Love Freewrite

Love is a conncetiong between two people that bring them together in unity with one another. It is difficult to determine exactly what it is between two people that bring them together, but when you are in love with someone you just know it and will do anything to keep that feeling going. It is such a great feeling that it is almost like a high, when you are with the person that you are in love with you feel like you are invincible and can handle anything because you have a special person to back you up with anything you do. Love is felt between both parties with out even having to say a thing and there is nothing that can break it apart, even after big fights the feelings are still the same even if they are kept farther apart. Love is also a very difficult thing to establish because it is such a strong feeling that it takes a long time to gain the trust and respect to make it possible. You must know pretty much everything about them in order to truly feel love, but once it is reached, it is an absolutly incredable feeling.

Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals is a story about two young men, Victor and Thomas on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho. Victor is a basketball player who blames his father for being an alcoholic killing Thomas parents in a fire that he set while he was drunk. Thomas on the other hand was saved by Victor’s father from the house fire and regards him as a hero. When word comes that Victor’s father has passed away in Phoenix Arizona Victor has to go pick up his ashes. Thomas finds out about this and wants to go with Victor to retrieve the ashes. Victor is hesitant because he finds Thomas to be a liar and doesn’t like him but decides to let him go because he needs a car to travel cross country. The trips turns out to be a life changing event where they see the world outside of the reservation and grow as people while never leaving sight of their Indian heritage. The two men grow much closer to each other by going though many situations on the road. When the two men finally return to the reservation days later they have a new found respect for one another and Victor even gives Thomas some of his father’s ashes.
This is a very good film that captures the identities of both men very well. You are truly able to see the two men grow and mature throughout the film as they encounter problems of racism, car accidents and meeting Victor’s father’s wife. I enjoyed watching this movie and would recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good life changing movie.

Waking Life

Waking Life, a film directed by Richard Linklater, follows a young man through his lucid dream like state as he travels around the world without leaving his own head. He talks to many different people and learns about many different philosophical discussions about the appearance of reality, freewill and ultimately the meaning of life.
This is one of my favorite films and teaches me something new every time I see it. The film is packed from beginning to end with very interesting life lessons and views that really make you think about the world around you. After watching this film I can also control my dreaming much better and can almost go into a lucid state myself from time to time. This is a very cool thing to do because you can examine your own life issues in an almost subconscious way. Many of the students in our class didn’t like the movie and I think that this is because they didn’t understand it or didn’t give it a shot before giving up on it. It is a film that you must watch very carefully and truly listen to what they have to say.

Religion

Religion


Religion has been around for as long as people have walked the earth and continues to thrive hundreds of thousands of years later. There have been thousands of religions throughout the years ranging from polytheistic to monotheistic and everything in between. These religions have shaped the lives of people all across the world and have literally formed the culture of almost every group of people.
Religion started thousands of years ago in an attempt to justify things that could not be explained at the time such as weather, the stars, death, destiny and countless others. When people were unable to explain something it made perfect sense to believe that the gods were praising or punishing the people on earth which explains why things would happen. Since then religion has transformed into explaining how you should live your life, books such as the Bible or Koran have distinguished a set of rules for all believers to follow in order to make it in to heaven or have an eternal life. These rules in turn have dictated how our society has developed and is run because they outline the only way a civilization or society can function together without turning into anarchy. The Ten Commandments say you must respect your peers by not stealing, murdering, cheating, and committing adultery to name a few. These of course are not only the standards everyone must obey to be a proper Christen, but the way everyone should live by if they want to live in a civilized society. It now seems that religion has turned into a backstage effort to be a good person because it is said to be the right thing to do instead of its original purpose of explaining the unexplainable and giving hope of an after life. People now follow religion because it has been ingrained in them since childhood and it is seen as the right thing to do instead of its original purpose of true faith.
Religion plays one of the biggest roles in where you live, how you live and who you associate with; a society is based off of the dominant religion in the region even if the population as a whole may not be overly religious. Here in America Christianity plays an incredibly large role in the way business is done as well as how people live their personal lives, even with religion being so dominant here in America, it is ten times that as you travel towards the eastern hemisphere. In the Middle East, Islamic and Muslim faiths literally determine the way that you live your daily life. Businesses shut down multiple times a day for prayer when almost the entire population plays facing Mecca, the holy city. This religion is so fixed in their daily lives that it is quite possible that many don’t believe in the religion at all, but take part purely because it is what the society dictates.
Religion has also been the largest cause of conflict since the beginning of time, almost every war ever fought has been linked to some kind of religion. Ever since people have joined together in religion there has been endless conflict, people feel it extremely important that they defend what they have been brought up to believe. There is thought that literally every war or battle ever fought has been because of some kind of religious conflict, even the war in Iraq has a lot of religious affiliation from the beginning. Since religion is so big in many parts of the world it is difficult for different cultures to understand and respect one another’s customs which usually leads to conflict.
Religion has also played a huge role in the literally works for thousands of years, many stories are derived from biblical tales and beliefs from thousands of years ago. Almost every story comes from some kind or religion, even if it is not one of the major religions that everyone knows. Smoke Signals tells the story of Thomas and Victor hitting the road in a quest not only to get Victors fathers remains, but a religious experience where Thomas is able to reinstate Victors love and respect for the reservation and the rest of the world by telling him mystical stories. Waking life also hits briefly on religion when a young man travels through his dreams meeting new people and discussing not only different aspects and beliefs of life but how we are to live our life. The film concentrates on dreaming and if we can control our dreams but as an underlying factor about different peoples beliefs. In the film you get to meet many different characters who give you their outlook on life and the things that make the world work. By watching these films and learning about everyday life I have realized that religion is not only the major six beliefs that control the world but the beliefs of individuals that control the way they live their life.
Religion has played a huge role in the way the world has been divided since the beginning of time. Different beliefs have led to segregation and conflict forever across the globe even though all religions are based primarily off of the same principles with a few changes in the way that they worship their gods. Basically every major religion runs off of the same principles of living your life the best you can by respecting your peers and yourself and attempting to reach a higher world. It is difficult to say if the beliefs of different religions are true or just there to comfort people into believing that there is a higher power looking out for them. Either way, religion, no matter how small, plays an intricate part of the world’s society as a whole and it is important to have some kind of belief to fall back on when things get difficult even if it’s as small as a dream.

