Tag: Obama

08/7/13

Why Does the Gunman Shoot?

painted by Kan MufticWhen one is informed of tragic events that happen on a world scale one may ask himself thought-provoking questions about how this could happen. Some may say that evil is the creation of God. Another would disagree, likening it to the actuality of dark and cold. But consider this. Acts of violence cannot only be attributed to the absence of God but also to inclinations within the human condition. In other words, the human race has the inclination to do something wrong whether it be to cheat on a test or to go so far as to commit an act of violence. The presence of God is what prevents one from committing a wrong thing.

When arguing the validity of God and Christianity some would say that God created everything. In addition to that, some may even imply that, if God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists. Therefore according to the principal that our actions define who we are then, God is evil.

Coming to this conclusion is logical but the flaws in this logic must be exposed. Liken this to the existence of cold. One may say that cold indeed exists simply based on the reason that they have felt cold. In fact cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in actually the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to examination when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes incapable of reaction at that temperature. In actuality heat, on Earth, can never be absent. Rather it can vary in its intensity.

One may also believe darkness exists based on what they have experienced. Once again this empirical evidence is baseless and invalid. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. We can study light , but not darkness. We can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.

You cannot measure darkness. How can one know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.

Now ask yourself does evil exist? Evil in fact does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of Jah. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith or love that exist just as light and heat do. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no warmth or the darkness that comes when there is no illumination.

The actions of men are those that come from overwhelming inclinations that stem from the human condition. When one does things that seem to defy our nurtured reasoning, that is evidence of the natural inclination of man. Philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and Kongfuzi believed that humans all have a sense of evil within them that must be contained in one way or another. Kongfuzi believed that men should understand the order of respect and mutual respect. He felt that if all men understood those levels of subjugation, evil would have no place and if those who have liberating powers, like fathers and leaders of countries, practiced ultimate benevolence evil would have nowhere to take root.

Thomas Hobbes on the other hand expressed his radical conservativism towards the autocratic subjugation of peoples whether it be brutish or benevolent. To Hobbes all humans were evil and needed to be subject to a higher power. He once said, “The condition of man…is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.” Hobbes implies that men do what they want within the confines of their own material gain. He felt men create a “social contract” between one another so that they may be able to coexist without mutilating one another because that is their natural tendency.

To both of these philosophers of old evil is the constant and goodness is simply a catalyst. However, evil is not the constant. Goodness, kindness and benevolence are the constant but, like heat, vary in intensity. One may ask oneself that if we have this “social contract” why do men kill other men? Well to simply answer, it is the absence of God.

In 2010, America suffered a homicide total of 12,966, 67.5 percent of those homicides were firearm related. This is an ever-so-often occurring issue in America. We hear about these events and then wonder how does God allow these things. Why are they happening? The fear of God is not in the hearts of the men who commit them. They kill for pleasure and even as a quick fix to their own problems. They have disregarded Hobbes’ “social contract” and Kongfuzi’s hierarchy of respects. Evil has outshined the light of goodness.

How can politics solve a problem that is simply more than just crime? This issue is not about how many guns are in the nation. This issue is not about how many bullets are in a clip. This issue is not about some conspiracy to disarm the nation. This issue is an issue within the fabric of humanity and has been and will always be. A man will kill when he feels he wants to. The only way to control this is by regaining the goodness we were born with. We regain it through God.

08/7/13

Investing in Education

“I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,” said President Obama during a speech in Washington in 2009. President Obama stated that the U.S. has fallen behind in education compared to other countries in the world, and it has. He proposes that the United States have longer school years and days, one of the many ideas that have been considered as a way to improve the education system.

The time to spend and invest on our education system has long been past due. Studies published by universities such as Harvard and tests such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown that the U.S. lags dangerously behind in education. With a score of 487 in mathematics, the U.S. is below average worldwide and ranks 31st of the many countries whose students have taken the PISA test. This further emphasizes the need for the U.S. to invest in education.

As President Obama said in his speech, extending the school year and day is not a popular idea, especially among students. Many students would prefer to spend their time doing activities they like, such as hanging out with friends and hobbies. Parents and students who are in favor of extending the school year and day argue that countries that score the best in PISA and other national assessments such as China, have a much longer school years and that students often spend more than 10 hours in school or in an academic activity. Opponents of the idea of extending the time students spend in school however, claim that doing so would not actually improve education levels.

Consider Finland for example. The PISA test scores of Finland are far superior to that of the United States, yet students spend less time in school. According to the Washington Post and Business Insider, Finnish students spend a half hour longer at recess than the U.S’ average recess time of 27 minutes.

Finland invests in education in a different way. The process for selecting teachers is also radically different than that of the United States. To become a teacher in Finland, students must graduate in the top 10 percent of their college. Teachers are paid less when they start out, when compared to U.S. teachers. By the 15th year of teaching, however, Finnish teachers earn much more than a teacher in the United States with the same amount of experience.

The rewarding of teachers does not occur just in Finland. Countries that outperform the U.S. in education such as South Korea also reward teachers who perform well with higher pay, sometimes equal or rivaling to the salaries of doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Opponents argue that if we reward teachers in such a way, teachers in the United States would perform better, or risk losing their job.

Whether the United States decides to extend the school year or not, the government needs to reform the education system quickly. With many countries that once could not be compared to the United States in education now surpassing us, the need for the government to invest in the education system is even more dire. A country without educated citizens damages its reputation and cannot compete with foreign countries.

For these reasons, the United States needs to act hastily if we want to continue to compete with other countries. By investing in our educational system and supporting children in their academic life, we can become the educated powerhouse we once were.