What I've Learned

    If I had to name something that I learned in this class, I'd say it's something not exactly concrete- the ability to to think about the position you're making. There were a lot of times in the class where we'd be discussing something, someone would argue their position, and the professor would turn the discussion around and get the person thinking about why they felt that way or why they didn't logically consider a different opinion.
   Like, for example, when we were discussing the presidential candidates and if they followed Laotsu or Confucius' teachings. People said they liked their candidate because of the values they held, but most people didn't think that much about if the candidate had the actual leadership skills to be the president. It made me realize that you have to consider more than just a person's views when choosing who to vote for.
I really enjoyed this class and getting to discuss all this stuff in class with everyone. I'm going to miss it, since I'm probably not going to have any classes as interesting as this outside of my major classes. It's been fun, and I hope everyone enjoys the holidays.
-Sierra

Doc 3

    I'm glad I wasn't the only one having issues with Doc 3. Not that I want anyone else to do poorly, but it makes me feel like less of an idiot when I'm not the only one feeling a little overwhelmed or stressed out. When I was reading Dante's post, for example, I could strongly relate. I chose a subject that wasn't very easy to understand the first way through, either. Thankfully, some of the sources I used helped me to understand part of what was going on in the text.
    And like Krystyna said in her post, what made me stay focused was that looming deadline. I wanted to at least have something readable by the deadline. My main issue was just trying not to get distracted, though, rather than real life events interrupting my writing. That and finding sources.
   But there was also balancing the work for this class with the work for my other classes, which was something Kimberly noted as an issue. Whenever you're dealing with one difficult assignment is always when your other classes decide to assign their own difficult work. Seriously, it's like the professors conspire behind our backs just to make us all more stressed.
  In the end, I probably did terribly, but for the moment, I don't even want to think about it. I just want to enjoy what little free time there is before classes resume.

Other Perspectives

    I've said my piece on the presidential candidates, but it's interesting to see what everyone else thinks. While some people (including me, I suppose) think Ben Carson appears to have the best ethical standards of the presidential candidates, not everyone agrees. Krystyna Owings made a good blog post talking about why she disagreed. Her point seemed to be that although he appears as more virtuous than some of the other candidates, he may not be. She said, "Although Dr. Carson may seem like a ethical candidate on the surface, I have to wonder if we need to dig deeper to find out his truths."
   On the other side of the matter, Dante Hancock made an equally good blog post discussing why he thought Dr. Carson had the best set of ethical standards. He saw Dr. Carson's experience in surgery and his humble appearance as why Dr. Carson has better ethical standards. Dante specifically said that, during the Republican debate, "Even though he was yelled at over and over again, Carson remained humble and quiet."
   It's nice to see that everyone has different opinions on this whole topic. I might not be as into politics as most people, but they say diversity is the spice of life. Getting to hear everyone's opinions and comparing them is part of what makes this class fun and it helps me see some of the concepts we learn in a different light.

Presidential Candidates

I'm going to admit, before I really get into anything, that I don't really follow politics. That also includes the presidential race. It's not that I don't think it's important, but for me, I don't really think any of the candidates are that great and I'm already a bit tired of the campaign ads and such.
That said, if I had to say which one of them seemed to have the most firm ethical standards, it seems like Carson. He seems pretty in touch with his own personal code of ethics.
On the other end of the spectrum, the candidate with the most relativistic and situational ethics to me seems like Trump. Right now, a lot of people have disdain for him because of how harsh and eccentric he is. But, Machiavelli says in The Prince that, '...in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits.' It could be that Trump will mellow out if he is elected, and the people will mostly forget about his present actions. And, people also consider his remarks on immigration to sound exceptionally cruel and fear what legislation he might enact while in office, but Machiavelli also says '...it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.' And, not to sound rude, but it's hard for me to see Trump as being loved, considering the current backlash against his campaign.
It's hard to say which kind of ethics is better for a president. On the one hand, people want a president to act ethically, but on the other hand, a president should be a strong leader, and some would say that a strong president would do what is needed, even ignoring the law in doing so. But I think I'd rather have a president who didn't have more situational ethics because I'd be worried that he/she would be more of a dictator than a president.

The New Testament and 2015

   People sometimes say that they don't think that the Bible is applicable to modern day life, but I disagree. I'll give an example to try and show my point. In the New Testament is the story of the Good Samaritan. It's one of the more well-known parables, but I'll put it here anyway, just in case.

"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?"
He said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

As you've probably heard before, the message gained from this parable is to treat others with kindness, as if they were your neighbor, even if they're someone you dislike. It's a message that fits even now, with modern society, because not enough people treat each other so kindly. Of course, that's always going to be a problem, but that's why this is still a good message.

The Qur'an and the New Testament

   One thing I was surprised to learn while reading those bits of the Qur'an and the New Testament was that the Qur'an actually has Jesus in it. Although the Islamic version of Jesus isn't considered the son of God in Islam, outside of that, he's pretty similar in the Qur'an to the New Testament Jesus. Jesus is born to the virgin Mary just like he was in the Bible. He heals the sick and brings Lazarus back to life just like in the Bible.
  But there are two big differences (besides the not being God's son part). First, rather than being born in a manger in a stable, Jesus is born in the middle of the desert and Mary brings him back to the town's temple, where he speaks to prove that Mary was blessed by Allah. And rather than Jesus dying on the cross as in the New Testament, the Qur'an says that Jesus instead rose to heaven to be with Allah, while the people on Earth believed he'd been crucified. This is what the Qur'an specifically says on the matter:
"That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;"
  Interesting, right? I'd always heard Christianity, Islam, and Judaism were very similar, but I never really thought Jesus was in the Qur'an. I guess next I'll have to see if Judaism has a different interpretation of Jesus.

Presidential Candidates and Confucian Teachings

   I don't know if you could say that any of the presidential candidates really lives up to Confucius' teachings. Just going by the 'think no evil' thing that he said, they've all probably thought something evil at some point in time. But I haven't been following the news about the presidential race as of late, so all I know is that Trump's been saying things that pissed a bunch of people off.
   But back the them and Confucius' teachings- he stated in the Analects, "Do not do to others what you would not like done to yourself." And judging from previous presidential campaigns, I have a feeling that none of the current candidates are following that idea, either. It's a bit sad, because Confucius' teachings seem pretty reasonable to me- be respectful to others, think before you speak, exercise self-discipline, yet I don't think a lot of people would really live up to them (me included). I guess we let ourselves get caught up in our daily lives and relationships, and don't think enough about the way we act.
  I know I've said this before, that the following statement will sound naive and childish (and it most likely is), but I wish people in politics realized that it's better to at least pretend you like the people running against you, because when you treat other people badly, everyone's going to see it and dislike you for it.