The Secret Scotsman

I was recently asked if I was from Scotland. Needless to say, it was one of the best moments of my life. For those of you who do not know me very well or have never met me, I have a red beard (my regular hair is brown) and can do a pretty mean Scottish accent. Most of my ancestors were Scottish as well, but I doubt that has anything to do with my accent. Besides, I've never actually been to Scotland and know almost nothing about it. Anyway, I was recently asked to say something for a promotional video. The video was for a dear and talented friend of mine (who I'll call Bethany Dillon) who was playing a concert. Naturally, I agreed to do it and made a very awkward and bumbling attempt to persuade people to attend Bethany's concert. Then it occured to me to try using my accent. The second attempt was much better and very convincing, if I do say so myself. Even more misleading was the video's description, which read, "I interview some Americans (and a Scotsman) on why you should come to my show."
After the show, it just so happened that I met someone who had seen the promotional video and who didn't already know that I wasn't Scottish. Ironically enough, she happened to be from South Africa and had a real accent. I felt kind of like a fake. Regardless, I ended up doing my accent for quite a few people, which I kind of enjoyed. Since then, I've come up with quite a few ideas in case Bethany decides to do any more promotional videos, such as the Angry Scotsman, Singing Scotsman, and even one involving an Australian accent. Normally, I would post the video so you could see it for yourself, but since it mentions Bethany's real name, I've decided not to. Anyway, g'night, wee bairns.
S.D.G.

The Last Jones Semester

Yes, everyone, I'm still alive. Well, it's almost time to start my very last semester at good ol' Jones County Junior College. In the fall, if all goes well, I will be starting to attend Southern Miss as a Communications major with an emphasis on Editorial Journalism. That's a fancy way of saying I'll be learning how to write for a newspaper, just like I'm doing at Jones. As far as what I'm planning on doing after that, I've been thinking about checking in to writing for World magazine. World is a "specialty publication," so called because it is written from a Christian perspective. I love it because it's real news, yet it's also made relevant to me and other Christians.
Now for a quick summary of what's happened since last year. As history will attest, my article on Proposition 26 had little effect. It was overturned by an impressive amount, although I can't remember exactly how much. The girl who wrote an article opposing mine did a good job. I disagreed with her on almost every point, but she has obvious talent. Nothing else of particular significance has happened, or at least nothing that comes to mind. The classes I'm taking at Jones are all pretty enjoyable so far. I'm also taking online classes for the first time this semester, so we'll see how that works out. What I'm most anxious about are my new staff members. Last year they turned out fine, except for one who dropped out of school. This year I've got two new members, and I'm anxious to see how they'll turn out. I think that managing people is probably the hardest thing about being an editor, and it's also one of the most useful experiences I've had at Jones. It's difficult to try to balance authority and leniency.
My second favorite class this semester would have to be Ethics. The teacher is great, but he has a tendency to toot his own horn occasionally. I will probably vent a lot of my opinions on different ethical theories here in the future, so be forewarned. I think that if I weren't a journalism major, I would probably choose philosophy instead. I think I would really enjoy teaching philosophy classes. I like philosophy for much the same reason I do journalism: it's a search for truth. I suppose truth matters more to me than almost anything else. My mom is kind of like that. She says that truth people tend to be kind of insensitive and prone to legalism, which I guess is true of myself.
Anyway, that's what's going on right now. I'll keep you posted.
S.D.G.

