Black Magic... as bad as the name may sound, when I say black magic, I'm referring to cultural practices such as shamanism and therapy through traditional ques and not those of dark arts or divine rituals. Black magic used in spiritual healing, shaman, is a religion dwelled practice.
Coming from Hmong culture, I've been exposed to black magic, shaman ceremonies, spiritual healings, anima sacrificial rituals throughout my life. Because of so, I've come to understand the underlying basics to how practices works. Only a shaman, who'd go into trances would fully understand events surrounding the rituals. When it comes to spiritual healings, a shaman is paid for his service to help heal that of a self, a person's family members, etc. During the event of so, the shaman leads the ceremony where he or she goes into a trance falling into the world of the supernatural. It is there that they find the reason to the sickness of the person who's in need of healing. From there, pre-prepared animal sacrifices are used as gifts to tribute to the supernaturals in order to leave or help the one being bothered heal. The results of the ceremony, the person is healed.
There are many other forms of black magic used in spiritual healing, some that does not involve shaman intervention. During the earlier years of my mother, she had an eye pain problem that has been going on for days. It came to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore, and so she called her father who is a shaman and lived 700 miles away from us. Over the phone, my grandfather performed a spiritual healing through words speaking the words to my mother as she does the actual physical application to her eyes. Her eyes were immediately relieved from pain.
An experience of mine was at my grandfathers funeral. During the funeral, a shaman does a food sacrifice as a final meal to give to the dead on their journey back to their homeland before going to the afterlife. As I stood there by the casket, I saw my grandfather's mouth moved when the shaman was saying the rituals. My uncle came to me, pulled me back, and said that my grandfather is feeding, don't disturb him. I was shocked.
Few knowledgeable approaches had been made to decipher that of black magic and witch crafts. In non-industrial societies, anthropologists incorporated practices of black magic and witch craft to that of fearing the unknown and waging war. In some tribes, it would be concluded that a person's death was due to the result of nearby villages using witch craft. Scientifically, this approach would look into depths of illnesses and diseases resulting the depth.
Overall, the approach of sciences to explain that of the supernaturals as that of black magic has yet to find solid, correlating evidence. There have been cases such as mind reading and having a visual display of mind processes that can determine the underlying thoughts, but for that correlating to some supernatural occurrences are yet to be revealed. Robin did mention that of a person who finds water through tapping the ground, but it has been concluded that the person is of experience at finding possible water resources. Then there are cases such as hoax of past alchemy proved to be possible in recent scientific experiments.
Now if I told Robin this story, would he believe me? I've underwent
first hand experience at these happenings, but would that be convincing?
From a scientific view, facts are needed. If I mentioned that when I
saw my grandfather moving his mouth, it was after an all-nighter of
kneeling, honoring the dead, the scientific approach would be that I had
no sleep and saw illusions. Then the facts of lack of sleep and
illusion seeing as a results would be used. I however, knew what I saw,
and believed it. strial societies,
Monday, December 5, 2011
Abortion as a Women’s Issue and a Feminist Issue
Since abortion issues are centered around women’s bodies and their relative pregnancy, some people advocate for abortion to be a women’s issue that should have no interference from men. For example, men should not be allowed to vote or have a say with what a woman does with her own body.
Pro-choice and pro-life are the options; there is not much in between area to choose from, but there is a lot within the two options that can be debated on. There are different levels of the issue, different situations women face, and different ideologies that people are exposed to. This is what makes this issue so rich and complex.
Feminism today is considered to uphold a wholly pro-choice ideology; a woman’s body is her own, and by no circumstances should lawmakers or religious groups enforce their pro-life agenda upon them. That is why some feminists, but not all, see this issue as one that should be mandated by women-only.
On the other hand, the preservation of unborn life is seen by society as everyone’s issue, men as well. By alienating the other sex, it takes away voices and opinions that could have value and worth.
Feminism is for everybody. Even though abortion is about a woman’s body, and what someone does with their body is their choice, there are conflicts that arise when a pregnancy is involved. Abortion is about women, and feminism is about the equality of women, but men can be an important and valuable component of feminism. Men can be (and often are) feminists, too.
This is why is it vital to communicate ideas and stances; men do not have to be quiet on this issue, but should be welcome to ask questions and encouraged to learn more about the woman as an individual with certain rights and powers. No man will ever know what it is like to be pregnant or to have to make the choice to have an abortion or not, but they can be informed; this information can help dissipate an “us vs. them” mentality. Feminism strives to achieve equality and understanding. The power imbalance between men and women is alive and well in today’s society. Feminism tries to minimize this power imbalance to achieve equality in men and women, not to make women more powerful than men. This is why abortion has to be discussed in a manner of openness and honesty; it is highly politicized, which mitigates and diminishes the importance of the issue. It makes someone choose sides and wear a label. In order to be a “true conservative” you have to be pro-life; in order to be a “true liberal” you have to be pro-choice.
