How does critical thinking affect you as a reader and writer? How can thinking critically improve your writing?
I think critical thinking can affect an individual both as a reader and a writer. As a reader, thinking critically can allow you to get more information from what you read. Instead of just reading what is actually put in front of you and “in one ear and out the other”, using critical thinking while you read can allow you to appreciate the reading on different levels. Utilizing critical thinking, you can now digest what the purpose the author had to write that specific selection: was their purpose to persuade you or to inform you and why do they want to do that? You can also analyze the message: was the author using a lot of emotion to stir up feelings inside of me or do they not seem so enthused and there are required to write this for work?
Critical thinking can also benefit you as the writer and not the reader. Knowing that you utilize critical thinking when you read about something, you should plan that other people that read what you have written will use critical thinking. The readers will be analyzing what you wrote and why you wrote what you did. Knowing this, you can plan ahead to make your writing as effective as possible.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Critical Thinking: Supporting a Position
Should the U.S. continue to use capital punishment?
The debate about capital punishment has been an ongoing debate for more than 100 years and the debate still is as heated now as it was when it first started. When the foundations of this country were being laid, one of the documents that were laid out was the Bill of Rights; many of the 10 Bills of Rights were adopted from the English Bill of Rights. The eighth Bill of Right pertains to capital punishment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
I am a big believer in keeping the policies and laws of this country as they were intended. For instance, there was a core belief for separation of church and state and for the most part this has been upheld. There are other rights, such as state rights, that have been infringed upon in large part. Many of these rights have been purposely left ambiguous, such as cruel and unusual punishment.
There are certain instances when it might be best to take someone’s life away from them. When there are people out there who kill just to kill, they have no remorse, and they will do so again, is it not better to take their life away from them to preserve the lives of others? In the most recent parole hearing of Charlie Manson, he denied that he murdered people but he said that he is capable of doing that. Using inductive reasoning, to me this means that if Charlie Manson is ever paroled, he would not baulk at the opportunity to kill again should the opportunity present itself. However, right now he is just locked up for life and not on death row.
Also, who are we as a society, to say whether someone should live or die? Is it not very animalistic to kill other creatures as a form of punishment? What qualifies a person to be able to pass judgment on whether an individual should continue their life or not?
I myself am an advocate of the death penalty however I think that there should be a reform. I believe that there should be set in stone criteria that a defendant has to fill to be put to death. This will be beneficial in that there will not be so many loopholes where someone can kill another individual, and basically plead insanity and escape the death penalty. If the prosecution can prove that there was premeditated murder, then that would be a “checkpoint” and if someone had enough checks then they would be eligible for the death penalty but not necessarily required to be put to death.
Another issue of reform needs to be in how death is administered. The NPR Podcast obviously brought up the horror of a botched death penalty administration: the needle was inserted in the flesh and not the vein, over 14 vials of the chemical cocktail had to be administered, and chemical burns resulted. Personally, I feel that death should be professionally, painlessly, and instantly. I think new ways need to be developed so that when this steep penalty is administered, it needs to be done with as much dignity as possible to the convicted person. I also think that the processing of a convicted death penalty receiver needs to be sped up. I do not think that they should pine away for months on death row as this is a drain both on the convicted individual and on the state and taxpayers. I agree with the death penalty but as the NPR Podcast shows, this is a policy that is in need of extensive reform.
The debate about capital punishment has been an ongoing debate for more than 100 years and the debate still is as heated now as it was when it first started. When the foundations of this country were being laid, one of the documents that were laid out was the Bill of Rights; many of the 10 Bills of Rights were adopted from the English Bill of Rights. The eighth Bill of Right pertains to capital punishment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
I am a big believer in keeping the policies and laws of this country as they were intended. For instance, there was a core belief for separation of church and state and for the most part this has been upheld. There are other rights, such as state rights, that have been infringed upon in large part. Many of these rights have been purposely left ambiguous, such as cruel and unusual punishment.
There are certain instances when it might be best to take someone’s life away from them. When there are people out there who kill just to kill, they have no remorse, and they will do so again, is it not better to take their life away from them to preserve the lives of others? In the most recent parole hearing of Charlie Manson, he denied that he murdered people but he said that he is capable of doing that. Using inductive reasoning, to me this means that if Charlie Manson is ever paroled, he would not baulk at the opportunity to kill again should the opportunity present itself. However, right now he is just locked up for life and not on death row.
Also, who are we as a society, to say whether someone should live or die? Is it not very animalistic to kill other creatures as a form of punishment? What qualifies a person to be able to pass judgment on whether an individual should continue their life or not?
I myself am an advocate of the death penalty however I think that there should be a reform. I believe that there should be set in stone criteria that a defendant has to fill to be put to death. This will be beneficial in that there will not be so many loopholes where someone can kill another individual, and basically plead insanity and escape the death penalty. If the prosecution can prove that there was premeditated murder, then that would be a “checkpoint” and if someone had enough checks then they would be eligible for the death penalty but not necessarily required to be put to death.
Another issue of reform needs to be in how death is administered. The NPR Podcast obviously brought up the horror of a botched death penalty administration: the needle was inserted in the flesh and not the vein, over 14 vials of the chemical cocktail had to be administered, and chemical burns resulted. Personally, I feel that death should be professionally, painlessly, and instantly. I think new ways need to be developed so that when this steep penalty is administered, it needs to be done with as much dignity as possible to the convicted person. I also think that the processing of a convicted death penalty receiver needs to be sped up. I do not think that they should pine away for months on death row as this is a drain both on the convicted individual and on the state and taxpayers. I agree with the death penalty but as the NPR Podcast shows, this is a policy that is in need of extensive reform.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Critical Thinking Assignment: Taking a Position
State the key issue from the comic strip.
