Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Patriot's Day Open Trackbacks

This open trackbacks post is for April 19, 2007.

If you have something interesting you'd like to share, feel free to link it here and leave a trackback.

Just remember the trackback policy.

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Good, Evil, Left, Right

A lot of bloggers have been writing about the events that took place at the Virginia Tech campus earlier this week. I've pretty much tried to stay away from the topic, but it's one that turns up everywhere. On the web. On the radio. In newspapers. On television.

There have been a few themes I've been hearing/reading. One argues that this tragedy should serve as evidence that more gun control is needed. Another argues that this evil act argues that more guns are needed to allow people to defend themselves from madmen and murderers. I'm not going to get into that. I stand on my second amendment rights, but I don't really want to discuss guns.

Another theme that I've been hearing/reading is that this is a tragedy and that we all need to “heal”. Yet another is that no, this wasn't a tragedy, it was an act of evil and we need to express our righteous anger over it. Most recently, I read a post at Sand In The Hourglass, discussing a CBS article that some students are willing to “forgive, and offer up their prayers to honor the killer's life” (emphasis added).

The victims of Cho Seung-Hui deserve to be remembered. I can't tell you much about any of them, except that none of them deserved to be murdered or assaulted with deadly force. I live on the other side of the country from where all of this took place, so the pain isn't quite as immediate to me.

Even so, it's a terrible human tragedy, the result of unspeakable evil. I mourn a bit for the loss of life and the pain and anguish that the victim's families, and yes, even the murderer's family must be going through.

At the same time, the various reactions to these events point out several things I've been trying to find a way to articulate for months now.

The left is very fond of moral relativism, and multi-culturalism. I might get into the why of that later. Right now, I'm interested in some of the consequences of it.

The whole notion of multi-culturalism seems to be that we must honor all cultures equally. On the surface that sounds quite reasonable. After all, there are many cultures in the world, and they each bring something unique to our perspective.

Moral relativism seems to be, at least in part, a consequence of multi-culturalism. After all, if all cultures are equally valid, then by extension all belief systems must also be equally valid. The problem with that though is that several belief systems are in fact mutually exclusive.

The natural consequence of this is to assume that all belief systems are in fact equally invalid. This is reinforced for the left by another thing they're very fond of — the assumed authority of science as the ultimate arbiter of truth.

Science doesn't speak to the supernatural or to the spiritual. In fact, science tends to ignore questions of spirituality and the supernatural, looking instead to things that can be measured and verified by experiment. Science by its very nature cannot rely upon faith to explain anything.

How do you measure faith? How can divine intervention be repeated and verified by the non-divine? So scientists, whether they believe in a supreme being or not, don't rely upon one to explain the workings of the world.

This doesn't say that science excludes the possibility of a supreme being. It simply says that science cannot speak to the spiritual or the supernatural.

Of course if science is the ultimate explainer of anything that can be explained, then the fact that it can't speak to the spiritual or the supernatural is easily used to justify a lack of faith in a supreme being. And, of course, if there's no supreme being to define what is right and what is wrong, then moral relativism is the natural consequence.

There are other  reasons why the left clings to moral relativism. We can begin with a lack of faith for some. For others, it may be more personal. Most belief systems have a fairly straightforward notion of what sort of behavior is and isn't acceptable.

That's not very convenient if you've got a tendency to indulge your passions however you will. None of us like it when the things we enjoy are frowned upon. To have others tell us that it's “wrong” to alter our minds with chemicals or to have sex with everyone we can, of whatever gender we like isn't a comfortable thing.

Who are “they” to decide what's right and wrong anyway? Who are “they” to impose their antiquated notions of morality on me!

So moral relativism is attractive to the hedonist as well. And let's face it, a lot of people on the left today came of age during a period of rebellion against traditional morality. If not them, then their parents did and they passed on their lack of faith to them.

