BooMac’s whereIstand Blog

    
      In order to discuss religion, we need to define it.

     Webster’s pocket dictionary defines religion as a belief in God or gods, a system of worship. Man has been pondering his place in the universe, his own circumstances for his entire existence. How could he explain the things that were happening around him? Early man saw the sun rise and set, they experienced thunderstorms, they saw lightning, heard thunder, maybe even an eclipse or two. How did they explain this? 

     They accepted the idea of a being greater than themselves, something beyond their understanding. They knew they had no control over these things, they assumed someone else did. I believe they needed to assemble a system of beliefs to somehow catalog what they saw around them. Every different human society dealt with the issue of the greater being in a different way. Some worshiped the sun, some idols, some believed a man who came back from mountains with laws on tablets. I believe this is where science and religion first began, both in the same place. Man observed, then he attempted to comprehend. Religion helped him fill in the blanks. 

     Now for opinion. I believe there is a God and he has revealed himself to different cultures in different ways so they would accept his message. What has the central message always been, for most religions? Helping your fellow man, being a good, responsible person in your personal life, with your family and in your society. It gave man some life guidelines, based on good sense, that gave some structure to the unknowns he faced. 

     I think a world without religion would be absurd, that God exists and God has helped man to understand his place in the universe. Yes, there have been many wars, conflicts, struggles, many based on differing religious beliefs, and those conflicts continue through today. I cannot explain that and I wish it were not so. But I believe that the presence of God, fostering religion, has given the world better things than if God had never revealed himself and we were devoid of spirituality.

     Imagine no God.  What a dreary world that would be.

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• billyhallowell
• lamarhall
• MisterE
• Paul
• What would a world without religion be like?

     This country was built on the backs of immigrants. Unless you are American Indian, we are all descendants of immigrants. Today’s newcomers are no different than yesterday’s, except their are more laws restricting their legal arrival.

      Do I want to open the borders and say " Come on In! "? Of course not. But the real truth is that immigrants, legal or not, prepare our food, clean our houses, cut our grass, build our homes and do all the dirty jobs that Americans do not want to do. 

     I do not believe this is a wage issue. Can anyone look themselves at themselves in the mirror and hope their son or daughter grows up to be a prep cook in a a kitchen? Long, hard days in tight spaces of opening food packages, cutting, pounding, cleaning and cutting raw food to be cooked and served to us in any restaurant in America. Do you want your son or daughter to cut grass, trim bushes, work 10+ hours per day in the hot sun in sometimes dangerous conditions?  The answer is no. 

     Maybe you would want your child to do these things if they owned the business. This is the same aspiration for many of the immigrants who come to this country. They want the American dream. A good job, family, their own home, good education for their children. I have not seen any immigrant group come to this country and be a burden to the nation. That has always been the fear, that the latest immigrants will not " Carry their weight " , but the truth is they all strive for excellence. 

     I would like to see an expanded guest worker program. Let people come, register with the government, work legally, pay their taxes, and start a new life here if they choose. I would increase the penalties on employers for hiring undocumented people. Their should be a national registry where employers can go and check the status of a worker before they hire them. Maybe even a national ID card, separate from Social Security. Something better than what we now have.

     Immigration has always been a part of the fabric of America. Let’s ask ourselves. Would people still be coming here if there were no opportunities? There is room and a need for immigrants, let’s just control it better.

whereIstand Tags

• Should people residing illegally in the United States be offered a path to citizenship?

   
      Did anybody else see the study  where anything wrapped in a McDonald’s wrapper tasted better to children then something wrapped in plain paper? They tried carrots, celery, the kids ate more because of the Mickey D’s logo! 

     OK McDonald’s, you win. You have our attention, we love the food, our children are addicted, we salivate just driving past your golden arches. Now you can do the right thing and help us before it is too late. You can put the same drive into selling fresh fruit and vegetables as you have into getting us hooked on Big Macs and cheeseburgers. Instead of  " Would you like fries with that ? ", it could be " Would you like fries or the fresh vegetable of the day with that? ".  If you can take the time to ask if we want a boy or girl toy, this should not be difficult.
 
