Spring Break 2014

Gather around, children, let me tell you a tale.

This is the story of spring break 2014.

"They are not long, the days of wine and college beach parties" - Ernest Dowson

The tale starts in January, when I decided it would be fun to take a college course to pass the time. Naturally, this college had spring break in March, so two of the five precious days of my parole were spent getting up at 7:00 AM for a 8:00 AM college class. This, combined with my siblings' school being out the previous week meant no family vacation to the beach.

This would not stop me from having an amazing spring break! No, this was only a challenge, for bigger and better spring break plans.

Easter Sunday was the official kick-off to my exciting week. I actually attended church. I had the unique distinction of being the only female under 60 wearing a hat. 

Quite charmingly, too

I spent the night at my grandmother's house. On Monday, I helped her clean out her attic. I have never seen so many vintage Christmas decorations and 70's clothes. We filled her entire car with things that needed to go to Goodwill. For my assistance I got $40 and two of the best, most tacky Christmas sweaters I have ever seen. I will forever treasure them for themed parties.

On Tuesday, I had to endure the endless blathering (by endless I mean 1 hour and 15 minutes) of my Western Civilization II professor. He enjoys referring to his unemployed 30 some year old son as a "little shit" and his son's girlfriend as "that hussy." I think he has some unresolved family issues. In the afternoon, I went to a local park. I began volunteering with a local charity, Angels In Need, that pairs "normal" teenagers with special needs children, in a buddy system, and they do activities on a regular basis. I met my buddy and his mother at the park, and spent an hour and a half playing with him. And by playing, I mean chasing him as he tried to escape the confines of the playground, and pushing him on the swings. It was fun! And that is honestly not sarcasm.

Wednesday was a big day. I had arranged with my little sister to take her hiking in Stone Mountain State Park to see the waterfalls. We woke up early, and hiking shoes and backpacks on, headed for the mountains. We walked down hundreds of stairs only to spend two minutes enjoying the largest of the waterfalls. She was ready to move on. 

Boring!

We then proceeded to hike to the two other waterfalls, all before lunch. Along the way, I learned that my sister was making a rock collection. This meant that I had to lug multiple chunks of granite around in my backpack. On our way to one waterfall, I had to take off my shoes and wade across a stream, carrying my sister. The water was frigid against my bare feet. 9 year old children are surprisingly heavy. At another fall, we discovered a ledge of about 2 feet wide, covered in water and occasional clumps of moss. We naturally had to inch along it, claiming to be Indiana Jones himself.  As we made the arduous hike back to the car, my sister probably vowed never to let me choose the hiking route again. We finished out the day relaxing with a picnic at the Homestead, and people watching the others who had spent their day enjoying the beauties of nature. 

The glories of nature

Oh yes, Wednesday was also the day I discovered I had allergies! This discovery took place in the large rash that spread across my upper thighs and buttocks when I got home. It was not poison oak or ivy, and I still do not know what caused it. I only know that I had to sleep on my stomach for the next few days.

Thursday morning, I woke up for my college class in pain. The rash was crusty and inflamed and painful, and walking was a challenge. I am a sissy so I made the executive decision to go back to sleep. I spent the day lying on my stomach, complaining about the rash and attempting to come up with witticisms based on my last name (which happens to be Rash).

Friday was the big day. The rash had relinquished power, and I could walk normally. I was all set to get my hippie on and go to MerleFest. Old Crow Medicine Show was appearing, and I simply had to see them live. MerleFest 2014 did not disappoint. I went with me myself and I, but I didn't mind, because I could see exactly who I wanted to see and was able to set up camp at the front of general seating. I ate redneck Thai food. I stalked Ketch Secor after he made an appearance with another band a few hours before the OCMS showing, and forced a grouchy security guard to take my picture with him. I listened to a lot of banjo picking. I took a nap. And then, the glorious moment came. Old Crow Medicine Show was live. And they were amazing. I danced embarrassingly and sang along with Wagon Wheel and Caroline. I discovered the limitations of a phone camera at 9:00 at night. I bought an overpriced t-shirt to show my new-found unconditional love for the band.

ROCK ME MAMA

It was a glorious concert.

And thus ends my tale of spring break. It was a spring break full of learning. A spring break full of mountains. A spring break full of uncomfortable rashes, bluegrass music festivals, and tacky sweaters. A spring break of stories. A spring break off the beaten path. A spring break without beaches and tans. A spring break no one wanted to hear about the next week at school. A spring break I thoroughly enjoyed.

I'm Rather Pagan At Present

"I'm rather pagan at present. It's just that religion doesn't seem to have the slightest bearing on life at my age." - This Side of Paradise

If you ever wondered what my favorite novel is...

