Build Foundation on Ethics, Not Religion

Do we as a nation really need a moral foundation?

Most people would answer yes. And I would agree, as long as our moral foundation is not based on, or rooted in, any particular religion.

History tells us that nations founded on religion, or that have religion thrust upon them, usually end up marred in despotism.

There is a difference between being moral and being ethical. Our nation should certainly have a foundation based on good ethics. But morality has a religious connotation.

The problem with morality is that few people agree on what constitutes it. Is it morally acceptable to engage in premarital sex, to use birth control, to have an abortion, to masturbate, or to use cloning techniques to produce embryonic stem cells for the purpose of curing diseases?

That’s a single question, but there are a multitude of answers. A faithful Catholic could probably answer that question with a resounding "no." On the other hand, a Methodist or a Lutheran might have different answers for different parts of that question. Some might even answer in the affirmative for all its parts.

But is it morally acceptable to tell a lie, take someone’s property without their knowledge, kill someone, or do bodily harm to a person? Few people, regardless of their religious affiliations, would answer that question in the affirmative.

So there is a line drawn somewhere between using birth control and murdering someone. The problem is that different groups of people want to draw that line in different places.

When talking about morality, or even ethics, not much is truly black and white. That is why it should be painfully obvious that those who draw the line separating what is right from what is not should err on the side of tolerance.
Our moral foundation should read something like this: A person should have the right to do whatever that person desires, so long as his actions do not bring harm to another person or his property.

Of course, that brings up the question of what constitutes a person. Is a newly-formed human embryo a person? What about a first-trimester fetus? What about a 38-week fetus?

Those are questions for the legal experts and courts to ponder with the input of all those concerned. But even lacking a firm answer to that question should not hinder the moral foundation statement from being readily applied to everything else. We can all agree that once a child is born, he or she is a person.

The thing that must be stressed is that religion, of any species, should not be allowed to play any part in determining the moral imperative of the nation as a whole. Not everyone in America is of the same religion. Not everyone even subscribes to a religion at all, and their rights need protecting, too.

Also, contrary to what some right-wing activists might tell you, this country was not founded on any religion, including Christianity. So there is no reason to include it in our moral foundation.

On that subject, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

Jefferson also offered this warning about religion, "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty."

Thomas Paine added, "I do not believe in the creed professed by…any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church."

Pres. Bush has used his construct of morality to thrust his personal agenda onto society, even over the objections of most members of Congress. And that flies in the face of what the Founding Fathers had in mind for the way their government should run.

"Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion," wrote John Adams.

Religion and liberty seldom go hand in hand. There is just too much orthodoxy to justify liberty. In America, personal liberties should always trump religion when it applies to the masses.

I have no problem whatsoever in allowing people to believe whatever they want, as long as they do not attempt to transcribe their beliefs into the laws of the land.

Some people find safety and solace in religion, and that’s fine. But Benjamin Franklin wrote, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain…safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

We, as a nation, should in fact be well grounded. Our moral fabric should be strong and unwavering. We just need to keep religion out of it; else our liberty will be at risk.

Who Will Become the Walter Cronkite of Podcasters?

Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, and Walter Cronkite – those are just three of the names you might think of if asked to name some of the most influential broadcast journalists of all time.

But what about names like Dave Miller or Juliette Wallack? They’re not exactly household names. They’re not exactly broadcast journalists, either. They are what has been termed podcasters.

A podcast is kind of like a hybrid of a news broadcast and a letter to the editor. They are audio files created on a computer and served up to anyone who cares to listen to them over various Web sites. And anybody, well almost anybody, can create one.

They are the new rage on the Internet these days, along with Web logs, or blogs. But they really took off when Apple Computer’s iTunes Web site started to make podcasts downloadable to iPod mp3 players.

In case some of you don’t yet know what an mp3 player is, it is a device that can download audio files, usually music files created in the mp3 format, from the Internet and play it back through headphones. The players are tiny, and so very portable.

