The Importance of History

    You know there are a lot of people around that believe that history is a useless subject and should be given less and less time in the classroom. What kind of stupidity is that? Those history detractors state that memorizing dates and battles are unimportant in getting a job, and in that respect they are right. Memorizing dates is completely useless. That however is not the primary function of a good history class. No from my experience history teaches a student to take a bunch of different accounts from numerous perspectives and discover the truth from various agreed upon and established facts. Tell me detractors how is this not useful in any job you take or in life in general?

    There is though another and even more important reason to study history. That is we can start to see patterns in human behavior and history. Let's look at an interesting and recent phenomena. This to be more specific is the Nazi's rise to power in Germany. The Nazi's rise to power centered around violent rhetoric and action all the while they had a scapegoat. For the Nazi party's message to get through though they had to have one uncontrollable element in their favor. That element was fear. Through the deft manipulation of fear and the use of violence the Nazis rose to power by blaming all their problems on a single minority group the Jews. The Nazis spread false stories about how it was the Jews who ruined their economy and how the Jews lost the war for the Germans. Does this sound familiar to a certain party centering around a hot beverage?

    There are certainly elements that are very similar with the Tea Partiers and what the Nazis were saying. Am I saying that the Tea Party are cold blooded killers bent on the Mexicans death. No, well at least not yet. What I am saying though is that we are starting down the same path that the Germany did so many years ago. This can be stopped if we allow it to. If we know the patterns, which fortunately most of us do.

    What of the next generations if their history education is cut. Will they be able to recognize patterns that they would not know existed. Would they be able to understand the issues they are facing have connections to their ancestors problems?  Of course not how can someone know something without being taught.

    Humanity's essence is habits and patterns that is the way we are. Our history is our future.

The Problem of Language

    In case you all have wondered I have ADD when it comes to blog posts. Today is no different. As I stated early on I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon if you prefer. I am proud to declare this fact. There is no shame in it. Further, I am a fairly open minded individual and state that as far as what happens on judgment day is concerned I don't know who will go where, save for the few where scripture has explicitly stated otherwise. Sadly others do not share this same respect (yes I am looking at you extreme fundamentalists).

    It has been vogue in the extremist circles to call Mormon's members of a cult or cultists. Often times the defamers try to support their assertion through a series of half-truths, out of context quotes, and full-blown lies. I honestly am not surprised then that as Mormons are having their "moment" then that their most ardent detractors are becoming more prominent as well. Sadly this is always the case with any group that rises from obscurity their opponents rise up and attack. The attack that is the most dishonest and by extension most infuriating is the assertion that Mormonism is in fact a "cult."

    Now I recognize that the technical definition of cult can apply to all religions and yadda yadda yadda but to use that as an excuse to not bring up the issue is weak. Why is it weak? Simple the connotation is something of a more sinister nature. Whenever someone is said to belong to a "cult" the general image that people have is one of human sacrifice, mass suicide, or some other related practice. Which practices, last time I checked, were discouraged by the church insomuch that there would be instant excommunications from the church for such activities. The Mormon church in general is a body doing much good in the world in terms of humanitarian services. Though many people still hold to the cult idea. Why?

    The answer is in the language if you can control the language you can control thought. If you can control thought you can control actions. If you can control actions you control the person. This is exemplified during the rise of Nazi Germany. Certain groups of people were demonized and called unsesirables. With this use of language the people's opinions of these groups morphed from ambivelence to minor digust to extreme disgust to the point of murder.  Language controlled thought and thought controlled action in this case their is no question.
   
    What though am I getting at? Am I trying to compare the plight of Mormons not to that of the Jews in the holocaust? Of course not what I am saying is that if we do not control the language of extremism then extremism will take control of us.

    Diasagree with Mormons all you want argue the doctrine but know that they are not a cult I am an example of this. The people I disagree with are examples of this. Look to the members of the Church and ask yourselves are these really the evil people some would want me to believe? The answer in the majority of cases will be a resounding no!

The Quagmire that is Science Education

 

    I have been reading recently a lot of lamentations from science educators that their programs are insufficient in properly instructing students in their respective fields. I have also read that there is a certain deficiency in students learning math as well. To continue on with this general feeling of woe and despair it has been noted that unless we get more math and science in our students brains that our national security will be at risk. What is the solution...more SCIENCE! Yes since forcing something down a students throat has worked so well in the past (that was sarcasm BTW). That approach in my estimation is part of the reason why students are avoiding math and science like the plague because it is forced down their throats constantly. In fact in my experience I have found that all the science education I received was...useless. I was inundated with facts and figures yet what did I truly learn? Nothing! It wasn't until far later in life that I realized what should have been taught and that I had a natural gift for. That is critical thinking and reasoning. That is all science is observing the world around you and drawing conclusions. If educators would focus on teaching these skills through science then there would be more success in these fields.