I found a mirror image of myself in the character of Amory Blaine. Amory, hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, is one of the few literary figures I have genuinely identified with. He is moody, he procrastinates and overthinks, he reads, he writes, he complains, and he lives beyond his means. He stubbornly adheres to his beliefs and principles. He has difficulty making friends but is staunchly loyal to the ones he has. And for the purposes of this post, he also shares my religious skepticism.

I am on a spiritual quest for answers. I believe in the existence of a higher power, some deity who created some sense of order in the world and guided its formation. I do not, however, currently profess a belief in any one religion though I was raised in a Christian home.

My list of thoughts and doubts would be interminably long for one post, so I will focus on Christians' inability to scrutinize their own religion through the lens with which they scrutinize other belief systems. 

I found a witness guide on the 10 most common fallacies made by Muslims. [Original post can be found here: http://www.chick.com/information/religions/islam/fallacies.asp] It has an ever so slightly patronizing attachment: Note: The average Muslim does not know that his arguments are logically erroneous. He is sincere in his beliefs. Thus you must be patient and kind in sharing with him why his arguments are invalid.

I was compelled to try an experiment. What would happen if I switched Islam and Christianity? If I replaced "Allah" with "God", "Muhammad" with "Jesus", and "Islam" with "Christianity"? I did not change ANY wording except the religion in question.

Here are the highlights from this little project:

Common Logical Fallacies Made By Christians

Muslims must be prepared to answer the typical objections made against Islam. Most of the objections are based on simple logical fallacies. The following is a list of some of the most common fallacies used by Christians.

Note: The average Christian does not know that his arguments are logically erroneous. He is sincere in his beliefs. Thus you must be patient and kind in sharing with him why his arguments are invalid.

2. Arguing in a circle: If you have already assumed in your premise what you are going to state in your conclusion, then you have ended where you began and proven nothing.

Examples:

#1 Proving God by the Bible and then proving the Bible by God. 

#2 Proving Jesus by the Bible and then proving the Bible by Jesus. 

#3 Proving Christianity by the Bible and then proving the Bible by Christianity 

4. The Fallacy of Irrelevance: When you introduce issues which have no logical bearing on the subject under discussion, you are using irrelevant arguments.

When Christianity argues that history or science "proves" the Bible, this actually means that he is acknowledging that history and science can likewise refute the Bible. If the Bible contains just one historical error or one scientific error, then the Bible is not the Word of God. Verification and falsification go hand in hand. 

#1 Some Christians argue, "The Bible is the Word of God because the text of the Bible has been preserved perfectly." This argument is erroneous for two reasons: a. Factually, the text of the Bible has not been preserved perfectly. The text has additions, deletions, conflicting manuscripts, and variant readings like any other ancient writing. b. Logically, it is irrelevant whether the text of the Bible has been preserved because preservation does not logically imply inspiration. A book can be perfectly copied without implying its inspiration. 

#2 When Christians attack the character and motives of anyone who criticizes Christianity, they are using irrelevant arguments. The character of someone is no indication of whether he is telling you the truth. Good people can lie and evil people can tell the truth. Thus whenever a Christian uses slurs such as "mean," "dishonest," "racist," "liar," "deceptive," etc., he is not only committing a logical fallacy but also revealing that he cannot intellectually defend his beliefs. 

#4 Some Christians argue that the Bible is the Word of God because it contains some historically or scientifically accurate statements. This argument is irrelevant. Just because a book is correct on some historical or scientific point does not mean it is inspired. You cannot take the attributes of a part and apply it to the whole. A book can be a mixture of true and false statements. Thus it is a logical fallacy to argue that the entire Bible is true if it makes one true statement.

 7. The Fallacy Of Confusing Questions of Fact with Questions of Relevance: Whether something is factually true is totally different from the issue of whether you feel it is relevant. The two issues must be kept separate.

9. "Red Herring" Arguments: When a Christian is asked to defend the Bible, if he turns around and attacks the reliability of the Qur'an, Muhammad, atrocities committed by Muslims, etc., he is introducing irrelevant issues that have no logical bearing on the truthfulness of Christianity. He is trying to divert attention from Christianity to other issues.Furthermore, he is assuming that if he can refute Islam, then the Bible wins by default. If he can refute Allah, then God wins by default. But this is logically erroneous. You cannot prove your position by refuting someone else's position.

I have seen and heard ALL of these fallacies cited as factual and convincing arguments. Yes, Christians, they are still fallacies when applied to your religion; Christianity is not above the laws of logic. I understand that religion is a nearly impossible to prove, and the numerous "burden of truth" claims add to the confusion of the issue. However, if Christians are willing to point out logical fallacies in the arguments of other religions, their arguments should be held to the same standards.

I will not reject Christianity until further research. I am not all-knowing, and perhaps there are scholars who can provide satisfactory answers to my most pressing questions. However, I will expect better arguments than the above fallacies.

In the meantime, I have been touched by His noodly appendages and am currently in training to become a pirate. R'amen.