My Interactive Reflective Journal

This is my reflective blog, where I will be posting my opinions and conclusions on various issues, and sharing creative pieces. Enjoy, and don’t be afraid to leave a comment!

IRJ Reflective #22

Today, I have been working on completing the online Driver’s Education test, and one thing that it repeatedly emphasizes is that having a driver’s license is a privilege, and not a right. The difference between a privilege and a right is one hotly contested by world governments, with Americans believing that freedom of speech is a right, while many oppressive nations believe that it is a privilege to be sacrificed in lieu of security and national welfare.

The line between right and privilege is dependent on situation. Most everyone at Poly consider being able to eat when hungry a right, however this is dependent on our well-off situation. There are many to whom eating is a privilege, to be earned after a full day of working.

But the point of their emphasis on a license being a privilege is that it can very easily be taken away. This is something that we should all realize in life; that although things might seem very stable, they can all be lost very easily, and we are very privileged to live like we do. It is very dangerous to start thinking of privileges as rights, as you can get a skewed world view thinking that you are entitled to certain things. Ultimately, humans are animals, and our only rights are to the needs that we can provide for ourselves.

IRJ Reflective #21

Having read a large amount of Genesis so far, I am very confused as to why God is doing any of this. He acts like he has some set of rules and an end goal he is working towards for humanity, but he goes about in such arbitrary ways.

For example, why must every covenant have a symbol attached? And indeed, why circumcision as a symbol? It seems like a random thing to require, after all being uncircumcised doesn’t hurt anyone. It isn’t morally bad. And yet, it symbolizes Judaism as a whole. This seems like a very small thing to have such an important role.

Further, why does he choose the people that he does to make a covenant with? He says that he wishes them to start their own race, but isn’t designating one type of people as the best racist? If god is motivated to make a superior race, then he punishes all other races. And if he wants all people to be made in his image, then he would let them become more godlike. He strangely tries to keep them innocent, but also lets them become powerful. He lets them build a tower, but then tears it down. This seems unnecessarily vindictive and cruel, not exactly ideal traits for the Almighty.

IRJ Reflective #20

In the Bible, Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. He chooses Rebekah as his wife based on her kindness, and rewards her entire family for her unselfish behavior. With an all-present God taking active part in the world to reward good deeds, everyone stays kind. This is true of any society. For example, in America, if you hurt others, or kill your fellow man, you will be punished by the police. This is an effective way of preserving kindness.

However, in other places around the world, there exists no such governing body to preserve kindness. There are still massacres happening every year based on race, because there are no “police” present to reprehend people for this behavior. In fact, oftentimes the police themselves have a bias, destroying any justice. This preserves racial discrimination, and makes progress difficult.

I suppose that the only true solution is for another, more civilized nation to come in and force better behavior on. As change won’t happen naturally, this would be the only way to fix a culture. However, the irony of this is that the people in the nation being changed resent the outside force for trying to control them. Good intentions really do die hard, which makes this political conundrum very difficult.

I would like to think, though, that as nations become better off, these discriminatory biases disappear. As countries have less strife, and there is less to worry about, they realize that they have been racist all along. This has happened in America, with black discrimination lessening as we progress as a society, and eventually this will be the same with all nations, together, united under a banner of equal treatment.

IRJ Reflective #19

Competition is a funny thing- at it’s root it is based in a difference between two parties, and so oftentimes in order to be seen as the best you must make others worse. In the book of Genesis, God takes this approach to humanity- they are united as one, building a tower to the heavens. God wishes to keep his power, so rather than improve himself, he destroys their tower.

This binary approach to competition can be seen in sports- there is offense, where you try to score, and defense, where you keep the other team from scoring. And, taken to a more dubious extent, you can either work hard to improve your own skills, or hurt the competition. Today, as a modern society we have rules in place to keep people from hurting their competitors, because ultimately, the competition isn’t against each other. People watch sports to enjoy the spectacle of people performing in a way that they could never hope to do. If all players ever did was try to make other teams worse, they would never get anywhere.

This is why a spiteful attack, such as destroying the tower of Babel, is such an antiquated idea- today, no matter how high up you are, there will always be someone checking what you are doing. This system of balances is a basis of the United States Government, and is implemented in every facet of society. And it is necessary because people want to win. They want to succeed, and be the best, and oftentimes the easiest way to become the best is to take out the competition.

IRJ Reflection #1

What burden do we, as people, have to our fellow man? Must we watch over them, keep them safe? As Cain asks God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 5.9) This issue is especially topical now, with the recent earthquake in Haiti causing people to donate generally to people that they have never met before. These people believe that they are their brother’s keeper, with a responsibility to watch over fellow people when they need it.

However, is it selfish to, say, work on your own homework instead of help someone else? Would it be unkind to value your own wellbeing over that of a stranger? As I pondered this issue, i came to the realization that kindness, sadly enough, has a potential for abuse. Oftentimes you hear of charity scams designed to take in donations that go straight to someone’s pocket. The ability of people to abuse kindness sickens me, but oftentimes it is through no fault of their own.

When you see someone homeless begging, I’ve been told not to give them money, as they spend it on alcohol and drugs, and not food or shelter. These people are abusing your kindness through falsifying what they intend to spend the money on. But they do not wish to abuse you. They are slaves to their own addiction, and now I think that the key to helping others is judgement. You must be able to judge which causes are just, and which are selfish. Because you must be your brother’s keeper, whether they like it or not.

IRJ QR#17

Authority:

Authority likes to believe that their word is law. That their say is more important, and must not be disobeyed lest something bad happens. And yet, it is in the nature of authority to watch over everything, and so surely they can’t make all the right calls? It is out of this ideology that Lyra suggests disobeying Lord Faa:  ”There’s something important i gotta do over in that village, and Lord Faa won’t let me go there. He just wants to get on quick, and I know that’s important too. But unless I go and find out what it is, we might not know what the gobblers are doing.” (Pullman 206)

Noble intentions, clearly; finding out what the gobblers are planning. But, as a child, can Lyra truly understand things better than John Faa, the leader of the Gyptians? Then again, she is the only one capable of using the alethiometer-which told her in the first place to go to the next village. In disobeying, one believes that they are better equipped to make a decision. However, there are consequences: if caught disobeying, punishment could result. But things in the world change because of disobedience: civil disobedience, through protest, is an effective way of changing laws.

Civil Disobedience- a definition of civil disobedience.

Civil Disobedience through history- a summary of civil disobedience through history.

Proposition: Disobedience can be a good way of expressing yourself against an ideal, or just taking matters into your own hands. However, it is also important to show restraint, and not disobey merely to show that you can.