The key issue from the comic strip is an ethical issue about salary. The two co-workers are debating about increasing their salaries through a “glitch” in the system essentially giving themselves raises that only costs the company a fraction of a percentage of their gross profits. In the end, one co-worker reports the other to the Human Resources Hotline.
Does Anita suspend judgment before taking a position, or does she immediately take a position on the issue? Explain your answer.
Anita does suspend judgment before she takes a position on the matter. She tells Tanya (the other co-worker), “I’ll have to think about it.” This shoes that she is undecided on the matter and is already aware of the ethical situation.
Does Anita use logic when looking into the issue, or is her position based on a moral value judgment? Explain your answer.
At first Anita uses logic when looking into the issue. Her comment is “I dunno. Sounds risky…” which shows that she is more concerned about getting caught than the moral issue of costing the company money. However, in the end she uses moral value judgment when she “turns in” her co-worker Tanya because although it is something that is not right, it does not affect the main character, Anita, other than her conscience.
Does she solve a problem, make a decision, or take action as a result of taking the position she did? Explain your answer.
Anita solves the problem, makes a decision, and takes action as a result of taking the position that she did. She made the decision that what Tanya was doing was ethically wrong; she then both solved the problem and took action at the same time by calling the HR Hotline. She solved the problem in that she made the glitch aware to Human Resources and she took action about Tanya’s embezzlement.
Recall a situation in your life in which you took a position on an issue. The issue could concern a political matter, a family or community topic, or a moral or ethical problem.
State the issue, the position you took, and the considerations that helped you determine your position.
I have a very similar situation to the comic strip; I was overpaid recently by $45 when the accountant miscalculated my overtime. In the end I reported the error to accounting but I almost did not. I figured what’s $45? I can take my wife out to dinner with this? However in the end I wouldn’t feel right about it and I think I would constantly be thinking about it.
Did you suspend judgment before taking a position, or did you immediately take a position on the issue? Explain your answer.
I did not immediately take the position to report the error and I took me a few hours to mull it over. I wouldn’t say that I suspended judgment; it was more I went from the position of not reporting it to the position of reporting it.
Did you use logic when looking into the issue, or was the position you took based on a moral value judgment? Explain your answer.
This wasn’t a logical decision but more of a moral value judgment. I could always claim that I don’t scrutinize my paycheck and that they can deduct the money from my next check for their error in the case of an audit. However, I would always have that part of me nagging me that I knew they made a mistake and I did nothing about this.
Did you solve a problem, make a decision, or take action as a result of taking the position you did? Explain your answer.
I made a decision and took action as a result of the position I took. The decision was that it was morally wrong to keep the extra $45. The action I took was reporting the administrative error to accounting so they could deduct the amount from my paycheck.
Religion Final Project: Baha'i
During the progression of this course in the religions of the world, I have learned a lot more than I thought I would. I thought that this course would be more about the spirituality of religion and not so much the history or teachings of the specific religions. Fortunately, I was very wrong and I prefer that I was wrong. I went into this course with blinders on; I myself am undecided about my own spirituality and I did not want to be swayed by persuasive writing; I wanted to make a decision based on facts and truths and concepts rather than interpretations and threats or bribes. The easiest way for me to do this was to compare the unknown with the known – for me the known was Christianity. I was raised a Roman Catholic and drug to church weekly and accepted this as a way of life. I knew there was God rather than believed there was God. Once out of my parent’s domain, my spirituality evaporated; there were simply too many unanswered questions out there to pursue Catholicism. So I know Catholicism fairly well, I need to compare an unknown religion that perked my interest. This unknown faith is Baha'i.
The Baha'i faith itself is very easy to wrap one’s head around. It can be summarized in a short excerpt from the Baha'i official website (http://www.bahai.org/):
“Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society. These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion. Bahá'u'lláh said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity. Founded more than a century and a half ago, the Bahá'í Faith has spread around the globe. Members of the Bahá'í Faith live in more than 100,000 localities and come from nearly every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic background. Bahá'ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the nature and purpose of life and of the future of society. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.”
I really enjoyed this “Mission Statement” of the faith. The religion really can be summarized in a single word – “Unification.” Something that turned me away at first was the potential of the lack of traditions due to the religion being an “infant” compared to the other mainstream monotheistic religions; perhaps it is my Roman Catholic upbringing but tradition in worship is very important to me. But as I thought more, how can you have more tradition than a religion that combines and unifies all of the other monotheistic religions? One can read all of the research in the world and that can do them well in their pursuit of spirituality; however human beings are social creatures and I felt that in order to more deeply understand Baha'ism, I needed to question and interview a Baha'i, preferably a converted Baha'i.
As it turns out, my direct supervisor at my job is a Baha'i; more so he was raised a devout Roman Catholic in a Catholic orphanage. While I was raised in nowhere near the conditions and situations of an orphan, I thought the basic concepts and key stages of life matched up the same. My manager, Wayne, mentioned something to me about his faith when I was first hired and never hearing of Baha'ism before it perked my interest. Listening with half an ear, I determined that he was more or less talking about Islam which I did not really want anything to do with. However, a year and a half later, I was taking this very course and flipping through the syllabus before the class, flipping through the hundreds of pages of reading material, when my eyes fell onto a heading called Baha'i. Remembering my boss’s faith, I read the brief two page summary and hungered for more knowledge on the topic. What better way to get this information than to ask Wayne, a former Catholic. Planning ahead and knowing what my final project for the course would be, I, Nick Taylor, decided I could knock out two birds with one stone; I could do an interview for my final project in the course and learn something that interested me at the same time. At the warehouse where I work, in my boss Wayne Shepard’s office on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, we began the interview. Please keep in mind that I was typing furiously in my laptop as I asked questions and he answered; the answers I have posted in this assignment are not word for word but as close as I can decipher.
