JJ's World Views

Tag: Religion

  • Philosophies of a Humanist

    Philosophies of a Humanist

    As a self proclaimed Humanist  I do not believe in a God or gods.  I believe in the power of humanity in and of itself.  I have been to many churches and they all seemed strange to me, even the Catholic Church in which I was loosely raised in.  The whole sit, stand and kneel ritual was quite irritating along with the sermons and the Bible.  They all just rubbed me the wrong way.  When I got in to my twenties I read the Bible from front to back and the contradictions within it drove me nut as well as the whole lineage stuff.

    It was when I was introduced to Bruce Lee and his philosophy of martial arts  that I started developing my own system of beliefs.  I liked how he took the best parts of other martial arts and combined them together to create Jeet Kune Do.   I liked this and wondered why no one had thought of doing this with religion or faith.  So, over the years I started developing my own philosophies.  I did not just stick to the ideas of religion though I also took from themes within fiction and movies where religion lacked.  I try to live by a code that promotes peace and harmony without being hypocritical to my beliefs like many do with in religion.  Some may think it is naive but I see the world as it is and I aspire to make changes with in myself, so that I may help change the course of humanity in a positive way.

    I strive to eliminate hate from myself, for to hate I feel is to give power to that person or group over me.  This is no easy task.  I may get angry at someone but I will not hate them.  Anger will only last as long as I let it.  I do not hold grudges anymore, for this only hurts me.  It darkens my heart and breeds discontent in those around me.

    I remind myself fear can be both a good and bad thing.  Fear can keep me safe from the dangers of the world.  Remember not to let fear control me, for if I allow it to have control it can hinder my journey through this life and lead to hate.  When fear becomes too strong I must face it by putting myself in uncomfortable situations, this way I understand what I am afraid of, henceforth stifling hate.

    Be kind to those around me.  This is can also be hard to do especially if I am angry.  I am not perfect and will not claim to be.  We all make mistakes so, we must own up to them and learn.

    Love everyone no matter the race, religion, sexual orientation or any other way society deems to separate us.  I have come to the realization that I may not be able to love in a romantic sense,  because my heart is filled with love for all humankind.  I am fine with that.  In some ways it is lonely and I crave the affections of someone but this may hinder me from the mission I have taken on.  I vowed to not be with anyone until I have finished my Bachelor’s Degree that was almost 3 years ago.  I have almost allowed myself to fall back into the old routines, of mistaking sex for romantic love.  I do not wish to do this again.

    I put my heart into my goals.  This is why I think I am so good at being an Educational Assistant and why I will be a good teacher.  I put the kids I work with first, this is how I am.  I want to make sure that children no matter where they are where they are from.

    Do no harm is another principle I try to live by as well.  This means I will make sure to exhaust all methods of nonviolence.  I would rather die than to physically harm someone.

    These are some of the principles I try to live by.  But, I am not perfect and I will never claim to be.  If I do please call me out on it.

  • What Type of Society Would You Like to Live in?

    What type of society would you like to live in?  Collectivist or Individualistic?  This is a question we were asked in Pillars of Leadership program at school this week.  This is a very hard questions to be asked and takes a lot of thought as to not give people the wrong idea.  If you say you want to live in a collectivist society people in the states think China or the former USSR.  If you say Individualistic people think of America and the corporate plutocracy that runs it.  I would chose a combination of both a more socially individualistic and economically collectivistic society.

    In America we have been traditionally a socially collectivist and economically individualistic society.  This means socially if you were different from the group you were labeled the outcast, different, freak, ect…  If you are are not white, Christian, hetrosexual you were the other and have historically been segregated against in one form or another.  Yet, if you raised have money, and power you were held in high regard even worshipped to some extent.  This paradigm has been hard for me to live in because I do not think the way I was taught to think.  I do not view wealth or power as a success factor.  I also see people as individuals and judge them on there actions not race, gender, sexual orientation, ect…  I view happiness and empathy as how successful a society is in the grand scheme of things.

