Journal 10 Science vs. Religion

Well science vs. religion is a very hot topic in our world. It is something that people are always talking about and most likely will for all of eternity, which is a really long time. Whenever I think of this topic I always seem to think about Dan Brown novels. I have read, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and The Lost Symbol. I really liked all of these books because they combine like the three best topics in the world. History (the non boring kind), religion, and of course science. The way that these novels intertwine all of these topics make it easy to read and extremely interesting. I think that Dan Brown is one of my favorite authors of all time. His style has always just appealed to me and there are some other stories like his that I also like a lot. I also think that it is this type of literature that gave me the strong interest in theology and religion that I have. I was raised to be Catholic but honestly I consider myself to be an Agnostic. I believe that there has to be some form of a higher power to start everything in the universe, but there are just some undisputable facts presented by science that makes a lot of what the church says seem to be foolish. I can do without all of the stories about morality and finding the way to God, because everyone has different beliefs so it’s hard to say that you truly support your religion. I heard about some research being done about proving that the idea of God is something that all humans have in their minds and it has evolved to all of the different ideas about religion that we have today. If this could be proved to be completely true, a lot of debates would be settled, but for now there is still the battle between science and religion.

Puritan Project

Journal 9 Organized Religion

Organized religion is something that really is a huge part of the world. For the most part, I think that people of America truly believe have the belief that Christianity when really it makes up only a small portion of the entire world population's beliefs. If the world was reduced to 100 people, only 23 would be Christian and the other 77 would be non-Christian. When I heard this fact my mind was blown. It really put the entire concept of religion into perspective for me. Personally I am technically Catholic, but honestly I consider myself to be Agnostic. But it is extremely difficult to grasp the idea that most of the worlds peoples are not in fact of the Christian faith. I think that oftentimes Americans as a whole tend to be very closed off about religion and make themselves believe that Christianity is the powerhouse religion when in fact it is not at all. It seems almost arrogant of the American people to have such an idea, but the majority of North America are Christians. It is everywhere else in the world that makes up most of the worlds population that the other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, or the many other religions of the world can be found. Some people say that religion prevents violence but in all reality a lot of the tensions throughout nations of the world have a basis of religious disputes. The war for the Holy Land has been going on for years and it still continues today. I think that a lot of this comes from the fear of the unknown. But you can't really blame anyone for that because it is a part of human nature and is something that will always be there in people. Overall though, religion is something that aids in a lot of things in the world. It has brought together cultures and people for thousands of years and it will continue to do so.

Journal 8 Proofreading

I think that the video about proofreading was quite comical. This was a very clever way to convey the importance of proofreading for all types of things. I know that I have made many mistakes during the process of writing a paper. It is like the old saying goes, "It's funny because it’s true." I think that Matt Vermeersch phrased it the best with his opinion of the video. He said that the video is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I agree completely with this statement because this video was pretty great. These are the kind of things that are good tools for teaching because of the simple fact that teens will remember something like that. Whenever comedy or something that a student would like can be incorporated into a lesson plan, it should because it aids in really getting a point across, or to get a point stuck in the students head. The idea of making mistakes in a presentation about making mistakes in a paper is genius. It was not just boring common mistakes, but also hilarious vulgarities that made it extremely comical the entire time of watching it. I even sent the link to Anthony because I thought that he would appreciate it and also find it funny. It was inappropriate at some points in time but that is just something that as someone viewing the video I will most likely remember and maybe notice if some of those mistakes are made. Overall I thought that this video was great and it may actually make me check for some errors when writing for any class or for any reason. It could very well make me catch some mistakes that could make me look like an idiot for either a class or for whoever may be reading what I wrote. I think if everything could be taught with some comedy like that, students would be a lot more successful because it makes students focus on the material.

Journal 7 Superstition

Well I don't really follow that many superstitions. I kind of believe in karma but I don't really think that should be considered i love boys a superstition. One superstition that is amazing is the song "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. I really like the guitar riff in that song. I have never taken the time to learn it, but maybe someday I will and it will be awesome. To be honest, "Superstition" is the only song that I really know by Stevie Wonder so I should probably start listening to some more music of that artist. I am always looking for new music. Recently I started listening to the band Spoon and they are amazing. A lot of their songs vary in style so it is really cool to listen to. Also, I have started to listen to some House and Techno music. I have to say that Basshunter is quite good. It is great for raving especially in the home of the Goods. Their basement is basically the center of the world of raving and dance parties. It is just a jolly good time when you can get some DJ Styles and Breeze going or Basshunter or any of the music recorded in the Revolution Enterprises Studio. Personally I plan on doing some recording for Revolution Enterprises in the near future. My rapping is not as good as it once was but I will work on my skills so that I can rise to be the main project of the entire company. I will probably be really rich some day and I will look back and think about how all of the English teachers I have ever had taught me how to be a great rapper through proper use grammar and mechanics. When I win awards and medals at the rap olympics I will make sure to include all of the teachers that made me the great rapper that I will be. This is the end of my blog.

