Searching For Answers

Many people are under the false assumption that the United States of Americas was founded on Christianity. While there is a sliver of truth in the falsehood; the founding fathers did flee Mother England, in part because of religious persecution, however most of our founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were in fact not religious. Because of their beliefs– or lack there of– the framers of our Constitution found it necessary to ensure that there was no direct connection between church and state.

Despite the efforts of discovered deists like Jefferson, religion found its way into our government and inevitably our schools. For years creationism was taught in science classrooms, and the Lord’s Prayer was recited daily. Eventually as a nation, and a society the United States grew out of public religion in favor of more progressive ideals such as science, and specifically evolution. 

Fundamentalist Christians are still pushing to get the Bible back in the classroom, and Jesus in the lives and hearts of the youth of the nation, however.

Growing up, I did not receive a necessarily vibrant religious background. My mother is a self-proclaimed baptist while my father waivers between agnosticism and deism, and neither of my parents provided much spiritual guidance. Between ages four and fourteen I did attend a non-denominational christian church and was baptized, but around age sixteen I started to loose my faith in God, or any god for that matter, and am now an atheist. 

Aware of my lack of faith and religion, my friend cautiously asked if I would watch a documentary entitled “Expelled”, and I obliged. To both my surprise and hers we actually agreed with the message behind the film. The documentary narrated by Ben Stein was a story of several science professors who had lost their jobs, because of either mentioning or pursing the ideal of Intelligent Design. While some of the over-arching themes in the movie did tend to lean towards relating atheism and a belief in Darwinism to the Nazi Reich, overall   the thesis was clear: no one should be fired for questioning…well anything really. The scientists which feel it is okay to limit what their colleagues can research by putting a taboo on I.D. are severely in need of a career change.

True science can only be done when you are allowed to pursue all fields of interest, and are open to all possibilities, even those which are not widely welcomed by the scientific community.

 

The education community must embrace technology

As a future teacher and a millennial there are two things I am passionate about: education and technology. So logically tonight when the head of technology committee spoke in front of the school board, I was all ears.

After a well thought out request, and video for an expansion of the districts technology, the school board members asked questions. Most of their questions were fair, how much money, and what are some examples of ways teachers have and will use the technology, on the other hand however I sensed the reservations of some of the older members of the board.

After all of the reasonable questions had been asked one or two unreasonable ones surfaced. Board members began to demand, in a politically correct and polite way of course, that the committee conjure a sort of plan on exactly how each teacher all the way from kindergarten to 12th grade would use the requested technology. This request is not feasible for a few reasons, the most predominant reason being that each teacher would have to lay out their individual lesson plans. I genuinely understand why the board members would ask this question…they fear that they would agree to the investment, and then teachers wouldn’t use it, and would allow it to go to waste. However I propose that if the school board, and administrators require that teachers intertwine and incorporate technology into their curriculum. Because if they don’t then the students will fall behind, and will not be properly prepared for the world which awaits them outside of formal education.

A theory

Recently I have been contemplating human relationships…specifically of the intimate type. In the past I’ve been a strong supporter of the so called ‘true love’ meaning that there is only one person on this earth that you were meant to be with. Now however, after some intense introspection I have reformed my opinion on this matter.

There are certain criteria each person has for their significant other. My list for example is quite extensive: the basics like gender (male), and language (English), and goes on to include education (college degree), job status (employed), job type ( cannot be a fire fighter, police officer, politician, or be in any branch of the military), they must be moderately attractive, highly intelligent, have a basic understanding of trigonometry, they cannot be religious (preferably atheist or agnostic), their personality must be bearable (not annoying), they must be willing to adopt children (instead of conceiving them) their must have a strong belief/trust in science, be an environmental advocate, their political beliefs must be moderate or liberal, they must be a tolerant equalist, they must be adequately skilled at doing things around the house, and last but not least they must have the approval of my grandfather.

