This is the life

So Friday afternoon myself and the wife decide something. Nothing revolutionary or life-changing per se but something that turned out to be a great decision.

For a little background, I’ve been getting further and further irritated with the American media in the mainstream. From the political coverage, the crap they’re trying to pull with the billions of dollars coming in from Internet based revenue and stiffing the writers, the lack of ability to receive channels a la carte instead of packaged in to a bundle of terrible channels, the fact that it still costs over $600 a year for a basic cable or satellite package so that the major networks receive billions in revenue because I watch their commercials (especially when I can download all the stuff I want illegally and for free without commercials), etc. etc. etc. I could go on…  Needless to say, I’ve got a growing dislike for television.

My wife on the other hand, has a growing dislike for my computer. I can spend literally an entire day on the computer doing anything from research, photography, music (composing and listening), gaming, downloading (anything… no seriously), and anything else imaginable. My wife is tired of me disappearing into the office and not seeing me again until the evening. I can’t blame her. It is counter-productie when it comes to our relationship and even the basics of real life (paying bills, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc.).

Our proposal was simple: no television or computer for the entire weekend.

How did it turn out? Great! Friday we fall asleep in a big pile on the couch. I was on the bottom. My wife was on me. Our dog was on her. Leading up to the couch party was discussion, interfacing, and being social with each other. It sounds so weird writing it down but when you have no device dumbing you down and stealing your attention, you actually have to flex some mental and social muscle. Very relieving indeed. All Saturday we spent running errands (including Lowes to gather some supplies for my experiment with LED grow lights and soon to be hydroponics) and hung out with family. After all was said and done, Saturday evening looking back felt like it was a long day. Not in the, “holy hell I just had to mow the yard, change the oil, clean the house, blah blah blah” long day. In a, “Wow the weekend feels like an actual break in work” long day.

I would recommend it to everyone single or married. Try it. If you’re gutsy enough, try going a week without television or Internet. Now when you struggle through it, remember that just two and three generations ago, there were people in Florida growing up without air conditioning in their homes. No cable television. No Internet. No cell phones. The purpose of the exercise isn’t to show you how well you have it now though. It is to show you that you can exist without NBC/ABC/CBS/Viacom/Clear Channel in your eyes and ears at all times. It really is a great way to exist.

Something I have always struggled with was when I hear a religious person claim that something immoral to them should be illegal. The argument is that if you legalize something, you’re sanctioning it. This mentality has been used with drugs, abortion, same sex marriage, and so on. One thing I’ve always heard preached within the church is to be Christ-like. Now lets bring these two ideas together.

Jesus Christ was said to let free will happen. He did not interfere with someone’s choice to sin.

Why does this make a difference?

Think about this for a second. A man stops working to volunteer for the community. He does everything he can to make the roads and neighborhoods clean and well maintained. He doesn’t get paid. He sacrifices to help others.
Does this sound like a good man to you?

What if I forgot to mention that there was always an armed officer within fifteen feet of him? You guessed it: community service.

This makes all the difference in the world as far as the respect given to the man and the deed. Would God see him to be less because he was forced to do these deeds? I’m certain that most people in America would think less of him than if he quit his job and took on full-time volunteer work.

Now think about the idea that legalizing something is sanctioning it.

For arguments sake, lets say same sex marriage is now legal. Are the people that will be getting married to the same sex being sanctioned by the government? What if they still don’t get married? Are they stronger because it is a sin in your eyes, considered legal by your government, yet they refuse to commit to it?

There are two problems with imposing your religious morals onto someone else when the act does not affect you. First we have the First Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees Separation of Church and State. Secondly, if the book that your theology is based of says to be Godly, you must accept that you cannot force someone to follow it. God does not force you down a path of morals. God does not force you to abstain from sin. Regardless if you think someone else should do it or not, it is not your right to run their life and be their God or moral authority. If you think otherwise, I’m pretty sure you need to consult your religious literature about playing the role of God. I’m not sure of any religions that say it is acceptable to play the role of God in someone else’s life.

Freedom cannot be diluted just as you cannot bend cold glass. If you remove someone’s rights, they are not free. If you really want to glorify your God, you need to teach and not force discipline onto others. If you want someone to stay away from something you find immoral, teach them what you know. When you force your rules onto them, you are the officer with the firearm standing behind them to make sure they do their community service. There is no God in that. Only man acting like one.

As I finish the day locked up in my cubicle, I hear a rumble outside. My office is at an airport so I’m very used to aircraft coming in and out. This wasn’t a typical aircraft. I walk outside to see what seem to be two Black Hawk helicopters followed by a Chinook. I’ve never seen helicopters of this size in real life. I have to tell you, I had goosebumps the size of tumors. My legs were weak. My mind was racing and I was in awe. If you don’t know what these things are, here’s a few pictures of the Chinook helicopter. 1 2 3

These were a few of the U.S. Army’s Airborne. I cannot comprehend what would be going through someone’s mind when they see these coming your way and they’re under attack. I would crumple to my knees and start praying. The sound is absolutely amazing. The tarmac was shaking. The squeal of the turbine engines was deafening. The wash from the props was unbelievable. I don’t even know how to translate this into words. I wonder if the soldiers get the same excitement when they jump into the helicopters. I wonder if it is to them, what jumping in the car is for us.

Absolutely amazing experience. Now I have to get back to running backups and removing Microsoft Exchange from a server. Sigh…

Ain’t it the truth?

Originally uploaded by sepultura
The truth won’t be advertised.

New Zealand - Mahia

Originally uploaded by vtveen
Drifting through the NZ pool on Flickr, I found this image. I love film. I love the color balance. I love the grainy image. It really brings me back. In contrast, the subject matter is something I dream about, something I strive to reach and see in person one day. It really makes me look forward to New Zealand.