But now, in addition to listening to your favorite music, you can listen to your favorite rant about the topic du jour by your favorite podcaster.

There are several Web sites that offer podcast services. One of the newest sites, with thousands of podcasts available for download, is called Odeo.com. It stores them and sorts them into categories. It even lets you subscribe to your favorite “channel” so that its podcasts are automatically downloaded to your computer or mp3 player.

Topics are as varied as they are in the real world. There are channels devoted to everything from religion to politics and current events, or from eating out to sewing.

Blogs have been around for a few years and they have started to gain some respect, even from network news anchors. Blogs are Web journals that, again, can vary widely in subject matter. But some of the more widely-read bloggers have been earning press credentials to national events, like the political conventions last year.

Some podcasters believe their method of news casting will also eventually earn the respect of the big guys in the business. It remains to be seen.

But the more widespread a cultural phenomenon becomes, the more likely it is to become a permanent fixture in society. Podcasts have all the earmarks of becoming that important.

To create a podcast, all you need is a computer connected to the Internet, a microphone to record your voice, and something to say. You can even sing, if you have the talent and want to share it.

Then, just upload your recorded creation to one of the podcast sites. That’s all there is to publishing a podcast.

You can then tell your friends and relatives about your “channel” that contains all your material so they can download it and listen to it. Or, you can have it indexed in a public directory, as on Odeo.com, and let anyone in the world hear it.

Naturally, the uncontrolled nature of podcasts makes them less reliable than network news. On the other hand, like blogs, they can be an almost instantaneous source for news and information, and they can give you a perspective on an event or topic that you wouldn’t hear from mainstream media outlets.

I look for some of today’s more talented podcasters to join the ranks of professional news broadcasters some day. And for those who don’t make it to the networks, at least they can still say that have an audience of their own.

Why No Holidays in August?

Has it really been more than two weeks since the Fourth of July?

This is the first summer since 1989 that I have had an official summer break, because it’s my first year back as a public school teacher since 1990.

I spent 13 years teaching and, truthfully, I was getting burned out. But, despite having a couple of excellent career changes during the intervening years, I had started yearning to get back into the classroom again.

Although the vast majority of teachers are in the profession because they love to help kids to learn, there is also something to the old adage that the three best things about teaching are June, July, and August. But school seems to start much earlier these days than when I first started teaching; there aren’t very many school-less days in August any more.

And that brings me back to my lament about the Fourth of July being over. July 4 is just about the half-way point in the summer break. But the first half, the time during June, seems to move by slowly enough. The latter half zooms by very quickly.

At least that’s the way it seems. I guess it’s because I’m getting used to being out of school now, but in early June, it was new and different.

Anyway, we have entered the longest stretch of the year during which there are no holidays or significant observances.

In fact, August is the only month of the year that lacks anything resembling a holiday. Even April has April Fools Day. August has nothing - zilch!

Not only is the month of August holiday poor, it connects up with the last 3-and-a-half weeks of July, which also offers nothing of significance besides stifling summertime heat and humidity.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like summer. Most people do. You get to go outside without having to bundle up. You get to go swimming and picnicking. And most vacations are taken in the summer.

But still, there are no holidays.

Although it is not a cause for celebration, that period of heat and humidity in mid-summer does have a name. They call it Dog Days, the period of time running from July 3 to August 15.

The ancients believed that this time of year was so hot because the “dog star,” Sirius, which is the brightest star in the sky during the winter, is in conjunction with the sun during much of July and August. They reasoned that Sirius must be adding its heat to that of the sun.

They were wrong, of course.

Since there are no holidays in August, it would be nice to have a formal celebration on August 15, signifying the end of Dog Days, the most uncomfortable time of the summer.

I know it’s a stretch. But I’m grasping at straws here. Teachers and students need one more summer celebration before having to crack the books again.

Years ago, that holiday was Labor Day, which typically occurred on the Monday following the start of school.

That’s not the case any more, so celebrating the end of Dog Days was the only thing I could come up with.