Though it  may not seem like it several thousand people fit those criteria, and by Drake’s equation would be the “perfect person” for me. Because this is true I have a very hard time believing that you have a “soul mate”. 

As for the famed ideal of “chemistry”, I blatantly think that the term is fictitious…something created for literature and movies. I doubt ( with the exception of physical attraction) it’s existence. What I would consider chemistry differs very much from popular opinion on the matter. To me, chemistry is being able to spend time with someone who makes your world a little better, being with someone who you don’t feel obligated to be with, but who you want to be with, someone whose personality complements yours…that’s chemistry.

This might be depressing to those of you who think your lover is special, and is most likely good news to those of you who haven’t found someone yet, but either way it’s true, and undeniable. 

Going green matters

This planet which we inhabit each and every day, is our home. It is the one thing, above all others that humans and all other living creatures share, and because of that it is imperative that we take care of it in any and every way possible. For the past few decades, scientists have been doing research, and the data they have collected shows that what little we have been doing has not been enough.

Along with a lack of environmentally friendly policies and habits, our society has developed a new way of living: consumerism. Instead of washing and reusing plates, cloth napkins and utensils we purchase plastic and paper (or sometimes even the non-biodegradable Styrofoam) ones which can only be used a handful of times at the most and then we throw them into the trash can and later on set them out to the curb, and are then picked up by a large, fossil fuel burning garbage truck takes them to a massive landfill where they will sit until eventually they decompose, which could take anywhere from two weeks to two decades.

Instead of using paper, plastic and aluminum containers, we should start using reusable materials like glass, ceramic and metal. There are multiple other things that you can do to help reduce your individual carbon foot print, and there is even more we can be doing as a nation.

Avoiding discussions based around green technology, and green jobs is not going to help anything, and refusing to recycle is selfish. You should do what you can, when ever you can to do your part to make this world a cleaner and more beautiful place. 

People need to understand the importance of funding environmental research: dependence on fossil fuels would not only be beneficial for the environment, but for the economy. Something that should be added to the go green mantra is research, it is necessary to look at the numbers and the data to help innovate the most efficient energy sources and keep improving our knowledge of what is best for the earth, and therefore, for its inhabitants.

So remember…[research,] reduce, reuse, recycle

Education is Always the Answer

Words cannot describe the emotions that were running through my head last Friday (December 14) when my newspaper adviser ran down the hall between class periods to inform me of the tragedy that occurred in Connecticut. For the rest of the day my faith in humanity dwindled. When I got home from school I avoided the news at all cost, I wasn’t sure that I could handle it, but then a few hours later when my parents walked through the door from work my mom reached for the remote and turned the T.V. to CNN. After a few minutes of the reporters dishing out details I could no longer take it. Thoughts of those poor children, their families and those brave, brave teachers brought me to tears. Normally my family is a fun bunch, we’re fairly loud and obnoxious…but that day all was silent in the Wheeler household.

As a future educator I couldn’t shake it from my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking what if those were my students, my kids. Would I have been able to stop the bullets from taking the life of a poor innocent, child who had so much more to give in life, or would I have been forced to watch as their life left their tiny body?

As the days after the massacre past, tension was high and conversations surrounded the topic of gun control. Arguments were started at lunch tables, and in class rooms often leaving friends divided. My personal opinion, there is no good answer…but more guns is certainly not the answer.

Beyond the politics of gun policy, we need to focus on the cause of gun violence, and the mentality behind the perpetrators. In short, it’s our culture. As a society we have conditioned everyone (for the most part) to accept guns as an everyday part of life. I do not believe that video games and violent movies are a cause of gun violence, but rather the other way around. I think that those things reflect who we are just as a society, just as much as art and literature. I do believe however, that Americans (as I’m sure many citizens of other countries) have been conditioned to accept guns and the violence they cause. The degree of this is apparent by the advertisements for weapons we see from billboards, and T.V. commercials to online tests centered around manhood–not owning a gun is just one of a few ways to “loose your man card”.

