C.S. Lewis

This is a speech I gave a while ago in my American Literature class as part of our enlightenment unit. Hope you like it!

You do not have a soul.
You ARE a soul. You have a body.

How does that make you feel? to believe that you are of divine origin, and have an eternal purpose? Some people might describe it as...enlightening.

So who was it that revealed this bit of wisdom? A pope? An Old Testament Prophet? No, it was the author C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland in the late eighteen hundreds. Although raised as a Protestant, Lewis turned away from religion in his teenage years. His tutor, an atheist, had him consider religion closely and decide for himself. Lewis also developed and interest in Germanic paganism. By his twenties, he seemed devoutly against religion as we know it.

Yet that all changed for him in college. After serving in the British army in WW1, he attended Oxford University. One day, as he was riding home from class, he admitted to himself that he did believe in God. He studied the Bible and prayed much, finally deciding to return to Christianity.

Over the rest of his lifetime, he became known for his excellent writing in both fiction and nonfiction. His most popular series is probably The Chronicles of Narnia. These books allowed a small bridge to be formed between religion and literature, turning the story of Christ into a fantasy novel. He also wrote things like the Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and Miracles, all centered around religion.

Lewis left the public eye rather unceremoniously. He ended up getting married at age 58. The woman he married was actually just a friend who couldn't live in Britain without being married to a citizen. They did not see their true love for each other until she was diagnosed with cancer a short time later. She passed away four years later in 1960. Lewis lived another three years and died at the age of 65.

Lewis will be forgotten by some. However, his contributions to both literature and religion are far too powerful to overlook. His clear, refreshed view on life was a blessing to all it reached.

A Couple Conundrums

Okay, I have a couple paradox-style problems I need help with.
First, I was going through my periodic self evaluations and came to this conclusion: My problem is that I need to take every trait of every human being and break it into sentences so I can deal with my problems...like what I just did.
So now I need to find some way to stop dehumanizing people by condensing them into a few short sentences-including myself. But my main problem solving skill is off-limits. Any ideas?
Second, I have recently noticed how every time I watch a church-published video on YouTube, I end up reading all the comments, which are stuffed with anti-mormon propaganda. But any attempt to combat this propaganda is quickly escalated into full on arguments and the spirit of contention. Is there a way to fight the devil's power without being overcome by it?
Any advice would be awesome.

The Republic Manifesto

Let me start by explaining the difference between a Democracy and a Republic. A Democracy is like America, we have two main parties that hold power in the government. A Republic is a one party system, like China's. The careful observer will note that China is communist, and that is correct, most Republics are Communist in one way or another. Now, I have a proposition. We have to start by looking at the personalities of the American public as a bell curve, with conservatives and liberals being the two sides. Why is it that where the large mass of people are, the only party is the independents? The main parties of influence, Republican and Democrat, are on opposite ends of the bell curve. Our system of government takes a mass of rational functioning members of society and forces them in one direction or the other. This is creating two spirals growing farther and farther apart, each trying to thwart the other. But it doesn't have to be this way. What if a new party, one with the moderate views that make sense, took power, booting out either the reps or the dems. I predict that it would continuously gain supporters from whichever party it replaced, allowing it to overcome the other. And now we have a mass of rational people in congress, creating a one party system without having broken any laws. Within that one party, lets call it The People's Party, for that's what I plan on naming it if this works, you can have two sides, one going slightly liberal, one slightly conservative. They would be able to bring up all points of view without fighting amongst themselves. Each minority that desired could apply for a voice, as well, to make sure noone is left out. It would be a low key congress withing congress. Productive debate without hostillity. What do you think, could it work?

Animal Farm Essay

I wrote this essay after we watched the film Animal Farm in class. The assignment was to tell whether Mr. Jones was to blame for the animal's rebellion. For those of you that haven't read the book or forgot the details, it is about a farm (run by Mr. Jones). When Mr. Jones forgets to feed them, the animals revolt against him and the pigs set up a communistic government. They are fueled by the words of another pig, Old Major, who died the day before the rebellion. The pigs names are Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball, or something along those lines. Tell me what you think!

Everything has a cause, from the greatest wars to the smallest habits, we must ask: Why? This is the case with the book and movie “Animal Farm”. What was it exactly that led the pigs to lead the rest of the animals in rebellion against Farmer Jones? Was it hunger alone that caused them to leave their pens, or were there more factors? I believe that there were. Their desire for food was the excuse, not the driving force.

If not food, then what did the animals want? They wanted freedom. They wanted power. Hunger was the rallying point, the centripetal force that the pigs declared and the rest of the animals believed. The animals were inspired by the words of Old Major, and they would have acted on those words, no matter what it took. The fact that they weren’t fed the day after Old Major died was a stroke of luck that sped up the process, but the rebellion would have happened anyway. Napoleon had determination and genius, Snowflake had charisma and good intentions. They were perfectly set up to come into power, and they would have soon taken control with a reason or not. It would have been harder, but the pigs had the talent necessary to control a nation, let alone a small group of animals.

Mr. Jones’ lack of concern for his animals was the last straw, the tipping point, before the animals rebelled. However, Old Major’s words were the rest of the haystack, the force that moved them to the border between rebellion and contentment. The hunger of the animals was thus not a cause, but a small factor. They cannot-nor can anyone else- excuse the animals or condemn Mr. Jones for the corruption of the farm. It was the work of the pigs, and they are solely to blame.

Forecasting

Hey, everyone! Now that I am in High School, I actually get to pick my classes. Picking for my Freshman year wasn't difficult, but forecasting (which is signing up for classes) for my Sophmore year starts next month! I was wondering what classes you guys liked in highschool. There is a poll over on the right, where you can vote for as many as you want.
Thanks!

Yes, I'm Still Alive

I could not believe it when I saw that I had not posted for almost 6 months. The reason I haven't been writing wasn't Facebook this time, though. It was running. Training for Cross Country started in June, and it went through November. I steadily improved over the season with only one minor injury. I ended at the District race with a time of 19 minutes and 48 seconds for the 5K (or 3.1 miles). I then took two weeks off to rest my calves, then jumped right back in. By that point, I was significantly slower, but improved quickly. I caught up to where I was a few weeks ago, and hope to continue to improve. This week was the first week of training for Track. I originally was not going to do it because I wanted to train for longer distances than the ones in track, but I changed my mind just in time. The official season starts in February.