Nick: “Wayne, if you had to describe Baha'i to someone who had never heard the word before, how would you do so in 30 seconds or less?” Wayne: “I think I could probably do better than 30 seconds – unification. Everything in Baha'ism is about unification – unifying major religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism, world peace, male and female equality, elimination of extreme poverty and wealth, and the unification and harmony of science and religion.”
Nick: “Wayne, I am aware that you were raised Catholic. But perhaps you can tell me about your introduction in Baha'ism and how you converted from one religion to the other.” Wayne: “I never knew my mother or father as they gave me up for adoption. While I do have a brother and a sister, there were adopted by my “parents” as well. Until being adopted when I was 14, I was raised in a Catholic orphanage and things were different then. There was Jesus and God and what the Sisters told us they said was just how it is. There was no questioning why they said that or why it was that way and not this way; that’s just the way it was. I didn’t like the fact that nothing could be questioned – when I was adopted my foster parents did not push religion onto us and I quickly forgot about Catholicism. As a young man however, I had a lot of experiences that could only be described as there being Someone or Something out there. I had a friend in my band who was a Baha'i and I finally let him start talking about it to me. It all really made sense to me the more he talked. Bahá’ís want you to question things and come up with your own interpretations for things. Bahá’ís know that the times change and things that were taught thousands of years ago are maybe not so relevant now; this is really one of our core beliefs: the different Prophets and Messengers don’t contradict each other but complement each other. Each Prophet’s message over rules the Prophet’s message before his. So while Jesus’ message is true and shapes how we live, it was relevant to the time and Muhammad’s message is more accurate for today’s time.”
Nick: “What do you think the benefits of being Baha'i are? What are the negatives?” Wayne: “Well let me start off by saying that I don’t think that there are any negatives. When I was in the orphanage, I found myself saying, “Well I kind of agree with that statement but it’s not really how I feel.” Then I would just kind of go along with the flow. Being a Baha'i, there is nothing that I do not agree with. I like that there is no “wrong” religion and all of them are really the same religion just a different “dialect of the same language.” I like the fact that the religion is modern and combines science and religion; it’s not Creationism versus Evolutionism – the two exist in harmony. Being a Baha'i I really feel that a lot of the unanswered questions I had are now answered and explained.
Nick: “A lot of religions have a Book of Revelations or Armageddon or some prophecy about the End of Days. Does Baha'ism have one and if so what is it.” Wayne: “Baha'ism has an anti-End of Days prophecy; Baha'ism teaches of world peace. Wayne then showed me an excerpt from a book that he called “The Four Valleys”, one of the core Baha'ism texts. I have found the excerpt online to accurately post it (http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html):
“This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. You are loosed from ancient superstitions which have kept men ignorant, destroying the foundation of true humanity. The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.”
Nick: “Wayne, thank you very much for your time so far, you’ve been incredibly helpful. We only have five more questions to go. What are the key concepts of the Baha'ism?” Wayne: “Like I said earlier, you can over-simplify the key concepts of Baha'ism by saying that is all about unification. One concept is that all of mankind is unified. You and I are really brothers because we are both created out of God. Your wife is my sister and my wife is your sister. But that is pretty “standard” as Catholicism and other religions believe that as well. Another really big one is that men and women are equal which was something that was really key to me becoming Baha'i. In the Bible, there is obvious preference given to men. Now you can say that it was written originally with male preference or that throughout the years the Bible has been altered and male preference has been installed into the Bible. But if they made men better than women, what else has been tampered with the Bible? Bahá’ís teach that men and women are both equal in God’s eyes. Another one that I said earlier was the need to question your faith. Christianity asks you to blindly believe and do what God says to do. However, in Baha'ism you need to “see God in with your own eyes and not through the eyes of others.” Science and religion need to be in harmony as well. You can’t believe something spiritually and believe something factually that contradict – such as creationism and evolution because that is not synchronous. Religion and science need to complement each other. Another core belief is that there is only one God. This doesn’t mean that Baha'i’s only have one God; it means that all monotheistic religions share one God. The different religions are from God’s messengers being emphasized – Christianity has Jesus, Judaism has Abraham, and Islam has Muhammad. But there is only one God and all of these messengers “work together.” Bahá’ís also believe in world peace. In order for everything to be unified and everyone to be on the same page, there has to be everlasting world peace.”
Nick: “Why is this religion right and the other ones are wrong? Why is this religion the one to follow?” Wayne: “Baha'ism is not right or wrong just as Christianity is not right or wrong. Christianity is a religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who was the son of God. Baha'i’s believe that this is true. Baha'i’s just also believe that Muhammad was also a prophet of the same God, just as Abraham was. Baha'i just expounds and builds upon other religions combining them all. None of the religions are wrong or wasting their time.”
Nick: “According to my research, this religion originated in the Middle East. Is this confined just to the Middle East or is in the West as well?” Wayne: “-laughing- Well we aren’t in the Middle East and I’m Baha'i! I actually went to Israel to study and learn more about Baha'ism after I converted so that is obviously where the main concentration of Bahá’ís are. But yes the religion really is growing in the West. In my community I think we average a couple new people a month that join us for worship.”
Nick: “I just have one more question Wayne. What would you say to someone who was “spiritually challenged” and you could see needed some help?” Wayne: “I would tell them to come to a Baha'i meeting and give them literature about Baha'ism; that is how I got started on it and I never looked back.”
I thought that this interview was extremely helpful in learning about Baha'ism. It is always one thing to read about the religions online and in books and to compile your own conclusions but it is a whole other matter to talk to someone that is actually Baha'i and to “pick their brain” about the faith. However, I wanted to take Wayne up on his advice and attend a Baha'i meeting and learn as much as I could.
