Words of the Wise

I've been reading a lot of really interesting philosophical type books lately, both for class and my own personal enjoyment and I've learned a lot. (I'm also taking a political science class...so I've been thinking politically again...) From my post yesterday about Socrates being wise because he knew that he did not know, to what I've been reading this morning, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty which was talking about toleration of others I've been thinking a lot about some interesting topics. I haven't really thought about what Mill was saying for sure (I read it about an hour ago), but it got me thinking nonetheless.

This debate about tolerance has been going on for CENTURIES, and for someone who was writing in the 1800s to talk about toleration blew my mind, especially how strongly he was pushing religious toleration. He said "Yet so natural to mankind is intolerance in whatever they really care about, that religious freedom has hardly anywhere been practically realized..." The United States like to pride itself on being tolerant and accepting of all types of people, and freedom of religion was a MAJOR component of the founding of the United States, but do we really have religious freedom here? Yes, you're free to practice your own religion, or to not have one, but are you treated in the same way as others?

Christianity is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it's hard to be anything but. I get that we were founded on a strong christian base of various practices and denominations, but when the first amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." I think we need to take it seriously. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, it would have been much less of a deal to set a national religion, but today there is SO much religious diversity within our country, trying to push Christianity in everything is a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself a Christian and I have absolutely nothing against Christianity as a religion, but I think we take it too far in our politics.

So many of the political arguments that divide our country center around religious problems, gay marriage, abortion, etc...and I think that we have to be able to remove religion from those problems and look at them as what they are without the Christian lens getting in the way.

Gay marriage- two people that want to get married of the same sex. How absolutely terrible is that? It's not. Don't get your panties in a twist because of someone else's decisions. You don't get to CHOOSE your own sexuality, so why should someone else CHOOSE whether or not you get married? I just don't get it. Come on now people. The bible says this or the bible says that; just because the BIBLE says it, doesn't mean that you HAVE to be against it. The bible also says that slavery is a natural condition...so do you believe in slavery because the Bible says it? Probably not. You have the capacity to decide for yourself whether or not you believe in gay marriage, but from a standpoint NOT involving religion, why would you have a problem with it?

Abortion- I'm not saying that I support abortion, but I don't see why someone else should decide what happens to someone else's body. There are SO many circumstances surrounding why a woman would get an abortion that I just don't feel like it is right for a law to say what you can and can't do to your body. That being said, I don't think that people should be able to have abortions past a certain point and I think there has to be a valid reason as to why someone does it, but I don't think that the limits should be so short that the woman doesn't have time to make a rational, well thought out decision. If you believe that life begins at conception, good for you. I feel like there are SO many complications that are natural that could end the life between conception and birth that it isn't as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. (I am not endorsing abortions in any way, shape or form, just giving my views here.)

If our CONSTITUTION/ Bill of Rights SAYS that we won't have a national religion, I really think we need to take religion and our politics and not put religious dogmas into our laws. We have to take a step back and look at the WHOLE picture and consider both sides of the argument. Mill talked at length about looking at both sides of an opinion before deciding which one you truly support and I really think that a lot of people need to be able to sit back and LISTEN to others' opinions before being so strong-headed themselves. Why can't we just support each other without tearing others apart because of their beliefs or opinions? I understand why people believe the opposite of me, I don't believe that they are always correct, but I support those opinions and would never HATE someone because of what they believe. My roommate and I are on the TOTAL opposite end of the spectrum on our opinions and some of our beliefs, but we embrace that. We support each other's opinions and we have GREAT discussions about this kind of stuff because we are able to see where the other comes from. Why can't everybody do that? I guess I'll never understand.

BTW- you can check out my roommate's blog at heathercarpe.blogspot.com :) It's REALLY good!

Wise is She who Knows that She Does Not Know

I've heard this idea everywhere lately and I absolutely love it. This idea began when I was reading the Death and Trial of Socrates: The Four Dialogues by Plato in my honors class. When we discussed it, I fell in love with the idea because I completely agree and I loved the way he worded it "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing." Socrates was told by the Oracle at Delphi that he was the wisest man in Athens, and I believe that he was wise because he understood that he didn't even begin to know everything that there is to know. You can't be wise if you think that you know everything, and you can't be wise if you think you know nothing. If you know that you know some things, but don't know even a portion of all that there is to know, you are wise. I also saw this quote in Sophie's World, a book I've started to read about the history of philosophy. It was talking about Socrates being wise in a really down to earth way and I really enjoyed it. I laughed when I caught the reference to the quote from the other book I had read about two days before.

I believe that there is so much to learn that it is impossible to learn it all. You have to understand that to be able to open yourself up to wisdom. Your life experiences, combined with the knowledge you have makes you wise but also the knowledge that you don't know all there is to know plays a major part. If someone knows that they are wise because they think they are, they're not wise. If someone else sees the wisdom in someone and that person doesn't believe that they are wise, then the person is truly wise.

I understand that I don't know all that there is to know and I accept that. I will work to learn all that I can though because I believe that knowledge is the key to a successful life, a happy life, and is the key to moving society forward. People have to be knowledgeable and educated for anything worthwhile to get done. If we don't know what we're doing and aren't educated about what is going on, we won't advance our society in any sense of the word. Education is the key.

Whew.

I finally have a free moment. Thank goodness. Things have been a whirlwind lately and I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it has been to do absolutely nothing for a change. I moved back to Des Moines on August 13th and since then I have been constantly going and doing things but I loved every minute of it. Going from our fall leadership retreat, to leadership week, new student days and the first week of class was insane, but I learned and grew so much in the last month and I'm so thankful that I had such incredible opportunities. Sometimes I have to take a moment to think of how wonderful my life is and how lucky I am to attend such a fantastic college that I love so much and just enjoy everything. Thinking back to last year's homesickness, I can't even begin to understand the growth that occurred in the last year. I didn't even go home for labor day this year because I wanted to stay with my friends and relax! (I do have to go home in a couple of weeks though so that may have had something to do with that decision...) I didn't feel like I really got a real summer break and at first that bothered me, but now I'm okay with it. I loved my summer classes (minus my May term History class) and I enjoyed my time at home in July as life changing as it was. July was absolutely insane when it comes to a relaxing summer. I never would have guessed everything that happened. I experienced grief I've never felt before and I spent a lot of my own time in and out of the doctor's office...so much for a relaxing break! New Student Days was a success and I loved meeting all of the new students and getting to know them. You also can't beat a weekend with the View Crew! I love those guys! Sure it was a stressful and busy weekend but I wouldn't give it up for anything. Now that school is starting I'm about to have zero free time. Great. I love being busy but this year is going to push me to see how much I can handle. 18 credits. A leadership position and two jobs on campus. I can handle it, but we'll see how the stress-o-meter handles it. I'm looking forward to a fantastic school year nonetheless and I'm super excited to see what the future brings, even with the stress that comes with it!