Posts belonging to Category politics

The Consequences of Omniscience and Omnipotence

When I was at the U.S. Army Chaplain’s School at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, there was a day in class that we were responding to hypothetical counseling situations.  One of the scenarios presented to us was that of a young woman who came to us for counseling after having been raped.  She did not know [...]

Free Speech, Responsibility, and Religious Violence

Freedom is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the United States, and perhaps in the world.  Be it Religious Freedom, or Freedom of Speech, or the Freedom of the Press, the Freedom of Association, or any of the common conceptions of freedom that we experience in the United States, I believe that we as [...]

President Obama is Not a Liberal Socialist… I Am

I promised myself that I would not move into my “occasional political musings” this election season until after the conventions were over.  Well, the speeches in Charlotte and Tampa are done, and now I feel that there are some things that I have to say… President Obama is not a Liberal Socialist who believes that [...]

American Exceptionalism and American Irrelevance

One of the genre’s of Science Fiction that I love is what is called “near future Sci-Fi”.  These are stories set to occur in the next 200 years or so.  What I love about them is that they “forecast” out not into some far off fantastic future, but into the coming decades and centuries.  In [...]

War, Young Kids, and a Professional Military

Last week, a video surfaced on the internet that shows several young U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.  Immediately, there were calls for an investigation.  World leaders talked of their disgust.  U.S. Military leaders promised that they would get to the bottom of the story, and would punish those [...]

Kickoff

I love politics.  I love politics the way other people love football.  I watch 24 hour news channels in political seasons the way other people watch ESPN.  The minor of my Bachelor’s degree is in Political Science (Major in History), and I would describe my knowledge of practical politics by saying that I have just [...]

So… What Comes After the Revolution?

It is far easier for us humans to know what we are against than it is for us to know what we are for.  Learned responses and internal morality can tell us if we are “against” something that we experience in our lives.  We can know that we do not like the way our banking [...]

Individuality and the American Dream

I’ve been thinking this past week about a class I took during my undergraduate degree, called “Political Thought in American Film”. It was class in my minor that combined two things I love, politics and movies… how could I resist?  Specifically, I’ve been thinking about two films we watched in weeks next to each other, [...]

The Election that Really Matters

There is an election that I have been following for several years, one that is of vital importance for the future of America, and for the World.  No, it is not the Republican Nomination for the President of the United States, nor is it Parliamentary Elections in Europe, nor is it the elections in Afghanistan. [...]

Then You Win: Institutionalization and the Occupy Wall Street Protests

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had some hesitancy to write about my thoughts on the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, and the reaction to them that is happening in the more conservative ends of our country.  The reason for my hesitancy is that this is a place where my theoretical understanding of what is (and [...]