Evolution Embroilment

Evolution is a very controversial subject in schools. In fact, many protests have risen in states after a school taught it in their curriculum. What I don’t get, however, is why people are up in arms at this whole thing. People are merely teaching a theory, something that could be believed, and it is extremely important to our education system nowadays.

Biology is one of the most important fields of knowledge of which humans can learn. The natural way of life, the way that organisms have developed to become the graceful animals and humans that we know today. Biology is the road to understanding life. So, if we are to learn about life, we must understand how life came to be as it is. The mere understanding idea that life adapted to become the way it is today can help us in the field of biology. You don’t have to believe in it.  It can help us follow the trail of fossils of an prehistoric animal up until its modern equivalent. It can help us find the environments, flora, and fauna of ages long ago.. Also, Evolution is proving to be very useful in the search for a better kind of medicine, and vaccines, for people need to understand that viruses can mutate in a blink of an eye.

~Andrew Below

Is Breaking Amish Right?

 

Now, Amish people have a very different way of doing things, but do we really need to see their struggle in the real world through a reality show?  Well, within a month, TLC has brought a reality show called “Breaking Amish” to Sunday nights.  The show is based on 4 Amish and 1 Mennonite that leave their homes for good and move to New York City where they start a new life.   There is Abe, Kate, Sabrina, Jeremiah, and Rebecca.  These 5 might seem normal (besides their clothes), but they actually have different ways of doing things in their hometown, so how will they survive in the real world?  Many difficulties come their way as they were never introduced to real world things and situations back in their homes.

Amish and Mennonite people believe in doing things different than everybody else.  They prefer not to use electricity, cars, and most electronics or devices.  There are different kinds of Amish; Ohio Amish, Lancaster County AMish, and Mennonites.  They tend to practice the same things and beliefs, but in stricter forms.  Rules are given to you by your church, and if you disobey them you can be shunned and not spoken to for weeks at a time.  Anything modern makes them feel they are separating from God; worldliness.  If you’re not Amish, than you are considered English, no matter what race you are.  It’s almost like going back in time.   The women get up early to wash, garden, clean, bake, sew, and much more.  Now, what for us would be almost impossible is that they can have phones, but they are used outside the house and are shared with other families.  Women can only ever wear dresses and men wear jeans and a striped shirt at the age of 16.  Driving can sometimes be okay for men, but women can NEVER drive.  Those are a lot different rules than we have in regular towns!

Breaking Amish has people questioning… Did the creators pay them to leave their home or did they choose to find the show?  Some believe that it is wrong of these 5 to leave their Amish lives forever.  I  mean, just think of saying goodbye to your family and friends forever!  Therefore, some refuse to watch it, being disappointed with TLC.  I do too, but it’s pretty interesting to watch.  Now, there are reasons that the addicting show is fake, such as; Jeremiah has a domestic violence arrest from 2005, Rebecca divorced someone before running off with Abe (who she is actually married to and has a child with), Jeremiah has an ex-wife, Abe has a public intoxication arrest in 2008, Sabrina got married in 2009, and sadly more.  So, this show is an entire lie?  That makes me wonder what else TLC is lying about.  I think that Breaking Amish should tell the truth on the show instead of people seeing pictures and reading articles on the internet!  No one should be watching this fake sob story of these 5 young adults’ terrible lives that never actually happened.    

~Allison McAlinden

THE WORLD: CREATED OR A CONVENIENT HAPPENSTANCE

People go about their daily lives living on this earth without thinking how they got here or how the world got here. Many will also go along with the world’s viewpoint that the world is just a result of the big bang and humans evolved from monkeys. However, if you stop and think your opinion might change. For example, could a pile of wood form itself into a house on its own, like a world coming into existence without a creator? Or, are monkey’s still changing into humans today? The Bible is a good reference when wondering about these things, but many people reject the Bible. Something many people don’t know is that science also disproves these absurd theories and also makes the point that there is a God.

The correct viewpoint is that the world was created and God is clearly the creator of the world and the Bible states that man was created on the sixth day. Science proves these theories in many ways. When Charles Darwin came up with the theory that man has evolved from monkeys he had no complete evidence, therefore disproving evolution in itself. When creationists argue why evolution isn’t still occurring if it once did, evolutionists say that it is a slow process. If it were that then there would be many more transitional fossils in the monkey to man arrangement, but there aren’t. Also, the ones that are provided most likely were just humans or monkeys with defects causing them appear the way they did. To counter the Big Bang theory, a person just has to think logically. Without a creator, for the world to be nothing at one point and just make itself there is no logic. For example, if you put a pile of sticks on the ground and no human ever went by them, would you expect a house to come from them? Well, the answer is no. It only makes sense for a house to have a builder, just like a world, needing to have had a creator. Furthermore, a question many people don’t know the answer to is, where did the sticks come from. According to, the Law of Conservation of Mass matter cannot be created or destroyed on its own. So how could there have been any matter for the Big Bang without an outside of the universe force, a creator, in the first place? There couldn’t have been any matter without an outside of the universe creator. The theory of evolution and the Big Bang can easily be disproved by going to the Bible, but if you don’t believe the Bible, science also disproves it.

~Brett Parlier

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and Muslims are required to fast during this month which helps us to cleanse our bodies and to be closer to the religion of Islam.  The fast is to stay away from food, drink, and relations from dawn until sunset, but Muslims are also encouraged to increase in their worship in general and also the recital of the Holy Qur’an.  In according to the practice of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) charity is also encouraged in this month and many choose this time of the year to fulfill the requirement of Zakaat.

~Uzair Afzal

Did the American Soldiers in Afghanistan have the right to burn the Koran?

This past week, in Kabul, Afghanistan, a group of American soldiers burned copies of the Koran, the holy book of Muslims. Some Muslims believe that they did this to insult their religion and took violent action. The Taliban are claiming responsibility for killing two American Army officers as a result of the burnings. Here, take a look at this CNN video, describing these events.

 The American military claims that the Korans had descriptive language written inside of them, urging the Afghan people to attack the U.S. As a result, they were supposedly justified to destroy the holy books.  However the Muslims believe differently, of course. What do you think? Were the Americans correct in taking this course of action? Or do you think the Muslim people were disrespected and were justified to kill the two American officers.

I believe the American military did not have the right to burn the Koran, they could have done something less harsh and disrespectful to the Muslim people. The Koran symbolizes the life and law of an everyday Muslim, that was violated and destroyed in the eyes of the Afghan people. This stirred up anger within the streets of Afghan cities, and led to countless deaths and injuries of both the Americans, and the Afghans. Religion is sacred to all people and destroying religious books is considered an offense. If you would not want your holy book burned, why do it to somebody else’s? For more information on what happened, check out this New York Times article.

~Christos Bagtzoglou