morning notes
1. Why is it that my internal radio insists on blaring the same 5 seconds of music for the first two hours that I’m up?
2. It’s hard to be a conservative in a liberal-arts college town. The number of anti-Bush (note I don’t say “Pro-Kerry,” because most of them aren’t) bumper stickers I see every day is overwhelming (slightly facetious). It gives rise to the skewed impression that the race is rather lopsided in favor of Kerry, but when the polls are consulted, it’s much closer than my gut would indicate.
3. The goatee is back and I’m thinking pretty seriously about getting an ear pierced. Tonight. Why? No idea. Probably something subconscious.
4. Contrary to popular belief, we did NOT build this city on rock ‘n’ roll. More like concrete and plywood.
5. Yep, my brother rules. For other reasons besides that, obviously, but it’s still pretty cool and I’m proud of him. My other brother, Paul, rules equally as much for other reasons, too–driving down to Florida on a whim at 1 a.m. to witness Hurricane Charley firsthand would be a start. You should see the video footage he got standing in a restaurant while the roof was being blown off. It’s Weather Channel highlight-reel stuff.
6. Sans toi, les émotions d’aujourd’hui ne seraient que la peau morte des émotions d’autrefois.
1. I don’t know how that works. I hate my radio waking me up because I don’t like any of the stations around here.
2. I agree. Most of the people I know are pro-Kerry or anti-Bush with a passion . . . and that’s not cool with me. I rather enjoy having a man who’s not afraid to talk to God in the White House!
3. Since I’ve never even seen a picture of you, can’t imagine this phenominon. And with the ear: remember, left is right and right is wrong :þ
4. Ha, ha. I wish my city was built with concrete, as it has to go through another hurricane! I’m scared :(
5. Hurricane Charley was awful, but Frances is really shaping up to be a beast! Did I mention I’m scared?
6. I speak spanish.
1. I meant the radio in my head :o) Ever wake up with the most annoying song bouncing around upstairs and can’t get rid of it for at least a few minutes?
2. I completely agree. If nothing else, it’s provoked some interesting discussions at the office!
3. There are some awful pictures of me in a lobster suit on my photos page (can be accessed from my website). Thanks for the pointer about the ear! I was actually wondering that, but I figured they probably knew at the place where I’d get it pierced.
4. I’ll be praying. We’re keeping an eye on it up here too.
5. See above.
6. That’s awesome :o) Fluently?
Ah, Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. I need to pull that out and watch it again.
That’s really neat about your brothers. Y’all are quite blessed. :) I bet your parents are proud.
Ear piercing? Cooool. Cartilage or lobe?
Too bad I can’t type
Good catch :o) Did you know it off the top of your head or google it?
They are quite proud. They’d love us if we all flunked out of school and were living at home, but on the other hand, it’s nice to make them proud.
Lobe. We’ll see how it goes, I reckon.
I know that one. Didn’t have to google it. :) Give me some credit, podnah.
If the piercage happens, I expect pictures.
Good for you :o) +25 points for Emily (plus an extra 5 for the sweet three-hit combo move).
Pictures will, um, happen if/when pierceage does, rest assured.
ok… I can’t leave this one alone ;)
I won’t go through each one (that would like, take forever) but I just would like you to consider *why* so many people are anti-bush. As far as having a man in the white house who is not afraid to talk to God, well, you know my feelings on that. I think that God (or divinity in some form) needs to be a part of everyone’s lives, but we should not like someone *simply because* they say they have a relationship with God. The reason this country is so wonderful is that there is supposed to be a separation of Church and State. As in, one cannot control the other, thus leaving people free to choose which religion (ie: just imagine if we told people that they all had to be the same type of protestant even!) while also allowing us to all work on the same government. Our President is not someone chosen by God (as the Kings/Emperor’s of yore tried to get away with saying), but (theoretically) by the people of the US. I think that religious repression is inately wrong, hence the reason I like to discuss it with everyone, as perhaps everyone has a different and important insight to God, and while I may disagree, it doesn’t hurt me to learn new things. Bush feels that it is wrong to learn new things (don’t even make me refer to his quotes).
Sorry to get so riled up, but I’ve been reading Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” and it is making this all seem like part of the bigger picture, where we make the same mistakes over and over again. Either way, who you vote for is your own decision, and I will remain your friend even if you do vote for Bush. I simply ask you to look at all of the issues, and weigh which ones should really matter.
… in other news: you never responded to my last email, did you get it?
I figured you’d comment on this (“Politics!” “Ooh!” *scamper scamper scamper…*)
:o)
On the contrary, I think a relationship with God is one of the cardinal qualities of a good leader. It shows, if nothing else, that he/she understands the concept of God-given authority and what it means to live under that. As far as the separation of Church and State, I think that’s a concept grossly misunderstood by the majority of academia nowadays. I believe the original intent of that concept was to keep the State out of the Church, to keep the Church from having political power (quite a common occurance in the day of the founding fathers), not to keep biblical principles and morals out of the realm of law and government. Of course we have religious freedom to worship and believe as we see fit, but for our judicial system and thus our government to be effective, there have to be absolutes, standards of right and wrong, to ascribe to, otherwise all is relativism and chaos.
