Y Do U Hate?

Any football team who tackles their own players deserves to lose. Utah linebacker, Stevenson "Sly" Sylvester (#10), should give a public apology for his classless actions that led to a Utah loss on Saturday's overtime game against BYU. In Sylvester's defense, corner back Joe Dale (#12) allegedly poured beer and cayenne pepper on Sylvester's jockstrap before the game. Still, that's no excuse for bringing shame to your team, even if it was done in the heat of the moment.

Feelings were hurt and school pride crushed at this year's Holy War. The tradition of hatred and fierce competition between BYU and Utah took a hit as fans turned on their own teammates instead of aiming the energy at their opponents. If we are to preserve this great rivalry, we must remember how the war is to be fought: taunting, jeering, name-calling, desecration of property of the opposing school, invocation of divine endorsement, etc.

Once we forget to hate everything about our opponents, we begin to hate ourselves. A self-destructive rivalry is boring for both sides. Let us all join together in a mutual loathing and bring back the tradition, honor, spirit—and most of all, class, that made this rivalry so great.

Pragmatic Idealism

I find it morally difficult to brand myself as a member of any political party. I am a pragmatic idealist.

Ideally, the most successful government would be a communal, socialist system that granted equality in rights and property. The security of these rights must be governed by a strict moral law, which would require an individual and collective good will. Any breach of the law would be penalized through a unanimously drafted justice system. This type of Zionistic or utopian society has been attempted many times throughout history—two examples: Salem (Jerusalem) and Rio de Janeiro. These two became perhaps the two most violent cities in the world. It is evident that as long as vice, pride, or envy exists, such equality cannot be maintained without creating despotic oppression that would undermine the liberties it meant to protect. Although we should not cease to strive for perfection, this ideal cannot be realized under the leadership of mortal men.

My pragmatic side makes me, in practice, a classical liberal (not to be confused with today’s Democratic liberals).

Government should protect basic liberties and provide for the common defense, but should leave most else to the people to decide. A submissive or over-tolerant attitude does not, however, jive with classical liberalism when it encroaches upon the foundation of the rights liberalism is meant to protect. We must maintain a careful balance in our “live and let live” philosophy.

A flower may not care that weeds are spreading in the distance until they surround and choke it. Other weeds, granted, are harmless as they either do not spread or do not exhaust the nutrients needed by the flower. Some appear to be weeds from the distance, but are simply a different type of flower. Others appear to be harmless flowers, but are dangerously disguised weeds.

In our world, we have to work with the hand we are dealt. The reality is that vice, pride, and envy do exist and threaten our rights. We must be a nation of morals, not complacency if we wish to be truly liberal. Anyone who says that government should not legislate morality needs to understand that all legislation is moral. It all deals with deciding what is right for us collectively and individually. It deals with granting rights, defining rights, and controlling rights. Which rights we decide to protect and promote define our country’s moral strength.

When we mercilessly prosecute members of our national defense for alleged torture yet allow repeated child rapists to walk free after three months in prison, we have acquired a warped sense of how we should legislate morality. We prohibit the use of public property to celebrate religious traditions, yet we do nothing to prevent public tax money from being used to pay for abortions. As the nation leans toward becoming a welfare state, it leans away from being a liberal nation because it allows a small number of people to decide for the rest what liberties will be valued as basic civil rights.

I have actively supported local and national campaigns for both Democrat and Republican candidates. It is unhealthy for a state, a denomination, or an individual to be blindly loyal to a single political party. It isn’t necessary to be part of or defend the Republican Party just because of your religious affiliation, or even just because you tend to have socially or fiscally conservative views. Likewise, if you find yourself at odds with the Republican Party because they ignore important issues that deal with human suffering or inequality, that doesn’t automatically make you a Democrat and require you to only vote for Democrats.

There are more than two sides to every issue. There are more than two issues to each side. There are more than two possible solutions for any given problem. Think for yourself and examine each issue and how it will impact our country’s moral strength. Support an ideal and a practical solution, not a party or a man waving a populist banner of utopia.

