entry 16

I would say that i am more of a very liberal christian. I have all of the christian beliefs towards God and the church except i veiw some of the church's moral standards a little more loosley than most. I think masturbation is morally acceptable. I feel as though it is a physiological need and God would not have created that need for humans being to maturbate if it was not to be fullfilled. I almost feel as though conservative christians are ignorant because they are over looking the fact that God created everything on this earth, he created every aspect of the human body along the human body's qualities and pleasures and needs. And he created all of these things for a reason, God would not have created needs of human beings if they were not meant to be fullfilled. It also promotes good health. How could something that is good for your health be morally wrong? It improves one's well-being. I also believe it makes people happier, and if it is done privately and no one knows about it then why should it matter? It does not effect anyone else, and its results benefit the health of men. There is no logically known reason for masturbation being morally wrong. I feel as though people think it is wrong because that is what they are told, if someone were to actually think about it i think they would realize that it is not wrong but healthy, positive, and acceptable within ones own privacy.

Entry #15

I do not think it is morally ethical to sacrifice ones own child to the Gods. God has a moral standard for people on this earth. One of the 10 commandments is, one shall not kill. Death is a very extreme penalty and should only be considered if a major crime was committed, but to kill a child just because one thinks that the Gods want a sacrificed mortal. To sacrifice a child seems to be the exact opposite of what a God would want. I do not know the reasoning as to why the "gods" would want a human child to die in the first place; that is why I think that it is somewhat foolish to think that the gods want you to kill you own child. I think that the second situation is extremely unethical. Everyone deserves a chance at life. The people in the United States Military decided to join the army and decided to fight and are given the chance to defend themselves. They know, when they sign up for the army, exactly what they are getting themselves into. To go ahead and kill and innocent child in a hospital already probably struggling for life is insane and completely selfish of the United States to do. Not only that, if the United States were to bomb a whole hospital wing it would most likely take more innocent lives within the hospital, not just the child. Also it is not a garuntee that killing the child will even break the dictator. It could possibly make him more angry at the United States causing more chaos.

Entry #14

At first I did not know what to think of the interaction between Henry Poole and Father Salazar. Henry is expressing signs of some kind of deep sadness. He seems depressed the entire movie so far. Father Salazar is a very religious person obviously and he is able to tell that something is wrong with Henry which is why he asked Heny what was bothering him. The fact that Henry does not want to discuss anything with Father Salazar shows that maybe he is uncomfortable about talking to him about it, or maybe he feels embarassed or self conscience. Henry also leaves alot up for consideration because no one knows what is wrong with him or why he so angry because he does not tell anyone. At first I was maybe thinking suicide was the reason he wasnt going to be a long much longer, until later in the movie when we find out that he has some sort of disease and according to the doctors, is not expected to live much longer.174. I think that now that Henry knows he is not expected to live much longer, he is breaking down, emotionally, mentally, and religiously. I think that he tells Esparanza that there is no God because he is afraid, and mad at God for giving him his deadly disease, therefore refuses to even beleive there is a God. I think that Henry is lost within himself and his emotions and he is going through a state of depression. I believe that the underlying theme of this poem is , we all want something that we don't have. Meaning everyone is wishing for something, somekind of unrealistic fantasy but when it comes down to it we are still in the same situation, and we are all still our true selves. I think these words do relate to Henry because Henry wishes for more, he wishes to be healthy, but in reality, his health cant change, and he is going to remain in the same condition and most likely eventually die. I think that the quote is related to Henry, meaning Henry is not being true to himself and his real, and likeable personality is knocking and it wants to come out but it is being held back by Henry's fear of dying.

Entry #13

I agree with that quote. I think that this quote is saying that to succeed into the Kingdom of Heaven you must take actions and do things to better yourself and the ones around you. You must do things to benefit yourself here and now so that in the future you may succeed into the Kingdom of Heaven. If we live our lives fulfilling what the beatitudes reveal to us we will go to heaven which in itself is wonderful but what makes it even more wonderful is that it fulfills our life on earth as well because living in service to other makes us feel so good. There are many things that benefit me in this life here and now. My family is what mostly benefits me right now. They always have been and always will be by my side, willing to help. They are so supportive and caring and it motivates to keep pushing on. Yancey talks about two groups, the Anabaptists and the Quakers. He favors the Anabaptists. Anabaptists and their nonviolent response to persecution stands as one of the shining moments in church history (pg 136). Anabaptists admit their failure to fulfill literally every command in the Sermon on the Mount (pg 136). I would consider the Amish to be very similar to Anabaptists. The amish are non violent people who simply have different beleiefs than most people. They have a different way of doing things. I think Yancey views purity as being something that is free from sin or something that knows no evil. To me this basically means that nothing or no one can be pure, because the only being free from sin is God. Jesus' paradoxical key to abundant life is, not to destroy life but that we may have it more abundantly. I agree, i think this is trying to say that if you live your life to the fullest everyday your life will be more 'abundant' and greater rewards will come to you.

