Separation of Church and State: What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

Before I go on to make my short argument on this matter, let me make it clear that I am in no respect an expert on the subject and all that follows is my opinion

From what I gather from my various readings there are two view points on the matter of separation of church and state. Some believe that the concept dates back to the founding of the nation and it was a concept meant to ensure our religious freedom. Others believe that it is a fairly recent concept made up by liberals to keep religion ( predominately Christianity) out of sight  and out of mind. I tend to side with the former.

The one reason I side with the former is based on what I have learned of history. Just a little background on my learning, so you know where I am coming from. I was raised in a fairly conservative Christian home with my first three years of schooling coming from a private Christian school, (thus the history I learned had a decidedly Christian slant to it) I did develop a deep love for reading at a young age particularly for historical fiction. Eventually I relied on history channel and what research I did on my own to supplement my fascination with the subject. I honestly can’t remember anything specific I learned from history/social studies classes that I took at school. That being said I would like to say, yes I believe that the majority of our founders were Christian. It was the main religion within the colonies, it would be strange if they were not christian. Do I believe they were ardent believers who would give their lives up to the religion? No. I believe they were christian as most people who claim to be Christian are, they had a bible on the shelve and they went to church as was expected and they prayed before eating when they could remember it because it was engrained in their habits. They were not good and worthy men because of their religion, they were good and worthy men in spite of their religion. Religious phrases and words pervaded their writings because it was a normal part of their lives. Despite this though i believe they saw the benefit of the separation of church and state. They would have grown up knowing about the religious upheaval that occurred in Europe due to the meddling of the State within religion and religion in state. They would have seen the havoc it had wrought and wanted to prevent it from happening in the newly minted nation. I doubt they had the foresight to see the rise of other religious and non-religious populations within the nation but I believe the constitution is a living document and must be interpreted in context with the times.

All this brings me around to my larger point I wanted to make, separation of church and state is good for both the church and the state. The church doesn’t need the state mucking about in its purpose, to govern the moral attitude of its constituents. The last thing they would want is the state suddenly deciding what principles should be taught. Oh, the new president has the urge to have a whole harem of wives, well let’s make a whole new law requiring that it be taught that it is alright for him to do so within sunday school. Another example, the church won’t grant you a divorce, well why not make a whole new church who complies to my wishes. For those who are following that is what happened during Henry VIII reign. The church mucking about in state affairs is also bad for things. The church feels the need to cleanse all the non-believers, suddenly we have a state funded holy war on our hands. (Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition). This of course gets in the way of what I believe the state is for, to ensure the safety and basic rights of its constituents.

The so to conclude, the separation of church and state was and important idea that came about upon our country’s inception and it is important because it allows both entities to operate to their true purpose, something that cannot be done when they are joined.

Winding Down

This past 5 weeks I have been enduring the final moments of my schooling at Mines. Soon, barring me not getting a B or above in this course, I will be done with it all and moving on to the next step. Finding a job. I have at least settled on an area that I want to move to, the next step is to get there. First though, Rio Rancho, New Mexico for a well deserved vacation. 

On a side note, is it bad to watch more than 5 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in a day? (The answer is of course no, as long as I am accomplishing other things.)

Hopefully more exciting posts to come including: Alcohol and Civilization, Top Ten Coolest Things About Moving to Austin (Obviously not the weather), Five Diets That Sound Insane, Ten Things Not to Do While Looking for a Job. and more. 

All I want for Christmas…

…is what’s on my Christmas list. As promised here is my list of wants for this Christmas. You may note it is slightly more… mature compared to last year, unfortunately it doesn’t actually reflect any more maturity obtained by the composer.

1. Kindle Fire by Amazon.com – Books, internet, movies, pdf files. What more could a girl on the go want. Particularly a girl who has the incredible ability to destroy the hinges on laptops. (I swear to god I am not that destructive towards technology on average, my ex-X-box notwithstanding)

Amazon already owns the portion of my soul that doesn't belong to Google and at $199 they can have it.

2. Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet – I have decided recently that I really like drawing. I also have decided I like sharing my drawings via DeviantArt. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that scanning all my drawing into the computer is tedious when it wouldn’t hurt my vision if I just drew them on the computer. Also, my mouse skills suck.

This is the one from Amazon.com that I have been eyeing, the link shows the more updated version.

3. Cecile, by American Girl – I had a doll on last year’s list so as you might have guessed I am obviously a collector. Cecile is a new doll to the historical collection, and she is black. So now there is 2 out of the 13 dolls that are black. (not the best ratio but improvement considering there are now 4 ethnic dolls including Josephina who is Hispanic and Kaya who is native american). Apparently caucasian girls have all the fun.

This is Cecile in her special dress for the holidays. Look how cute her ringlets are.

4. 2012 models from Hotwheels – I continue to collect hotwheels for no particular reason . I would like to acquire the ’72 Ford Grand Torino Sport, the ’68 Cougar, and 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger. You may have noticed an obsession with muscle cars.

Just look at that sexy paint job.

I can just imagine the growl.

Vroooom

5. A Decal – Just so everyone knows where I stand on Zombies.

Apparently I stand on the side of response as opposed to apathy.

6. Star Trek Enterprise Ship Blueprints, Tyvek Mighty Wallet – I have been wanting a smaller wallet so why not one that is not only made of a  material (Tyvek is tear resistant, water resistant and recyclable and  has a Cradle to Cradle appeal.), but also indulges me in my most favorite nerd candy (mmmm… Trekkie)

Who knew they could combine my love of blueprints, Star Trek, and revolutionary materials into one product.

7. Yahtzee, Hello Kitty Edition – My family loves Yahtzee, I have no idea why, but for some reason when the decision came to choose our game, we chose one with dice and addition. We love it, which would explain why just in my household alone we have three seperate versions, yet none of those are The Hello Kitty version.

So cute!!

8. X-box 360 w/ Kinect by Microsoft – As you probably know, my X-box gave me the red ring of death early this year. So I need a new one. One that I can dance in front of. Then maybe when I graduate next July I will have some time to catch up on the Assassin’s Creed games, also there is a new Soul Calibur game coming out, with Ezio as a guest character. (Note: My inner fangirl wet herself when she found this out. I love when two of my favorite things come together, like zombies and Star Trek)
9. Arabat: Absolute Midnight, by Clive Barker – After many years of waiting, the final book in the Arabat series is available. While you are at it, I would like hardcopy versions of the first two books. Why? because the illustrations, also done by Barker are amazing. I just don’t think I will be satisfied with the Kindle versions.

Click the picture, become obsessed.

10. Telescoping Crayon Tower by Crayola – For some reason my crayon collection disappeared in the process of moving this past year. (*Sniff* I am still in mourning) So I need a replacement, one that will banish any thoughts of my former collection from my mind. One that is a monument to the wonderful power of waxy, colorful art.

150 crayons just may be plenty...till they invent more colors.

On a totally unrelated side note: Has anyone else noticed that (1) Barbie of Mattel fame has returned to a less freakishly hideous version of herself while (2) Ken has apparently moved on from their break up by becoming…well let’s put it this way, he’s not interested in being the ultimate “boyfriend” to Barbie anymore. I am in favor of both transformations.

Looking fabulous and less freakish. Also the hair on this model is awesome.

Rocking a non-molded plastic hair-do

Breaking up is hard to do…

… even if it is just with a friend. Coming from someone who does not have many close friends it can be devastating. But one can only take so much nonsense (Such as months of silence) before one must cut ties and move on. So to my ex-friend out there, I love you and whenever you decide to stop being a butt give me a call.

On another possibly more cheery note, I managed to register for next semester without too much pain. I get two days off so that will be nice. Now all I have to worry about is passing my classes, and graduation. This will inevitably lead to me trying to find a job, moving, bills, responsibility and curling up in a ball in the corner of my room pretending that the world doesn’t exist. On to another topic before I have a full blown panic attack.