Off to a good start

I woke up this morning, determined to be motivated and optimistic despite this weekend's football woes. Danielle left early to class, so I got up and did a little reading on John Curtis, provo mayoral candidate, to prepare for the guest lecture for my 9:00 class. I realized I was running out of time, so I shaved and hopped in the shower. I got out and saw that it was nearly 8:45 and that I still hadn't packed a lunch for Danielle as I had promised. I whipped up a couple quick pulled pork sandwiches with meat leftover from Dasxon's mission homecoming dinner. I smelled it and remembered that I hadn't eaten any breakfast, but I had no time as it took 10 speed-walk minutes to get to campus.

After gulping some O.J. straight from the jug, I ran out the door and decided to try out Tobin's bike he left in Provo, for the first time. As I started to pull the bike out to hop on it and take off, I saw that the back tire was flat. Plan B. I ran up the stairs and took off on foot, trying to move speedily, but wearing sandals made it difficult. I managed to make it up the South Stairs in 7 minutes, grateful that I hadn't eaten any breakfast, for it would have surely ended up duck food. I then reached for my backpack, only to discover that it was not bulging out where the tupperware sandwhich container should have been. All that work, and here is was, 9:03 and I didn't even have the lunch to show for my sacrifice.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, so I just did neither and walked into the SWKT in attempt to slip into class without being noticed by the honorary lecture guest. As I slipped in I discovered it was not my class, and then it sunk in: my class doesn't start till 9:30 on Mondays.
Lame. And I'm still hungry.

Spell-check Makes a Political Statement

12% of Americans still believe that Barack Obama is a muslim and many more believe that he has shady connections to terrorists and extremists. Some go further. As my roommate was writing a paper this morning he typed in "Barack Obama" and he was quickly corrected by the ultra-conservative Spell-check, voicing its opinion that the correct name was actually "Barack Osama."

Secrets...

Danielle: I'm sorry--I can't keep secrets. But you don't understand girls--we have to tell eachother things. If we don't say it, it's like it never happened...

Follow the Prophet...

Spoken thoughts from my dad:


The old testament is weird. I think we will all be good for salvation if we get to compare ourselves against old testament prophets and their families. That’s just my opinion but I think we live the gospel much better than they did. Favorite wives, favorite children, jealousy, hatred, revenge, adultery, incest, cutting up your enemies into small pieces. We do have the advantage of the law of Moses being fulfilled but still… THEY WERE PROPHETS!

The Healer's Art

It might be a sign that your life is really boring when the only entertainment you find in life is in the misfortune of others. I never thought of my life as being particularly boring. But other people seem to expose their tragic flaws in ways that never cease to amuse me.

For example, witnessing someone fall down never gets old. A short time ago as I was walking across campus, a guy came racing toward me on his bike. He was obviously in a hurry, had an overstuffed backpack on his back, and was already struggling to keep balance. As he approached students walking on the sidewalk, he realized that he would either have to stop or take an alternate route. Without even slowing, he decided to cut through the grass between two plush pine trees. He wobbled to and fro like a one-legged beer-bellied fool standing in a one-man canoe being pulled by a motor boat. Disaster was imminent. The final blow was a pine branch to the face. He rolled one way and his bike bounced the other, and bystanders came quickly to offer help (before I even got a chance). But irritated, he refused, and instantly remounted his now lopsided bicycle and rode off. Unable to hold back the laughter, I admired how quickly he healed from such a hard fall.

I always wondered how heroes in movies always seem to be able to withstand blows that often prove deadly to the antagonists. Perhaps there is a magical healing power in pride. Maybe doctors, instead of using morphine, could start shaming their patients into not feeling anything during surgery. They could simply get a 5th grade class to come in, and as a service project, just point and laugh at the patients. No one would dare show pain with their egos at stake. We could make health care affordable for everyone in America, end world hunger, and stop wars—all by tapping into this new source of power. Of course, it would have to be regulated to prevent anarchy. I mean, imagine if someone were to develop such a keen sense of pride that their own bodies wouldn’t even dare die on them. Then those who were more humble and susceptible to pain and suffering and even death, would be oppressed by the prideful tyrants. And I couldn’t imagine living in a world like that…

The art of pride may well be a vice if left unrestrained. At the same time, no one wants their pride hurt. Furthermore/most importantly, if humility is a virtue, perhaps I have too much of it because pain still really hurts me.