The Scriptorium

Well, the bailout was voted down 228-205. That was shocking for me. The way the media was hyping it up, no one would vote against it. Obviously, they were wrong.

I don’t know what the solution to this problem is. To be dreadfully honest, I don’t think it is the bailout. With any problem, identifying the cause (or source) of the problem is essential to solving that problem. The economic struggles we face are complex and confused factors interwoven into a tangled ball.

One key factor is forcing companies to make loans to people who cannot repay them.

But foreign investment, China’s expansion, the European Union and many other factors also contributed.

What must we do?

1. Find the primary cause(s) and stop doing whatever it is we are doing (forcing companies to make loans to people who cannot afford them)
2. Hold people responsible for poor financial decisions (even if it involves foreclosures)
3. Let the markets handle this themselves (the government should get out of our money)

I know this is overly simplistic. But it seems so much more logical than throwing $700 billion good dollars at a very bad situation.

Wow! This is an awesome article by Peggy Noonan. Take the time to read it!

Peggy Noonan offers helpful insights into America’s current problem.

Tuesday November 4, 2008 fast approaches. America will once again vote for the next President of the United States.

Election 2008 is especially important to me. It will be my first opportunity to participate.

Many oppressed people do not have such an opportunity.

All around the world, dictators and tyrants manipulate or ignore elections to maintain their grasp on power. On their state-run television stations, they appear to be loved by all. Deep down, many are usurpers and liars suppressing the will of their people.

Brave and noble men have fought and died to secure our freedom. Yet, we often ignore our responsibility as a citizen to participate in politics. It is my firm belief that every American should vote.

I do not take this lightly. I believe it is my responsibility to get involved, both as a Christian and as a U.S. citizen.

Whenever faith and politics collide, many questions arise. Here I will be quite clear. My politics do not dictate what I believe. That is God’s job. My beliefs dictate my politics.

Some of these questions include:

• Does being a Christian specifically dictate which party he or she votes for?
• If we do not agree with a candidate, do we still vote?
• What about third-party candidates?
• Is not voting for McCain voting for Obama?
• Do politics have any place in the Church?
• Does the Church have a place in politics?
• Do we choose the lesser-of-two evils?
• What does the Bible say about involvement in politics?
• What is the role of the conscience in voting?
• Who am I going to vote for?
• Should I exert pressure on others to vote for my candidate?

Needless to say, it is a fascinating subject to discuss. My motivation for thoroughly exploring this subject comes as the result of several “friendly exhortations” to vote Republican. I have been told that not voting for McCain is the same as voting for Obama.

This claim has agitated me. I am not going to shackle myself to the view of another. I am going to vote upon principle, information and conscience. Isn’t that any American’s responsibility? But I cannot and will not vote based upon fear of another candidate.

So that is my goal before election day: to determine who I will vote for and why. If that means voting for McCain, so be it.

[This post is the first of a series. Throughout the series, please let me know your thoughts.]

For me, the jury is still out debating President Bush’s $700 billion bailout plan. As I have said before, whenever the government has a problem, they throw money at it. Too often these plans turn sour. And who is stuck paying the bill? You guessed it, us!

I am no economist. Therefore, I cannot intelligently debate the bailout plan. However, some of the additions the Democrats wish to add sound very much like socialism. In fact, many financial decisions by Bush have smacked of socialism.

I am interested to see how this will all turn out. My responsibility in this crisis is to restart my studies of “American capitalism” and determine if what I see really is “capitalism.”

China’s tainted milk scandal points to the need for the country to reevaluate its health and safety regulations. The melamine-tainted milk has caused over 50,000 illnesses and a handful of deaths. Many of the ill and dead were infants.

While the Chinese government is reevaluating health standards, they need to reevaluate their one-child policy. Many Chinese parents, who have invested everything into their one child, have been bereft in recent earthquakes and disasters. How many more Chinese parents will have to suffer the loss of their child before the Chinese government realizes the harshness of such a policy?

Though the loss of a child is always tragic. But the grief of losing your one and only child must be unbearable. Hopefully, China will change their one-child policy and prevent parents from suffering such a devestating level of grief.