Be on the look out for my Christmas wishlist, sometime in after Thanksgiving. Also a list of my top ten cities to relocate to, and a list of the top ten things I would like to accomplish in the next four years (In January).

Awwwwww…. zombies

It is hard to believe that it is almost Halloween already. What am I going to be?  A witch of course. I’ve got a sweet hat customized to my liking. Also, as is good and proper I am filling my head with countless zombie movies, some incredibly stupid (SyFy you know those movies are weak) and some pretty good, (Walking Dead has returned and of course 28 days later my favorite).

Also premiered this week is two shows based around fairy tales, Grimm and Once Upon A Time. Both had good pilots but we will have to see how they progress. I may be more in favor of Grimm since it doesn’t have the flash backs like Once Upon a Time, but it is too soon to pass permanent judgement on them yet.

I have a month and 1/2 left of this semester, that much closer to my graduation. Am i freaked out, yes, yes I am. How am I dealing with it, avoidance. Eventually I will have to start applying for jobs, and then I will have to be a real adult. (Well as real as an adult can be with a brand new X-box)

 

Creative Writing

So I am taking a creative writing course this semester, (It feels so strange since I haven’t written creatively for an assignment since high school) and my first assignment came together pretty good, so here it is.

 

Are You Adopted?

You know, sometimes I feel that I don’t look quite right. That maybe I should be different somehow. Like when someone calls you by the wrong name and you know it isn’t quite right but you answer to it anyway. When I look in the mirror my face isn’t quite what I expect to see, my almost black eyes, my crazy hair flying all over the place, the nose that seems a bit too wide. I think I always expect to see someone more like my mother and am disappointed when I see bits of my father peeking through. I don’t know my father, as far as I know he is a voice on the telephone that makes my mother cry. I want a face like my mother’s.

I like to stare in the mirror and pick out the bits that come from her, my high defined cheek bones, my chin, and the shape of my eyebrows. I am not saying that the person in the mirror is not beautiful, because she is, but I can’t help feeling that that is not me.  I must say that I am in love with the shade of my skin. It is perfection. It’s smooth brownness that gets coppery red in the summer when I spend all my time outdoors. I am also quite fond of my hands, how when you look at them palm up my fingers seem short but when you look at them from the back my fingers are fairly long.  They are strong too, good for milking goats, I do that sometimes when Grandma has a goat that is well behaved and won’t stick her legs in the bucket because she knows I don’t know what I am doing.   I like the scars on my knuckles where I scraped them across the ground because I grew so fast that the monkey bars became too short to do flips on. I miss doing those flips, sitting on the edge letting myself slowly fall backwards, holding on to the last minute then letting go and falling through the air briefly to land on my feet. I like my feet too, even though they are too big. I can stand on one leg, balancing for a long time because of their size, like I do in ballet where I fly through the air and twirl and don’t worry about what size I am. Plus I have got good strong bones that have never been broken and good strong legs that can carry me up Grandma’s hill in a matter of minutes.  Yeah, I can definitely say I don’t dislike the person I see in the mirror, I just don’t see me.

I wish I had more of the family I know and love in my looks. Parts of them are there but you have to look hard. Like the broad shoulders, long torso and sturdy legs that come from my Germanic ancestors, or the way I use big words that my mother and grandmother taught to me. How I drink tea like my grandma taught me too, strong, bitter and plain. The way I don’t care which walk of life you come from or how you look, if you need a friend I am willing. I got that from my brother. The love of a good corned brisket with potatoes and cabbage, that has to be from that rowdy Irish side. The I-don’t-care-what-you-say-I-am-going-to-do-it-anyway-just-to-prove-you-wrong attitude I got from my mother. I wish I could somehow display these things, so that when a stranger sees me with my mother they instantly know I am her daughter and I never have to hear “Are you adopted?” ever again.

Hmmmm Interesting

I just realized out of my four closest guy friends 3/4 don’t live anywhere close to me and 3/4 are gay. I don’t know what this says about me but I have a feeling it says two things. 1) I don’t mind having close friends but not too close 2) Gay guys are the best. Also for some reason I seem to be at a lack for close girl friends.