My Faith

About a week before Easter, a couple of Mormon missionaries came to my door and wanted to let me know about this great guy named Jesus. At that point, my relationship with God had been stagnant for a while; I basically hated God for several months after Mom died, then realized that such a feeling was unwarranted and selfish so I stopped hating God but still didn't celebrate my faith. Anyway, I thought it may be interesting to look at God from a different perspective so I could see if I wanted to modify my relationship with God.

I've had several meetings with the missionaries and they gave me a Book of Mormon to read. There seem to be several similarities, but several big differences. One of those differences, the idea of the Trinity, is a reason why I cannot become a Mormon. They've not given up on me yet, but I don't understand why. In case you don't know, the Roman Catholic Church advocates the notion that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not believe in one God in three parts. I can't speak fully for them, but from what I know, the LDS church believes that God and Jesus have separate physical beings because Joseph Smith, the LDS prophet, was visited by both of them when he was young and was told that none of the current churches were the 'correct' church. They also believe a bunch of other things that I have trouble with, but I only want to discuss the Trinity.

To give you some history the concept of the Trinity, while alluded to in the Bible, was not an established part of the Catholic Church until the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. As such, some say that this idea is a human invention and therefore not correct. It may be incorrect, but you cannot argue that it is incorrect simply because it wasn't from God. They could have stumbled on the right answer like those who finally figured out that the Earth wasn't really flat. I choose to believe that there is one God and the Trinity describes the fullness of God.

A common definition of the Trinity is one God with three parts. I can't seem to understand what this means and whether it means what I believe, so I will just state my belief and allow you to decide whether they are the same. I think that the Trinity refers to the three ways that we understand the same God. First, I'll express my logical reason for believing God exists. If you're reading this, you should be able to conclude that matter exists. Presuming you can say with certainty that matter exists, then there are only two logical possibilities. The first is that matter always existed, and the second is that matter was created. (Actually, using Einstein's famous equation E = m*c*c , mass and energy are interchangable in this context, but since the speed of light, c, is 299,792,458 m/s, it's easier to think of matter than energy. For comparision, one gram of something contains approximately 90 terajoules, or 25 million kilowatt-hours, of energy, which is just shy of 21,500 tons of TNT. Hence, the atomic bomb.) I don't believe that there is any way matter could have always existed, so I must conclude that matter was created. As such, I must conclude that there was a creator, which I call God. I understand that this is an extension of faith, since I have no way to disprove the notion that matter always existed. So now to my understanding of the Trinity. In order to explain this idea, I've come up with a key analogy.

Since I believe in God, I have a key. This is my acknowledgement of God the Father, the creator of all matter. The teachings of God the Son in the Bible tells me that I can use my key to open any number of doors. Finally, God the Holy Spirit guides me to the door that I should open, but which door I use my key for is ultimately my choice. This is my understanding of the Trinity.

In case you are wondering, I challenged myself to examine my relationship with God the day the missionaries came. I didn't think that it was fair to look at another church's beliefs without giving thought to what I feel about my church's beliefs and my own beliefs. In the past couple of months I have become much closer to God and have returned to celebrating my faith with other members of the Catholic community on Sundays. While I do not believe everything that the Catholic Church professes, I think that it fits my beliefs most closely.

My Views On Our Government

So, this might seem to some to have political ties, which I mentioned I wouldn't write about anymore. I think that politics is a result of our government, but the two are separate. Also, I'm not going to write about what the U.S. government is, but what I believe it should be. In some cases the two are the same, but there are some things I would remove and other things I would add.

I believe that the sole purpose of the United States government should be to provide its citizens and legal visitors (tourists, green card holders, etc.) with an environment that at least supports and at most enhances the following aspects of life that an average person has come to expect: safety, cleanliness, health, and lifestyle. I'll expand on these four aspects in the remaining paragraphs.

Regarding safety, the U.S. government should be obligated to maintain a judicial system that punishes those who break the law and ignores those who live within the law. Since 'the law' is the key phrase in the previous sentence and its definition is relatively arbitrary, the government should be obligated to allow its citizens to amend, every five years or so, what is punishable and what the punishment is.

It should have quality checks for trade to ensure that products imported and exported, as well as those manufactured or grown for domestic use, do not pose hidden dangers for users of the product.

The government should also maintain the public transportation system so that those using it are not in a more dangerous situation as a result of lack of maintenance. This is all inclusive, and if the cost of maintaining it is too great, certain things would be removed from the system.

Should a natural disaster or catastrophic event be imminently threatening to the safety of its citizens, the U.S. government must respond quickly to notify those who could potentially be affected. Further, if the warning was not soon enough or if the damage was so severe that those who were proactive could not return to a safe environment, the government should provide assistance until those affected were once again safe and in a stable situation.

Finally, the government should be obligated to maintain a working military and intelligence organization to protect its citizens from foreign and domestic threats, and do its best to ensure the safety of all people within the borders.

Regarding cleanliness, the governement should preserve the natural beauty of wild ecosystems by not unnecessarily involving itself. It should also maintain programs such as water and sewage, trash, and recycling to ensure a clean environment for its citizens. It should use biodegradable materials in the production of materials when applicable and aggresively pursue renewable, safe, and environmentally friendly methods of energy production.

Regarding health, the government should maintain parks, campgrounds, nature preserves, etc. for the enjoyment and well-being of its people. It should also be active in the preservation of all manner of life. It should be certain that the programs used to maintain cleanliness do not adversely affect the health of its citizens. The government should also educate its citizens on the effects of pollution on their health. It should monitor the use and quality of perscription drugs and medical care and be commited to improving the quality of care of its citizens.

Regarding lifestyle, the government should allow and participate in the advancement and use of technology to improve communication, activity, etc. between its citizens. It should not infringe on lifestyle choices of the individual, but should tailor what it offers to the majority. It should be active in improving the fundamental education of its citizens and allowing people to choose how they want to live.

In short, the U.S. government should provide what is necessary for a person to feel comfortable in his or her environment and not stand in the way of someone improving him or herself. However, the government should not provide unneeded assistance to those who are not interested in improving their situation and should stop helping after it has improved. The United States should be a place that allows people to achieve great things, and allows people to suffer greatly, simply by providing a safe, clean, and healthy environment that does not inhibit personal improvement and does not save people from personal loss.