Journal 6 Repercussions

Once upon a time there was a bank robber named Matt Hscreemrev. He was the absolute best at his job. He had robbed over seven hundred million banks in his career. At this point in his life he wasn't doing it for the money or treasures that he obtained, but rather for the thrill of planning and executing a perfect heist every time. On one particular day he decided that he wanted to pull one last big score before retiring from the bank robbing business so that he could go on to start a career as a male hand model. One the day of the heist, everything went smoothly until he found out he was actually inside of a police station rather than the vault that he had planned to rob. He was arrested and the cops locked the door of the cell that he had just broken into. He knew that he would be in jail forever and that his career as a male hand model would never happen; so he devised an amazing plan. He decided to blame someone else for all of the robberies he had ever committed. He told the cops that he was under the control of former President Jimmy Carter by use of a brain controlling device. This causes the police to arrest former President Jimmy Carter and let Matt Hscreemrev go free. At first Matt felt really good that he was free and was ready to begin his life as a professional male hand model. But in a few weeks he started to feel extremely guilty for having former President Jimmy Carter locked up in his place. Although he felt really bad about it, Matt never actually came clean to the authorities; he just spent the rest of his life feeling bad about how he ruined the life of another person. Sometimes he still has trouble sleeping because he knows that Jimmy Carter is behind bars. The end.

Journal 5 Modern Punishments

Well I do not really have much experience with grounding and punishment. I have only been grounded once in my life and that was kind of a misunderstanding on my part but I guess that was my fault. That grounding was actually just the classic not being able to do anything the following weekend. It was kind of bad timing though because there was a party that following weekend that I had been looking forward to for a while. I guess you could say that I did learn my lesson as much as I hate to admit it. As for new modern punishments, I really don't have an opinion because my parents have never done or even threatened to take any technology away. For a while I paid for my cell phone completely so they had no authority to take it away, but now I only pay for part of it so I guess they could take it away. If they were they type of parents to take it away, I think I would find that a bit ridiculous. In the first place, a cell phone is a tool that can be extremely helpful in a lot of situations, so i think it is important for teenagers to have them. As for taking away Facebook, I think that is actually a reasonable punishment. Personally, I use Facebook quite a bit but overall I think I could go without it. It takes up a lot of time that could be used for more important things; not that I'm saying I want to go without it, simply that I could. Taking it away as a punishment is acually a really good idea, because as a parent you have to feel that you are doing your kid good while teaching them a lesson. That is, in my opion actually a pretty fair and reasonable punishment for the modern time that we live in, but I don't think cell phones should be taken away.

Journal 4 Travels

Now most of my travels with my family, we go to beaches. I have been to Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. All of these places have been enjoyable and I always liked being able to spend time with my extended family, but there was one vacation that really made an impact on me. Two years ago my family went to Colorado. This vacation was only with my direct family (Mom, Dad, and my brother Anthony who is now in attendance at Butler University in the wonderful city of Indianapolis, Indiana). We went for a little over a week and it was quite amazing. We went to many different places around the state and each place was absolutely beautiful. Most of the time we spent was doing something outside. My family isn't necessarily outdoorsy because we aren't the types to suggest going camping as an activity, but we had a great time anyway. Just spending time in nature really allowed me some time to just slow down and think about things. Hiking was just time for me and I feel that I got to know my self a little better over the course of the trip. Along with being able to clear my mind it was also good exercise that really goes along well with thinking. A healthy body often times equates and relates to a healthy mind. I found that to really be an overall theme to the trip, because a lot of it was spent separate from each other. I think that everyone needs to take trips that allow them to clear their mind and just refresh themselves as a whole and go back to find who they are as a person. I’m not saying this has to be done all of the time, but I think it would be good for everyone to do this every couple years or so, just so that they can get back to themselves and not have any worries in the world to become truly at peace with themselves and the world.

Journal 3 In Captivity

If I were stuck in a hostage situation I would probably feel pretty much like a complete loser. I don't think that I would ever be taken by anyone just because I'm such an awesome person that I wouldn't allow it to happen. I might be lured in by candy though. Candy is my one true weakness. Say the hostage takers made a trail of candy on some random street that I was going down, I would most likely be compelled to follow the trail to get all of the candy. This is obviously if the candy isn't something gross like black licorice. But if I did get captured, I would probably be really resilient and fight against everything that the hostage takers do. Other than that I think it would really depend on how long I was in captivity for. If I knew that someone would be coming for me really soon I would not really care and just make sure to stay alive. On the other hand, if no one had any idea where I was at I may try to fight back a lot more myself. I think a lot of rage would cause me to attack my hostage takers. As for coping I think that fighting back would be my means of coping. Crying is not exactly my first choice as a coping method. Maybe after a while I would get pretty upset about not being able to see my family and loved ones; especially Matt Vermeersch because he is my friend and I care deeply about him. In the grand scheme of things, I think that I would deal well with captivity. I could probably escape if I really wanted to. I would go all MacGyver and take some random objects and escape the grasps of the hostage takers that took me in the first place. But in all honesty I would be pretty bummed about being captured and not being able to see the people I care about.