     Think of it as a money making ploy. Many people do not frequent the local fast food restaurant simply because they assume ( correctly ) that most of the items are high calorie, even, heaven forbid, fried! You can lead the charge with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, healthy snacks that kids can hold in their hands. Think how proud Grandma will be showing her daughter-n-law the McDonald’s bag! Of course Grandma and Grandpa happened to eat at your restaurant a the same time, maybe even indulging the guilty pleasure of the fries and shake simply because it was the best place to eat with the children.

     Cost should not be a deterrent. Who wouldn’t pay an extra few pennies to give their child what they want and at the same time providing a healthy snack? Today’s kitchen chemistry and shipping methods should make the purchase and handling of these fresh items doable. If the average consumer can purchase bananas shipped by boat from the tropics for 69 cents per pound, I think McDonald’s can work out the details to their advantage. 

     Our children’s health and that of our future nation depends on initiatives like this to help us. Our will power as a nation is not strong enough, we need help! Everyone is worried about paying for health care, our main problem is what we put into our bodies, not how we need to fix them later on.

     Does anybody know the e-mail for the CEO of McDonald’s? I seem to have lost it.

whereIstand Tags

• McDonaldsCorporation
• Should governments ban trans fats in commercially-prepared foods?

     Michale Bloomberg would make a great president. He has done some wonderful things for New York City, he cannot run for another term and he has enough money to wage his own campaign. 

     He would not be beholden to either political party or to any special interest group because of his money and his stature. Either party would love to have him, but does he need either one? 

     I have watched him try to get congestion pricing implemented in the City. If his were to happen, pollution would be reduced, traffic would be less and anyone driving or taking a taxi in the congestion zone would get there quicker. I know people who have trucks in the city every day and this will will cost them money, but they are all for it. Their employees will get to their work sites quicker for $21 per day. Even at minimum wage, if 3 men are sitting in a truck for one hour each day, that is more than the $21. congestion fee. It will keep all the optional drivers home or push them into car pools or mass transit.

     Is Bloomberg perfect? Absolutely not, but he would definitely be better than these poll driven, back boneless politicians( Hi Hilary! ) we have offered to us today. And as a successful businessman, he has shown an ability to get things done efficiently. We need that skill in government.  

whereIstand Tags

• What impact do political parties have on government?

     I have only met  few people in my life who considered themselves infallible. They were all wrong.

     How can man be infallible if the sum of human knowledge is not complete? We are learning more about our planet, our history, our bodies, all things every day. Scientists are experimenting in labs all over the world, searching for new discoveries, new elements, the next great cancer fighting drug. Any infallibility we feel is usurped by every morsel of knowledge we find. Reading, living, working all add to our human experience, our general knowledge, so what we believed as completely true yesterday can be disproved by something we learn tomorrow.  

     Science is a great discipline, but the most basic learning tool the scientist has is observation. He makes laws, makes great decrees based on observation. Think of the earliest scientists who studied gravity. They threw a rock up in the air, it came back to earl th. No matter how high they threw the rock, it came right back to earth. Gravity! Wouldn’t they have been surprised if they could have thrown that rock out of the grip of earth’s gravity and it kept going into space. What a different observation that would have been! It definitely would have changed their opinion of gravity. No so infallible!

     Look what we have done to our planet. Global warming, pollution, deforestation, oil spills tainting our oceans and water supply. And the human toll of poverty, war, insufficient vaccines for easily curable diseases in third world countries. What are we thinking? Infallible man would have solved there problems by now. Let’s not forget the embarrassment of America’s greatest health problem, obesity. Try explaining that one to a staving person. We have gone from the Land of Plenty to the Land of Plenty Stupid.

     Man’s inherent fallibility actually keeps scientists in labs trying to solve these and other problems. Maybe the work of the few will solve the problems of the many. That is our hope.

whereIstand Tags

• Is man infallible?

     The best run businesses are socially responsible. From the Mom and Pop stores that support the little league to the Home Depots that donate materials for charitable projects, businesses that give back always get good returns for their dollar. 