This dichotomy allows people to think less about the issue itself; it makes people align themselves with a view based purely on politics. I believe that a lot of men do this. Women, too. Both genders need to understand the extent of the issue; then people can better decide what they believe and if they think that only women should be allowed to have a say in abortion issues.
Pro-choice and pro-life are the options; there is not much in between area to choose from, but there is a lot within the two options that can be debated on. There are different levels of the issue, different situations women face, and different ideologies that people are exposed to. This is what makes this issue so rich and complex.
Feminism today is considered to uphold a wholly pro-choice ideology; a woman’s body is her own, and by no circumstances should lawmakers or religious groups enforce their pro-life agenda upon them. That is why some feminists, but not all, see this issue as one that should be mandated by women-only.
On the other hand, the preservation of unborn life is seen by society as everyone’s issue, men as well. By alienating the other sex, it takes away voices and opinions that could have value and worth.
Feminism is for everybody. Even though abortion is about a woman’s body, and what someone does with their body is their choice, there are conflicts that arise when a pregnancy is involved. Abortion is about women, and feminism is about the equality of women, but men can be an important and valuable component of feminism. Men can be (and often are) feminists, too.
This is why is it vital to communicate ideas and stances; men do not have to be quiet on this issue, but should be welcome to ask questions and encouraged to learn more about the woman as an individual with certain rights and powers. No man will ever know what it is like to be pregnant or to have to make the choice to have an abortion or not, but they can be informed; this information can help dissipate an “us vs. them” mentality. Feminism strives to achieve equality and understanding. The power imbalance between men and women is alive and well in today’s society. Feminism tries to minimize this power imbalance to achieve equality in men and women, not to make women more powerful than men. This is why abortion has to be discussed in a manner of openness and honesty; it is highly politicized, which mitigates and diminishes the importance of the issue. It makes someone choose sides and wear a label. In order to be a “true conservative” you have to be pro-life; in order to be a “true liberal” you have to be pro-choice.
This dichotomy allows people to think less about the issue itself; it makes people align themselves with a view based purely on politics. I believe that a lot of men do this. Women, too. Both genders need to understand the extent of the issue; then people can better decide what they believe and if they think that only women should be allowed to have a say in abortion issues.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The Alcoholism
People are saying that, the most irritating things are the ones you care the most. I love my dad and I totally respect him for everything he did, except for one--The Alcoholism. Most of families have their own problem, and the only one in my family is related to the Alcohol. My dad is addicted to Alcohol and what is more important is, he is proud of it.
In my dad's perspective，Alcohol is a good thing; It not only makes you feel good, but also makes you look like a real man. So, if you can take more shots than other people, you are the winner. In addition, my dad also thinks the alcohol is a tool to help him to get success in business world. My dad is a business man, and he has a lot of social events to attend and some of them are Alcoholic. My dad thinks Alcohol can bring him close to the man he wants to do business together during the social event. Every time when I try to stop my dad from drinking him always said that he is doing business. I don’t understand why his business cannot survive without Alcohol.
In my opinion, in the beginning Alcohol is something my dad needs for his part of business success, however, it now turns out to be something he want. I always found he was drinking by himself. I understand that in China, sometimes business cannot be made without Alcohol, which is part of the "Chinese Business Culture", and most of the deals are made on the dining table. But I can still distinguish the businessman and the Alcoholic, the bottom line is, if you quit your job, you will stop drinking, but I will doubt if it is going to happen in my dad.
I guess now the only solution is to make my dad realize he is now in addition to the Alcohol which will cause serious health problems. Sometimes, Alcohol is not a bad thing if you know how to control the amount you drink every week. I also have some beer when I was in Party or Bar, but I can always manage how much I should drink.
In my dad's perspective，Alcohol is a good thing; It not only makes you feel good, but also makes you look like a real man. So, if you can take more shots than other people, you are the winner. In addition, my dad also thinks the alcohol is a tool to help him to get success in business world. My dad is a business man, and he has a lot of social events to attend and some of them are Alcoholic. My dad thinks Alcohol can bring him close to the man he wants to do business together during the social event. Every time when I try to stop my dad from drinking him always said that he is doing business. I don’t understand why his business cannot survive without Alcohol.