    I do not think that it is up to the government or corporation should  decide what you do as a career or job.  I feel we help people to reach their potential in the field they enjoy and are good at.  Yes, this is would not be a nice and ordered society but it plays to people’s strengths and move society in a more positive direction.  This allows people to find out who they are and what they are passionate about.  This also breeds a much happier society and less conflict.  I feel that when a society reaches a certain level of development that the government can not only help it’s people militarily but making sure that the basic necessities are taken care of like food, clothing, housing, ect… They would not get to chose these thing for them, but, helps people to afford these items making sure no one is left behind or falls through the cracks.  This way the economic schizm does not grow so great that a few people control the rest of the society against their will.

    People will ask, “But, if we don’t have money to use as an incentive how can we motivate people to do the work?”  To them I answer ” There are many ways to motivate people like their passions. some people like helping others, some like to create things like art, science, or music..  Think of all the artists that have died in poverty, like Van Gogh, yet, after their deaths the pieces would have made them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.  Think of people in the scientific realm like Nicola Tesla who died in poverty not to be respected till well after his death.”  How many minds have we wasted because of the greed of our society?  How many more will not have the opportunity because others think that because they are wealthy they are the best?  How many ideas will be stolen because of greed and pride?  These are questions I asked myself when people ask me “What type of society I want to live in?”

    I feel we need a combination of both in our societies and no pure system will ever work in a world full of differences.

    Peace and Love To all who read this and even those who don’t.

  • Me and Religion

    I grew up loosely Catholic.  My parents had me go to my first communion and confession, other than that the only time we went to a church it was for weddings and funerals.  I hated going to church every time I went in one I felt I had done something wrong and they were always so cold.  This was a problem when I was in the Boy Scouts.  If you have been in the scouts you know the laws.  I could follow just about everyone of them except one.

    Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, Obedient ( at the time yes, not anymore), Cheerful (I did my best), thrifty, brave and clean were not such a big deal.  The one I had problems with was Reverent.  I got picked on alot when after camp at Tomahawk and did not go to church there.  I left the troop I think it was the fall of 1987.  After that I started looking into other religions the Greek myths, a little Buddhism and cults.   I actually did a paper for myself on the Children Of God cult in South America in the 7th grade.  That was one sick group they allowed for the rape and molestation of children.  I will be honest it this was when I really started to wonder if I believed in a god.  The clincher was when I actually read the Bible for the first time, but that was not until years later.  To this day I still do not know if I actually ever believed in the Christian god or if I was just believing what friends and family wanted to believe.

    In 1994 I joined the Army, on my dog tags I had them list my religion as Agnostic.  In Basic training I realized the military was not the life for me.  During the initial dusting my glasses fell off and a drill sergeant, who looked like Sergeant Slaughter, crushed them under his foot as I was doing push-ups.  I had to wait about a week before I could get my “birth control glasses”, these were so named because if you were wearing them you were guaranteed not to get laid.  During the waiting period I could not make things out more than anything more than 30 feet in front of me.  That Sunday morning, which was the only free time we had other than sleep, I went to the Protestant Chapel, I wanted to take comfort from something, I wanted to believe in god at that time.  That was the only time I went to Church in Basic Training.  I did not enter another church until I was in active duty.

    This is when I met someone who invited me to their Episcopal Church at Fort Lewis, Washington.  That was an experience to say the least. The Church was off base in what looked like a wooden house painted brown on the outside.  Inside the walls had brown wooden paneling with a pulpit and chairs in two columns and four rows in the front room and a open room on the side.  It seemed like a normal sermon at first then they started speaking in tongues.  They encouraged me to join in and I tried, but I guess i just could not feel the Holy Spirit.  That was so weird to me, I did not understand a single thing going on I just went with it till I got a ride back to the barracks.  This was also about the time I started to realize I was an Atheist, though I stuck with Agnostic because I was worried how others may view me.  I did not enter a church again until my Uncle Butchie’s Funeral in 2001.  I did however read the Bible in between these two church outings.

