Hello, all! It's been some time since I've been able to post, but I've got some time tonight, so I thought I would update.
My discussions in history class have been very fruitful. I have a few classmates who have been surprisingly courageous in backing me up once I've started dialogue. I doubt I am changing our professor's mind, but I do believe I'm helping others like myself not be dissuaded. I have my first test in that class this Friday; wish me luck, we'll see how it goes.
I've found that college is a very indulgent environment, a microcosm largely unaffected by reality. At least half of the students I interact with on a daily basis smoke cigarettes, and another large percentage are involved in illegal drugs or underage drinking. Comments about the way I dress, flippant curse words, and frank talk about immorality are regularly filtered through my ears. I'm very, very grateful I do not live on campus, and can retreat to my home to think things through.
I know that trials are only sanctification tools in the hands of the Lord, and in that I can trust. As a Catholic, I am entering the season of Lent tomorrow. I will be getting up early to participate in a universal ceremony to mark the beginning of the season and remind us of our mortality. As a child, I loved the season of Lent more than any other. That still holds true now. Weeks of solemn chant, reflection, and fasting await me. It could not come at a better time, and I know my dedication to my obligations will keep me grounded in the whirlwind at college.
I wish you all a wonderful night and hope to update again soon.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
...And Pass the Ammunition
I had the good fortune to look ahead in the book we're reading for History, an awful discourse by Howard Zinn. I found out that there's a chapter we should be getting to in a few weeks that deals exclusively with Zinn's perceived treatment of women in American history.
Oh yes, I'm gathering ammo and making notes now. Dr. B says to "bring your guns" to class discussion. Well, that's just what I'm going to do.
Oh yes, I'm gathering ammo and making notes now. Dr. B says to "bring your guns" to class discussion. Well, that's just what I'm going to do.
Monday, February 2, 2009
On My Mind Today
This evening I've been pondering the words of great men in our country's past. I don't wish to start a political discussion by going into further detail, but there's certainly nothing wrong with reflecting on one of the documents that created this country.
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
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