In my opinion, in the beginning Alcohol is something my dad needs for his part of business success, however, it now turns out to be something he want. I always found he was drinking by himself. I understand that in China, sometimes business cannot be made without Alcohol, which is part of the "Chinese Business Culture", and most of the deals are made on the dining table. But I can still distinguish the businessman and the Alcoholic, the bottom line is, if you quit your job, you will stop drinking, but I will doubt if it is going to happen in my dad.
I guess now the only solution is to make my dad realize he is now in addition to the Alcohol which will cause serious health problems. Sometimes, Alcohol is not a bad thing if you know how to control the amount you drink every week. I also have some beer when I was in Party or Bar, but I can always manage how much I should drink.
What..pre-marital sex!!!
Words cannot begin to describe the facial expression of disgust that my grandmother put up when I brought up the subject. It was as if I had said something so sinful and too unruly to even be mentioned.
From my grandmothers perspective, traditionally it was unheard of for a girl to date more than two men, and she was only expected to lose her viginity to her husband, after she got married. This was because a girl was expected to have a certain level of moral as women were considered the backbone of society. She also went on to say that a girl losing her virginity before marriage was a represantion of loose morals and a huge embarrassment to the family. Since she is also very religious she did not forget to mention to me that in the bible pre-marital sex was forbidden.
I can understand where my grandmother was coming from given her age(89), however that is not to say I agree. Personally I have a totally different viewpoint mainly because I grew up in a more liberal decade and am more scientific than I am religious. I believe that any person should be at liberty to date as many people as possible until they find the person their meant to be, just like you carry out as many experiments as is necessary before you make a final conclusion. I am very liberal also in that I believe a girl should not be forced to live a life for her family's interests and not her own. When it comes to the religious aspect of it I totally disagree because I am pretty sure that a lot of young and older people are engaged in pre-marital sex, mainly because of the society we live in today, and so it is impractical to label all of them as sinners.
Many people have different views when it comes to this issue and so it all depends on who you are and where you come from...
From my grandmothers perspective, traditionally it was unheard of for a girl to date more than two men, and she was only expected to lose her viginity to her husband, after she got married. This was because a girl was expected to have a certain level of moral as women were considered the backbone of society. She also went on to say that a girl losing her virginity before marriage was a represantion of loose morals and a huge embarrassment to the family. Since she is also very religious she did not forget to mention to me that in the bible pre-marital sex was forbidden.
I can understand where my grandmother was coming from given her age(89), however that is not to say I agree. Personally I have a totally different viewpoint mainly because I grew up in a more liberal decade and am more scientific than I am religious. I believe that any person should be at liberty to date as many people as possible until they find the person their meant to be, just like you carry out as many experiments as is necessary before you make a final conclusion. I am very liberal also in that I believe a girl should not be forced to live a life for her family's interests and not her own. When it comes to the religious aspect of it I totally disagree because I am pretty sure that a lot of young and older people are engaged in pre-marital sex, mainly because of the society we live in today, and so it is impractical to label all of them as sinners.
Many people have different views when it comes to this issue and so it all depends on who you are and where you come from...
Science or Religion
For the majority of time spent on earth, most of history's population has believed in some sort of religion. There are lots of religions out there and everyone thinks their religion is the correct one. So which one is the correct religion? Surely only one of them can be correct or perhaps they are all wrong. Christianity is the world's most popular religion and has been for quite some time. Only recently has a new "religion" emerged and taken a foothold in modern society. I am speaking of science. For sake of argument, I am going to concentrate on comparing science and christianity to be a little more specific. Science has recently emerged and has discovered many things that contradict christianity. On the other hand christianity explains many things that science cannot. For example, science believes in evolution; this meaning that humans have evolved from a primitive species of apes. There is vast evidence to prove this claim such as finding skeletons and fossils of early humans being very identical to apes. Christianity believes that Adam and Eve were the first humans to walk the earth and they are the ancestors to all living people today. There are many stories in the bible that present evidence of this. Another argument for science is the creation of earth. The big bang theory is widely accepted in the science community and there is evidence of this to be true. christians believe God is the creator of everything. This has merit because everything had to start somewhere or was it simply always there?
More than likely we will never know for absolutely certain which religion is correct. No religion can be undoubtedly proven to exist; however, no religion can be undoubtedly proven NOT to exist either. When it really comes down to it, it doesn't matter what religion you believe in. No matter where your religion says you come from, we all have to share this planet so we might as well get along.
Abortion
Pro-life or Pro-choice? In our society this seems to be a dividing question. Pro-life believes that, no matter the circumstances of the mother, a baby is a baby and should have the right to live. Pro-choice on the other hand feel a mother should have a right to abort a baby if she so chooses.