    When I was first starting to read the Bible I saw contradictions within the first two chapters of Genesis, Specifically the order in which the animals and the first man were created.  In Chapter one the animals came first then man, then in chapter two it said that man came first then the animals. Back then this was confusing as hell to me.  Now I understand that the old testament is a bastardization of a multitude of other religions, specifically the Torah of the Jewish faith.  I was able to make it through Genesis just barely with all the who begot who and other stuff.  I eventually made it through it took a long time though.  There is one part in revelations that I used to try and de convert a couple of Mormon Missionaries when they stopped by my dad’s mobile home one day, I was confused on how they were able to justify the book of Mormon when in the Book of Revelations states  in Chapter 22 Verses 18-19 that “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” This did not work but I got to test my knowledge and gave my dad a laugh in the process.  He was in his bedroom when they came over and heard me talking to them for about hour.  He just sat back there watching T.V. and heard me trying to convince them to give up their faith in a polite way.  That was fun.

    I remember my uncle because I was homeless living with my ex girlfriend at the time and her parents in their camper, this was also before 9/11 like about a week or so.  A couple of days before I had just gotten off work and sitting in her driveway behind her house and smoking a bowl of some decent pot, I said to myself ” this hit is for you Butchy.” I knew he was not doing well and my cousin b got him some weed so he could eat, his liver was failing and he wanted to eat his favorite food Pizza again before he passed.  The next day after my little salute to my uncle my best friend had taken a message for me that my uncle had died that night.  He had wanted me to be a pallbearer at his funeral, how could I say no to one of my uncle’s dying requests.  So, that weekend I was in the St. Paul Cathedral, I felt awkward as hell going in there even if it was for family, I felt cold shivers down my spine on top of mourning the loss of my uncle.  I made it through though. The next time I would step into a church was when I met my ex wife after chatting with her on line.

    We actually met a couple days before that,  Liz (my ex wife) was stuck near me and needed a ride home.  I told her I would help and picked her up and we talked a bit till I got her home.  I agreed to meet her again at her church right down the street from me in Sanford, FL.  I had told her I was “Agnostic and that I normally would not meet at a church”, but I figured I would try the religion thing again.  I went with here a few times when we were dating, I even went as far as almost signing up to the church.  Then I went to the house of the pastor for an introductory meeting.  When I saw this place I could not believe my eyes.  Here this guy is preaching to people who are living modest lives while he and his family were living in a house worth, I would say from $500,000 to $750,000.  This was a beautiful home Beige on the outside with a couple of columns at the front door and a three car garage.  You walk into the house this place had 20 ft vaulted ceilings all 3 kids had their own rooms plus the master.  There was a 10 ft. patio door that you could look out into the backyard, which was not that huge but had a nice view of a pond.  Oh, did I mention this was in I think it was Altamonte Springs, FL in a really nice neighborhood, I guess that goes without saying.  Since then I have not stepped foot in a Christian place of worship.

    About 4 years ago I came out as an Atheist to my friends and family on Facebook.  I was tired of hiding who I was for so long.  This stirred up a bit of shit with my mom and her husband Rick, little did they know I had came out to his parents a couple of years before.  They had no problem with it.  Rick unfriended me from Facebook my mom was in denial still thinking I was Agnostic, which I am I do not know if there is a god or not, I just do not believe there is a god.  This does not make me immoral I try to treat people the way I want to be treated do I always do so, No.  Am I perfect, there is no objective perfection, so No.  My Goal in life is to try to help make the world better, not perfect, for future generations.  To help bring peace through understanding of other cultures and religions.  I am not one of those Atheists who say all religions are bad.  Religions are neither bad nor good they are tools to help people.  It is how people use religion that matter.  Some Pray, Some go to Church, most just want to live their lives in peace.  There are those who would and have used religion to subjugate, torture and murder that use religion as a justification for these things.  Most of the people I have met be it Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist have been good people just trying to get by.  Who am I to say what they should or should not believe.  As long as they are not harming anyone who really cares.  Most people in America today hold on to religion as a tradition carried down through there families and will admit they are not sure there is a god or not.  Hell, I met an Evangelical Christian that feel the same way I do about the LGBTQ and Muslim communities.  That they should be able to live their lives the way they want to as long as they are not hurting anyone.  That shocked the shit out of me, I thought we would be battling it out.  He even accepted me which was really cool I thought.

