Fair

That's not fair?

Often what is fair is in the eye of the beholder.  The movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has a scene where a wreck occurs and some people go to help.  The dying driver says there is a big treasure buried under the W at a park.  After the driver dies the people agree they should work together to find the money and split it up evenly.  The trouble comes when nobody can agree on what would be a fair split.  Should it be based on number of people there, number of cars that stopped, or number of people helping the man.

Often what is fair is what gives us the greatest benefit.  It seams the bottom line is always our own interest.

Is it fair to:

• arrest a person for stealing from a rich person
• provide the same medical care if someone cannot afford the cost
• tax the wealthy at a higher rate
• give the worker their wages
• get even with someone
• call someone racist without knowing the motive
• own someone else
• give away your possessions
• copy other peoples work
• use someone else's ideas
• take what is, in your opinion, yours
• cause damage while you are intoxicated
• kill someone inside you
• hire people you like
• be stronger, smarter or taller than somebody
• charge higher prices for some people
• give employee discounts

A friend of mine often laffs when children start to play a game and someone says "No fair cheating".  Usually cheating is not fair.

Racist

Is some action racist?

Racist was first defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition, 1989) as "[t]he theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race"; the same dictionary termed racism a synonym of racialism: "belief in the superiority of a particular race".

Do the following actions or items exhibit racialism?

• The Dixieland Flag
• The U.S. Civil War
• A monument to an abolitionist
• A monument to any person who owned a slave
• Slavery
• Anti-slavery
• A historical event
• Reference to skin color
• Racial hiring quotas

A key element of racism is superiority.  Are the following expressions of racial superiority?

• A race was once slaves
• Past injustices indicate a race should be treated exceptionally well
• Violence and protest
• Suppression of words and thoughts not clearly racist
• Statements of past hardships

Galatians 5:1, NASB: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. Mark 9:35

Time

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:58

And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:5b

We think of time as a universal constant.  Time in our limited world and experience progresses only in one direction.  

We used to think of time as a universal constant and uniformly moving dimension.  Then came the Theory of Relativity where time could move at different rates depending on your speed or nearness to mass.  The theory has matched some observations about energy, motion and matter.

Now, we have string theory where there may exist more than three space dimensions.  String theory matches more observations and experiments and unifies the fundamental forces.  Why do the forces need to be unified?

• But where did time and space begin?
• Did time and space begin or were they always the same?
• Did God create time and space?
• Does time and space exist in heaven?
• Does our personality exist in time and space?
• Are our thoughts part of time and space?

• Where does the universe end?
• Where does space end?
• What comes after space ends?
• We calculate large space distances by the brightness of certain stellar events.  Does dark matter make galaxies look further away?
• Does light continue forever?  If light and the universe continue forever why is the sky not bright all of the time?

• If there is no time in heaven what about self determination?
• Are our decisions predetermined?
• Can God see the results of our decisions before we make them?
• Can God see the future?

If I could save time in a bottle what would I do?

Value of Money

The battle cry for many politicians.  Throw money at it.

It seams like that is as far as some politicians get.  But what value is there in money.  Ultimately the value of money is only what people think it is worth.  Politicians cannot make money but only redistribute money.  The worth of money then turns into the value of the average workers time and effort.

Can the value of money be reduced?

Do the following actions decrease or increase the value of money.

• increasing the minimum hourly wage
• giving money away
• borrowing electronic money from the federal reserve
• spending money on infrastructure
• spending money on defense
• spending money on peace keeping (police)
• supporting the handicapped
• supporting the aged population
• disaster relief
• encouraging hard work
• taxing the rich

Sexual Morality

Jesus list several sins, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark 7:21-23.  Some people seam to raise particular penalties for sexual sins. 

Why do sexual sins seam to be regarded as more severe than other sins?

Are they more damaging than other sins?

Are they more tempting than other sins?

Are they more disgusting than other sins?

Is participation in sexual sin justification for housing or job discrimination?

Is promotion of sexual sin justification for housing or job discrimination?

Should you be forced to promote or endorse sexual sin?

Is discouraging sexual sin discrimination? 

What are the purposes of sexual morality?

Is it good to be addicted to your spouse?

Is faithfulness in all things challenged with sexual temptation?

Is or was the spread of disease an issue?

Could sexual immorality lead to the killing of unborn people?

Do unnatural sexual activities praise the way you were made? The LBGTP community seams to have the objective of obliterating all sexual morality.  Does this communities actions aggravate the conflict?  Is it good to have pride in your sins?

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Philippians 4:31-32

Is there a God or heaven?

Often people are challenged to prove the existence of God or heaven.  I think a related challenge is to prove you truly exist.  The you I am referring to is that essence of you, your thoughts, your personality, your likes and dislikes.  There is a proof that I exists since "I think, therefore I am?" but to prove you exists is more difficult.

You may start by trying to prove that the coffee in my cup or my cup actually exist.  There are indications that it may exists.  I can taste and smell the coffee.  I can feel the heat and weight of the coffee.  

But, does Mickey Mouse actually exists?  I can see him and hear him. What about Minnie Mouse?  An amputee can often feel the limb that has been removed but does it exists?  I can often smell something that was near but is not there anymore. Does it exists where I smell it?

So we have indications through our senses that things or people may exists.  If these things are merely imaginary inputs into our conscience then something or someone must be providing theses inputs.  Could this be God?

