t pretend to know all of the intricacies about the situation in Sudan or in other suffering nations, but it just seems as though we need to be doing something more to help. Perhaps the answer is to work to empower the suffering people and encourage them to overthrow oppressive governments. With my limited knowledge, I don’t know what the best answer is, but I do know that it is our and the rest of the industrialized world’s responsibility to help those that are down.
Tackling the Issues – vol.1 July 28, 2006
Posted by Matt in Uncategorized.Tags: beliefs, issues, politics
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Originally Posted 7/28/06
My last blog entry, What Do I Believe pt.3, sparked some great comments from people, so I felt as if I should respond in kind. I thrive off comments, both when people agree and disagree with me, so please feel free to say whatever is on your mind. I’ll tackle a few of these points at a time, so bear with me.
1. I am not a Democrat. Neither am I a Republican. I refuse to beholden myself to either political party or to any set of predetermined ideals. While it is true that I tend to vote Dem more often than not, I have no allegiance to them.
In my life, I’ve been able to vote in three presidential elections – in which I’ve voted for an Independent, a Republican, and a Democrat – so, I feel like I’m a certified Independent – a free thinker that votes for the person, not the party. That being said, I agree wholeheartedly with Mac’s statement that, “Too much party loyalty is dangerous.” I turned 18 in 1995, when we were constantly being bombarded by “news” of Bill Clinton’s escapades. At the time, I was pretty ignorant when it came to politics (something that has just changed for me in the last 5 years), but under the influence of my Christian friends at Harding who did seem to know what they were talking about, I came to view the Democratic party and Clinton in particular as the enemy. This then lead me to vote for the “morally upright” Bush in 2000 over Gore -who I was sure supported homosexual sex with children in the open on every street corner and wanted to burn every church in America to the ground while taking a dump on the Bible.
Then the Sept. 11 attacks happened and I, like 90% of America, supported the President wholeheartedly as he went after the perpetrators. Then, after bombarding Afghanistan for months without catching Bin Laden, there was suddenly a change of direction. The President and others began throwing the nation of Iraq around in discussions as a sponsor of terrorism that harbored weapons of mass destruction. I remember thinking that it seemed kind of strange, but the idea of sending UN weapons inspectors to check out the allegations was probably the safest route.
Next came probably the turning point in my view of politics – Bush set a timetable for the inspectors and when, by that time, they had not yet found any of the supposed WMDs, he ordered them out and declared war. I didn’t understand why he decided to do this – the inspectors themselves said that they needed more time – but this action prompted me to look critically at the Bush administration and the Republican party. I began to read more about the political process and to pay attention to commentators on both sides of the aisle – this lead me to realize that my own beliefs of what is right and good tended to be much different than the “values” espoused by the President and other prominent conservatives. My drift to the Left sped along as I studied and learned from others around me – bringing me to the point where I am now.
What Do I Believe pt.3 July 26, 2006
Posted by Matt in Uncategorized.Tags: beliefs
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Originally posted 7/26/06
I’ve previously written two entries about my personal beliefs, but this time I wanted to focus solely on my political beliefs. Some of these may be repeats from before, but I’m writing this off the top of my head, so you’ll have to forgive me.
1. I am not a Democrat. Neither am I a Republican. I refuse to beholden myself to either political party or to any set of predetermined ideals. While it is true that I tend to vote Dem more often than not, I have no allegiance to them.
2. I believe that the peaceful solution is always the best one, though sometimes military force must be used. I, like nearly everyone else, approved of the post-9/11 war against the Taliban, but I was against the Iraq war from the beginning.
3. We have the responsibility, as the richest and best equipped nation in the world, to protect those that are downtrodden. Instead of fighting an endless war for disputed reasons, we should be in Sudan and other places where people are being slaughtered by the thousands. Our financial interests should not rank higher than mass genocide.
4. I am a social libertarian – meaning that, though I may not like the idea of things like gay marriage, I oppose the government’s involvement in personal matters.
5. I believe in the strict separation of church and state. We are a nation of many different people and many different ideas – all of whom deserve respect (yes, even the Scientologists.)
6. I am against the death penalty in all cases
7. I am against abortion, but at the same time, I don’t think suddenly making it illegal is the right thing to do either. I think we should provide more sex education and cut away the red tape involved in adoption.
8. I believe our government should be doing more, much more, in promoting renewable energy. I would like to see all government vehicles switched to hybrids (or even better, run on bio-diesel) as an example to the rest of the nation. We should do all we can to harness both wind and solar energy to our fullest capabilities.
9. I believe in the public education system, but I also know that it needs a lot of work – increasing teacher pay and making schools as equitable as possible would be a great start.
10. I am 100% for gun control and think we should be doing much more than we are.
11. I believe that having a welfare system is the right thing to do, but we must require that recipients go through some sort of training or career counseling to get them back into the workforce.
12. I believe that we should be doing more to revitalize America’s cities and stop suburban sprawl.
13. I believe we should have capable mass transit systems in every city in America – perhaps we could increase gasoline prices to $5/gallon.
14. We should legalize marijuana and tax the heck out of it. While we’re at it, let’s increase the taxes on alcohol and tobacco by huge amounts and do away with all taxes on groceries.
15. I believe that everybody who works full time should make a living wage.
16. I believe in socializing health care, so that all Americans can afford to have the medicine that they need.
17. I believe in the public financing of elections – by tax dollars alone. In this way, every candidate would have an equal chance financially and none would begin their terms beholden to a special interests group.
The Role of the Lord’s Supper July 18, 2006
Posted by Matt in Christian Beliefs.Tags: church community, forgiveness, Jesus, Lord's Supper
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Originally Posted 7/18/06
In our Sunday morning Bible class we have been studying I Corinthians and this past week we looked at chapter 11 in which Paul discusses the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. The majority class opinion seemed to go along with classic Church of Christ doctrine: The bread and wine stand for the body and blood of Jesus and we are supposed to take this time to reflect on the sacrifice that He gave for us.
Now, I’ve never been very satisfied with this explanation – namely the “body” part of it. If you look at Matt 26: 26-29-
While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.
You’ll notice here and in other places that there seems to be very little mention of Christ’s physical body, especially when compared to the many references to His blood. We all know that Jesus suffered tremendous bodily torture leading up to His death, but is that really what Communion is about?
So, what is the body of Christ? In class, I brought up the idea that we, as Christians, are the body and perhaps the bread of the Lord’s Supper is simply a metaphor for Christians love and interaction. The wine (aka Welch’s grape juice) is then our communion with God, through the blood of Jesus. Therefore, the emblems themselves really don’t carry much meaning, the true meaning is in our relationships with each other and with God.
Earlier this evening, as I was getting ready to write this, another idea hit me and I’d like to run this one by you guys too. Perhaps the two emblems, the bread and wine, are meant to stand for the two covenants given to us. The bread stems from the Feast of Unleavened bread and, even today, maybe it is meant to be a remembrance of times past. The Jews were “the body” before Christianity was even in existence. The wine then represents the new covenant of forgiveness as stated above.
I’ll try to get back to this topic and write more later as time permits. Let me know if you have any ideas or if I’m just rambling incoherently….
Ode to the Afternoon Cup of Coffee July 5, 2006
Posted by Matt in poetry.Tags: coffee, poetry
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Originally posted 7/5/06
My coffee, my mistress, my muse
How I love to stare into your inky blackness
Your pleasant aroma fills my nostrils
My mouth waters at the thought of your bitter taste
One sip at a time, I imbibe your essence
Savoring every rapturous drop