Unfortunately, attending the place of worship did not go as I would have hoped. Wayne is the treasurer of his local “chapter” of Bahá’ís. Baha'i is structured with a local committee, these members nominate and vote for a committee above them, so on and so forth until there is the final committee housed in Israel that is the governing body. Anyone that is currently a Baha'i can attend these committee meetings as anything that is happening in the Baha'i communities is everyone’s business. However, as I am not a Baha'i, I could not really see how these meetings were conducted. I could attend but they would not “talk shop” around. Instead, it was basically another interview, similar to what I had with Wayne but with the whole committee, that reaffirmed my interest in Baha'ism. The meeting was held at Wayne’s house and there were 6 other committee members present and the atmosphere was really inviting. Everyone was laughing and on very good terms with each other and really truly happy; they were more than happy to answer my questions and not act like they were doing me a religious favor but an educational favor and enlightening me. I really enjoyed that aspect of the meeting.
I keep finding how interesting it is that mainstream religions that claim to be so different from each other are so much alike. Baha'ism and Christianity are no different and the similarities, understandably since Bahá’ís acknowledge Christianity, are many. Christianity is based off of a single Prophet and Messenger, Jesus Christ. Baha'ism acknowledges and accepts Jesus Christ a messenger and prophet of God. The main beliefs between Christianity and Baha'ism are very comparable as well. Both religions have a very strong moral code such as peace, respect, and worship. The history of Christianity and Baha'ism is also very comparable; both religions were persecuted in their early years. Christians were persecuted by the Romans for many years before Rome itself adopted Christianity. Bahá'í are even now being persecuted, primarily in Iran. Wayne met his wife when he was in Israel, she had fled Iran because of the persecution and they met in Hafsa which is the seat of Baha'ism.
As there are comparisons between Baha'ism and Christianity, there are certainly differences as well. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was the Prophet and Messenger but Baha'ism argues that Jesus Christ was simply a Prophet and Messenger of God. While Jesus Christ is still incredibly influential and should not be overlooked, he was not the only Prophet. Baha'ism also seems make men and women equals as well while Christianity is still struggling with this. While the Vatican has said that women need to be recognized, it is hard to contradict 2,000 years of tradition. Finally, possibly the biggest difference between Christianity and Baha'ism is the obvious one; age. Christianity is over 2,000 years old while Baha'ism is a mere 150 years old.
The interview that I conducted with Wayne was possibly the most beneficial aspect of all of my research. As I have stated before, there is something that is much more convincing and charismatic about hearing someone say something than reading something that someone wrote. I feel that it is also more beneficial to hear someone else’s interpretation of a message and concept to hear another perspective.
Overall, attending the place of worship was very nice. It would have been great to see and participate in actual worship, but interacting with the committee was a pleasant surprise. Again I was surprised how friendly everyone there was; it reminds me of a trip to Thailand. When I was in Thailand where the population was predominately Buddhist, I thought that the people there were the nicest and kindest people I had ever met. This committee reminded me of that; perhaps it is because Baha'ism has also adopted Buddhist teachings and acknowledges the Buddha as one of the early Prophets of God.
It was nice to see the comparisons between Christianity and Baha'ism as well. Perhaps it is because Christianity is familiar to me and Baha'ism is not; by having Christian elements I am not going completely into foreign territory. However the contrast between the two is nice as well because there are obviously some things that I do not agree with about Christianity or I would be a practicing Christian.
I have really enjoyed learning about Baha'ism. It does seem to answer a lot of the questions and issues that I had with Christianity. The religion itself is new and therefore the concepts are modern and practical in today’s world. I also see the growth and popularity of Baha'ism growing rapidly in the near future; it might actually see me joining its ranks before too long.
REFERENCES
Baha'i Official Website. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.bahai.org/
Baha'i Association of the University of Florida. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html
The Baha'i faith itself is very easy to wrap one’s head around. It can be summarized in a short excerpt from the Baha'i official website (http://www.bahai.org/):
“Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society. These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion. Bahá'u'lláh said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity. Founded more than a century and a half ago, the Bahá'í Faith has spread around the globe. Members of the Bahá'í Faith live in more than 100,000 localities and come from nearly every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic background. Bahá'ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the nature and purpose of life and of the future of society. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.”
I really enjoyed this “Mission Statement” of the faith. The religion really can be summarized in a single word – “Unification.” Something that turned me away at first was the potential of the lack of traditions due to the religion being an “infant” compared to the other mainstream monotheistic religions; perhaps it is my Roman Catholic upbringing but tradition in worship is very important to me. But as I thought more, how can you have more tradition than a religion that combines and unifies all of the other monotheistic religions? One can read all of the research in the world and that can do them well in their pursuit of spirituality; however human beings are social creatures and I felt that in order to more deeply understand Baha'ism, I needed to question and interview a Baha'i, preferably a converted Baha'i.
As it turns out, my direct supervisor at my job is a Baha'i; more so he was raised a devout Roman Catholic in a Catholic orphanage. While I was raised in nowhere near the conditions and situations of an orphan, I thought the basic concepts and key stages of life matched up the same. My manager, Wayne, mentioned something to me about his faith when I was first hired and never hearing of Baha'ism before it perked my interest. Listening with half an ear, I determined that he was more or less talking about Islam which I did not really want anything to do with. However, a year and a half later, I was taking this very course and flipping through the syllabus before the class, flipping through the hundreds of pages of reading material, when my eyes fell onto a heading called Baha'i. Remembering my boss’s faith, I read the brief two page summary and hungered for more knowledge on the topic. What better way to get this information than to ask Wayne, a former Catholic. Planning ahead and knowing what my final project for the course would be, I, Nick Taylor, decided I could knock out two birds with one stone; I could do an interview for my final project in the course and learn something that interested me at the same time. At the warehouse where I work, in my boss Wayne Shepard’s office on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, we began the interview. Please keep in mind that I was typing furiously in my laptop as I asked questions and he answered; the answers I have posted in this assignment are not word for word but as close as I can decipher.