    My journey with religion has been long and hard, but it has not ended.  I will be learning more about other religions in the future and hopefully make some friends along the way.  I hope this may help some people understand me better and maybe themselves.  The next time you meet someone who is an Atheist try to remember we are not evil incarnate.  We are people just like you.  We love, we feel pain and we get lonely just like everyone else.  We are each individuals and should be treated as such.

    Peace Be with You My Friends, Peace Be with You.

  • Analysis of “Indians of the Rio Grande”and “Jacques Cartier: First Contact with the Indians”

    Through reading these narratives we see through the Eyes of the Spanish, French and the Iroquois.  In the case of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, “Indians of the Rio Grande” he talks about How they are as he puts it “They are very merry people”.  Even when they have nothing they still celebrate and dance.  In his journal he talks about the eight months he spent with the Avavares Indians and how they became as medicine men to the tribe.  These people also seem to almost worship Cabeza de Vaca and his men.  With most of the tribes Cabeza de Vaca I feel he saw them as naïve and poor, but grateful and giving.  The same could almost be said with the experiences of Jacques Cartier: First Contact with the Indians.   Though when Cartier first sees the natives he is fearful of their numbers and decides to leave.  After a confrontation the two sides meet on an Island and Iron out their differences through signs and trade.  The native here were basically willing to give Cartier and his men the clothes on their backs for trade.  This was common amongst all the tribes he met.  Another thing he noticed was they were all fisherman.  They lived on the lakes and stream in boats they also loved their ceremonies’ and dancing it seem whenever they met a new tribe.

    In comparison they Native the tribe saw the Europeans as crooked and out of balance in the mind.  As it is said in the Dekanawida Myth &the Achievement of Iroquois Unity “North of the beautiful lake [Ontario] in the land of the Crooked Tongues”, by Crooked Tongues I take that to mean the Europeans, otherwise they would have used the other tribes name.  It is because the Europeans see the Iroquois and other tribes as naïve and gullible that they take advantage of their kindness.  Then when resources start to become scarce and a lust for war starts to break out amongst the tribes that Dekanawida calls the leaders of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga.  This was to stop the tribal wars and confront the Europeans whom they call “Adodarhuh”.  They see them as if they were a broken people and in the Myth they were able to sing and cure the Adodarhuh of their evil ways.  So the European invasion lead to the formation of

  • Schedule for the Summer

    I am writing this out in order for me to keep up on my site.  I have a tendency to do a whole bunch of post in a short amount of time and then flake out.  Not this summer though.  I am going to post on every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday by 11:59.  This will also help keep me on schedule for the fall semester.  I cannot believe I will have my AA in Liberal Arts at the end of this year.  I am also taking two classes this summer Intro to Creative Writing and Adult First Aid and CPR.

    Coming up I will be posting projects from my Photography class and my last history paper I did on the four largest race riots of the 1960’s.  I am taking a Creative Writing course this summer.  So, expect me to be practicing on here.  I will also be doing a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a study abroad trip I was invited on next summer.  I chose from China or South Africa I will do a poll to see where my subscribers sit on this issue.  This Friday I am planning to upgrade my site from free to the personal plan.  Another way to get me more active on here as well.  The weekends are set aside for cracking out the camera and working on becoming a better photographer.  I want to make sure I have a diversified skill set.   A jack of all trades, master of none.  I just cannot handle be strapped down to one profession the rest of my life.   The only traveling I will be doing is in the greater Twin Cities area.

