Fast Food

This year I decided to give up fast food for Lent. I was surprised with the level of self control that I showed, because the cafeteria hours on campus often force me to eat an early supper and hit up the fast food joint late at night when I get hungry again. Overall, I felt much healthier and energetic. To be honest, I don't really need fast food to survive. If I can go forty days without it, I can go a year. Or so I thought. A few days after Lent ended I had my first fast food in over forty days. It was glorious. I enjoyed a Dorito Loco Taco Supreme from Taco Bell. This is what I had waited so long for while all of my friend told me about how delicious this culinary masterpiece was. While I always thoroughly enjoy the taste of fast food, I always regret the indulgence afterwards. I feel slow and tired after eating any sort of fast food; however, the drinks aren't necessarily that bad, and I really like the smoothies, slushies, and limeades. On top of all this, I have been reading a book called the McDonaldization of Society. Essentially this book spells out the many ways in which modern society has shifted in order to operate efficiently and at lower quality for the sake of profit. At the forefront of this societal shift was McDonalds and the extremely successful business model that Ray Kroc Pioneered. I now view McDonalds and all other fast food outlets as huge, profit-seeking monsters that dehumanize people and provide low-quality product that slowly kills the consumer. I digress. The point is that I feel as though a long-term avoidance of these products should be imminent for myself. With my track record for self-control I will simply do my best to make healthier, more friendly choices. In the end, McDonalds can count on my to ask for a free cup of water three to four nights out of the week regardless of my patronage, simply because it is a convenient place to hang out late off campus since they are now open 24/7.

Books

I have a tendency to wear out books. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I hold books incorrectly; or maybe I read too slowly, so the book has to be held open longer. I always get books from friends that they claim to have read but seem to be in nearly perfect condition. This makes me suspect of whether they have actually read the book; because after I'm finished with it the binding tends to be quite a bit more worn, or there seems to be a slight crease in the cover from holding it open. I need to either learn to hold a book properly or learn to read more quickly.

Tolerance

Our wonderful country was founded on the idea of liberty and tolerance. Tolerance is defined by the Meriam Webster Dictionary as, "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own." This does not mean that we are expected to subscribe to the views of each person we encounter. What this means is whether you agree with another person's opinion or not, recognize that person's right to feel the way that he or she does. Conservatives and liberals have both distorted this. Conservatives try to use the first amendment to deny the need for tolerance. On the other end of the spectrum, liberals cry, "intolerance!" whenever someone disapproves of another viewpoint. Both sides need to pull their heads out and get over themselves. Be an adult; learn to coexist with people that have different ideas than your own.

Moving Forward

In the 16th century, 1500 years of Christian tradition held that the stars and planets revolved around the earth. An ancient Greek scientist, Ptolemy, put forth this geocentric theory, and the church held to this view. They believed that mankind was the greatest of God's creations and that we must be the center of the universe. When Nicolas Copernicus published his De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium in 1543, he had the luxury of dying a few weeks later. He avoided the attacks of the church on charges of heresy. Galileo was not so lucky. He suffered trial and conviction over his agreement with Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system and was forced to live in seclusion for much of the rest of his life.


The church seems to be quick to attack or deny science when it seems to contradict the Bible. Now the purpose of this entry is not to present scientific evidence one way or the other; I simply want to draw attention to the fact that the church is wrongfully afraid of science. When science brought forth the theory of evolution, Christians all over the United States retreated from the intellectual and scientific world into fundamentalism. This is the wrong response. Here's the secret: all truth is God's truth. No matter what science uncovers, it will not contradict God.


Jon Huntsman, a republican presidential hopeful for the 2012 election, created quite a ripple when he tweeted, "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." This sent the evangelical voters into a frenzy. How can this guy believe in evolution and call himself a Christian? Kudos to him for recognizing the fact that evolution does not nullify his belief in God. Why do you think so many kids that go off to college lose their faith so quickly? Perhaps it is the fact that they are brought up being told that they have a choice between Christianity and evolution, and the two cannot coexist.


We should not be afraid to progress in science, and we should not be suspect of all scientists as this is the attitude that many in conservative Christian circles share. God has given us a beautiful, magnificent, and wonderful universe, full of intricacies and mysteries. Don't be afraid of what science finds; explore your world and know the glory of God through what He has made.