Darwin a man of God?

I agree with Darwin that natural selection and evolution do exist. I had an interesting experience two summers ago when a friend of mine who is British was visiting me. We were at a stake youth conference and of course he was the biggest attraction. Everyone wanted to talk to “British Chris.”

As kids were questioning him on what it was like to be British they asked him about the pound. He pulled out a pound note and on it happened to be Charles Darwin. One of the kids disgustedly said that Darwin was evil, and that evolution was in fact not true.

This in turn disgusted me. To my eyes the truth of the matter is irrefutable. Animals change. Humans have changed. We are already taller than our ancestors were… and how do you propose that you explain the difference in skin color between a Swede and a Kenyan? Are they different races? No they aren’t. What worries me most is that there are those who seek to refute Darwin and evolution saying, “God created the earth” But why cant God and science go hand in hand? They can. There is undeniable proof of the existence of evolution, there is no such proof of Gods existence, we rely on faith. But why can the two not meld? Could it be that evolution happens because that is the way god planned it? I certainly think so. And I would be inclined to state that Darwin was in fact a man inspired by God. He reveled in the creations of God.
He himself claimed to be godless but I don’t think that this means that he wasn’t inspired. He brought forth an important discovery to the world. Without this we would have a hard time fully understanding how exactly it was that the world around us works in a biological sense.

Hand in Hand we March Towards Extinction

I agree with Darwin that natural selection and evolution do exist. I had an interesting experience two summers ago when a friend of mine who is British was visiting me. We were at a stake youth conference and of course he was the biggest attraction. Everyone wanted to talk to “British Chris.”
As kids were questioning him on what it was like to be British they asked him about the pound. He pulled out a pound note and on it happened to be Charles Darwin. One of the kids disgustedly said that Darwin was evil, and that evolution was in fact not true.
This in turn disgusted me. To my eyes the truth of the matter is irrefutable. Animals change. Humans have changed. We are already taller than our ancestors were… and how do you propose that you explain the difference in skin color between a Swede and a Kenyan? Are they different races? No they aren’t. What worries me most is that there are those who seek to refute Darwin and evolution saying, “God created the earth” But why cant God and science go hand in hand? They can. There is undeniable proof of the existence of evolution, there is no such proof of Gods existence, we rely on faith. But why can the two not meld? Could it be that evolution happens because that is the way god planned it? I certainly think so. And I would be inclined to state that Darwin was in fact a man inspired by God. He reveled in the creations of God.

Did Jesus hate the poor and the needy?

Welfare is flawed yes. But what disgusts me is the conservative right and the way they seek to dismantle the programs of welfare. They use the example of the maybe 1 or 2 percent of people who are on welfare and scamming the system to state that welfare ought to be destroyed. This is absolutely not the case. But what disturbs me the most is when it is members of the LDS church who are preaching such hateful doctrine. Remind me again what Jesus preached? Was it love for the poor and helping the weak? Or did he live a life of self justification saying that he could pay for his own needs why should he have to pay for anyone else. Did Jesus offer his services to whomever bid highest? No he healed the poor.

Why the 99% matters

Class is a social construct. In reality no human being is any better than another. At least not according to Thomas Jefferson. But in the US there is a serious problem with class and wealth. One % of Americans own more than the other 95% combined. This is absurd and leads to some serious inequalities. The rich keep on getting richer, effectively shrinking the working middle class. This brings to mind a quote by John Stienbeck who said “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” This unfortunately is the truth. The so called “American Dream” of wealth and streets paved with gold makes it too easy for the rich to exploit the poor. It has been going on for our countries entire history. Take for example the wealth of the Vanderbilts, the Carnegies, and the Rockefellers. It was taken from the weak hands of the poor. The same thing is happening in America now. But it seems that too much of the working class is to out of touch to realize it. Their heads are in the clouds. They seem not to care that fat cats on Wall Street exploited the American economy and then were bailed out and given bonuses for doing so. They turn a blind eye to the fact that the men who single handedly ruined America’s credit are allowed to continue to live a life of luxury and opulence. This cannot stand. Hence the protests that are currently taking place across the country. #Wearethe99 and #occupy____ are becoming popular trends on twitter. But more importantly there are students taking to the streets to protest the blatant injustice that the brain washed middle class refuses to acknowledge. These protesters are increasingly being attacked more and more by other who seem not to realize that they are a part of the 99% as well. Why? Because they are maintaining the mentality that they are just temporarily embarrassed millionaires, and accusing the students of being whiny brats who never worked a day in their life. This sort of fighting among the 99% is exactly what the 1% want to see. It allows them to continue to get richer and richer without anyone else noticing or being alarmed. In reality we the people need to unite against the United States of Corporations and strengthen government regulation of business. But without the support of all of the 99% this cannot happen. So join with us as we fight against corruption and restore America. Being part of the 99% is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Lets blame Government

The biggest problem in America right now is “GOVERNMENT.” Not so much that it exists, though the tea party would tell you otherwise, but really that people exhibit so little faith in a system that has worked for hundreds of years, That and the brutal partisanship. Many people say “Obama is doing a terrible job, he hasn’t done anything since getting into office.” This is a load of crap. Of course he hasn’t been able to carry through on all of his campaign promises. He has a Republican House that won’t let him get anything done. Plus he is only one man. There is no way you can reasonably expect him to fix all of the country’s problems in one fell swoop. 

So the ad hominem attacks have got to stop. Feel free to attack his policy. But leave the poor man alone. He is your president and you should respect him as such.

Facebook plus

Facebook is already incredibly different than it was when I first joined 4 years ago. When I first joined there was no such thing as a like button. I don’t remember Facebook chat being super developed. Everything was blocky. There were apps you could have on your page. Most of the change has been good. They have made it easier to use. And to be honest, I don’t really mind the change. And I see no reason to complain so vocally as many of my peers do. We must seem so whiny and self-entitled to the real world. They complain that something they use for free is changing. If you hate the change so much, make your own version. Quit using Facebook, but don’t make your status about how much you hate the new Facebook. Its here to stay. Live with it. Grow up.

United States of Corporations

Democracy is supposed to be a government of the people by the people for the people. But in reality in the country we live in, it is a government of the corporation by the corporation for the corporation. Take a recent Supreme Court ruling that corporations are considered people when it comes to campaign donations. What does that even mean? Corporations are extended much of the same right as us real people. They are allowed to pay for as much political advertising as they want, because the Supreme Court ruled that to disallow them from doing so would be a violation of their 1^st amendment right to free speech.

Politicians also take massive donations from companies and lobbies. How can someone claim to represent the people when they are getting fat checks from big tobacco and oil? Instead they represent the issues of these big companies, rather than the constituents that they are elected to serve.

To truly practice democracy you need to have a smaller body of people to govern. It is impossible to truly have democracy with a population nearing 400 million people.