    The last thing is on August 12 I will be going to the St. Paul Aint’s  game.  This is a minor league baseball team normally called the Saints.  The Freedom from Religion Foundation and Minnesota Atheist’s is sponsoring them for one night.  It is a night dedicated to Atheists, of which I am, watch baseball and make fun of ourselves.  This is to show Minnesota that atheists are just like everyone else, we just don’t believe there is a god of any sort.  We have morals and ethics it is just we set them for ourselves, not a book.

    If you have any comments or would to request a location for me to photograph that you would like to see here in the Twin Cities leave a comment below.  I will see what I can do.

  • Scrooge: A Guilt Trip

    Why do people call others who are not fond of Christmas, Scrooge?  This makes no sense to me.  I could understand it if the people are wealthy and hoard money.  That is what Scrooge was in a “Christmas Carol” By Charles Dickens.  This time of year is one of the worst for a lot of people.  They get depressed because they can not be with family or friends.  They dislike how materialistic the world has become. People also want to do things for others but do not have the financial means to do so.  These are all valid reasons for not liking Christmas I feel.  I fall into all three categories.  I have no friends, I am not getting along with part of my family, I hate that we are guilted into blowing all our money to appease Corporations;so they can give CEO’s and shareholders big bonuses and dividends, I also can not afford to do anything for anyone this year.  I am just not that fond of this time of years, especially considering that the only reason we have this holiday is based on a lie.  No one knows when Christ was born or even if he truly existed.  This holiday was made up by the Catholic Church to bring people of other religions in to it.  Then it was hijacked be major corporations to make a buck off the poor and middle classes.

    It was my third grade teacher who told us that Santa was not real.Of course this was at the beginning of a bad time in my life that made me question if there was even really a god.  I lost two grandparents, my great grandmother and my cousin between the ages of 8 and 10.  I was also molested by a babysitter, she did get fired by my parents but that was all the counseling I got until I became an adult.  I also did my own research on religions and cults and saw similarities between them all.  I thought to myself if I were in a religion which would it be.  If I joined one I would be condemned by the others it seemed.  I eventually came to the conclusion if there was a god he would show himself to everyone and let us know what he wanted us to do.  Instead of choosing a few to put forth his word and picking people who were worthy like a father or mother choosing who their favorite children were.  So I am now an Atheist.  I may not always be happy go lucky, But I realize that it is up to me to do the best I can to make this world a better place.  Maybe we should change the name of the season to the season of peace and have a couple of days where we can have peace for the most part around the world.  we don’t have to worry about the material things and focus on building relationships with other people.  This should I feel be a time for renewing people’s faith in humanity.  This should be a time when the world comes together to celebrate other cultures and people. But that is just how I see things. How about you?

  • Should we Break up the States?

     

    I have heard a few of my old friend say that the states should become their own countries.  These people also think they are patriots.  In some ways I kind of agree.  I mean our constitution is set up like a treaty if you really think about it.  Most of the states where not there at the time of the signing of it.  This would ease the tax burden on people a bit, not having to pay federal taxes.  We would only have to pay state taxes, which would be federal taxes I guess at that point.  Every country would have its own currency which would be easier to keep a closer eye on it.  This way the few would not have so much control over the many.

    This would also give many that still lived in a democracy more control over their government.  This would promote more activity in the political process which could be much better thing.  People would be more willing to stay informed if they actually thought they had a say, unlike the current system we have now.

    We could give the new countries there national guard back.  If there was a war the individual countries could come together and fight side by side.  May be do drills together annually, this way if the militaries of the countries train together they would be less likely to want to fight them.  So, there are a couple of positives but I feel there are some major drawbacks to this.

