I was baking some cookies tonight and watching TV in the kitchen while doing so. It's a thing I do, don't knock it. I was watching a program that was being hosted by Ben Stein. It's called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." Looking over some of the reactions of the film, you will see people on both sides of the issue weighing in. It's obvious that Ben is in favor of the Intelligent Design side of the argument and reveals an outright war against similar thought in the scientific community. He discusses the war as something that has become much more serious and deadly in recent years.
No matter what your belief is on the subject, there is no doubt in my mind that this topic, along with many other "religious" discussions lead to many emotions, many arguments, and many wars. Religious views and values shape our world whether we subscribe to them or not. It is the single biggest influence in the human race - bar none. And no religious view or doctrine is void from hypocrisy. There will always be people who follow a belief that do not prove themselves to be good examples of that belief. The key is to look at the religion or belief in its' entirety and make a judgment based on the overall mission or doctrine.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Blogging Becomes an Official News Source?
Watching the news lately, I hear many references to a "blogger" somewhere stating opinion or fact and using that as the basis for the story. I dislike the fact that just because someone posts something on their blog, as I am doing now, this gives legitimacy to what is posted and makes it news-worthy.
Granted, there are many worthy news makers or reporters who have blogs to help share their stories. However, just because someone blogs well, or often, does not make them necessarily credible enough to quote in a news story or go as far as to make a post a news story - especially on the national scene. In fact, in many cases, when I hear this, I rarely hear the reference as to WHO this blogger is. It's like the story is good enough to discuss on a national news broadcast, but doesn't have the right legitimacy to be credited enough to have a name.
Folks, you will hear many things in life. Depending on the source, and the influence this source has on you, you should be making your own judgments. There are precious few people in this world I would take information from 100% without question. Everyone else, even those surprisingly close to me, will have some level of "doubt" in my mind as to the authenticity or truth behind their words. Not that these folks are out to deceive me. Perhaps they are, but I am more concerned with people's inability to completely search fact before they dispense information. So many people spit out information based on "something they heard" or "something someone told them." I am not saying we need to question everything. Some pieces of information require more thought and research than others. Someone telling me of a sale at Macy's is not going to have the same scrutiny from me as the "fact" that there has been a major policy shift on the national government scene.
Opinions are easy to find. Facts, real facts, are much harder to locate. And even real facts can be tainted to fit an agenda, slant, or personal opinion or experiences. Leaving parts of the fact out, like quoting only parts of a speech for example, can completely change the real meaning or real fact to be slightly different. There are also almost always more than one side to any given story or fact.
I'd love to see us be better informed people. And when I say informed, I don't just mean having knowledge, but more about having wisdom. Discerning the difference between fact, partial fact, or complete fiction is not always easy. Sometimes you need to look for yourself and find the real truth. The more someone proves to be spot-on, the less you need to follow up on your own regarding facts coming from this person. Over time, people like that can be considered a reputable and trustworthy source of factual information, void of the clutter we so many times like to fill our "facts" with.
Granted, there are many worthy news makers or reporters who have blogs to help share their stories. However, just because someone blogs well, or often, does not make them necessarily credible enough to quote in a news story or go as far as to make a post a news story - especially on the national scene. In fact, in many cases, when I hear this, I rarely hear the reference as to WHO this blogger is. It's like the story is good enough to discuss on a national news broadcast, but doesn't have the right legitimacy to be credited enough to have a name.
Folks, you will hear many things in life. Depending on the source, and the influence this source has on you, you should be making your own judgments. There are precious few people in this world I would take information from 100% without question. Everyone else, even those surprisingly close to me, will have some level of "doubt" in my mind as to the authenticity or truth behind their words. Not that these folks are out to deceive me. Perhaps they are, but I am more concerned with people's inability to completely search fact before they dispense information. So many people spit out information based on "something they heard" or "something someone told them." I am not saying we need to question everything. Some pieces of information require more thought and research than others. Someone telling me of a sale at Macy's is not going to have the same scrutiny from me as the "fact" that there has been a major policy shift on the national government scene.