For those who choose not to have faith, rather than for those who have not been shown something to have faith in, their choice has an impact on their spirit. A guilty conscience is a powerful thing, especially when you can't admit, even to yourself, why you have a guilty conscience.

It's an even more powerful thing when you project that guilt upon others. We're privileged and we're guilty, so it must be the fault of our culture. If only we didn't exploit others we wouldn't feel the guilt, so we excoriate one another and preach that we have to stop the exploitation. We must look to other cultures to return to what is pure and natural.

This of course makes multi-culturalism even more attractive. And so we have the beginnings of an escalating cycle.

I think that moral relativism makes a great many people on the left incapable of recognizing evil when they see it. Without a standard of what is good and what is evil, how can evil be recognized?

I believe that this explains the various reactions that we've seen to the murders that took place earlier this week, and to similar incidents in the past.

If evil doesn't exist, then those murders can only be seen as tragic. They can't be recognized as the evil they are. Since they weren't evil then we simply need to begin the healing and move on. Confronting the evil simply isn't an option.

The murderer can't be evil either, at least not if evil doesn't exist. Instead he's got to be a victim himself. So we hear news reports about how he was a stalker, how he was abused, how he was placed under psychiatric observation a few years ago when his disturbing behavior was noted by a couple of women.

The murders can't be his fault because he's damaged. The left would blame the weapons he used rather than the evil intent in his heart. He'd have never shot so many people if he didn't have a legal way to get guns. The second amendment is to blame. We need gun control, we don't need to create disincentives to criminal behavior. [Update: apparently he didn't actually obtain his guns legally. His previous mental illness disqualified him from legally purchasing them. He lied to get them. Explain to me how tighter gun control laws would have prevented that.]

When we hear about how Virginia Tech knew that Cho Seung-Hui had problems, the blame for what happened can be placed on the school, rather than the murderer. If we carry it far enough, we can blame everything except Cho Seung-Hui for the evil acts that took place.

There is no personal responsibility anymore. It's all someone else's fault. We can't blame the criminal for his vile deeds. We can't punish him, instead we need to understand him. We need to rehabilitate him.

All of this comes from an inability to recognize evil. All of this comes from moral relativism. In fact, moral relativism goes so far as to make it possible to honor the murderer.

Carry it far enough, and it even explains the left's strange ideas with regard to international evils.

This is just one of the many reasons why I reject the philosophies of the left.

The fact is, there is evil in the world. Mankind needs to be able to recognize it, and to confront it. This cannot be done without faith. It cannot be done with situational ethics or moral relativism. Evil IS, and it MUST be fought.

People of faith understand this. We also understand that not all belief systems are equally valid. Some of them MUST be wrong. It doesn't follow that they ALL are.

We're all human though. None of us can possibly know it all. An absolute conviction that you have all of the truth is just as bad as a complete lack of faith. Especially if you happen to be wrong.

This is why we need to be tolerant of other faiths. Tolerant. We can't know what is in the heart of another. We likely don't even fully know our own heart.

We should still recognize, confront, and fight evil. We need to protect our society from the evildoer. We need to separate those who would do harm to others from those they would harm. And we must do it in faith and with humility, lest we become evil ourselves.

Angel is asking Why can't we ask Why?, and she reminds us that none of our hands are clean, and to "suffer for the innocents who  paid the price for our debauchery." Go give her post a read.

Let the Sonics Go

From the Seattle Times: 

Sonics and Storm owner Clay Bennett said Tuesday the teams may try to leave the state before their KeyArena leases expire in 2010, now that lawmakers have killed the possibility of taxpayer funding for a proposed $500 million Renton arena.

In a conference call with reporters, Bennett said the teams probably will play their 2007-08 seasons in Seattle. But Bennett made no promises, saying he'll "evaluate all of our options," and he suggested the team's lawyers might try to negotiate an early end to the lease.

...

