Cuisine

I think that American cuisine is insanely boring. There aren’t many spices or even dishes to work with. Those spices we do work with are taken from other cuisines. To me, a hamburger is boring. I couldn’t go to a restaurant and get a burger and justify that it was worth the eight dollars, when I could easily make something of equal or higher quality at home with little to no training. To go to and Indian restaurant is way more justified to me. I wouldn’t know where to begin to make any of the dishes I could buy there, and I would find many more spices and flavors there. To me, eating from a largely American or western diet would be very monotonous, and I couldn’t stand doing it for very long. I wish I had more options for cuisine open to me, and that I had to dietary autonomy to be eating more Middle Eastern, Indian, and Asian cuisines.

Analyzing Literature

In literature, or at the very least in high school literature, the books to be analyzed are far overanalyzed. Admittedly, there are some novels that should be analyzed heavily and are written to be analyzed heavily. Beowulf is not one of them. An Anglo-Saxon tale of heroism and the supernatural, tinted with whimsical worship by the first chronicler has little applicable meaning in my life. There are no tangible lessons- evident in its original purpose as cheap entertainment. How this tale wormed its way into the heads of literary connoisseurs as some great masterpiece escapes me. Perhaps the first translator, frustrated with the amount of time he spent on the epic and having received no intangible value, forced it upon his colleagues in a mad attempt to redeem the time he wasted. Or perhaps it found its way to fame along a simpler path: by riding the waves of mankind’s fascination with wealth, violence, and ale. I think our disillusioned English teachers should find us some literature that might just teach us something if it captures our attention, and not analyze it so much that we leave its bleeding body pulped on the floor, its face unrecognizable and its voice irretrievable.

Religion and Violence

Religion has started a huge amount of the violence on this planet. This I find contradictory as religion for me is a set of morals, and those morals tell me not to kill other people or engage in violent activity. As far as I know, other religions generally say that violence is not the answer as well. I suppose that a problem could be that people take their religions too literally, and read things into them that aren’t meant to be read into. It could also be that the parts of religions that appeal to our natural human greed create more feeling than the part of religions that offer guidelines and morals. As with followers of Islam who kill people who believe other things than them in order to get into Jannah, and as with Christians who kill people who believe other things than them in order to get into Heaven. Perhaps it is best to first understand the morals that religion tries to present us, and then delve deeper into its traditions if one so chooses. I personally believe that religions exists to encourage people to live better lives in order to create a more perfect and loving world, and think that violence has no place in this world or the next, should there be one.

Justice vs. Forgivness

Justice and forgiveness are generally viewed both as tools and attitudes of benign individuals and organizations. And yet, they are complete opposites.

Justice- the administering of deserved punishment or reward

Forgiveness- to grant pardon, absolve

So why do we as people view justice and forgiveness as two tools of righteousness? What makes us think that justice is anything more than glorified revenge? Justice is perhaps humanity’s way of trying to keep itself clean, and trying to encourage good behavior; to keep itself up to a moral standard. This purpose seems right, but who delivers justice? Is there some greater part of humanity that does us this favor? Who brings them justice? Even if there was, it wouldn’t quite matter, as everyone deals their own justice. And all of us obviously have different perspectives, and so all different views of justice. And each one of us deals our version of justice to those we think deserve it. Are we righteous in doing so?
To be fair, is forgiveness not just glorified wimpiness? It allows those who cause unrest and commit vile acts to go unpunished. It allows them the opportunity to indulge in criminal activity again and again. Therefore, instead of sending the message that righteousness be upheld, the message is sent that it is okay. But if everyone held to forgiveness, there would be no one to commit criminal acts. And moreover, forgiveness is a harder idea and action to get the mind used to, and I’ve always had the impression that things that use more effort are perhaps more worthwhile. Forgiveness puts an end to revenge. So is forgiveness the greatest of all good action, or is justice?
Is justice a wolf dressed in grandma’s clothes, or is forgiveness simply being irresponsible? I’m not totally sure which is the correct course of action, or if discretion should be used between them. I don’t know if there is a happy medium. I do however, lean toward forgiveness.

Emma Goldman

“It takes less mental effort to condemn than to think.” –Emma Goldman

“The majority cares little for ideals and integrity. What it craves is display.” –Emma Goldman

Suppose that Goldman is right, and it takes less mental effort to condemn than to think. Then why did she find it necessary to condemn? She was perhaps so consumed by her own self-righteousness that she could not see that she was what she preached against. She was one who condemned others. She condemned the majority instead of the minority, but really what is the difference? Both are simply a group of people.
I have found that most people view themselves as the minority-them and all their friends- and are constantly condemning the majority. And we are taught to. Not directly- we are taught to speak our minds. So we all condemn each other in an attempt to be ourselves- to be different. Is the only solution to hypocrisy to be silent? I don’t think that a human being is capable of being silent. But condemnation cannot be the solution. It creates anger and arguments and violence, usually to no recognizable resolution.
Actions speak louder than words- a sentiment I’m sure most people say that they agree with. A sentiment we are largely told to live by. Live your morals, lead by example. Everyone says that they believe those things. But those things are harder to do than to say, and we find ourselves speaking our morals and trying to lead by telling, and when these methods don’t work condemnation is created.
I personally think we should live as we deem righteous, and not spew condemnations left and right simply because we disagree. To be the true minority, and a true thinker, one must try harder to act and not speak, and then to act with restraint. To realize that perhaps the self is not the most righteous being alive, and that one’s judgment should not always be given.

The Natives and the Spanish

My history reading tonight is the starter for this journal. The reading talks about the horrible treatment of the indigenous peoples of Central and South American by the Spanish. The Spanish who were capable of such cruelties were Catholic. This spoke to me especially because I myself am Catholic, and it brought me to questioning how someone who theoretically believed in the same moral core that I do, could be capable of such cruelties. I suppose that perhaps they lacked conviction- but I also suppose that they were just as influenced by their environments as any human being. They were raised and lived in a culture that emphasized greed and domination- and so they emphasized greed and domination (so says the text). In contrast, the Native Americans lived in a society emphasizing hospitality and openness (so says the text). It made me reaffirm my opinion from an earlier journal. I think forgiveness is much more important that justice- for one cannot show forgiveness unless shown forgiveness, one cannot show kindness unless shown kindness, one cannot show hospitality unless shown hospitality, one cannot show charity unless shown charity.