    One of the major problems I see right off the bat is what to do about the nukes.  Does anyone really trust the south with nukes?   The KKK would definitely rise to power again and the right wing religious fundamentalist, would want to kill anyone not like them or believe the same way they do.  We would be more like Europe was in the dark ages.  Hell I consider the time we are living in now the Social/Technological Dark Ages.  I is little doubt in my mind, if it were not for our current level of technology we would already be in the dark ages.  We have not yet learned how to live socially yet in this new world.

    Slavery might come back into play if we were to divide up.  I do not think it would be successful though.  The countries which did not legalize it could put major economic pressure on them.  Which brings us back to the nukes again.  How many people think that there would be a leader that might try and play that card just out of spite.  Look at our political climate right now it is crazy.

    Though slavery most likely would not last long I think, Segregation would definitely make a comeback in many parts of the country.  I feel many leaders would try to become permanent dictators, or at least try.

    I want to say right now I know that not all people in the south are bad people.  I lived in Florida for 10 years I know plenty of people from the south.  It is the people they elect that scare me.  I am a Humanist I believe in our potential as a species.  I feel we are not ready yet as a country or s species to do something like that in this country.   Then again people usually only learn when bad things happen to them, so maybe we should, just for the wake up call.

  • Loneliness is a curse

    Well I am finally going to go see suicide squad today. I have seen the reviews but I have to decide for myself. I am just so bored and cannot focus on homework Mainly because all I do for the most part any more is just work, school, eat  and sleep.  I have no social life to speak of really.

    I have always felt alone in my life not, because I didn’t have friends or family. It is because I feel they just never understood me at all.  I am one of those people who could be in a room filled with people and still just feel like I am the only person in the room.  Over the past 4 or 5 years this feeling has grown.  That is one of the reasons why I started counseling and going back to school.  I wanted to try and put myself out there and find people who have similar interests who may understand where I am coming from and why I want to do what I am trying to do.

    I have such a hard time making new friends to do stuff with.  Here I am 40 years old divorced, single and living in a mobile home older than me,fighting my depression constantly.  It is a never ending battle.  I know people do worry about me in my family, yet it is hard for me to be around them.  The last few times I had been with them it just seem that when they were talking to me they were hyper critical of me and my viewpoints, even though I try to keep it on the internet they bring it into the face to face contacts. So I just do not want to be around them.  I feel like nothing I can do in their eye is right or good enough.  They expect me to see things the way they do and I just can’t.  It is not me I look deeper into things,  I try to understand the way the world works.  This is something I have always done.  It seems to me that all they see in me is a 40 yr old who like Cartoons, horror movies, and is decent with kids.  I feel they think I do not actually look into anything of substance at all.  They prove this by the way they try and push there own morals and beliefs on me.

    Look I am who I am and believe in my own moral code.  I have always been like that.  Religion has had no affect on my moral values.  All I want is to be a good person and help others try to treat others with respect as much as possible, not alway succeeding there.  When I came out as an Atheist for the first time that is when things started going south between me and them.  My mom was like no you’re not you Agnostic.  At the time I got offended because I didn’t know then what I do now about the word and its uses.

    Being an Atheist just means I do not believe there is a god.  Agnosticism is a state of knowing.  So my mom was right to a point, but we are all Agnostics.  No one knows for sure if a god really exists or not, despite what some people may say.  A belief is a feeling not knowledge.  I have tried to believe in a god so that people would except me I have been to so many different churches done research on the matter as well as read the bible from front to back.  There is nothing there to prove the existence of a god for me.  Some people would Probably say that it is your lack of faith that causes my depression and loneliness.  This could not be farther from the truth for me.  It is the fact that my family and old friends that think that I just want to be a rebel, different, and want to mold me to the image they want.  That is what want me to be, that has been a big contributor to my depression.  Me and my mom used to be close or as close as I can get to a person emotionally.