Seattle city officials have repeatedly said they will enforce the leases, and would demand substantial monetary settlements if the teams leave early. "We have an enforceable lease that is in place until 2010," said Marty McOmber, spokesman for Mayor Greg Nickels.

I think that the Sonics and the Storm should leave as soon as it's practical. It's plain that they don't really care about Seattle as a home. It's plain that they don't really care about much other than getting their slice of the public pie. To force them to stay when it's obvious even to the fans that they want to leave is just spiteful.

Bennett has said he would like to move the teams to Oklahoma City if an arena deal in Washington can't be struck.

...

House Finance Committee Chairman Ross Hunter, a critic of the Sonics' proposal, said he hasn't heard any colleagues saying, 'Oh my goodness, I didn't know they'd move.' "

But Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, the Sonics' biggest backer in the Legislature, remains optimistic and is quick to point out that Bennett did say he is willing to keep talking.

Let's not forget that Margarita Prentice represents Renton, and that Renton stands to get a large part of the public funding package, if any is approved. As for whether he's willing to keep talking, who cares? He's already said that he won't extend his October 31st deadline to land a publicly financed arena deal.

But Prentice hopes Bennett's statement will encourage more talks by making it clear what's at stake politically — especially for the governor.

"I think she's having to face the reality that the Sonics could disappear on her watch," Prentice said.

Isn't that getting to be tiresome? Why is it that some people think that we have to submit to whatever a professional sports team wants just because they threaten to leave? We already have two major professional sports organizations living off the public dole. We submitted to their blackmail, that's how we ended up having yet another team blackmail us with threats of leaving.

Hunter disputed the notion that lawmakers weren't willing to negotiate with the Sonics. He said he asked repeatedly for more information about details of the project — such as firm cost figures and how much the owners would put in.

"Every time I asked for cost information, they kept saying, 'It's too premature, we're not there yet,' " said Hunter, D-Medina. "You can't just ask us for a big check with no details."

Bennett said owners and the city of Renton would fill the gap between the $500 million cost of the arena and the $300 million they were seeking from King County taxes. But he has always refused to put a specific number on the owners' contribution, and said details would have been worked out later in talks with King County.

In other words, the city of Renton would end up paying most of the shortfall, or the Sonics would walk. I wonder why Margarita Prentice hasn't figured that part of this boondoggle out yet?

Have you noticed how when the Sonics thought they could extort money out of Seattle they were only asking for $200 million? Now they're asking for half again as much, and they aren't willing to provide details about where the rest of the money will come from.

Hunter said he figures Bennett is just trying to "create a crisis" in order to gain more leverage in Olympia. Hunter said he'd be surprised if Bennett takes the team and walks away.

"Either he's going to come back and talk to us, or he was never serious," Hunter said.

It's long past time that somebody called their bluff. Let the Sonics and the Storm out of their lease. Tell them to pack their bags and start moving. And don't let the door hit them in the posterior on the way out!

Global warming prevents hurricanes?

Another link from OrbusMax -- The Associated Press is reporting on yet another global warming study based on computer modelling. This one raises the possibility that global warming makes it harder for hurricanes to form. From the Star-Gazette:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The debate over whether global warming affects hurricanes may be running into some unexpected turbulence. Many researchers believe warming is causing the storms to get stronger, while others aren't so sure. Now, a new study raises the possibility that global warming might even make it harder for hurricanes to form.

The findings, by Gabriel A. Vecchi of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Brian J. Soden of the University of Miami, are reported in Wednesday's issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

Vecchi and Soden used 18 complex computer climate models to anticipate the effects of warming in the years 2001-2020 and 2018-2100.

Included in the results were an increase in vertical wind shear over the tropical Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans.

Vertical wind shear is a difference in wind speed or direction at different altitudes. When a hurricane encounters vertical wind shear the hurricane can weaken when the heat of rising air dissipates over a larger area.

