OpinionMay 23, 2009
Speak Out 5/23/09
Citing sources; Online classes; Business first; No joking matter; Kids are people too; Self-centered; Collateral damage; Dogs and children; An extremist; Disobedience
Citing sources
ACCORDING to the U.N. and the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. ranks somewhere between 41st and 50th when it comes to average life expectancy. That's not very good. It is depressing. That's why I was ecstatic to read a clarification made by a recently published Speak Out commentator to the effect that the U.S. is No. 1 in life expectancy. I assume the Southeast Missourian readership shares with me much more faith in the accuracy of a Speak Out commentator's resources of correct information than those of the U.N. or CIA.
Online classes
A comment suggested that online colleges are a joke since students can look up the answers. I beg to differ. I have taken many online classes and regular classes at Southeast Missouri State University. I would say 99 percent of the classes I take online are harder than the ones I have taken on campus. I recently had an instructor who would spend almost the entire class period talking about various things instead of what the class was about. He would literally spend the last 10 minutes of class telling us what to write down in our notes because that was what we were going to be tested on. This class was how some of the campus classes were for me. There were other classes on campus where a student had to put a lot more effort in obtaining and comprehending the information. Many online classes I have taken are set up where you cannot just look up the answer. You have to understand the concept and material beforehand simply because the tests are available for a certain amount of time. There are pros and cons of taking online courses or attending class in person, but to suggest that online classes are always easier is simply a wrong assumption.
Business first
SOME historians of religion think the Protestant reformation had the effect of elevating the needs of business and the marketplace above basic human needs. Presbyterian pastor Paul Kabo Jr.'s anti-paean to locating a homeless shelter on Broadway seems to reinforce that perception.
No joking matter
WHILE visiting Victoria, British Columbia, our tour guide welcomed Americans with this quip: "We are so lucky here in Canada. We pay 54 percent tax and the government sends us a sympathy card if we die while waiting for treatment," Let's tell President Obama no on socialized medicine.
Kids are people too
PLAYGROUNDS are for people, not dogs. Children, even screaming ones with inconsiderate parents, are people with the right to be in stores and restaurants.
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Self-centered
WHAT ever happened to people being sympathetic to others? All I hear nowadays is, "What about me and my story? I don't care about anyone else." Please, stop being so self-centered. It's not a good color on anyone.
Collateral damage
TV talk-show hosts, commentators and guests vociferously express their righteous and moral indignation that enemies who would kill and maim us and our sons and daughters have been subjected to what they consider torture, such as waterboarding. These same individuals enthusiastically advocate and defend the right to rip unborn babies from four to nine months old from their mothers' wombs and tear them to pieces as they are aborted. The horrendous pain and suffering of the unborn who are aborted is shrugged off as merely collateral damage of not much significance.
Dogs and children
I'VE never seen a small child attack a strange dog. I have, however, seen a dog attack a child it wasn't familiar with. To a child, any dog is simply a "doggie." It is the dog owner's responsibility to make sure that animal doesn't injure anyone. There are many places where dog owners can walk their critters without endangering children.
An extremist
I don't quite understand why Jon Rust seemed to cast doubt on the Rev. Larry Rice's claim that Jesus was an extremist. Surely Rust realizes that Jesus was a revolutionary and that to follow his example today takes a commitment of a most revolutionary kind.
Disobedience
THOUGH Jon Rust cast aspersions on it, civil disobedience (doing the right thing even if it violates the law and being willing to pay the price) has an honorable tradition. I'm reminded of the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and his letters from a Birmingham jail.
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