    I had to take a break from writing this post for awhile, because I have been in tears while writing this.  My heart is heavy and I hurt so bad, but I push on.   I expose my heart to all of you out here to let you know if you feel the same way you are not alone.   You can make it through it.  It does not matter if you’re a teen, in your 40’s or in your later years you can push through this.  You are stronger than you think.  I know because I am living it with you.  I feel the pain, the anguish, fear and loneliness the as much as anyone.  Those thoughts in your head can be change but only through practice and hard work.  You just have  you just have to have faith in yourself and find your passion.  Thing do get easier the more you work at it.  It may never go away, but at least it can be more manageable for you in the long run.

    If you know and love someone who has depression take the time to try and understand them.  Let them know they are loved don’t just say it show it.  You will make it easier for them and you may save their life.  Please.

    If you have any questions on ways I have used to manage this leave a comment down below or you can message me on facebook or twitter.  I will try to respond as much as I can.

    I want to leave you all who read this with this,  You are all loved even though it may not feel like it at times you are.  I love you all and stay strong and let peace be with you all.

     

  • Day 4

    Well today was the end of my first week of school.  I had Intro to Cinema and History of World Civilization 2.  After my classes I had a meeting with my TRIO SSS (Student Support Services) advisor.

    In Cinema we were learning about its technical history from the Zoeatrope to George Melies “A Trip to the Moon”.  It was interesting to see how they first attempted to colorize film.  It must have been painstaking painting each frame, even if it was a 13 minute film.  It is remarkable to see how far we have come in such a short period of time ( in the grand scheme of things).  I also started the readings tonight going through the influences of the different countries that had an effect on the industry from the late 19th century to 1947 is where I stopped for the night.  This cover things like the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope developed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson in Edison’s labs (411 Barsam and Monaham).  Going into the Silent Period (214), The German Expressionists (418) and many more.

    This afternoon I had History in which we watched a video (narrated by the late Leonard Nimoy)and discussed the Black plague, and he answered questions on the syllabus.  The video was something that I had seen before on the History channel so most of the information was not too new to me.  Like I knew they used Bodies of the dead as a form of biological warfare of the time and that doctors of the time were some of the most vulnerable do to the closeness of working with those who had the plague.  What I had missed the first time I had watched the video was the Flagellants ( an extremist Christian sect) that had started to gain traction do to the Catholic Church own ignorance and unwillingness to hear any ideas other than those in the Bible.  I started my reading for this class today as well.  The reading are on some of the creation myths of the world.  I have gone through the Iroquois, which is more of a matriarchal view of the world and the Japanese which from what I read started out quite nice then became very patriarchal.  At least that is how I saw it.  I will be rereading it to get a better understanding of them both.

    After history I went to see my TRIO advisor.  I like going to talk to him we always have interesting conversations.  For those who do not know Trio is an organization that help first generation college students and students with disabilities navigate through college life.  They help you set up your schedules, filling out financial aid forms and help to keep you on track in school.  Some of the most prominent people who have been part of this program through the years (not at Normandale Community college where I go they just started theirs last year) are Oprah Winfrey and Angela Bassett.  This Program has been around since the 60’s and is federally funded.  If you are in college and they have this program check to see if you qualify it is extremely helpful.  Me and James (my advisor) talked about how my classes are going so far, some of my financial aid and a little about this blog.  it was a short meeting but it is the first week and he is swamped with the new semester and people on his team. He did ask me if I “If I thought that I would have any problems with the number of classes or the classes themselves.” I dont really think I will of course while writing this blog my self doubt started creeping up again.  This happened before this time I feel I have the support I need to concur it.  beside I always feel like this until the end of the semester.  By then I have seen where I am at and know what I need to do to get the grades I need and want.  Hell right now I am waiting to get my invitation to Phi Theta Kappa our Honor Society. Over the past 2 semester I earned a 3.53 GPA in my college level courses.  If you add in my remedial courses it is a 3.68 GPA.  So, as long as I keep doing what I am doing I should have another good semester.

    Works Cited

    Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. “10/Film History.” Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2016. 411+. Print.