Death

There are times in everyone’s lives when they must make very difficult decisions regarding not only their own lives but the lives of people around them, these decisions are often very controversial and take rational reasoning to decided what is the best moral decision. With today’s modern medicine it is now possible to preserve life although it is usually done by making the person unconscious for extended periods of time, possibly until their death. By making someone unconscious you are taking their life into your hands and hopefully treating them in a way that you would wish to be treated if in their situation. This medicine can do wonders when preserving life, but do we want to make someone unable to make their own decisions when it is regarding their own life and death? Kant and Mill both believe that the choice of life is with the beholder of that life, meaning if someone is on their death bed, they ought to know what they are facing.
Kant believes that one must do what they ought to do which in this case is telling the person that they are terminally ill. He believes that we must treat ourselves as ends and never means, which means that we are in control of our own lives and should be able to make all of our own decisions, and make them rationally. This means that a person should not be given powerful opiates until they have been told their position and have given consent to live their life in that state. Kant also believes that every event has a cause and every cause is predictable in principle. If you are terminally ill there is a cause behind it, even if that cause if not clear at the present time, it will make sense in the long run and is part of your place here on earth.
Mill believes that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” By this Mill means that no one has power over someone else’s life unless they are going to harm someone else in the society. By becoming terminally ill and having only a few months to live, it is not harming anyone else’s well being and therefore they have to right to decided what they wish to do with the remainder of their life and that their life is going to end. By making someone unconscious you are taking away their free will and Mill believes that that is acting immorally and is wrong.
Death, even though one of the only certain things that we have in life, is a difficult subject to deal with. People are very afraid of death, both of their own and that of other people, this is why we chose to put terminally ill people on powerful opiates and life support even when we know that they are only going to last for a short time and will be in a complete vegetable like state until that time comes. There are several factors when considering what the right path to take is when dealing with a terminally ill individual. First, it is important to read their will and see what they wish for themselves in these types of situations, many people do not want to be kept on life support for extended amounts of time when they are left completely unconscious and it is important to follow through with their wishes. Second, family should be taken into consideration; if they have young children or other dependents then they should be taken off of opiates so that they are able to choose what they want for the remainder of their time still here on earth. From my own beliefs, a person is the only one that should be in control of their life. Actions to try and preserve life should always be taken, especially in a case of a very sudden illness, but it is not right to keep someone in an unconscious state until their death without notifying them of the inevitable. A person should be taken off of the opiates and told what the circumstances are, no matter how hard it might be to do. I believe this to be the right thing to do because not only do people have the right to know what is happening in their life and the medication that they are being given, but they have the right to live their life, even if only for the last couple of months in pain but still conscious if they so choose to do so. If I were in this situation and was going to lose my life, I would like to be aware of my condition and be able to make my own conscious decision regarding the rest of my life and say good bye to family and friends. If it were possible to inform the individual while still on the opiates I believe that it is a viable way to inform them, however, they must be able to completely comprehend the situation and give a clear cut answer to the diagnosis and their wishes which is probably not a realistic situation.
Life brings upon some very difficult decisions that often do not have clear cut and definitive answers, but these decisions should be made by the person having to experience that illness and not a doctor or family member without conscious consent. This idea is seen not only by myself, but by both Kant and Mill.