Last year we were told, based on computer models, that global warming would increase the severity and frequency of hurricanes. This year we're told, based on computer models, that global warming might actually prevent hurricanes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... computer models are not scientific evidence. They're really good at illustrating scenarios that might arise from your favorite pet theory, but they don't qualify as experimental evidence. A good programmer can write a model or simulation and make it do whatever he wants it to by adjusting the parameters, by ignoring or emphasizing various simulated processes and so on.

If we are to believe the latest models, then the previous models were wrong, because they omitted important factors. What other important factors have been omitted from the models that the IPCC uses? What other important factors have been omitted from the models used to scare us into destroying our economy by cutting back on energy usage?

Trackposted to Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Maggie's Notebook, basil's blog, Stuck On Stupid, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, Conservative Thoughts, Pet's Garden Blog, third world county, stikNstein... has no mercy, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Juvenile curfew laws are unconstitutional?

Can someone explain to me where in the constitution local governments are prohibited from establishing curfew laws? From the Oregonian via OregonLive.com:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon plans to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Lake Oswego on Wednesday, challenging its curfew law.

The civil rights organization is filing suit on behalf of four Lake Oswego teenagers who attempted to change the law on their own, without success.

It must be in amendment 28 of the Constitution where it says "No local government may enact a law restricting minors from wandering the streets at night, whether for purposes of public safety or to prevent  other crimes or to protect said minors from potential violence."

Oh wait, that's right, there IS no 28th amendment yet.

The students decided to challenge the curfew law as part of a political action seminar at Lake Oswego High School. In December, they asked the City Council to abolish the ordinance, calling it unconstitutional.

The ordinance, based on a statewide curfew law, forbids children younger than 14 to be on the streets between 9:15 p.m. and 6 a.m. Those 14 to 18 can be out for another hour Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday and during the summer. It allows an exemption for youths who are attending night school, have late-night jobs or are "engaged in any entertainment."

The ACLU... an organization hell-bent on preventing the application of common sense in government. The ACLU... working to undermine the American way of life in every way possible.

Hat tip to OrbusMax.

I'm 88% non-sociopath!

I spotted this little quiz when I was checking out The Bull Speaks! for membership in the Blogs Against Nancy Pelosi blogroll.

You Are 12% Sociopath

You're empathetic, loyal, and introspective. In other words, there's no way you're a sociopath... but you can spot one pretty easily!

Give it a try... not that these things mean much... they're far from scientific.

Wednesday Hero - CMsgt . John Gebhardt

This Weeks Soldier Was Submitted By Anna

Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt Superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group at McConnell Air Force Base

Have you heard of Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt? Maybe you have and maybe you haven't. CMSgt. Hebhardt gain some notoriety recently. Not for an action that he took on the battlefield, but rather for a picture(not shown because it is graphic) that was taken of him.

In 2006, CMSgt. John Gebhardt was photographed holding a little Iraqi girl that had been injured. Her family had been attacked by insurgents. Both of her parents were killed, along with many of her siblings, and she had been shot in the head and left for dead. But she was tougher than that. She was brought to Balad Air Base Hospital where she was operated on and ultimately saved. As you can imagine, it was an extremely hard time for this little girl. Her recovery was hellish. But when CMSgt. Gebhardt would hold her, she seemed to be comforted. He spent many nights sleeping in a chair with her in his arms. The picture wast taken by a fellow airman while CMSgt. Gebhardt and the little girl were napping. Said CMSgt. Gebhardt, "I'm sure that probably just gave her some inner peace that she could reach."

On a side note. This is why I started doing these Wednesday Hero posts. Because of people like Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt. It's soldiers like him that make me proud of our military.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by going here.

ota Wednesday

This open trackbacks post is for April 18, 2007.

If you have something interesting you'd like to share, feel free to link it here and leave a trackback.

Just remember the trackback policy.

For the best exposure, go to the blogger's oasis and use the linkfest chooser to choose the posts you'd like to hook up with.