Now, what about the essence that is you.  Are your internal thoughts part of your body?  Do your emotions originate in your blood pumper?  As you get old and lose your memories and mental capacity do you still exists?  If you have an essence that is you where does it go when your body quits?    

Motivation

How do you know the motivation of another persons actions?

I remember a passage in the book The Gospel According to Peanuts where one child was analyzing pictures drawn by another child.  The analyst noticed that the drawer always put peoples hands behind their backs.  The analyst then suggested that this was due to some psychological insecurity.  The artist then makes the comment that it was because they could not draw hands.

It seams that people always try to substitute bad motives for other peoples actions.

Can these actions construed as motivated by racism

• being intensely extreme in what you do not say around a minority
• defending your self or your property
• building a wall to help prevent crime

Can these actions construed as motivated by sexism

• enjoying the appearance of a person
• insisting on "inclusive" language

Can these actions construed as motivated by greed

• working hard to provide for your family
• employing people to serve you
• buying expensive items

Can these actions construed as motivated by oppression

• giving money to the poor so they need not develop initiative
• giving food to a country so local farmers cannot make money
• make people do an honest days work for a days pay

Bully

What is a bully?  Clearly some one who forcefully intimidates you into giving them your lunch money or homework is a bully.  But what about saying something you consider derogatory or using words you do not like?  Does having to be so careful about what you say all of the time increases internal tension and stress.  The old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?" may be untrue but have we went to far in restricting free speech and ideas?

Is it bullying:

• For someone to call you a nerd because you do better than them on test?
• For someone to say you dress funny?
• To parody your speech?
• For someone to encourage you to do better?
• To call you tall (Wilt the stilt) or short (Oh, you are standing)?
• To parody your appearance?
• To laugh when you fall funnily?
• To show disgust when you tell a bad pun joke?
• To run a race faster than you?
• Refer to you by skin color?
• To make something you do or say humorous? 
• Call you a bully?
  

Who should decide if something is bullying?  The person talked to, the person talking or an unbiased reasonable person?

Where do you draw the line between teasing in fun versus bullying?

Why is different bad?

As humans grow up they adapt to sounds.  Very early in life we learn that some sounds are not important and ignore them.  This way we can concentrate on important sounds.  We normally do not hear a gentle breeze, our heartbeat, our breathing, electric hum pof lights and transformers and a host of other quiet sounds.  Our minds would get overloaded if we paid attention to each and every sound.

Like wise we tend to generalize people.  There are people different than us and people similar to us.  People like to think of themselves as good so it seams they think of everybody else as bad.  But just because someone else is bad does not mean you are good.

A lot of the things that make people different are ideas, world view, and opinions.  People tend to categorize others and place them in a group for the strangest things.  Placing people in a group makes judging them easier.

Think about your own categorization of bad people based on :

• Religion
• Denomination
• Politics
• Wealth
• Health
• Tattoos
• Music
• Cloths
• Voice
• Hair
• Skin color
• Sports team
• School
• Job
• World view
• Education
• Smoking
• Drugs
• Sex
• Accent
• Jewelry
• Language
• Country
• Race
• Home
• Neighborhood
• Smell
• Criminal record
• Sports

Is it sinful to be rich?

Jesus said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." from Matthew 19:23. But the passage continues with the disciples asking “Who then can be saved?” and Jesus answered “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” from Matthew 19:25. There are also numerous bible passages about giving and generosity. 

Political parties throughout the world try to use these as excuses to gain power by taking from the "rich". It never seams to work out because making everyone equally poor results in a poor economy. The power hungry politicians become the oppressors. The observation that "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" by Lord Acton has shown to be true many times. Samuel also warned the people of Israel when they wanted a King that "He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves" 1 Samuel 8:17. 

A few questions to consider: 

• Should hard work be rewarded?
  
  
• Is the only way to get rich by oppressing others?
   
• If you need a lot of money who do you go to? 
  
  
• Is buying something, giving to the poor? 
  
  
• Does the desire to make money drive innovation? 
  
  
• Does innovation improve everyone's lives? 
  
  
• Is it a sin to be greedy? 
  
  
• Can you be poor and greedy? 
  
  
• Can you be rich and generous?

Closing with a quote from a rich person who made money by making things cheaper

The Andrew Carnegie Dictum: To spend the first third of one’s life getting all the education one can. To spend the next third making all the money one can. To spend the last third giving it all away to worthwhile causes. Galli, A. ( Aug. 20, 2018) How to Maximize Your Life with the Andrew Carnegie Dictum, retrieved from  https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-maximize-your-life-with-the-andrew-carnegie-dictum-b7fcb862e6f0  6/14/20

Two Perspectives on Racial Conflict

This is a time when violent protest are occuring because of careless actions of a single police officer in Minneapolis resulting in deaths. The news coverage appears to be very biased. Big surprise here. Below are two perspectives related to the situation.

Perspectives

1. Police officers are unfair in their treatment of African Americans.
2. African Americans are violent and have no respect for the law.

Some Related Questions :

• Are these perspectives independent of each other ?
• Is there any truth to either perspective ?
• Is either perspective exaggerated ?
• Was the police officers actions based on racism ?
• Is the NAACP more or less racist than the KKK ?
• How many people feel they have been treated unfairly ?
• Why can't people just be people, accept that life is not fair in all perspectives and love each other?