Brian Weyers

                Last week in class we had two sessions on genealogy.  We discussed where the movement to learn more about your family lineage came from, how to get started, and how to keep going and turn it into a family history or just something for relatives.  All of it was quite interesting and fascinating.  Learning about your family history started off in America with the Mormons.  In fact now they have a large family Library in Utah that is quite extensive.  Also we talked about how to get started and where to look.  With the internet it is easier than ever to be able to find your family line.  There are many websites where anyone can post information they know and it is open to anyone.  Many times this is where the beginnings are people work off from there.  Also there are websites that are purely family records of births, deaths, and other significant events that were recorded.  After you have complied a great deal of information there is the question of what to do with all of it.  There are really three options in that case.  One is that you just keep it stacked away and share little bits here and there.  The second is to compile a personal and quite simple book to share with your family members and close friends.  The third and final option is to write a family history and to have it published.  No way is better than the other.  It is simply based on what you want to know and how much time you are willing to put into the experience. 

                This topic is very relevant to what we have been talking about in class.  Immigrants have been a huge focus in Honors this semester, among other things.  Almost everyone in America can trace their family back to some immigrant experience of a distant relative coming over here from another country, unless you are Native American.  Most Americans are from immigrant families.  Tracing your family lineage gives you an understanding of where you came from and more about your family in general.  Also if you can get stories of your ancestors coming over you can more easily understand to immigrants coming over today and learn to be accepting. 

                  These past two days have changed my outlook on my family history.  Awhile ago I had a large and sudden urge to learn more about my family lineage.  I checked websites and the local library.  However I didn't know what to really search for so I didn't come up with many results.  I got discouraged and just stopped.  This informational lecture has taught me great techniques to actually be able to find out about my family.  It has put into me that same passion as I had before to learn about my relatives and how they got to this country and before that. 

                The event was not what I had been expecting.  It was a lecture about a study that had occurred at Concordia.  The study was essential done by the Sociology department in cooperation with the Hmong community.  They asked a series of questions to the participants.  These questions were in regards to their faith.  There were basically four sides: Traditional Hmong, Christian, a combination, and undecided.  Each person was asked what they considered themselves and then they were all asked the same questions.  These questions were about Traditional Hmong rituals and Christian rituals.  Then there were some follow up questions based on what they person answered.

                There is definitely the connection between our studies in the Hmong culture and what we heard at the lecture.  There was much talk about the religious views of the Hmong and how they differ and are similar to those of Christianity.  There was also much talk about the Shaman and how that affects Hmong culture and how it differs from the Christian belief.  That was something that we discussed in great detail.  They do have a very distinct and different belief than us and it is important to understand what they believe and where they are coming from. 

                The Hmong culture is very interesting to me.  What they believe and the rituals they perform and so different from what I know that it attracts me to it.  There is so much to find out from their culture and there are a lot of people who are more than ready to share that information with anyone who is willing to listen.  This lecture has rejuvenated my desire to complete the Hmong minor and learn as much about the culture as I can.      

                On Monday February 23, the Honors class was privileged to have three Concordia Hmong students share their story.  Each of them had a unique experience to talk about and explain.  All of them we're born in a different country than the United States.  Some of them have vague memories of their time in the other countries but the some do not.  They talked about what their family life is like and how they are dealing with the two different cultures.  A discussion about Hmong culture in reference to marriage and other celebrations lasted a very long time.  Also we discussed the faults and successes with the movie Gran Torino.  The students had much to say and they kept you on the edge of your seat as they did it.

                This panel connects very well with the other panel we had earlier.  Although each set is from a different generation many things were very similar.  They both stated the same history that got them to the United States in general.  The account of the war was more detached from the students end but they still knew about it.  This also is connected to when we visited the Hmong Center.  The presentation there was connected to what they students had to say because the people of very close in age to one another.  When Paul Hillmer came in and talked to us about his book he also talked about the migration to the United States.  His account of history is very close to what the Hmong students told us at the panel.  Although Kalia Yang's book is much more descriptive than the stories the students had to share they are very similar.  Both sets of people remember the Refugee camps and how they were treated in Thailand.  Another common thread is that of the difficulty adjusting to American culture for the parents and therefore on the children as well.  It seems to be a commonality throughout Hmong people.

