Post by Eolith on Aug 19, 2005 11:00:46 GMT -5
Just so you know, you'll probably see me post more essays than anything else because they are already gramatically correct and finished. Plus, I think some of my writing in my essays can get pretty powerful.
This was a report for Religion class. It contains some views over God and America that may not be shared by others. Please do not take anything here too personally if you feel that it is incorrect. My goal is not to insult, it is to make readers really think.
1. War is a sin. There is no way around the fact. Surely, all of the soldiers are noble, and they are courageous, but War in and of itself is a sin. Even so, from War can come Peace. Sometimes it seems that in doing War, or sin, we can achieve Peace, but can we? I think it’s like this: imagine a glob of white paint and a glob of black paint. The white resembles Peace, and the black resembles War. You have a paint brush. First, you use the white, but your hand slips once and dips into the black. Even if you return to the white, there’s still that streak of grey; that bit if sin. The thing is, should there be water? Is there water now that we can use to clean the brush and start over? Is religion that water? I believe that there is no way to get a perfectly fresh start, but there are ways of getting incredibly close.
The reason we can never get that brush perfectly clean is because of free will, but that makes it sound bad, let me rephrase. All humans have free will, and with our free will, we choose to do good or bad. We have souls, and minds, we all have a different idea of what Peace really is. Because we cannot all be unanimous around the world in what Peace is, we are fumbling with the paint brush. The brush won’t go entirely into the water, the hand wavers, but doesn’t swish it entirely clean. Because of free will, there is sin, and forgiveness. With our minds, souls, free wills, or whatever we choose to call it, we can choose to do something we know is wrong. But, we can choose to forgive as well, we can allow that sin to pass from our moods. However, we can only forgive those who wish to be forgiven.
2. The world can never be perfect. Indeed, we all strive for world-wide perfection in our own ways, good or bad. But most of us have a sense of what is good, what helps our world. A just world would mean equal rights. It would mean equal food, water, shelter, and money. America strives for such, but does not always succeed. I know many Americans who believe that the U.S. is the leader of the world. True, we are fairly powerful, but if we were to live in a just world, we would distribute that power around the world. We try, in many ways, some good, some not so great, but sometimes our idea of a just world gets in the way of what others think a just world is.
The Bible says that God intended for the world to be perfect, for everything to be handy-dandy all the time. But we messed it up. My question is, did we create chaos, or make the experience of living better? After suffering, do we finally realize how fantastic it is to thrive? Why would God put the tree in the garden if not to have an alternate fate? Did we really destroy God’s idea of what the world should be like? I think that by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree we have caused pain and ultimate ecstasy. Doesn’t it feel good to lend a helping hand? Doesn’t it feel even better to receive a helping hand? But we wouldn’t need to give help if the world was perfect. We’d just be there living a life we could not appreciate.
This was a report for Religion class. It contains some views over God and America that may not be shared by others. Please do not take anything here too personally if you feel that it is incorrect. My goal is not to insult, it is to make readers really think.
1. War is a sin. There is no way around the fact. Surely, all of the soldiers are noble, and they are courageous, but War in and of itself is a sin. Even so, from War can come Peace. Sometimes it seems that in doing War, or sin, we can achieve Peace, but can we? I think it’s like this: imagine a glob of white paint and a glob of black paint. The white resembles Peace, and the black resembles War. You have a paint brush. First, you use the white, but your hand slips once and dips into the black. Even if you return to the white, there’s still that streak of grey; that bit if sin. The thing is, should there be water? Is there water now that we can use to clean the brush and start over? Is religion that water? I believe that there is no way to get a perfectly fresh start, but there are ways of getting incredibly close.
The reason we can never get that brush perfectly clean is because of free will, but that makes it sound bad, let me rephrase. All humans have free will, and with our free will, we choose to do good or bad. We have souls, and minds, we all have a different idea of what Peace really is. Because we cannot all be unanimous around the world in what Peace is, we are fumbling with the paint brush. The brush won’t go entirely into the water, the hand wavers, but doesn’t swish it entirely clean. Because of free will, there is sin, and forgiveness. With our minds, souls, free wills, or whatever we choose to call it, we can choose to do something we know is wrong. But, we can choose to forgive as well, we can allow that sin to pass from our moods. However, we can only forgive those who wish to be forgiven.
2. The world can never be perfect. Indeed, we all strive for world-wide perfection in our own ways, good or bad. But most of us have a sense of what is good, what helps our world. A just world would mean equal rights. It would mean equal food, water, shelter, and money. America strives for such, but does not always succeed. I know many Americans who believe that the U.S. is the leader of the world. True, we are fairly powerful, but if we were to live in a just world, we would distribute that power around the world. We try, in many ways, some good, some not so great, but sometimes our idea of a just world gets in the way of what others think a just world is.
The Bible says that God intended for the world to be perfect, for everything to be handy-dandy all the time. But we messed it up. My question is, did we create chaos, or make the experience of living better? After suffering, do we finally realize how fantastic it is to thrive? Why would God put the tree in the garden if not to have an alternate fate? Did we really destroy God’s idea of what the world should be like? I think that by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree we have caused pain and ultimate ecstasy. Doesn’t it feel good to lend a helping hand? Doesn’t it feel even better to receive a helping hand? But we wouldn’t need to give help if the world was perfect. We’d just be there living a life we could not appreciate.
I guess there are some questions that will never be answered.