However, it seems the real question behind the two sides, is when does life officially "begin"? When is a baby really considered a baby? From the moment of conception, Pro-life will argue, does life begin. Though the embryo may not have thoughts, let alone eyelids, it could be considered a human being. The common view of many christians is that abortion is immoral and sinful. In this sense, many people believe that abortion, at any time during the pregnancy, is murder. The difference in terminating a pregnancy at week 3 and week 12 differs drastically.
However, if a mother's life was put in jeopardy due to a pregnancy, it could be argued that one life would still be lost for the sake of another. Additionally, if a pregnancy was the result of a traumatic experience such as rape, reasons to abort the baby could also be justified in the eyes of some people.
Many times, a person's opinion on this matter is influenced by either a strong faith, or personal situations. Everyone has different factors which determine their stance on this issue. It can be immensely hard to understand where the opposing side is coming from.
Human Stem Cell Research
Stem Cell research has caused a lot of commotion in the scientific, religious and political fields of our society. The controversies surrounding this scientific research and its methods have however pushed scientists to find less methods to reach the same results, but for the purpose of this blog, I have chosen to discuss the initial scientific purpose of stem cell research and what made it so disapproving.
Personally, as a scientist, I do not believe in absoluteness which is the reason why i was not on the extreme left side of the spectrum, but I do find myself at lost when it comes to the topic of human stem cell research. I am a supporter of reproductive rights, approve of pro choice and in- vitro fertilization, but I find myself second guessing myself when it comes to stem cell research because the concept of when life begins is not certain to me. I do not believe in a perfect cause because there is no such thing as perfection, but arguing for one cause or another requires belief in perfection. Stem cell harvesting does require embryonic stem cells for the best results, and it is my belief that the embryos that are in storage for years are better used by giving a mentally challenged child suffering from Cerebral Palsy a chance to heal or a person suffering from Leukemia can be saved. In this context, I am thinking more of the greater good, which may not be sufficient of an argument for those who consider the human rights of the fetus.
Most people think that the conflict between religion and science is unnecessary and unhealthy for the society, but I believe that every theory and belief needs a challenger so they can hone their arguments and even work for a better understanding of what the followers truly stand for. new development in stem cell research proves that religious activists have in fact pushed science to find other routes to avoid ethical conflict. For example, recent studies show that stem cells can be harvested from amniotic fluids as well as through the umbilical cord of a newly born. With the permission of the parents, scientist can harvest stem cells from the umbilical chord since it is usually discarded after the birth. Embryonic stem cells still provide the best result but with diligence and growing support for the newly designed harvesting method, it is a matter of time before scientist find a new way to increase the effectiveness of post embryonic stem cells.
The question that I believe is important is that if religious pro life activists had not protested against embryonic stem cell harvesting, would scientists have pushed themselves to find alternative routes to similar results?
Stem cells are incredible assets created by the human body. They have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell. Stem cells can help people who are suffering from Cerebral Palsy, Leukemia, Pancreatic problems such as diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
Personally, as a scientist, I do not believe in absoluteness which is the reason why i was not on the extreme left side of the spectrum, but I do find myself at lost when it comes to the topic of human stem cell research. I am a supporter of reproductive rights, approve of pro choice and in- vitro fertilization, but I find myself second guessing myself when it comes to stem cell research because the concept of when life begins is not certain to me. I do not believe in a perfect cause because there is no such thing as perfection, but arguing for one cause or another requires belief in perfection. Stem cell harvesting does require embryonic stem cells for the best results, and it is my belief that the embryos that are in storage for years are better used by giving a mentally challenged child suffering from Cerebral Palsy a chance to heal or a person suffering from Leukemia can be saved. In this context, I am thinking more of the greater good, which may not be sufficient of an argument for those who consider the human rights of the fetus.
Most people think that the conflict between religion and science is unnecessary and unhealthy for the society, but I believe that every theory and belief needs a challenger so they can hone their arguments and even work for a better understanding of what the followers truly stand for. new development in stem cell research proves that religious activists have in fact pushed science to find other routes to avoid ethical conflict. For example, recent studies show that stem cells can be harvested from amniotic fluids as well as through the umbilical cord of a newly born. With the permission of the parents, scientist can harvest stem cells from the umbilical chord since it is usually discarded after the birth. Embryonic stem cells still provide the best result but with diligence and growing support for the newly designed harvesting method, it is a matter of time before scientist find a new way to increase the effectiveness of post embryonic stem cells.
The question that I believe is important is that if religious pro life activists had not protested against embryonic stem cell harvesting, would scientists have pushed themselves to find alternative routes to similar results?
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