Monticello, VA – Jefferson I can’t image what America would be today without the words and ideas of Thomas Jefferson. For anyone who has visited my main blog at RJsCorner knows that he is one of my primary heroes. The … Continue reading An American Hero…
Bent’s Old Fort, CO Bent’s Old Fort is one of my favorite historical sites. It is in a pretty out-of-the-way place in Colorado but well worth the visit. I appreciate that it was not a military fort but a commercial … Continue reading Frontier Forts
Baltimore, MY – 1812 War I guess to one degree or another all our wars are part of what makes us American. Thank heavens the war of 1812 only lasted a few years. The photo above is from a display … Continue reading War of 1812
Coexist was founded in 2006 in the United Kingdom. The organization formed as a direct response to heightening tensions between religious and cultural groups across the world, as evidenced by a 2002 Gallup Poll of the Islamic world. As a result of the poll, Elgawhary says, “people got to see what opinions the Muslim world had of the outside world and the West, and also what people in Western countries thought of the Muslim world. There was a glaring disconnect of understanding and perceptions between the two.” SOURCE: Coexist Foundation – National Geographic Education. The one thing that saddens me … Continue reading Coexist Foundation
I grabbed this picture off one of my friends Facebook pages. It made me LOL. ;) I am somewhat new to Crocs, that is the shoes shown above. I just personally discovered them for myself this year. They are very practical for around the homestead in the warm weather months. I like to take strolls through my kingdom in the early morning after I have browsed the Internet and maybe penned a few posts for my blogs. When I do that there seems to be an ever present dew that thoroughly soaks my shoes. With crocs that is not … Continue reading What A Croc….
I recently got another copy of the book “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman. This one had a thorough description of the history around the book. It is interesting to see that Whitman continued to edit the poems contained in the book throughout his lifetime. Here is a little about that from my friends at Wikipedia: Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Though the first edition was published in 1855, Whitman spent his entire life writing and re-writing Leaves of Grass, revising it in several editions until his death. This resulted in … Continue reading Leaves of Grass…
Galena, IL – U.S. Grant Country When you go to Galena you almost step back in time. The downtown area is unblemished with chain stores. About the only thing that puts you back to reality are all the cars parked … Continue reading Galena…
Now that I have had two posts here about mandating morality it’s probably time to address this general issue. I’m sure that after reading these posts some people question whether I believe there is any moral foundation. They are calling me a moral relativist. A recent article in The Week news site very much characterizes where I stand on this issue. Lets read some quotes from that post. Click on the source to see the whole thing. Haidt lays out six distinct moral foundations. 1. Care the desire to help those in need and avoid inflicting harm 2. Liberty the … Continue reading Who are you calling a moral relativist?
Islamic Sharia law was fairly dormant in the Indonesian province of Aceh until a massive earthquake and tsunami struck in 2004, killing more than 130,000. But as residents rebuild, Sharia officers have strengthened their grip, threatening rights of religious minorities and women…. There are two groups that are actually threatened by this formalization of the Sharia. The first group is religious minorities. More than 20 churches are closed down in Aceh over the last two years. They also banned 14 Islamic religious sects, like the Ahmadiyya, the Shia. We didn’t expect that. The second victim is women. There are various, … Continue reading Mandating Morality Part 2 – Sharia Law…
St. Louis, MO — The Arch St. Louis was very critical in the opening of the western half of our country. It was the starting point for a long journey across the “great American Desert” that is now occupied by … Continue reading Archway To The West…
Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. Fanatics will never learn that, though it is written in letters of gold across the sky. It is prohibition that makes things precious. Mark Twain I have recently come across several sources of what I consider mandating morality. That is trying to force your version of morality on others. Our personal view of morality can come from one person, usually a parent or other authority figure, telling us what we are to believe about this or that. It can come form one group who think they have it right and others need … Continue reading Mandating Morality Part 1- Prohibition
In fact, Raven tells Oprah that she rejects the notion of labels completely in all areas of her life. “I’m tired of being labeled,” she says. “I’m an American. I’m not an African-American; I’m an American. “The remark seems to catch Oprah off guard. “Oh, girl,” Oprah says, shifting in her chair. “Don’t set up the Twitter on fire… Oh, my lord. What did you just say?” “I mean, I don’t know where my roots go to,” Raven explains. “I don’t know how far back they go… I don’t know what country in Africa I’m from, but I do know … Continue reading Don’t Label Me …
If the old guard on the partisan Christian right envisions itself to be crumbling, there’s nothing more apt than a forceful restatement of terms, preferably with a fresh face. But if it’s crumbling, it’s because the foundations are weak, and illustrating that inadvertently isn’t going to make its last gasps any more graceful. Far from being the death knell for the American Christian left, Vicari’s book might be little more than a signal that this is the Christian left’s moment to rise. SOURCE: Christian conservatives have a terrifying new bogeyman: The Christian leftist – The Week. Another interesting article from … Continue reading Christian Conservatives’ Bogeyman….
A Historic Village someplace in the U.S The last post/picture was about boxes so it seems a natural that this one be about cans. I must admit that I have lost track of just where this picture came from but … Continue reading Cans…
To maybe entice you over to my pictorial blog site I am pulling another post from there for this Saturday’s picture day. Click on the mosaic map to the right to see some more entries… A nip is definitely in the air here in Indiana so that takes my thoughts to Pumpkins. Halloween is the first event related to pumpkins but since that is a pagan holiday I don’t celebrate that one :) so that leaves Thanksgiving. I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving meal with a healthy slice of pumpkin pie. Pumpkins are very American. They were grown by native Americans … Continue reading An Ode To Pumpkins
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 