Nick: “Wayne, if you had to describe Baha'i to someone who had never heard the word before, how would you do so in 30 seconds or less?” Wayne: “I think I could probably do better than 30 seconds – unification. Everything in Baha'ism is about unification – unifying major religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism, world peace, male and female equality, elimination of extreme poverty and wealth, and the unification and harmony of science and religion.”
Nick: “Wayne, I am aware that you were raised Catholic. But perhaps you can tell me about your introduction in Baha'ism and how you converted from one religion to the other.” Wayne: “I never knew my mother or father as they gave me up for adoption. While I do have a brother and a sister, there were adopted by my “parents” as well. Until being adopted when I was 14, I was raised in a Catholic orphanage and things were different then. There was Jesus and God and what the Sisters told us they said was just how it is. There was no questioning why they said that or why it was that way and not this way; that’s just the way it was. I didn’t like the fact that nothing could be questioned – when I was adopted my foster parents did not push religion onto us and I quickly forgot about Catholicism. As a young man however, I had a lot of experiences that could only be described as there being Someone or Something out there. I had a friend in my band who was a Baha'i and I finally let him start talking about it to me. It all really made sense to me the more he talked. Bahá’ís want you to question things and come up with your own interpretations for things. Bahá’ís know that the times change and things that were taught thousands of years ago are maybe not so relevant now; this is really one of our core beliefs: the different Prophets and Messengers don’t contradict each other but complement each other. Each Prophet’s message over rules the Prophet’s message before his. So while Jesus’ message is true and shapes how we live, it was relevant to the time and Muhammad’s message is more accurate for today’s time.”
Nick: “What do you think the benefits of being Baha'i are? What are the negatives?” Wayne: “Well let me start off by saying that I don’t think that there are any negatives. When I was in the orphanage, I found myself saying, “Well I kind of agree with that statement but it’s not really how I feel.” Then I would just kind of go along with the flow. Being a Baha'i, there is nothing that I do not agree with. I like that there is no “wrong” religion and all of them are really the same religion just a different “dialect of the same language.” I like the fact that the religion is modern and combines science and religion; it’s not Creationism versus Evolutionism – the two exist in harmony. Being a Baha'i I really feel that a lot of the unanswered questions I had are now answered and explained.
Nick: “A lot of religions have a Book of Revelations or Armageddon or some prophecy about the End of Days. Does Baha'ism have one and if so what is it.” Wayne: “Baha'ism has an anti-End of Days prophecy; Baha'ism teaches of world peace. Wayne then showed me an excerpt from a book that he called “The Four Valleys”, one of the core Baha'ism texts. I have found the excerpt online to accurately post it (http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html):
“This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. You are loosed from ancient superstitions which have kept men ignorant, destroying the foundation of true humanity. The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.”
Nick: “Wayne, thank you very much for your time so far, you’ve been incredibly helpful. We only have five more questions to go. What are the key concepts of the Baha'ism?” Wayne: “Like I said earlier, you can over-simplify the key concepts of Baha'ism by saying that is all about unification. One concept is that all of mankind is unified. You and I are really brothers because we are both created out of God. Your wife is my sister and my wife is your sister. But that is pretty “standard” as Catholicism and other religions believe that as well. Another really big one is that men and women are equal which was something that was really key to me becoming Baha'i. In the Bible, there is obvious preference given to men. Now you can say that it was written originally with male preference or that throughout the years the Bible has been altered and male preference has been installed into the Bible. But if they made men better than women, what else has been tampered with the Bible? Bahá’ís teach that men and women are both equal in God’s eyes. Another one that I said earlier was the need to question your faith. Christianity asks you to blindly believe and do what God says to do. However, in Baha'ism you need to “see God in with your own eyes and not through the eyes of others.” Science and religion need to be in harmony as well. You can’t believe something spiritually and believe something factually that contradict – such as creationism and evolution because that is not synchronous. Religion and science need to complement each other. Another core belief is that there is only one God. This doesn’t mean that Baha'i’s only have one God; it means that all monotheistic religions share one God. The different religions are from God’s messengers being emphasized – Christianity has Jesus, Judaism has Abraham, and Islam has Muhammad. But there is only one God and all of these messengers “work together.” Bahá’ís also believe in world peace. In order for everything to be unified and everyone to be on the same page, there has to be everlasting world peace.”
Nick: “Why is this religion right and the other ones are wrong? Why is this religion the one to follow?” Wayne: “Baha'ism is not right or wrong just as Christianity is not right or wrong. Christianity is a religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who was the son of God. Baha'i’s believe that this is true. Baha'i’s just also believe that Muhammad was also a prophet of the same God, just as Abraham was. Baha'i just expounds and builds upon other religions combining them all. None of the religions are wrong or wasting their time.”
Nick: “According to my research, this religion originated in the Middle East. Is this confined just to the Middle East or is in the West as well?” Wayne: “-laughing- Well we aren’t in the Middle East and I’m Baha'i! I actually went to Israel to study and learn more about Baha'ism after I converted so that is obviously where the main concentration of Bahá’ís are. But yes the religion really is growing in the West. In my community I think we average a couple new people a month that join us for worship.”
Nick: “I just have one more question Wayne. What would you say to someone who was “spiritually challenged” and you could see needed some help?” Wayne: “I would tell them to come to a Baha'i meeting and give them literature about Baha'ism; that is how I got started on it and I never looked back.”
I thought that this interview was extremely helpful in learning about Baha'ism. It is always one thing to read about the religions online and in books and to compile your own conclusions but it is a whole other matter to talk to someone that is actually Baha'i and to “pick their brain” about the faith. However, I wanted to take Wayne up on his advice and attend a Baha'i meeting and learn as much as I could.
