My First Blog

So, Rory convinced me to get one of these blogspots, which in fact did not take much convincing. I guess I am the reflective* type and I thought this would be a good way for me to put in writing what goes through my head SOME of the time (big emphasis on 'some'). So lets get right to it. Maquel just fell asleep so I ended up taking her to the bedroom leaving me to contemplate the mysteries of life. Forget the mysteries for now though, I want to vent! Something I would like to vent a bit about would be what has been happening lately in my online philosophy class. The class itself is coming to a close, but to end the class, we have been taking a dive into ethics and morality. It truly is an interesting subject to study from a philosophical stand point and not a religious one. Many of us it would seem say we develop our sense of right and wrong from what we are taught, but really is that the case? Well, the whole point of the last exercises in the class were to derive from where we get our sense of duty... and saying that it is just the way I was raised was NOT an option because it alludes to relativism (for further clarification on what relativism might be check out wikipedia "relativism - philosophy"). Anywho, without fail, we get students posting on the class discussion board about how their parents, church leaders, and God gave them their sense of duty. Some would post how tithing, a mission, and going to church were all good things that we should all do, etc. Now, I am a fan of these things myself, however, the exercise was to develop concrete evidence of why EVERYONE SHOULD also do these things, or in other words, what makes these things moral and where do we get our sense of duty (and believe me if you think about it for longer than a minute, you might start to realize that you have solid reasons why you act the way you do). I really don't do justice to the lack of depth the entire class has or how pissed off our instructor got (and it happened more than once). I believe strongly in my faith and would never waiver from it, however, it does not kill anyone and nor do I think that God minds, if we step out of the shell we call religion and really think about why people and ourselves act the way we do. Why should we believe in God? Why is it wrong for me to lie when I am only looking to protect myself? These kinds of questions really can be answered more than just with, "because it is what I have been taught."

* no, I am not the special tape that goes on clothing so that you don't get creamed by an automobile wandering around late at night. What are you doing out at that time anyway!?