I don’t see Bush enforcing his religion on others, but practicing it freely and respecting the right of others to do so as well. His actions stem from his own personal convictions of right and wrong, and a man who derives those from the Bible is a man I can get behind. If you consider doing what you to believe to be the right thing (as Bush is doing) impressing your beliefs on someone else, then I don’t quite follow your line of reasoning. Everyone has a belief system (as you said, a “divinity in some form” needs to be part of everyone’s lives), and that belief system influences our actions. So in the sense that I think you mean, separate of “Church” and State is effectively impossible.
I’ll never call Bush a great orator. Heck, I won’t even call him an articulate man. But when people interpret this, in conjunction with not acting how they think he should, as a persistent lack of intelligence and leadership ability, I have to question whether we’re more enamored of style than substance here. Bush seems to be a man of principle and character, and while he’s made mistakes, and doesn’t always vocalize his intentions very effectively, there seems to be more behind his decisions than the desire for popular approval. It’s easy to criticize; it’s hard to bear the mantle of responsibility for decisions.
I’m glad we can achieve separation of friendship and politics, if nothing else, you and I :o) And I did get your last e-mail, forgive me for not having responded yet.
lions, tigers, and politics, oh my! (an’ religion too!)
Of course we have religious freedom to worship and believe as we see fit, but for our judicial system and thus our government to be effective, there have to be absolutes, standards of right and wrong, to ascribe to, otherwise all is relativism and chaos.
do you think that only religion can ascribe standards of right and wrong?
i think you can operate a system ruled by logic, compassion, and “the greater good of humanity,” and not need a god-authority at all. i have an extraordinary number of very strict morals…and i’m athiest. subtracting a god doesn’t equal chaos.
Hmm… how to best respond (logically?) that could be rough ;)
OK, so I agree with you on your view on Church/state separation, and I also think that a good leader needs to have a strong relationship with their god, but I also believe very strongly that your faith, like your sexual preferences, are personal, and shouldn’t be an advertising feature.
I can’t really discuss his being a President based on his version of the Bible, as I am not a thorough scholar of biblical literature (though I have read it once!) ;) However, I would really like for you to discuss this with Laura (the tall redheaded Christian dream queen I had been trying to set you up with but you totally ignored me). I feel that she has both a very good grasp of the Bible, and is able to be both open to other cultures, strong in Faith, and very very intelligent. She dislikes Bush strongly. She is an amazing Christian, and one of the very few that I can honestly look up to, and she would probably tell me that I’m all wrong by saying these things about her, but she truly is a very good Person. Either way, I want you to discuss it with her mostly because she is coming from the same place as you are, rather than trying to set you up with her ;)
assuming you ever respond to my email (ahem) I will send you her address there.
Re: lions, tigers, and politics, oh my! (an’ religion too!)
on that note: I have noticed that most of my friends who aren’t bible beaters (or, if they are still extremely religious, they are very alternative in their modes of practice) don’t have as many problems with their morals. I’d tote examples, but I’d rather not air others’ dirty laundry. Save for the fact that Brian Ferris and I noted a couple years ago that “hey, we’re not religious, yet we’re not going binge drinking, sleeping around, doing drugs, etc). Most frat boys, I guarantee you, would claim to be Christian (oh wait, wasn’t Dubya a frat boy too?).
do you think that only religion can ascribe standards of right and wrong?
Perhaps not “religion” in a strict sense, but I think we need something outside ourselves as a source of right and wrong. I think this is a point where you and I can never really see eye-to-eye without some common assumptions like the basic nature of humanity, an area where I believe we differ. I believe that human nature is inherently evil, and without any overarching truth, we’ll tend to act inconsistently and selfishly (at the very least). Witness the French Revolution, in which the resultant government purported to be “ruled by logic, compassion, and ‘the greater good of humanity,'” without any kind of “god-authority.” It was a chaotic, bloody massacre for years. You may debate me on the “compassion” bit as far as that example is concerned, but my point is that they removed the Source of truth and morality from the system, humanity’s basic instincts took over, and the result was not inspiring, to say the least.
You have mail :o)
(though, if you read this, you’re probably checking it anyway, and…um…well, nevermind)
ah, yes. i suppose not agreeing on original sin makes discussion difficult, no? oh well. :)
haha ;)
actually, I have my email go into a different inbox than my livejournal comments, so yeah, thanks
1. YES! I completely agree. My brother was listening to tobyMac earlier, and he definitely repeated the first line of the song about twelve million times during the day today. I usually just grab whatever CD I wake up to and listen to it on my way to work or school in the morning, and that solves that problem.
2. I’m afraid to get into political discussions sometimes, because I’m not entirely sure if I can back up my opinions. I wish I knew more facts!
3. I will have to browse your website when I get back to Orlando. If that doesn’t make you think I’m a scary stalker person ;)
4. Thank you. It looks like it’s weakened, which is good, but Orlando will still be hit, unfortunately. We keep praying that God will just dissolve the thing off the coast and we just get a little rain.
6. I’ve taken eight years of spanish, and it’s one of my majors. I’ll probably go to Madrid next summer to complete my studies of the language, but since I haven’t taken any spanish classes in a year, I’ve lost my ability to speak semi-fluently.