Unfortunately, attending the place of worship did not go as I would have hoped. Wayne is the treasurer of his local “chapter” of Bahá’ís. Baha'i is structured with a local committee, these members nominate and vote for a committee above them, so on and so forth until there is the final committee housed in Israel that is the governing body. Anyone that is currently a Baha'i can attend these committee meetings as anything that is happening in the Baha'i communities is everyone’s business. However, as I am not a Baha'i, I could not really see how these meetings were conducted. I could attend but they would not “talk shop” around. Instead, it was basically another interview, similar to what I had with Wayne but with the whole committee, that reaffirmed my interest in Baha'ism. The meeting was held at Wayne’s house and there were 6 other committee members present and the atmosphere was really inviting. Everyone was laughing and on very good terms with each other and really truly happy; they were more than happy to answer my questions and not act like they were doing me a religious favor but an educational favor and enlightening me. I really enjoyed that aspect of the meeting.
I keep finding how interesting it is that mainstream religions that claim to be so different from each other are so much alike. Baha'ism and Christianity are no different and the similarities, understandably since Bahá’ís acknowledge Christianity, are many. Christianity is based off of a single Prophet and Messenger, Jesus Christ. Baha'ism acknowledges and accepts Jesus Christ a messenger and prophet of God. The main beliefs between Christianity and Baha'ism are very comparable as well. Both religions have a very strong moral code such as peace, respect, and worship. The history of Christianity and Baha'ism is also very comparable; both religions were persecuted in their early years. Christians were persecuted by the Romans for many years before Rome itself adopted Christianity. Bahá'í are even now being persecuted, primarily in Iran. Wayne met his wife when he was in Israel, she had fled Iran because of the persecution and they met in Hafsa which is the seat of Baha'ism.
As there are comparisons between Baha'ism and Christianity, there are certainly differences as well. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was the Prophet and Messenger but Baha'ism argues that Jesus Christ was simply a Prophet and Messenger of God. While Jesus Christ is still incredibly influential and should not be overlooked, he was not the only Prophet. Baha'ism also seems make men and women equals as well while Christianity is still struggling with this. While the Vatican has said that women need to be recognized, it is hard to contradict 2,000 years of tradition. Finally, possibly the biggest difference between Christianity and Baha'ism is the obvious one; age. Christianity is over 2,000 years old while Baha'ism is a mere 150 years old.
The interview that I conducted with Wayne was possibly the most beneficial aspect of all of my research. As I have stated before, there is something that is much more convincing and charismatic about hearing someone say something than reading something that someone wrote. I feel that it is also more beneficial to hear someone else’s interpretation of a message and concept to hear another perspective.
Overall, attending the place of worship was very nice. It would have been great to see and participate in actual worship, but interacting with the committee was a pleasant surprise. Again I was surprised how friendly everyone there was; it reminds me of a trip to Thailand. When I was in Thailand where the population was predominately Buddhist, I thought that the people there were the nicest and kindest people I had ever met. This committee reminded me of that; perhaps it is because Baha'ism has also adopted Buddhist teachings and acknowledges the Buddha as one of the early Prophets of God.
It was nice to see the comparisons between Christianity and Baha'ism as well. Perhaps it is because Christianity is familiar to me and Baha'ism is not; by having Christian elements I am not going completely into foreign territory. However the contrast between the two is nice as well because there are obviously some things that I do not agree with about Christianity or I would be a practicing Christian.
I have really enjoyed learning about Baha'ism. It does seem to answer a lot of the questions and issues that I had with Christianity. The religion itself is new and therefore the concepts are modern and practical in today’s world. I also see the growth and popularity of Baha'ism growing rapidly in the near future; it might actually see me joining its ranks before too long.
REFERENCES
Baha'i Official Website. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.bahai.org/
Baha'i Association of the University of Florida. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
New Religion vs. Old Religion
How are newer religions different from older ones? How are they similar?
I think a lot of the newer religions are different from older ones in a lot of their secondary messages. I think that newer religions leave a lot of room for interpretation for science and today’s culture to fit in whereas older religions don’t really include that. For example, the bible straight out condemns homosexuality but many new denominations and religions don’t say yay or nay about it. Also there is the controversy of science vs. religion and specifically evolution vs. creation. Many new religions allow for this.
A lot of new religions are comparable to older religions as well. Most of the mainstream new religions adhere to the same moral code that all of the traditional religions also have. Also, it is interesting to see how religion compliments science and science compliments religion. For example, many traditional religions could not explain natural phenomena so they explained it with religious stories. However now that mankind has a much deeper and thorough understanding of life and the university, there are some things that we cannot explain with science – such as the complexity of life and a smooth evolutionary chain instead of one with key points – so they explain it with divine intervention.
I think a lot of the newer religions are different from older ones in a lot of their secondary messages. I think that newer religions leave a lot of room for interpretation for science and today’s culture to fit in whereas older religions don’t really include that. For example, the bible straight out condemns homosexuality but many new denominations and religions don’t say yay or nay about it. Also there is the controversy of science vs. religion and specifically evolution vs. creation. Many new religions allow for this.
A lot of new religions are comparable to older religions as well. Most of the mainstream new religions adhere to the same moral code that all of the traditional religions also have. Also, it is interesting to see how religion compliments science and science compliments religion. For example, many traditional religions could not explain natural phenomena so they explained it with religious stories. However now that mankind has a much deeper and thorough understanding of life and the university, there are some things that we cannot explain with science – such as the complexity of life and a smooth evolutionary chain instead of one with key points – so they explain it with divine intervention.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Internet Privacy
What rights to privacy do people have when using the Internet at home? Are their privacy rights limited? Do those same rights and limits exist at work?