                To me this panel affected me more than any other experience, except when Kalia came in, I have had to write a blog on.  Hearing the story from someone who is around my age is so much more powerful.  The way they could talk about their experience and in a way relate to us.  Since they are our age they have lived in the same time as we have and we have a common living time.  This really helps for looking at Hmong culture and family life.  Mainly because we can compare what happened to our culture and family when the same events were going on.  The way they shared the history of their people hit me so much deeper and in a completely new way. 

                On February 18, 2009 Convocation for an art exhibit was held at Concordia University.  There, they were showing artwork by/about immigrant/refugee artists and people.  Along the walls there were photographs, embroideries, paintings, and sculptures made of wood.  There was so much to see and read that about the artists and the work they have done.  Then after we had had time to look around and examine the pieces there was a time for what artists were present to explain their work, where they came from, and why they chose to do what they did with whatever medium they had chosen.  The stories they told were of their childhood and where they and/or their family came from.  Each one of them had their own story to tell but they all had the same driving force of coming from another country and making their way in a brand new country. 

                The stories told by the artists are very much reflected in their work.  Most of them say that the pieces mean so much to them on a personal level that no one can really understand exactly what they are trying to tell everyone.  This is something we talked about last semester in the art portion.  Art is first and foremost for the creator of said product.  Also during this portion of class we talked about how art can be in almost any medium.  There were certainly many different types of art and the exhibit.  Also some of the stories we heard from the artists are very similar to the books we have been reading and the speakers we have been listening to.  People adjusting from their own culture to one they are very unfamiliar with.  Kalia Yang talks about this in The Latehomecomer.  Also Mary Pipher shares many stories of people having to assimilate into the American culture.  Mr. Yang and Ms. Thao also spoke about coming to America not really knowing what to expect.  But they as well had stories about how they grew into our culture and learned the ways it worked while still keeping their old selves in there also.

                I have always loved art in pretty much any form or medium.  I am a musician and a writer so my appreciation for art is not that difficult to know where it comes from.  Seeing this works of art has been amazing.  It has really inspired me to learn more about other cultures in the United States.  There is so much I don't know about people of other nations.  With going in to education I will have to deal with children from different countries more and more as this country moves on.  They will have other beliefs and traditions than me and I need to know of these to be able to teach to this kids.  It will also benefit me to know about their culture so I can explain certain aspects of American culture that may be confusing or seem wrong.  There is so much out there to know and so little ambition to learn it.  I want to be the one who goes out and actually understands other cultures instead of being ignorant of them.       

                Last Monday night we had a panel of two guest speakers talk to us.  They were Mr. Yang Long and Ms. Choua Thao.  Mr Long was a soldier in Laos who was an officer and fought with the Hmong warriors.  He told us what he saw and what he witnessed in Laos.  Some of the stories were unbelievable from my perspective.  I could never imagine fighting in the jungle just a few miles away from my family.  Then, having to worry about who to trust and who not to trust did not help up the situation.  He told us how he got to America and then earned his degree here and worked hard to make the money and be in the position he is today.  Ms Thao was a different story entirely.  She is a very strong person and survived because of her strong will and perseverance.  She talked about how she was a nurse in Laos and took care of the people when they were injured or sick.  She keep the soldiers off the nurses so they could do their job in the hospital she worked in.  Her journey to America was slightly different than Mr. Long.  She came here were lots of experience and got her degree.  She fought for everything she ever got.  She isn't someone who takes crap from anyone.  It is her way or the highway and she usually comes out on top.  She told us that we have to have a dream to live for, and advocate for ourselves and others underneath us because no one else will.

                Many of the history they told us about the war in Laos was exactly as Dr. Hillmer had described to us.  It was much more powerful to hear it from two people who had actually lived the event.  They have a totally different outlook on the war and life in general than when we visited the Hmong center.  They shared with us information that we will not hear anywhere else.  A unique experience that only they can retell with their own voice, that if it came from anyone else it would lose its sincerity and truth.  On the other end of the spectrum we have not had anything in our class time quite like this.  These were the actual people who lived through the war that no one knew about till it was too late.  They tear at your heart and beg you to listen and inhale all that they were saying.  We were hearing history that was not in any books and was the complete and God-honest truth. 

