Wednesday, August 23, 2006

The Humanity of High School

As I said earlier, my posts were likely to become more school oriented, and this is the first one to do just that. I recently started attending a new high school, ONW. Compared to my last high school, the Plaza Academy, this was a dramatic change. ONW is a typical public high school; it's only about 5 years old or so, it has cliques, it has sports teams; a typical public high school. Now prior to coming here, I've had time to think about my fate, who I might meet, what might happen, at this new school where I won't know hardly anyone.

Much to my surprise, the students at ONW are very hospitable, and whether it has to do with their upbringing or the fact that it is a new school, doesn't matter. If this is happening elsewhere, which I feel it may since Plaza Academy students are well known for their hospitality towards newcomers, could this be a sign of a new era in America, one reminescant of the past? Or could it be ONW is in one of the most conservative states?

Either way I just wanted to take the time to thank all the students and faculty I have encountered in my first week at ONW and to thank them for their hospitality and humanity.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Ahmahadine-blah-ze-jad... That Guy in Iran

I just found out today that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the modern Hitler) has created his own blog. For a guy who hates the West so much, and has tried to censor the Internet in his country, this comes as quite a shock. So naturally I had to check it out. It's at www.ahmadinejad.ir . So far he's just writing an autobiography about himself, but there is a forum to submit questions to the leader, which I've taken advantage of and will post any response I recieve. I encourage all to check it out; very interesting.

School starts tomorrow so I may have more of a school theme from here on out (maybe, maybe not.) So for anyone from school who's checking this out, let me know what you think! I'll be posting my ideas on this site, but just give me suggestions on something to discuss and I'll gladly discuss it. (Note the most recent posts are near the top, so for anything to make sense I suggest starting at the bottom)

Friday, August 04, 2006

Ahm-a-gettin' (The Hell out of Here!)

The current events that have been playing out in the Middle East over the past 4 weeks have made many people, particularly Evangelical Christians, bring up the question of whether or not this is the beginning of the Final Days. As a devout Christian myself, the thought has been on my mind since the beginning of this crisis. But I've also been wondering if this is just a typical period of increased violence in human history.

You Mean This Has Happened Before?

There have been many events throughout human history that have begged the question: "Are we at the end of the World?"
First of all, when the end of the World is talked about, especially in the Western media, it is the Christian belief of how the World will end, depicted in the book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible. Revelation was written around 70 AD by the apostle, John.
At this period of time, Christians were being persecuted by the Roman Empire, so the hope of something along the lines of the Rapture (the word "rapture" never appears in the Bible) would have offered hope to Christians of the day. To many early Christians, the persecuting they faced under Nero and the fall of the Roman Empire itself seemed to indicate that the World was coming to an end, and in a sense (in terms of Western culture) it did.
As the Dark Ages in conjunction with the Mini Ice Age (from shortly after the fall of Rome until the late 19th Century) set in, there were many points in time when Christians sought solace in the Church because they thought the end was at hand. This perhaps reached a peak between 1346-1351 during the years of the Black Death. Anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the population in Europe was killed due to the Black Death (2/3 are killed in Revelation.) Wars were common place during this period, and for the Jews it was a living hell. Most members of the Church blamed the Jews for poisoning well water, among other things, that were in turn making people sick. It should be noted that this period in time triggered the Renaissance.
There have been many fanatics that have claimed the end was at hand, unfortunately also taking the lives of hundreds of their believers in the process.

What if this is it?

As a Christian, the end of the World is a glorious event, to be celebrated. As a scientist, the end would be a tragedy from the standpoint that there is so little we know, and that the end would eliminate 10,000 years of human knowledge, along with beings that can keep that knowledge alive and pass it on to potentially other (alien) races.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

War, What is it Good For?

Turn on the news any given moment and you're bound to be flooded with reports on the current situation of various wars playing out around our World. But what is a war to begin with? How does the slaughter of other individuals help solve World affairs?

I could tell you the dictionary.com definition of war (an open, armed, often prolonged conflict between nations, states, or parties), but what good does that do? Every war is different, and yet most wars are the same. Some wars are for conquest, while others are for a certain idea, while still others are there to prove the might of a nation for political reasons. World War I and II were wars of conquest, about gaining territory for political motivations. The Korean and Vietnam Wars were between the ideologies of Capitalism over Communism. You get the picture. Clearly there are types of wars that I've left out, but I'm only 17.

You might be saying, sure Sir Knightly (S.K.), but what about the Israeli-Palestinian-Hezbollah conflict? Many people tend to think on the smaller scale of the war, and by many people I mean most Americans.

The common thought in America is "those terrorist bastards have no right to invade Israel and kidnap soldiers." President Bush himself has this running belief that by instituting Democracies in the Middle East, that 10,000 years of hatred can be healed in a few months. This is why the President has a 33% approval rating.

The Israeli Conflict

The Israeli conflict has its roots seated in the Exodus lead by Moses between 1400-1200 B.C.(E) The Hebrews (the Jewish people of the day) had been enslaved by Egypt's Pharoahs and the Exodus represented their return to their God given homeland, which according to the Old Testament of the Bible, is Israel. Upon their arrival to their homeland, at the time called Canaan, the land was already occupied by the Phoenicians and Amorites, along with some small Hebrew settlements. Slowly, the Hebrews gained a foothold in the region, and under the rule of King David, a temple was built to honor God, or Yahweh, in Jerusalem. This is why the region is holy to the Jews.

Then Roman emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Jerusalem in 49 AD. This was followed by persecution of both Jews and Christians, who were perceived as threats to the Roman Empire. In the year 66 AD, rioting and violence spread throughout Jerusalem and the rest of Judea, and within less then a century, Judea had become Palestine, and Jews were all but gone from their homeland.

(Please forgive me for the next part if some of the information is inaccurate)

When Islam began to emerge in the 6th Century, the Prophet Muhammad made his way to Jerusalem where he ascended to heaven, accompanied by the angel Gabriel and consulted with Moses and obtained the Islamic prayers before returning to Earth. At the location where he is believed to have ascended to heaven, the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in Islam, was built. It stands on top of the Temple Mount (where the Jewish temple used to stand before it was destroyed after their expulsion from the Jerusalem.)

In more recent times, Zionism took hold in Jewish communities in an attempt to recapture their homeland. They began a series of 5 Aliyah's, or migrations to Palestine. The eventual plan was to gain majority and take control of the Palestinian. Plans changed in 1948 when President Truman urged a vote in the U.N. to create the state of Israel. Truman threatened to cut off aid to European allies recovering from WWII if they did not vote in favor of Israel's creation. So when you hear Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the U.S. of being Zionist, he does have a point.

In Conclusion

The current conflict, which threatens to include Iran and Syria, is based on this highly disputed piece of land, held holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The U.S. holds the key to a successful ceasefire, however due to selfish reasons, the Bush Administration does not want an immediate ceasefire. It is to their benefit if Israel pounds the living crap out of Hezbollah, no matter who gets in the way. Or, it could be that President Bush knows nothing about Middle Eastern history and still believes an immediate sustainable ceasefire is possible in the Cradle of Humanity.

An Introduction

Greetings, World, I am known as Sir Knightly, and my residency is in the United States of America. As I'm sure all of you are well aware, the entire World, and more specifically, the USA and many terrorist organizations, are currently involved in multiple wars, wars which threaten the very existence of Humanity, as we know it. It is my goal to post my observations based on more or less unbiased interpretations of World events.