Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
finally
I noticed the "non-believers" line in Obama's speech today and apparently I wasn't the only one. Here is an article from the New Republic web site:
Non-Believers Are Americans, Too.Using inclusive language about religion is pretty much ritual now. If you're a politician giving a speech and you're going to cite one faith, you have to cite many--i.e., not just Christians, but Jews, Muslims, and Hindus as well. And that's a good thing.
But if the standards of polite political discourse now require accepting people who pray to god in different ways, it doesn't require recognizing those who choose not to pray at all. At least not yet. That made this line in Obama's address significant:
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and non-believers.
Perhaps this is another barrier, albeit a rhetorical one, that Obama intends to tear down over the next few years.
--Jonathan Cohn
But while I was very grateful that someone (someone HUGE) acknowledged that very large group of people, I would have preferred different wording. As a "non-believer" myself I dissagree that I don't believe. I just don't believe in any of the gods of those religons. I believe in a lot of stuff. And I have faith in a lot of stuff, so am "faithful". What I am not is religous, so maybe "non-religous" or agnostic or athiest (different groups). But at the end of the day I am just so happy that you don't have to be religous to be an American in our president's eyes.
Labels: politics
Monday, January 19, 2009
what's wrong with me?
On election my friend and I had both said we wanted to go to DC for tomorrow. But then life happens, Omi passed away, Mel & Alex didn't seem too interested. I thought my friend couldn't go because she was going to be out of the country. I'm excited for two of my friends (that I know of) that will be there tomorrow. I wish I was.
Labels: politics
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
creepy
We spent the weekend sorting, clearing & cleaning my grandmother's house and I uploaded some photos online so my Dad could see the progress. I went to the gallery page to make sure it worked and clicked on a photo. I clicked on the "info" button & it told me when it was taken & that it was taken w/an iPhone but it also gave the coordinates! Eek! I knew this was possible with the new iPhones (& more & more cameras) but Alex has a first gen iPhone so I never thought about it. So, it's kinda creepy. If it was photos of the Grand Canyon or Paris or something it might be cool but I don't know that I want anyone to know where my home is unless I tell them. Right? We figured out how to turn it off & did so. it might be fun to turn on later but off is good for now.