The First Confrontation

An editor's life is a busy one, especially when said editor has a part-time job and is enrolled in the Honors Institute. Until lately, nothing particularly interesting had been happening. I've been getting on okay with my writers, meaning that nothing negative has happened. Other than a few instances in my personal life, which I will decline to mention, life has been fairly humdrum. And yet, simultaneously, things around me seem to be heading into a crescendo.
Spiritually, my life has been getting much more interesting. I recently began attending Wednesday night youth services again, which has been food for my soul. I missed the passion that comes from pursuing God wholeheartedly with like-minded peers. It's unlike anything else. More importantly, I feel like things  are escalating. I feel a strong need to initiate a prayer time before the services to make them even more intense and fulfilling. Why I think this is necessary is difficult to pinpoint. It's part of that "crescendo" feeling I mentioned earlier, but I have no idea where it's headed. Perhaps it will lead to the next step in God's plan for my life. I'm also teaching Sunday School in the morning now. It's not a big deal, I'm just teaching out of a book. I brought the book, "Dug Down Deep," to our youth pastor and said I thought it was important that we teach the youth about the basic principles of Christianity. Of course, he responded by laying it back on me. The book is pretty much about basic theology; the non-negotiables of Christian faith which every believer should know. Stuff like the deity of Christ, the Trinity, what the cross means to us, and good stuff like that.
On a different note, things around the newspaper may soon get a crescendo of its own. For the first time, I will be writing an article for one side of a controversial issue while another writer opposes me. I will be writing in defense of Proposition 26, a proposed amendment to Mississippi's State Constitution which has drawn a lot of negative fire recently. In essence, if 26 is passed, human embryos will be recognized as people, which will entitle them to basic rights like the right to live, which would effectively end abortion in Mississippi. If you remember one of my previous posts, "Deafening Silence," you know that I am definitively Pro-Life. However, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have launched a campaign aimed at putting doubt in the minds of conservatives. The maddening thing about it is that if people would just read the actual amendment, do some research, and use good sense, then the claims of organizations like PP and the ACLU would be shown up for the hollow sham they are. Since everyone else is too lazy, I'm going to do the research and put it all into my article.
My opponent is the President of the Student Democrats Club at JCJC. I've never spoken to her, although I see her around campus all the time. I never knew she was the president of a club, though. Anywho, I'm pretty excited to see how this all plays out. If I play my cards right, she'll just be repeating the same old things that have been circulating on the internet recently, and I'll have an article refuting each and every point she might make, and then some. It turns out that there are quite a few doctors and lawyers who support 26, so making my case should be easy. I'll post the final article on here, probably sometime next week, and let you know how everything went. Until then, dear readers.
S.D.G.

My Fifth Dimension Theory

     College is useful for all kinds of things, like knowing how to categorize the theories you have come up with over the years. I recently learned about metaphysics in philosophy, and realized, "Hey, one of my theories is about metaphysics!"
     The theory itself is about the structure of reality, and occurred to me when I learned about the different dimensions. It isn't original by any means, I just sort of re-invented the wheel. C.S. Lewis wrote about it in his book, Mere Christianity (one of my favorites), long before it ever entered my head. It goes something like this: There are four dimensions of reality. The first dimension is a straight line which can only go in one direction, right to left. The second is made of straight lines which can go in several directions; right to left, forward and backward, and all the degrees in between. A square is possible in this dimension, and wasn't in the first. The third dimension is made of lines which can go in all the directions of the second, as well as up and down and all the degrees in between. The concepts of depth and volume are introduced in this dimension. A cube is also possible here, which is made of six squares. I'm a little fuzzy on the fourth dimension. I'm no physicist, but I think that space and time are what makes it unique. Anyway, the theory asks the question: What if there were a dimension beyond ours? What if there was a higher level of reality that our reality was a part of, just like the squares from the second dimension were a part of the cube of the third dimension? If this were true, there are two things we can deduce from it.
     1. We could not know anything about this dimension other than that it might exist. Imagine that someone was born and lived in the second dimension and somehow was able to visit the third dimension and learn about it. If he went back to the second, how would he explain to his friends the concepts which make the third dimension unique? He could draw a representation of a cube, but to someone who had never seen depth or volume for himself, it would have absolutely no meaning. In the same way, if it were possible to somehow experience the fifth dimension, no one would be able to explain it to us because it involves concepts which we have never seen or felt for ourselves. This leads us to the second point.
     2. We cannot imagine anything that does not already exist in our dimension. All of our "original" ideas are just things which already exist, rearranged in a new way. Take the idea of dragons, for example. A dragon is just a compilation of ideas which already exist, such as scales, wings, feet, teeth, animals, and certain shapes. Even the fire-breathing thing is a combination of the existing things breathing and fire put together. All we mean by original ideas is to combine existing things in ways that don't occur naturally.
     Another point, but this is purely speculation, is that the fifth dimension could be what we refer to as the spiritual world. In that sense, spirituality would be more real than the material things around us. The possibilities for this theory are limitless. What if, instead of just one other dimension, there were an infinite string of them? Of course, the obvious drawback to this theory is that even if it were true, it could never be proven.
     In all probability, someone else has already written in a lot more depth about this than I have. In any case, I thought it was a neat idea, and I hope it keeps your minds busy until my next post.