The privacy rights of someone on the Internet at their home is a gray area. Someone should be able to look at whatever they want to look at when they are at their home and on their time. This is basically freedom of speech – not only do you have the freedom to say whatever you want to say, you should have to freedom to see and hear whatever you want to see and hear. However, it is hard to deny that some things should be monitored. What about websites that are created to expose weakness’s in the countries defense network? Should these not be monitored and anyone who wants to read and learn how to commit treason should be allowed to? What about child pornography? Should people be allowed to view not only illegal but immoral things and potentially harm a child? If there are horrible things that can be stopped just by monitoring the websites someone views and then monitoring that person when they are flagged, shouldn’t they be watched?
At work, there should not really be any privacy rights or anything like that. You are at work to work, not do personal things. If you want to do personal things or your management says you are allowed to, then you should be able to but you are at work, using their hardware or software, and they should be able to monitor what you do with it.
The privacy rights of someone on the Internet at their home is a gray area. Someone should be able to look at whatever they want to look at when they are at their home and on their time. This is basically freedom of speech – not only do you have the freedom to say whatever you want to say, you should have to freedom to see and hear whatever you want to see and hear. However, it is hard to deny that some things should be monitored. What about websites that are created to expose weakness’s in the countries defense network? Should these not be monitored and anyone who wants to read and learn how to commit treason should be allowed to? What about child pornography? Should people be allowed to view not only illegal but immoral things and potentially harm a child? If there are horrible things that can be stopped just by monitoring the websites someone views and then monitoring that person when they are flagged, shouldn’t they be watched?
At work, there should not really be any privacy rights or anything like that. You are at work to work, not do personal things. If you want to do personal things or your management says you are allowed to, then you should be able to but you are at work, using their hardware or software, and they should be able to monitor what you do with it.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
'96 Corolla Audio Installation
So my wife still drives her high school car; a 4 door ’96 Toyota Corolla. She has one of those removable faceplates and a long time ago she took it off and broke it and now it doesn’t display any information such as volume status or track number. Also she has audio problems due to a bad hook up in the back. So it needs to be replaced. So first things first, you need to get the overall plate off. This plate has the temperature controls, the clock, a couple vents, and most importantly, the radio “deck”. So in order to take this plate off on the Corolla, there are two screws located underneath the reveal and the upper trim plate.
There were only 2 screws, in this picture you can see the leftmost one. The right screw is just out of the frame to the right. See how dirty the underside is?! That’s a 3rd hand car for you…plus it’s 12 years old. So those 2 screws will allow you to take that whole upper plate off. You need to take out the knobs on your heat controls. Also note that you will need to disconnect the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights button.
This is what it looks like with the plate off, and the deck still intact. Note the 3 plugs to the right, these are the for the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights. The silver piece in the bottom half of the picture is the receiver for the heat controls. The white plastic box at the top in the back is actually the duct from your A/C and heater. After you get to this step, you need to take the deck out. On this model, there are 4 screws, 2 on the left and 2 on the right as shown below.
After you undo these screws, you can now take out the deck. It’s pretty easy it just slides out (that’s what she said). After it is out, you need to disconnect the cables in the back. The one with all the wires just snaps out – these wires include the power, the ground, and the speakers. Also note the thicker black cord to the right; this is the antenna cable. It’s a simple male jack, just pull it out of the female jack (that’s what she said again), and the whole assembly should come out.
This is also the point where if your wife is like mine, she will come up and ask you if you took the CD out. It’s interesting how they always nag you about the most rudimentary simple and obvious things. But if you are like me, and you DIDN’T take out the CD, this is the point where you hand her the screw-driver, mumble something about it was broken and wouldn’t turn on, and tell her she needs to break into it to get her CD (this is a Third Day CD which you will see later). Getting back on track now, in the back you will notice another connector. That needs to be disconnected as well, if you pull on the now exposed end (do I need to say that’s what she said), you will not expose 2 additional connectors that need to be pulled out and tossed aside as well. You will now take your new deck, which is shown in the picture below. It comes with the stock connector which you need to attach to the back of the deck. After this is connected you need to have a Y connector that you hook up. This will split into 2 plugs which will connect to the cords that you just pulled out behind the dashboard. The connectors I had needed to be spliced together – it’s really simple, just match up the same colored wires. Whatever the unused wires are, cover them up with tape to avoid any potential shorts. Below is the picture of everything spliced together.
Now you just need to install 2 mounting brackets to your new deck and slide it in the slot where the old one was. Simply screw the brackets in, just like they were before. Look below for further clarification.
Once everything is secured and tight (I don’t need to say it anymore), put the trim plate back on, not forgetting to attach the cords for the clock, defrost button, and the hazard lights button. Install the heat knobs again, clean everything up, and your set. Note the now recovered Third Day CD that is now installed in the newly working audio deck that displays the information on the CD. This was really simple – it took me longer to pick out the deck (note how I had to shop for the pink buttons…anything for my wife), and get the accessories and wait for a sales associate to get the deck from behind the counter, than it did to install which was about 30 minutes.
There were only 2 screws, in this picture you can see the leftmost one. The right screw is just out of the frame to the right. See how dirty the underside is?! That’s a 3rd hand car for you…plus it’s 12 years old. So those 2 screws will allow you to take that whole upper plate off. You need to take out the knobs on your heat controls. Also note that you will need to disconnect the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights button.
This is what it looks like with the plate off, and the deck still intact. Note the 3 plugs to the right, these are the for the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights. The silver piece in the bottom half of the picture is the receiver for the heat controls. The white plastic box at the top in the back is actually the duct from your A/C and heater. After you get to this step, you need to take the deck out. On this model, there are 4 screws, 2 on the left and 2 on the right as shown below.
After you undo these screws, you can now take out the deck. It’s pretty easy it just slides out (that’s what she said). After it is out, you need to disconnect the cables in the back. The one with all the wires just snaps out – these wires include the power, the ground, and the speakers. Also note the thicker black cord to the right; this is the antenna cable. It’s a simple male jack, just pull it out of the female jack (that’s what she said again), and the whole assembly should come out.
