Date Archives → January 2016

Question & Thought for January 30th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for January 30th, 2016!!!
Good Saturday Morning!
1. Question – What simple rule should we consider when loving our neighbors?
2. Thought – The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself liking him less. (Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis)
“Blessed are they that laugh at themselves, they shall never cease to be entertained.” (Chinese Be attitude)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for the last Sunday in January 2016!

Question & Thought for the last Sunday in January 2016!
Good Sunday Morning!!!
1. Question – Is it Constitutional for the Supreme Court to meddle in religious state issues?
2. Thought – When Thomas Jefferson was serving in the Virginia legislature he helped initiate a bill to have a day of fasting and prayer, but when he became President, Jefferson said there was no authority in the federal government to proclaim religious holidays. In a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association dated January 1, 1802, he explained his position and said the Constitution had created “a wall of separation between church and state.”
In recent years the Supreme Court has undertaken to use this metaphor as an excuse for meddling in the religious issues arising within the various states. It has not only presumed to take jurisdiction in these disputes, but has actually forced states to take the same hands-off position toward religious matters even though this restriction originally applied only to the federal government. The obvious distortion of the original intent of Jefferson (when he used the metaphor of a “wall” separating church and state) becomes entirely apparent when the statements and actions of Jefferson are examined in their historical context.
It will be recalled that Jefferson and Madison were anxious that the states intervene in religious matters so as to provide equality among all religions, and that all churches or religions assigned preferential treatment should be disestablished from such preferment. They further joined with the other Founders in expressing an anxiety that ALL religions be encouraged in order to promote the morale fiber and religious tone of the people. This, of course, would be impossible if there were an impenetrable “wall” between church and state on the state level. Jefferson’s “wall” was obviously intended only for the federal government, and the Supreme Court application of this metaphor to the states has come under severe criticism. (The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen)
“Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation.” (James Madison)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for January 29th, 2016!

Question & Thought for January 29th, 2016!
Good Friday Morning!!!
1. Question – Have you ever thought about the finite amount of water here on Earth?
2. Thought – There are 320 million cubic miles of water on Earth and that is all we’re ever going to get. The system is closed: practically speaking, nothing can be added or subtracted. The water you drink has been around doing its job since the Earth was young. By 3.8 billion years ago, the oceans had (at least more or less) achieved their present volumes.
The water realm is known as the hydrosphere and it is overwhelmingly oceanic. 97% of all the water on Earth is in the seas, the greater part of it in the Pacific, which covers half the planet and is bigger than all the land masses put together. Altogether the Pacific holds just over half of all ocean water (51.6% to be precise); the Atlantic has 23.6% and the Indian Ocean 21.2%, leaving just 3.6% to be accounted for by all the other seas. The average depth of the ocean is 2.4 miles, with the Pacific on average about a 1000 feet deeper than the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Altogether 60% of the planet’s surface is ocean more than a mile deep. As Philip Ball notes, we would better call our planet not Earth but Water. (Bill Bryson – A Short History of Nearly Everything)
“Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid at night; God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.” (Alexander Pope)
Just don’t text and drive. Enjoy the weekend. So far air is free. Ever wonder what Thomas Jefferson meant about the ‘Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God’ in the Declaration of Independence?
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for January 28th, 2016!

Good Thursday Morning!
1. Question – If someone were to ask you what principles define your political sway – what would you say?
2. Thought – I believe in limited government, a constitutional republic, a relatively free-market economy, individual rights and responsibilities, peace through strength, nationalism, patriotism and a raft of other conservative principles. But I know that I’m outvoted in the imperfect democratic process and that my vision of a more perfect union isn’t on the menu of what today’s electorate is willing to bestow. So you settle for what you can get in the fickle wind of politics. The best shouldn’t be the enemy of the merely good if the best is unattainable. (Reality by Mike Rosen)
“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality the cost becomes prohibitive.” (William F. Buckley Jr.)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.