The Opinions Section

     It's about this time that the realization finally sets in that I won't have time for anything anymore. I have bartered my time for an education. This is the second week of school, and the first wave of assignments is beginning to form out in the deep. Sure, I've had a few piddling tasks to complete along the way, but the serious stuff is almost here.

     Probably the most interesting part of my school this year will be managing the people who write for me in Opinions. The Opinions section is almost always made up of the slightly odd people, people who have forsaken the approval of society for their beliefs, such as myself. The problem is that our beliefs usually clash with each other, which has great potential to get ugly. I set a few rules in place that will hopefully prevent most or all of these impassioned interactions. Most of it is pretty simple stuff, common sense things like "don't say something that you know will tick someone off," and "don't argue with anyone." I also said that articles should only be discussed with me, which will hopefully reduce the chances of a controversial topic coming up during meetings. The hardest thing will probably be holding my own tongue. It's never been a big problem in the past, but I seem to have gotten gutsier and a bit more confrontational over the course of the summer, especially about my opinions. Not that I'm complaining. It helps to have some backbone, but it wouldn't be very good management if I told my writers to behave and then started on one of my rants.

     Originally, I was going to tell my writers to put a lot of emphasis on supporting their ideas with logic and not just the power of the printing press, but I don't know if I can do that anymore, because it would be easy for me to find logical flaws in any opinion that disagreed with mine. Since I can't run the section that way, I'll have to let a lot of illogical things slide, which kind of irks me, but I can live with it. It will probably give me a lot of ideas for more articles. Anyway, that's the news for the moment.

     I'm getting sort of tired of saying "until next time" at the end of every post. I need a catchphrase. Oh well.