Opinions are easy to find. Facts, real facts, are much harder to locate. And even real facts can be tainted to fit an agenda, slant, or personal opinion or experiences. Leaving parts of the fact out, like quoting only parts of a speech for example, can completely change the real meaning or real fact to be slightly different. There are also almost always more than one side to any given story or fact.
I'd love to see us be better informed people. And when I say informed, I don't just mean having knowledge, but more about having wisdom. Discerning the difference between fact, partial fact, or complete fiction is not always easy. Sometimes you need to look for yourself and find the real truth. The more someone proves to be spot-on, the less you need to follow up on your own regarding facts coming from this person. Over time, people like that can be considered a reputable and trustworthy source of factual information, void of the clutter we so many times like to fill our "facts" with.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Coming up on a new year
Reflecting on 2009. Why is it that so many of us choose to wait until the end of a calendar year to reflect on that year? Shouldn't personal reflection be a continuous thing? Shouldn't we always be trying to improve ourselves as we make our way through this life?
So, here I am reflecting on the year. We came into this year with the word "hope" all around us. We had a new President about to take office. Our economy had been recently attacked and demoralized. Many people had already lost their job and the prospects that the trend would worsen loomed. While I consider myself more centric, even I was caught up in the excitement of change. The jury is still out on President Obama, but one thing is for certain, he plows ahead with his agenda quite consistently.
2010 is upon us and new hopes arise. What will the new year bring us as individuals and as a nation and world? We are capable of so much and yet, many times, fall short of our potential. Still, you have to hand it to us humans, we find a way to survive and move forward. We make our daily lives based on what we want to accomplish, or not accomplish. Sometimes I have to ask myself, "Am I making a difference? Am I doing ANY good at all to help others, and myself, have a better life that has continuing benefit beyond my years?" While life doesn't always need to be that deep, it's important to make the best of this life and try to make a positive impact on the people in our sphere of influence.
Ask yourself, "Am I making a difference? Am I amounting to anything beneficial no matter what my circumstance? Am I taking what I have, the situations I find myself in, and improving on them continuously?" We all come from different backgrounds and find ourselves in various states. I firmly believe that no matter where we are in life, we can improve ourselves and the people around us. The rewards for this are eternal.
Reflect on your life regularly. Don't wait until the end of the year. Do it now. Do it often. Honestly evaluate yourself and ask, "Am I a difference maker?"
So, here I am reflecting on the year. We came into this year with the word "hope" all around us. We had a new President about to take office. Our economy had been recently attacked and demoralized. Many people had already lost their job and the prospects that the trend would worsen loomed. While I consider myself more centric, even I was caught up in the excitement of change. The jury is still out on President Obama, but one thing is for certain, he plows ahead with his agenda quite consistently.
2010 is upon us and new hopes arise. What will the new year bring us as individuals and as a nation and world? We are capable of so much and yet, many times, fall short of our potential. Still, you have to hand it to us humans, we find a way to survive and move forward. We make our daily lives based on what we want to accomplish, or not accomplish. Sometimes I have to ask myself, "Am I making a difference? Am I doing ANY good at all to help others, and myself, have a better life that has continuing benefit beyond my years?" While life doesn't always need to be that deep, it's important to make the best of this life and try to make a positive impact on the people in our sphere of influence.
Ask yourself, "Am I making a difference? Am I amounting to anything beneficial no matter what my circumstance? Am I taking what I have, the situations I find myself in, and improving on them continuously?" We all come from different backgrounds and find ourselves in various states. I firmly believe that no matter where we are in life, we can improve ourselves and the people around us. The rewards for this are eternal.
Reflect on your life regularly. Don't wait until the end of the year. Do it now. Do it often. Honestly evaluate yourself and ask, "Am I a difference maker?"
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