The Human person is such a complex being. God gave us a brain to reason with and make logical conclusion as well as a "heart" which I guess is actually part of the brain too with which we "feel" things. A beautiful system that I supposed can be analogized to a marriage some times they gel and sometimes not so much. It is said that men tend to be more rational and women more emotional but in modern time those line see to blur to none existence sometimes. ( I also so see it in politics Republicans tend to be more rational and democrats emotional)
Now to the point of this post. In my life I have come to certain conclusions about the choices I have made and the beliefs I have and I believe them to be correct.(who does believe there choices to be correct or else why would you choose them) When I find that I have believed something in error I am more than happy to put my old thought aside and adapt to my new one. But it takes a little convincing to do so. I need to see evidence. I try not to be persuaded through emotions because they tend to be unreliable although there is most certainly a time and a place for them and even where we must rely on them (easiest example is proving that love exists)
Ok now to the real point of this post. The other day I re posted something my wife posted(about the negative effects of the birth control pill) on her face book page and of course a small debate began with one person in particular. She was fairly livid about this posting and the "bogus" information and research behind it. I got to thinking that to everything there is a negative and positive. The effect is objectively true(i.e. the effect the chemical has on a woman's body but the perceived positiveness or negativeness is dependent on the persons state of emotion or where they stand on the issue.
The"pill" has had many effects on women and men(for it is clear to see, any one who has a wife or mother, whatever effects women in this world eventually effects men )since it first began being used 50 yrs ago
There are physical effects, emotional effects, and sociological effects , many of which were predicted by Pope Paul VI in Humane Vitae an encyclical written in 1968 re emphasizing the churches constant teaching on the matter of contraception among other things. I wish I had more patience with writing for I would love to get into the nitty gritty detail but that not my goal.
When presenting an argument both positive and negative points must be presented and given equal standing until root arguments are settled
For example lets say we want to debate a position upon which 9 other conclusions must be drawn to get to this tenth one. It is pointless to debate the 10th point because fundamental differences may lie at the 4th or 5th point that prevent you from coming together at the 10th point.
This is getting really long and I guess I am saying that yes you can have a fool proof argument but it must be a long and systematic check list of ideas that bring you to that conclusion. Some of it may come down to "my opinion is ....." but that better have a lot of experiences to back it up or else its not worth too much. That's why its always hard to have a good debate because who really wants to invest the time into it. Well I do. I am a searcher for truth. I pray that I am never to proud to say I was wrong. At the same time I believe firmly in those conclusions I have come to because I have put time and effort and research into them.
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So I have read your entire blog! Three posts in the year...but in each of them it is clear that there is a man who can and wants to express himself. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAs far as grammar and usage and spelling and all that goes, I saw only a few "errors." You needn't apologize for your writing skill; there was nothing that couldn't be understood. I have to proof read my every comment as I make typos like crazy. And sometimes I make what I call "thinkos" too. You know, using "there" when I mean "their" or some such.
Anyway, that is just commenting on the surface...you have obviously lived and written and thought enough to come up against the fact that writing is work. I think it is valuable work to write because it does help us clarify the nature of our thoughts, their implications, their basis, and the process we have journeyed through to arrive at them.
It makes me think of a paradigm I was originally shown to construct a lesson plan but I wound up using it in other realms. Maybe I will write a little essay on it at my writepurpose blog. I haven't been writing much there lately, but there is an archive. I do post light pieces with pictures on my breadonthewater blog more often ...anyway, all this to say that I appreciate your stream of conciousness and think you should keep working on your writing...it helps to be able to enter into the debate that ever and always is swirling around us. and to be more ready to give a answer for the hope that is within...