Foreign Exchange Student Interview

I chose to interview my next door neighbor Joey Chugani in the South Hedges Dorm; he is an exchange student from the United Arab of Emirates and has been in Montana for the last two years studying Accounting. I asked him five different questions about his home culture in a hope to get a better understanding of where he’s from and the way of life in the middle east. The first question I asked him was what the dominating religion was. He told me, unsurprisingly that almost the entire population is Muslim. There is somewhere around 80 to 85% Sunni with the remainder being Shi’s. He also told me that religion is a much stronger influence on the way of life there then it is here, people plan their days and lives around prayer and living within the confines of the religion. The Next question I asked was why he chose to come to school here, half way across the world instead of his own country. He replied that the schooling there is pretty good up through high school but there is no higher education available unless you are extremely wealthy. “You are expected to go straight to work after high school, college is hardly thought about”. He also has straight A’s here and probably works harder then anyone else on my floor. I asked him how they greet people and the general way they live, via “backstage” behavior. He told me that the men typically shake hands and behave generally like they do here, but the woman are not allowed to start conversations with men outside of the home and typically do not leave the home alone. When in the home they do not have to wear headdresses and can speak freely just as they would in an American home. I asked him what kind of sports they play and he almost laughed saying soccer, or football as it is called there. He also said that cricket is huge and played by almost all young men. I asked him if he was in close contract with his family still and he told me that he talks to them from time to time but is considered a man and is on his own which is a little different from the American culture. Talking to Joey has given me a new perspective on other cultures and I am glad that I got to know him over the year and had my eyes opened a bit more then they were before coming to school.

War in Iraq

The war in Iraq raises many moral issues, however, possibly the biggest of these moral dilemmas is whether of not it is our duty as Americans to interfere with the lives of the Iraqi people in a misconstrued search for terror. Black Elk and Dostoyevsky, although very difficult to compare, both would have the same general outlook on the moral dimensions of this war.
The United States is no doubt a super power in the world and has a responsibility to help out other nations in need, we have the resources and manpower to make things happen and many of the worlds conflicts in the past have been solved by United States intervention. Although we have the ability to change the world, especially smaller third world countries, the question arises whether or not it is our duty to intervene with the lives of people halfway across the world because we believe that their way of life is not right. The Iraqi people have been in conflict for hundreds of thousands of years over religion, their lifestyle revolves around religion and defending those beliefs. This defense comes with violence and death and will most likely never be settled no matter how much the United States or any other country for that matter tries to mediate. The biggest moral issue in this conflict arises when the United States sends thousands of troops halfway across the world to fight a war that can not be won. This is not to say the United States doesn’t have the power to change their lifestyle because this is undoutoubly not the case, the problem is what are we trying to change? The obvious answer is to end terrorism and violence and make them a civilized society, but this is no closer now then it was over five years ago when we began our crusade. We have also lost track of our initial intentions of finding and stopping terror. The search for Bin Laden and other terrorists’ organizations has been abandoned in a search for what appears to be power or in turn, oil. By changing our intentions in this war we have drastically changed the moral issues. When starting off trying to stop terror and save the lives of the innocent we were doing just that, trying to at least mildly disrupt the organized terror in the Middle East and save lives. This has now been lost in translation somewhere along the way and we have attempted to set up an entirely new government in a society that it appears we know nothing about.
Black Elk believes that it is morally wrong for us to try and change the culture of another civilization. He believes that we must fight for what we believe but not to attempt to conquer and control another’s lifestyle. Black Elk says that “there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.” This means that we will never be able to have peace in Iraq until we know and understand the culture in which they live, which at this point we do not so we will continue to fail until we can agree and understand.
Dostoyevsky believes that we must act with our hearts and that only irrational acts are free, because of this Dostoyevsky would decided that we morally should be in Iraq because we are acting irrationally and this in turn makes us free. He does not believe that acting irrationally means that you may act out of ignorance or that it is necessarily the right thing to do but does believe that it is acting freely. He also says that “a just cause is not ruined by a few mistakes” so just because we have gotten off track, does not mean we are not still fighting for a just cause of stopping terror.
It is very difficult to say how this issue is to be resolved; we are currently so deeply involved in the Iraqi society that pulling out completely could quite possibly crumble their entire civilization. Since we have arrested and killed Saddam and taken him completely out of the government they are currently in the process of designing an entirely new political system, this change is not going to be successful without the help of the United States. This does not mean that we should continue to intervene in the Iraqi everyday way of life, but does mean that we can not simply pull out our entire operation before we have completed the job. I believe that the best way for this situation to be resolved is to begin pulling soldiers out of Iraq slowly and stop making any attempts at causing any more battles with the Iraqi people. Our presence there is obviously going to upset many people and we are going to find ourselves in compromising situations, but we should not search for them. Instead we should use our power to build their government back up and teach them able to run it themselves, in their own way. This is the best way to go about it because they are not going to like the western influence running their lives but we can not simply just pull out or all of our work will crumble and we will be left in the same situation as we were before. Hopefully, we will be able to completely leave Iraq in the next few years, at least leave as much as we are present in any other country in the world. We do not need to focus on stopping the violence because we simply do not have the power and respect of the people to make that work.
The war in Iraq has brought about many moral dilemmas and it is difficult to come to a definite answer on what the right thing to do is, however, by studying the works of Black Elk and Dostoyevsky we can see peoples different views on the war and attempt to find common ground so we can make an effort to end this misguided war.