Things To Keep In Mind When Reading About My Opinions

     If you tell someone that what they're doing is wrong, does that mean you hate them? That seems to be the popular opinion concerning the religious demographic. Sure, every once in a while you come across a "christian" who shouts hate from the rooftops. But anyone who actually takes the time to read what Christ said will get a different picture. To be sure, the Bible is uncompromisingly clear in saying that homosexuality, addictions, lust, etc. are perversions and sins, but Christ also advocated a "love the sinner, hate the sin" philosophy. The reason that real Christians speak out against homosexual relationships and the like is because they love gay people. The whole idea behind Christianity is to save people from going to hell and give them a relationship with a loving God instead. If we really hated gay people, we would keep silent and let them go to hell. That is the absolute worst thing that could happen to anyone according to a Christian.
     Many people think that the old "love the sinner, hate the sin" philosophy is just a way to weasel out of being called a hatemonger. The truth is that that principle is one of the most basic operational rules of Christianity. It is required, and without it, no one can say that they are a follower of Christ. The best example that I can think of to illustrate this concept is the account of the adulteress who was about to be stoned by an angry mob. The religious leaders who were leading the mob asked Jesus if he would throw the first stone. They knew that the Old Testament Law required the death penalty for adultery, and they were trying to make Jesus out to be a heretic for disobeying the law. This is when Jesus said, "Let him who has no sin throw the first stone." Turned out that no one threw a stone. This is important because it lets us know that we have all broken God's law at one time or another, multiple times, in fact. In other words, since we are all criminals, we don't have the right to punish other criminals. After the mob dispersed Jesus told the woman that her accusers were gone, and then said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." This tells us that although we have broken the Law, Christ wipes our record clean. However, we are also told not to break the Law again in the future. The problem is that anyone who has tried to live by God's standard soon finds that he is incapable of keeping the Law, no matter how many chances he is given. So what is the point of trying? Trying IS the point. One of the absolute essentials for pleasing God is to come back to Him no matter how many times or how hard you fall. Always strive to do your best, but be forewarned that your best will not be enough. That is why we need Him in the first place.
     One more thing, and then I'm done. I mentioned earlier that we should not punish people who do wrong, because we have done wrong ourselves. That relates to the verse which says, "Judge not, lest you be judged."  The thing I want to clear up is what the Bible means when it says, "judgement." It means judgement in the sense of punishment, as in, the Lord will one day deliver judgement to the earth. It means you don't kill someone for committing adultery, or beat up or insult someone because they're gay. If you want to do those things, it means you are hating the sinner, and that has horrible consequences for both the judged and the judge. It doesn't mean that you can't tell someone they're wrong in order to keep them from going to hell. No Christian in their right mind would believe the Bible tells them to do that.
     I can't speak for all the so-called christians who say that God wants to wipe homosexuals from the face of the earth, but I can speak for myself and say to all terrorists, abortionists, porn addicts, homosexuals, murderers, rapists, etc.: God loves you, and He has something wonderful for you if you will only believe in Him.

A New Name

     I would love to write in this blog more, it's just that not much has been happening lately. At least not in the sense of "me doing stuff." However, as I said in my last post, I have been learning quite a bit lately about following God and my role in His plan. One thing I have been considering is renaming this blog. Not that I think that "A Writer's Journey" is a bad name or anything, but ever since I've felt that God put a writing gift in me (more than a year ago), my focus has been getting less on the Giver and more on the gift. I would like to remind myself and inform others that I write for one purpose only: to give glory to the One who has redeemed me. I don't write to make money or for fame, and I mean that in the strictest sense. Usually when people say that, they mean that they're not trying to make a lot of money, or garner too much attention. What I mean when I say it, is that if I never get hired for a single paying writing-related job in my life, I won't care. I've stopped caring about where my next meal will come from or how I'm going to survive. My God is much too powerful and much too faithful to His followers for me to worry about those things. The goal is not my survival, but God's glorification. Of course there's always the genius who will read that and say, "Well it's hard to glorify anyone if you're dead because you didn't worry about surviving." As I've already said, my God is faithful. He worries about the survival part for me. What's that, Mr. Genius? It's irresponsible to think that way if you have people depending on you, like a family? I say my family (no, I don't have one of my own yet) would be much better off in the hands of Someone who knows exactly what they need and how to provide it, instead of relying on a flawed, corrupt, and foolish man such as myself. Of course, that's not to say that there's no effort required on my part. I have the responsibility of taking the opportunities that God sends to me as a means of survival, such as a job, and working as hard as possible to make the most out of that opportunity. I also have the responsibility of discerning which opportunities I need to take and which I don't, but that will come automatically as long as I stay close to God and seek His will. As I've said before, I don't think that these beliefs are radical. I think that any Christian who has spent a decent amount of time reading scripture must come to the same conclusion. Politicians, stand uncompromisingly for what's right and let God worry about the votes. Singers, sing for Christ and His glory, and let God worry about where you'll perform next. This applies to everyone who has been given a talent from God. After all, our abilities are not our own. We didn't choose them. That's why they are called "gifts," because someone had the sense to realize that they were of a divine nature, and therefore couldn't have come from ourselves. All of us have four choices when deciding what to do with our gifts. We can use it for ourselves, we can ignore it and not use it at all, we can use it for others, or we can use it for God (which usually also requires using it for others).
     Anyway, if any of you could help me come up with a new name reflecting this attitude toward writing, I would greatly appreciate it. Until next time.