entry #5

There are many adjectives that could be used to describe Jesus. One is prudent, Prudence is practical judgement it gives one the ablility to make practical decisions in certain situations. This is definately an adjective that could be used to describe God becuase God always makes practical and morally correct decisions. Jesus also possess the virtue of justice because Jesus is aware that Justice is the virtue that reminds us that the people with whom we share our world with have rights and that, as much as possible, all people deserve to have basic needs met. Jesus also possesses fortitude because he is strong and courageous. Another adjective to describe Jesus is temperant. the virtue of temperance refers to self control in general. Jesus had a tremendous amount of self control. I think that I find the adjective temperant the most interesting one refering to Jesus. Every peice of scripture or passage you read about God describes him as being calm in every type of situation. No matter what it it, death, miracles, life itself or even divine powers. He sets the example for people, he is always very collective and has alot of self control. He knows how to be a role model and leader to his followers which I think is very important. The temperate Jesus sort of reminds me of a hippy jesus, always relaxed and worry free. He supports peace and love between everyone.

Change and Conscience Entry #9

I dont really know what to thnk of this situation to be honest. I think that conscience and change are deffinately two big parts in this passage. I guess that no one can really pass jusdgement on the character in the passage who decreases the bill because no one knows what his intentions were. Maybe his intentions were just to do something nice for once so that people will like him, so that when he gets fired he will have a place to go, or maybe he was just doing that out of the good of his heart, maybe his conscience told him to do it. Maybe he was acting through God and was doing what God had told him to do. If i were the manager i would not have donw what he did. the character in the passage immidiately started thinking about himself right when he got into trouble, he immidiately began to ask himself what he is going to do so that when he gets fired for his wrong doings he will still be living comfortablely. If that were me i would have apologized for my wrong doing and accepted my punishment as a mature person should. I would not be immidiately thinking about how i can get out of what i just did.I also think that change has alot to do with this passage because the main plot of the story is about change. the whole idea is that the manager is changing people's bills to less for his own benefit in the end. This i think exemplifys an immoral conscience because it is basically cheating what the manager is doing. He is manipulating people to think that he is being this really nice guy who happeneds to be cutting someone a break by decreasing their bill. but really hes just trying to get on theirgoodside so that when he gets fired he will have someone to mooch off of. If you look at it optimistically change will hopefully have a big part in Dan's life. He at the lowest point of his life right now and there needs to be a change soon or else he could die anyday from the drugs he uses. This would not only effect him but also the people that care about him such as his family and friends.

Conscience and Suicide entry # 8

I guess you could say conscience is related to suicide. Conscience is the little voice in your head that help you to distinguish right from wrong. Conscience is related to suicide because everyone has a conscience whether it is a guilty conscience or a clean conscience, and that conscience is what is driving the decision to commit suicide. We can only hope that a person will over come their guilty conscience so they are able to start making sane and rational decisions. There is always that inner voice within people that tell people what to do and what not to do. 101. Upbringing relates to conscience and suicide as well. According to the text book, "our conscience is formed and molded --cultivated--by our culture and our community. Significant people in our lives, especially in our early lives, shape our sense of right or wrong." This just goes to show how everyone has a conscience, but everyones conscience has been formed and molded around different values and teachings according to how you were raised and taught. This is what makes everyone different. A feeling, is also related to a persons conscience and suicide. Feelings are the main reason a person will commit suicide. They have mixed feelings or bad feeling about something, it is something they feel they must do. 219. Conscience is related to suicide because a persons consicence basically forms the personality of that person. If you have a good conscience you will have a good personality, atleast thats what I think. When a person has a guilty conscience they may feel that no punishment except for death will truly clear their conscience. A persons conscience is the driving force behind their thinking, there actions, and their beliefs. 288. I think suicide is a sin and should be looked down upon by the catholic church. Although suicide may feel like an only option or an unselfish act, it is not, death effects every single person in the world. Suicide is especailly selfish if you are leaving family member behind.