Of course there is the age old argument, guns don’t kill people, people kill people, and that I cannot dispute, guns do not kill people, they just make it easier for people to kill people. Everything else that a person (and I use that word loosely) could use to commit mass murder has been outlawed, such as bombs, anthrax and other things of that type so why not guns? I am well aware that outlawing guns will not prevent people from getting a hold of them, just as prohibition failed and there is an obvious drug problem in this country. However, I feel legislature is always necessary when the policy in question directly effects and possibly endangers people other than the user, which not the case with alcohol and or drugs.

The argument about gun control will continue for decades, and there is little to no chance of a solution ever being agreed upon. But we can’t just hang our heads and accept the fact that we are helpless. We have to start somewhere…and that somewhere should be in our schools. If we give everyone a chance, a real honest-to-god chance, to get a quality education, and show students in areas where gun violence is the status quo that people care about them and that they do have an opportunity to have a better life, then maybe they’ll reach for a graphing calculator and not a gun.

It’s time for a revolution

I’m tired. Already, at 18 years old, I am exhausted by the concepts that surround our government. Let me rephrase, I am tired of how our current politicians, and politicians over the past few decades, have been handling politics in this country. Their priorities are way off base from what this country needs. First of all, problems need to be solved not filibustered, and elections should be valiantly fought, not bought.

Let’s me break out, my (abridged) laundry list of things that needs to be accomplished in order to make this country as grand as everyone here thinks it is:

• Go back to the gold standard. If politicians want to regain the trust of the American people, then give us money that has actually worth, and not a piece of paper that is in essence nothing more than a government promise to gold, that we don’t even know exists.

• Promote an actual education; revise the educational system entirely, from the teacher’s union to standard test. Our students are our future, so we need to invest in them as much as the can, which might mean setting higher standards in public schools, and firing teachers who are inadequate. Also, do more than make college affordable…make it free. We, as a nation, are falling behind on college graduation rates, and falling even farther behind in job placement for college graduates. No one should have to give up on their dreams to become the next great innovator because they don’t come from a wealthy family.

• Create more parties. The bipartisan system does nothing but divide the nation, and alienate those whose beliefs don’t perfectly aline with one party or the other. The more parties, the better.

• Innovation is not necessarily regulation. Going green is imperative, the Earth depends on it. We need to fund bright, young scientists who are trying to come up with energy efficient, and environment friendly, ways of life so that the quality of life improves for everyone.

• Limit lobbying and campaign spending. If we allow the company with the most money to wine and dine representatives in order to push their own agenda (which might not coincide with what the American people want), then eventually we will have an oligarchy. And the same can be said if we don’t start regulating how much money candidates (for all levels of governments) can spend, it seems that who ever spends the most in commercials, rallies, dinners, and sometimes even celebrity endorsements, wins in the end.

I am an adult, barely, but legally, I can vote and serve on a jury of my peers. I won’t stand by and watch as things happen as they are. We need a revolution, and I’m calling on my fellow millennials to stand by my side and let the preceding generations that their time is up, and we’ll take it from here, they’ve messed it up enough and we need to start cleaning it up as soon as possible.

Out with the old, in with the new

As children, we are taught to love and respect our elders, which is a good life lesson in theory, however the logic behind it is majorly flawed. The proverb lends to the fact that each and every ‘elder’ earned their way in the world, thanks to their copious amounts of knowledge on various subjects, which is not always the case.

You do not mysteriously gain respect as you age. Often times the older you are, the more out-of-date you are, and the less you know about modern technology and social norms. And for some reason the older you get the more inept you are at figuring things out, instead elderly people are prone to give up, and become an inconvenience for the younger people around them. Of course not all older people are like that, there are plenty who can still function on their own, and try stay updated on modern things. I just ask everyone, as they get older remember this Greek Proverb:

“Grey hair is a sign of age, not wisdom.”