This is also the point where if your wife is like mine, she will come up and ask you if you took the CD out. It’s interesting how they always nag you about the most rudimentary simple and obvious things. But if you are like me, and you DIDN’T take out the CD, this is the point where you hand her the screw-driver, mumble something about it was broken and wouldn’t turn on, and tell her she needs to break into it to get her CD (this is a Third Day CD which you will see later). Getting back on track now, in the back you will notice another connector. That needs to be disconnected as well, if you pull on the now exposed end (do I need to say that’s what she said), you will not expose 2 additional connectors that need to be pulled out and tossed aside as well. You will now take your new deck, which is shown in the picture below. It comes with the stock connector which you need to attach to the back of the deck. After this is connected you need to have a Y connector that you hook up. This will split into 2 plugs which will connect to the cords that you just pulled out behind the dashboard. The connectors I had needed to be spliced together – it’s really simple, just match up the same colored wires. Whatever the unused wires are, cover them up with tape to avoid any potential shorts. Below is the picture of everything spliced together.
Now you just need to install 2 mounting brackets to your new deck and slide it in the slot where the old one was. Simply screw the brackets in, just like they were before. Look below for further clarification.
Once everything is secured and tight (I don’t need to say it anymore), put the trim plate back on, not forgetting to attach the cords for the clock, defrost button, and the hazard lights button. Install the heat knobs again, clean everything up, and your set. Note the now recovered Third Day CD that is now installed in the newly working audio deck that displays the information on the CD. This was really simple – it took me longer to pick out the deck (note how I had to shop for the pink buttons…anything for my wife), and get the accessories and wait for a sales associate to get the deck from behind the counter, than it did to install which was about 30 minutes.
Data Security
Below is a homework assignment from my IT class which is about data security.
Think about where your personal information is stored from an information systems perspective. Is your credit card information saved on file at your favorite online store? Are your medical records stored electronically at your doctor’s office? What would happen if that information were compromised? What are some of the major threats to information systems? Provide three examples to support your answer.
Data security is very important; all of the above listed scenarios can be very harmful to an individual. However, just as harmful as they can be to the individual or the consumer, they can cripple a business.
For instance, imagine that you are the owner of a small resale online electronic store. You buy common mid-range electronics ($100-$500) in bulk and then resell them individually at a higher price to the average consumer via your online store. You have such a good reputation that 30% of your business is repeat customers; they have used the “Private Account” feature on your website to aid them in purchasing another item and it stores all of their previous information: i.e. Credit Card Number, Billing Address, Shipping Address, etc. A disgruntled employee accesses this restricted information and makes some of his own purchases using the consumer information. Not only do you now have to fire an employee, you have two potential lawsuits (one against the employee and the other for the consumers against you), you have most likely lost 30% of your business which might be enough to put you out of one.
A family member of yours has a serious health issue and not only are they at the hospital frequently, they have seen numerous specialists about all of the complications. One of the specialists just runs a small private office and is not part of a larger health system. However, since they are such a small office, they do not take data security as seriously as they should. Not only does this specialist have all of your family member’s medical history, they also have all of their financial information for the insurance company. One day, your family member finds out that on top of their rapidly deteriorating health, they also have recently found that they have apparently been purchasing expensive cars on eBay and have not been making payments deteriorating their credit enough to the fact that the insurance company is threatening to drop the patient from their coverage.
Another example: you are a storage administrator for a health system. You manage the servers and make sure that the server admins can do the backups and restorations that they need to. You are backing up a very old volume of data to tape to take off site so you can delete that data from the server. However, since you are in a rush, you do not have time to validate the backup on tape (actually restore the data once to make sure it works). You just delete the data from the archive. However, due to some data corruption, the tapes are unusable. Internal or external security is just as crucial as inadvertent data corruption.
Think about where your personal information is stored from an information systems perspective. Is your credit card information saved on file at your favorite online store? Are your medical records stored electronically at your doctor’s office? What would happen if that information were compromised? What are some of the major threats to information systems? Provide three examples to support your answer.
Data security is very important; all of the above listed scenarios can be very harmful to an individual. However, just as harmful as they can be to the individual or the consumer, they can cripple a business.
For instance, imagine that you are the owner of a small resale online electronic store. You buy common mid-range electronics ($100-$500) in bulk and then resell them individually at a higher price to the average consumer via your online store. You have such a good reputation that 30% of your business is repeat customers; they have used the “Private Account” feature on your website to aid them in purchasing another item and it stores all of their previous information: i.e. Credit Card Number, Billing Address, Shipping Address, etc. A disgruntled employee accesses this restricted information and makes some of his own purchases using the consumer information. Not only do you now have to fire an employee, you have two potential lawsuits (one against the employee and the other for the consumers against you), you have most likely lost 30% of your business which might be enough to put you out of one.
A family member of yours has a serious health issue and not only are they at the hospital frequently, they have seen numerous specialists about all of the complications. One of the specialists just runs a small private office and is not part of a larger health system. However, since they are such a small office, they do not take data security as seriously as they should. Not only does this specialist have all of your family member’s medical history, they also have all of their financial information for the insurance company. One day, your family member finds out that on top of their rapidly deteriorating health, they also have recently found that they have apparently been purchasing expensive cars on eBay and have not been making payments deteriorating their credit enough to the fact that the insurance company is threatening to drop the patient from their coverage.
Another example: you are a storage administrator for a health system. You manage the servers and make sure that the server admins can do the backups and restorations that they need to. You are backing up a very old volume of data to tape to take off site so you can delete that data from the server. However, since you are in a rush, you do not have time to validate the backup on tape (actually restore the data once to make sure it works). You just delete the data from the archive. However, due to some data corruption, the tapes are unusable. Internal or external security is just as crucial as inadvertent data corruption.
Monday, May 5, 2008
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