GLOBAL WARNING
This last week delivered 12 more inches of snow to this area of Cleveland. Increased the total to 15 more inches than the previous record. It must be a sign of Global Warming. Some areas have increased recycling to 37% of their trash, but this place is devoid of collection areas or system. We have been recycling our newspapers and magazines, but little else. I don't feel like we're on the right track.
Today I did my little thing. I saw a penny on the floor by the cash register, but darn the luck it was tails, so I turned it over, leaving for someone else to find the 'head' which my late brother-in-law believed would bring good luck. Anyway, someone else is probably injoying his good fortune. Somehow that made my day.
EVOLUTION AND
Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (Creation)
And so the battle rages, proponents of creationism presume they have an absolute answer to the beginnings of “The World.” While, evolutionists have a relativist view, in that they don’t know how “The World” began but explain most of what is interesting, by asserting that what we see can be regarded as a replacement of what used to be on earth. As an example, mammals replaced dinosaurs. The word ‘create’ suggests a prime mover who goes about to initiate events and items using a poorly understood process which is now labeled “Intelligent Design.” The evolutionists took a word “evolve” which means to turn around such as when twin scrolls are turned, one winding up and the other winding out. The viewer is witness only to that part of the scroll which happens to be viewable. The parts earlier, or later, are subject to speculation based upon what can be viewed, and the process, evolution.
Any attempts of a present day individual to describe accurately the events which actually occurred at some ancient time can be speculated upon, but as no one actually witnessed these happenings, accounts have to be labeled preposterous, lacking any substantive evidence to the contrary. St. John, in his gospel starts out with “In the beginning was the Word. And that just about sums it up. His word on the subject grants him the position of being the “Author.” That is, unless someone comes up with another authortarian figure who can arguably dispute his “word.” The former happens to be an absolutitist’s WORD, and evolutionists can only explain that tolerable accounts can be rendered; and that, while not replacing St. John, can certainly add their view, and evidence to the record of the scrolls.
The paragraph below is a view expressed by Neil Greenspan in today’s newspaper opinion columns, and I think his voice can be added to the record, in that he ventures into moral suppositions which use the absolutist and relativist polar positions of viewing today’s situation.
NEIL GREENSPAN (PD 4/27/05)
D
ebate on social and political issues is dominated by dichotomies. News stories and columns on pol¬icy options revolve around the tension be¬tween Democrats and Republicans, con¬servatives and liberals, blue states and red states, religious and secular. For example, discussion of the predicament of Terri Schiavo was dominated by two diametri¬cally opposed positions.
Why are such clear-cut divisions so common?
No single factor can explain the opinion gap, but one factor is the tendency of peo¬ple to believe in moral absolutes. Consider the ongoing debates about abortion, the end of life and the medical use of em¬bryonic stem cells.
The members of one camp emphasize their absolute commitment to the preser¬vation of life. In contrast, the members of the opposing camp emphasize other val¬ues, such as personal autonomy — the right of a competent individual to reach decisions of personal and family impor¬tance free of interference from govern¬ment or others outside a small, relevant circle. Ironically, this latter perspective, frequently regarded as liberal in this con¬text, is, in most other circumstances seen as a fundamentally conservative notion.
Neil is a professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University.
More can be found at
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1114594502272151.xml
ethical relativism
the view that what is right or wrong and good or bad is not absolute but variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstances, or social situation. The view is as ancient as Protagoras, a leading Greek Sophist of the 5th century BC, and as modern as the scientific approaches of sociology and anthropology.
Many people's understanding of this view is often vague and confused. It is not simply the belief, for example, that what is right depends on the circumstances, because everyone, including the absolutists, agrees that circumstances can make a difference; it is acknowledged that whether it is right for a man to enter a certain house depends upon whether he is the owner, a guest, a police officer with a warrant, or a burglar. Nor is it the belief that what someone thinks is right is relative to his social conditioning, for again anyone can agree that there are causal influences behind what people think is right. Ethical relativism is, rather, the view that what is really right depends solely upon what the individual or the society thinks is right. Because what one thinks will vary with time and place, what is right will also vary accordingly. Ethical relativism is, therefore, a view about the truth status of moral principles, according to which changing and even conflicting moral principles are equally true, so that there is no objective way of justifying any principle as valid for all people and all societies.<<<<
The above quote is part of the Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of ethical relativism part of which is mentioned in connection with Pope Benedict XVI, and Dick Cheney in Maureen Dowd's 23 April column in the NYT. It appears that absolutism is about as well known as communism, but that little solid agreement surfaces with the word relativism. We were recently visited by Otto von Hapsburg, a descendant of the Holy Roman Emperors, and the Hapsburg Empire. As explained in Olga Opfell's book, "Royalty Who Wait" Otto and his father were beneficiaries of "The Pragmatic Sanction" in which the Emperor in 1713 chose his daughter to succeed him, in variance with over 1000 years of application of the Salic Law to select only male heirs to the crown. I think this was a case of the use of ethical relativism. What do you think?
Let me apologize for abandoning my blog. Unfortunately Mozilla Firefox decided to quit, and I couldn't find my blog for the last week or so. Fortunately, here is one of the e-mails you were forced to delete, before I got up and running again. Take care:
In today's newspaper there was an article about the advantages of having a personal rep. to help coping with the exigencies of life. I have decided to ask mom to be mine, she already takes half of what I get from Social Security, so we don't have to negotiate prices. Check it out! The muffins make it worth while!!! (The one his personal rep. gave Leonardo DeCaprio) http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1114248768275150.xml
The Walker
According to Sunday's Plain Dealer, fashion has tipped its hat to the mild side, The Walker. A picture shows Justin Timberlake and Marie Vasquez in their new derbies. BTW I have a fedora that could well fit into the fashion, but it is just sitting in my closet, while I sport a baseball cap.
PD Sunday April 3, 2005
Plastination
Cleveland is joining Chicago, LA, and the rest of the 1st World in an exhibit of plastination, a technique of injecting plastic into corpses, then setting them up for exhibit. The show will begin here on Saturday, and last for who knows how long. You can visit the Plain Dealer and ask for plastination which was in Tuesday's Arts and Life section.
A Christmas Story
Today's Plain Dealer featurs the creation of a museum being restored which was the home featured in the movie "A Chrismas Story" which was filmed in Cleveland just over 20 years ago. You'll remember Ralphie, played by a young Peter Billingsly, but the creator of the museum, Brian Jones of San Diego recently purchased the 1895 house in Tremont for $150,000. He sells the leg lamps, for souveniers. Wed. 30 Mar 2005
Invasion: Iowa
Dear Reunion Participants:
IN 1997 we had a Walker Reunion, where we visited the Scott Memorial at Riverside Protestant Cemetery. In the meantime, the place has been invaded by Trekkers!!! You are invited to SPIKE TV channel this evening 9:00 Eastern, to the first of a four part miniseries called Invasion: Iowa. The time is 22 March 2228, and the birth of a person, who becomes known as Catp. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise will enter this world. Now I know that many of you won't be around at that time, but at least you can come visit Riverside Pop. 978 in the meantime. Hosted By William Shattner, I'm sure you will recognize a familiar face, even if the Scotts have become dearly departed. JIM O