My journalism teacher has given me many words of wisdom. One of her most recent admonitions was for her students to set to work removing clichés from their writing. Clichés are phrases that have been used over and over in journalistic writing and have lost their original force of meaning. Therefore, journalists should avoid them.
I will not get involved in any heated arguments to keep clichés. However, it has been a real challenge to cast aside every vestige of the cursed cliché.

Journalists face an uphill battle in finding them in their writing. Some journalists charge a dime a dozen for clichés. Many times, it is so crystal clear that someone’s writing contains too many clichés.

I personally believe that they are blessings in disguise. They force the writer to thin about what he is writing. Then he must implement a reign of terror to destroy them.

In my writing, I believe I am trying to go beyond the tip of the iceberg. I believe only a few clichés are still at large in my writing. And I can smell a rat! If I find one, it will be sudden death.

The scales are tipped in my favor now that my teacher has helped me find them. It seems like such a clear-cut issue to me now. I am trying to implement clear thinking to track them down.

My teacher’s admonition did not fall on deaf ears. Only time will tell if clichés have been eradicated from my writing.

For those of you who don’t know if you struggle with clichés, go look up what a cliché is and several examples of them. Then re-read this post. I think it will provide some helpful insight onto how to remove them from your writing.

[Edited Sept. 23 at 5:12 p.m. Changes include several verb changes, paragraphing and one confusing illogically connected sentence.]

Jason Lisle begins his article by affirming the Bible as God’s record of Creation. However, today’s science relies on the secular philosophy of naturalism. Naturalism states that “nature is all that there is.” Such a philosophy rejects the possibility of any supernatural involvement in nature. This results in “Science” rejecting God.

Sadly, secular philosophy does not stop in the secular arena. Christians are integrating naturalism and the Bible. Their claim is that God used naturalistic processes, such as the “big bang,” to create the world. This is an attempt by Christians to respond to the “findings” of secular science. Mr. Lisle strongly condemns this attitude as both contrary to the Bible and scientifically unfounded.

Mr. Lisle points out that the Bible excludes the idea that God used naturalistic processes to create the world. Genesis states that God created everything in the world in six days. He has ceased His creating work and is no longer creating new species.

Secondly, God created the stars on the fourth day of creation. The “big bang” states that stars preceded earth’s formation.

Finally, the Bible states that the earth is made of water. The “big bang” theory states that earth formed from molten rock. If you truly believe the Bible, you cannot believe the “big bang” theory.

He also points out that, scientifically, the “big bang” is also unsustainable. First and foremost, he reminds us that it is important to realize that naturalism is not science. It is neither testable nor repeatable. Ultimately, it is a matter of faith. (more…)

Today, I read a good opinion article in the Wall Street Journal. Everyone is crying, whining, and screaming about the car market in Michigan. The consensus seems to be, “Give them $50 billion.” Whenever the government wants to throw money at problems, I get worried. Especially, when the reason car companies can’t make money is because of government regulations. Mr. Jenkins got it right when he said,

Fifty billion won’t turn CAFE into effective policy. It will do just fine, though, as an indicator of Washington’s willingness to throw good money after bad rather than admit the folly of its own long-running handiwork.

To avoid being redundant, go read the article.

I am very excited to start my senior year at Bob Jones University. With every year there is a certain level of excitement. This year, however, my excitement is more subdued. Everyone said that college would fly, but I don’t think I believed them. It seemed as if four years would last an eternity. In hindsight, four years feels like four months. Am I excited about getting done? Yes! But with graduation comes great uncertainty.

People always ask me, “What are you planning on doing when you graduate?” My response, though sugarcoated, sums up to, “I don’t know.” I have never been a person who has known definitively since age eight what he wants to do. Of course, I had boyish interests: a cop, bounty hunter, soldier, etc. Yet, I never seriously considered them as a career. Applying to college, I juggled majors such as criminal justice, international business, and print journalism. In the end, I chose the wonderful “catch all” humanities major.

So yeah, I am learning how to be a human. It is actually quite interesting. Studying the arts and sciences opens your eyes to the stream of human thought. Not only do you learn how people think, it also teaches you how to communicate. I would not trade my humanities major for anything. Though I am not there yet, this degree is making me more human. I recommend this degree to everyone.