     Let’s face it, you see that a business donated money or goods to your favorite cause, it gives you a good feeling about that company. You are more apt to support that company, with price becoming less of a factor. There is also peer and family pressure. If McDonald’s runs a donation night for a local hospital, with a percentage of sales going to that hospital, your friends and family will think you a re a traitor of you eat in Burger King that night.  If you are seen with a Lowe’s bag when they are about to knock down a historic building for their next megastore, you will lose the respect of your neighbors. 

     There are more politically correct business practices than ever. Maybe this is cynical, but a business that looks out for popular charities in their local area will have increased sales. Think about the neighborhood you want to earn your living in and they will think of you.

whereIstand Tags

• Do businesses have a social responsibility?

     Most people go to a supermarket, even frequent the same one all the time. Instead of new plastic and paper bags every week to cart groceries home, why not provide custom designed bags with the store logo to every regular customer? They already sign us up with special savings cards, numbers, etc, how hard could it be? 

     If you give your information to the store, they should give you free reusable bags. This will save the waste of new bags every week, they could even custom design a shopping wagon to hold the bags. Store hours, directions, etc. can all be on the bag. You could even give customers a 50 cents credit for every bag they bring back the following trip to be reused. You could collect them, clean then, even update them, then reissue them to the next customer. 

     This is missed opportunity for these stores, and they could be king of their market if they shifted their marketing to environmentally pro-active measures. 

whereIstand Tags

• Should plastic grocery bags be banned?

     Isn’t it ironic that the seat of power for our government has no say in how their country is run? This country was founded on " No Taxation without Representation " and that is exactly what has happened in the District of Columbia.   
     
     Would one more senator and two more congressman really be that hard for the country to deal with if it gave the District some voting power? What is the downside? I do not understand why this is even an issue, the status quo is UnAmerican.

whereIstand Tags

• Should the District of Columbia have a seat in Congress?

     Doubt is an important part of faith. It makes us question our beliefs, our commitment to our faith. How can you believe something so completely without having explored the question
 " Does this idea make sense to me? " 

     Just like geometry, we can do a mental proof of the doctrine in our faith by proving that we truly believe something. Are we comfortable with this belief? Could we explain it to someone outside our faith and have it sound plausible? Does this fly with the way I am living my life? 

     God gave us free will, to choose our own path. Doubt enables us to always be evaluating our path, not just our faith journey but our life journey as well. Would you build a home without a firm foundation? Of course not, your home would settle and be ruined ins a short time. Faith needs a firm foundation, and this only come with digging through our beliefs, examining them and building them into our life’s principles, with mortar and conviction. 

   Jesus said about Peter " Upon this rock I will build my Church" Peter had many doubts along the way, and his trial by fire made him the Church’s solid foundation.

whereIstand Tags

• Can doubt be part of faith?

     Barry Bonds admitted that he used steroids several years ago when he stated he used " the Clear ", thinking it was flaxseed oil. Are we to believe that a professional athlete making millions of dollars puts anything on or in his body without knowing what it is? 

     I have heard people say " well, it wasn’t illegal until they started testing" Yes, Goldilocks it was illegal, they just didn’t test for it! It is also illegal to sniff glue, engage in dogfighting and drive drunk, but Major League Baseball doesn’t test for those either. Should ball players be doing these things as well?

     Steroids and human growth hormone are chemically induced ways to strengthen your muscles, improve endurance and recover quicker from injury. Many modern ballplayers have come down with strange ligament and tendon injuries, once rare cancers, etc that suggest that steroid use goes past the anecdotal stage. Just like Uncle Luther might smoke every day of his life and die of old age at 95, some people will do steroids and fell no adverse affects. Maybe Bonds is one of those people. 

     Bond’s career will get him into the Hall of Fame, no question. His stats before the " steroid years " gave him that entry, with the later years making his numbers immortal, that is, not possible by human standards. It will be interesting if the writers make Bonds wait a year or two before electing him to the Hall, they sure did a job on McGwire and I cannot imagine them giving Bonds the automatic pass on the first go around. 

     Bonds has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. For the rest of his life, and his children’s’ lives, he will be associated with steroids and cheating. What a price to pay for possibly fleeting years as a tarnished home run king.  That is enough of an asterisk.

whereIstand Tags

• Should Barry Bonds’ home run record have an asterisk?