    I think that it would be safe to say that students know when something is practical in the "real world," or the world in which most students will work with IE not science land. This "real world" tends to mean working at desk jobs where knowing how Saturn got its rings is...irrelevant. For some it will mean hammering in a nail. Knowing what gas is noble is useless. For a lawyer arguing a personal injury case knowing what phylum a certain insect is in is useless. Do you see where I am going with this? Most facts that are taught in science are useless outside of a science class for the majority of the population. However the skills that science requires are necessary for most people to be successful. The most important skill is deductive reasoning. If science classes were designed to develop a students skills in deductive reasoning and showed its application in everyday life then the student would be more likely to engage in the learning process.

    Sure some might say well that still doesn't solve our problems. I would disagree now instead of turning students away from science we are opening their eyes to the wonders of the world around them. Is this not science? With wonder will come discovery which could turn students to a career where there lives are filled with both the awe of wonder and the thrill of discovery.
   
    What is needed is not more classes in science simply a different and better way of relaying the skills that science needs that will be applicable to everyday life. Change in education is needed so why not change here?

On Leadership part II

    Salus populi suprema lex. I first came across this term when I was reading John Locke's Second Treatise on Government. The phrase is Latin and translated it means the good of the people is the supreme law. About ten minutes before I started writing this post I read an interesting article. The article I read was concerning an illformed pact to protect marriage. Now I want to clarify that I think that marriage is between one man and one woman. That is not the issue nor is it the point. The point is that this pact was so poorly made that it forced law makers into a corner that they could not get out for fear of breaking this contract. This and another pact made to never raise taxes seem to be an indication of a terrible direction. That direction is supporting causes so wholeheartedly that the good of the people is sacrificed for the good of the cause.

    The good of the people must be taken into consideration. Now when I say the people I do not mean the voters nor your supporters. I mean the entire population for which you as an elected leader are responsible for. This would, of necessity, require the elected official to forgo his agenda or his party's agenda to bolster the general populace of the United States. Sometimes a program or theory doesn't work the way it is expected to. So rather helping it harms. The only thing to be done then is to change opinion and action for the good of the people! This is not flip-floppery neither is it conviction flim-flammery. No, this is a reasoned and well thought out approach. This is the course that a leader must take in order to help his or her nation.

   To illustrate let's look at a basic everday life problem. Say your TV is broken and won't turn on. You've checked the plugs and all the other cords and all are connected yet there is still no picture. How many times would you go through the process before you say, "Stupid pos is broken guess I better go buy a new one." For me it takes like three times before I realize that yes the TV is broken and yes I need a new one. However if we acted like our politicians do we would sit stubbornly in front of the TV pretending that blank screen was playing the Super Bowl...in July.

    Why do they do this? To win political points with the delegates. This is insanity at its finest and such a practice needs to be halted. The question is how?

Religion and Politics

    All through history we have seen several reasons why church and state are two thing that should never become a cohesive singular whole. The evidence of this is found in the crusades, the Inquisitions, Witch Burnings, and now Jihadism. Surely the combination of religion and governmental authority is a bad combination but what about eh lack of religion?

    In more recent times we have seen also that a lack of religion can be just as dangerous as extremist religious thought. I am referencing of course Maoist/Stalinist Communism and Nazism as espoused by Hitler. These three modern iterations of hatred and violence have killed millions and has been the cause of multiple wars. So it is apparent that vehement lack of religion is deadly as well.

   So what is the solution obviously it is a blend of some kind where religions, all religions, have a place in the political discourse dealing with what they deem moral issues. Where the churches should be limited is in using their, shall we say, metaphysical influence to influence votes. Now what I mean is that a religion in good faith should never say vote this way or that way otherwise your eternal salvation is at stake. That would be a gross misuse of power and against a commandment given by Christ in his Sermon on the Mount. However what they can do is weigh in on questions of morality and human rights. For the scope of all religions that are "mainstream" tend to be increasing the freedom is to allow for good living environments for the people of the world.

    This ideal however seems to not be enough for certain segments of society. I am of course referencing the hardline evangelical communities. Where it seems to be common practice to spread discord in politics by bringing in their staunch religious influence. Now why is it I say this because you can see their influence within the Republican party. Their party lines are becoming more and more harsh and rigid. In fact if one were to examine most of their social planks in their platform you will see that the religious rights opinions and the planks are one in the same. While the control is indirect it is still a danger. Why? Because it is causing extremism. Now the right considers themselves the political party that God himself has brought forth. This is ridiculous.

    Why though is this ridiculous for one simple reason God does not get involved in political squabblings. What He cares about is freedom to choose. That is one of his greatest gifts that he has given to man. I warn at this time that if this course of action is followed then the religious will see to it to further break this nation. Not because of their religion necessarily but because their religious zealotry will not yield when it is time to yield and cause for this nation to stagnate. The overly religious right must be brought to heel by the Republican party if they want to survive!