                It was an experience to never forget.  There was so much talked about an event that not much is known about.  There are no history courses out there that dig down deep into the war in Laos and the Hmong, at least not yet.  We have been given something that not many people are given.  Stories of survivors of a conflict that only they really know firsthand and will talk about.  They told us everything they could remember about their lives and not leaving too much out.  The struggles I have been through look like a walk in the park compared to what they have gone through.  From now on I will be thankful for what I have and the opportunities that are available to me and make the best use of them,              

On Friday the 6^th of February many of all the Honors students and myself attended the rush hour showing of Gran Tornio at the Rosedale Theater.  Seeing this movie was in order to complete the assignment I am not writing.   My feelings before seeing this movie are very different from those I took out with me.  I went into the movie believing I was going to see another Clint Eastwood movie with a cultural twist.  However what I actually saw was very different from any of my preconceived expectations.  This movie was so much more than just another film to add to Clint Eastwood's long list.  It is a film that should not only affect the people it portrays but every single one of us.  There is a lesson for everyone in that movie and a main idea and principle that it is trying to get across to us. 

So far in our studies in Honors this semester we have focused very much on the Hmong culture.  We read the book The Latehomcomer by Kao Kalia Yang.  That story is about the journey of a Hmong family from Laos and Thailand to America.  This movie shows on screen some of the troubles they had and many experiences that were probably very similar in both cases. Reading for me makes things more personal than movies in most cases. However seeing this film really touched me and made me think about what many issues.  Also we talked about where the Hmong came from and why they came to America.  In the movie they explain why the Hmong have come to America.  It was exactly on with what we learned in class.  America came into Laos to overthrow the government essentially.  This is most certainly the watered down version.  We armed and trained the Hmong to fight and win.  However we pulled out of the country and basically left the Hmong to fend for themselves.  After that the Laos government and Vietnamese troops came after them and killed many.  They fled to countries such as Thailand and then eventually to America and France and other countries around the world.  The movie verifies that the Hmong people no longer have a homeland where they are welcome.  That is why they have fled to all parts the world.

 Like I have alluded to in many portions of this blog entry I have been thoroughly changed by the watching of this film.  I came into this movie with the idea that it would just be another film that would go on my list ones that I liked.  However within the first half an hour or so I could tell that this was going to be something completely different than anything else I have ever seen.  To preface this I should say that the study of the Hmong culture and history has been one of the most interesting areas I have learned about yet.  There is so much there to find out and everything about it, to me, is so interesting.  Coming from a Christian faith I have not been introduced to many other religions and growing up in a primarily white community I have not been around many different cultures from my own.  Through our study of the Hmong people and watching this movie I have developed a love for the Hmong people and everything they believe.  I find myself wanting to know everything and anything about this noble people.  Also seeing Hmong people here at Concordia I look at them in a whole new way.  Instead of another person of Asian heritage I see someone who has come to this country and now no longer has a home to go back to. They are living in a place that they have just started to call a home away from home in the past thirty years.      

The Middle of Everywhere

                The book The Middle of Everywhere is a truly unique book.  A very brief summary of the book is the following of Mary Pipher and how she works with refuges and helps them out here in America. This book touched me very deeply.  Although there was little in the book I could actually relate to it began to turn the wheels of my mind.  I began to ask myself questions as to how these people survived these events and are still able to work the differently hard life that America has to offer.  Their courage and determination have been an inspiration to me.  The line that rang out to the most clearly was "We are born on third base and think that we hit triples".  This quote has so many means to me but they all share a commonality.  That is the idea that people who are born to families who have lived in the United States their whole life take their rights and blessings for granted.  As I read this I began to look at my life and how fortunate I really was.  Something I will definitely take from this book is everything I have been given and begin to be thankful for the simplest things because I am so lucky to have the opportunities I have

                This book has been very relevant to another class I am currently taking here at Concordia, Human Relations and Diversity.  In this class we talk about how people are different, other cultures, what makes up a culture, and many other topics that coincide with this book.  It has reiterated what has been discussed in this class.  For example: we recently talked about what makes a culture and who is a part of it.  Many times we look at people and hear their accents and immediately put them with a certain culture and the stereotypes that follow.  By reading this book I have learned that not only are these people not like most of the stipulations we put on them, but in all reality our stereotypes and stipulations are completely untrue. 

                This book has most certainly changed my perspective and way of thinking.  For one thing I have heard stories from the really hard side of life.  I thought I knew some difficulties of life but the events in the book have opened my eyes to a whole new world I really didn't know existed.  Remembering these stories will help me to look back on my life and see all the good and positive parts to the problem.  Also that the problem I am facing is really easy to solve or just a matter of stepping out of my comfort zone and giving some time.  Lastly my view of my country has drastically changed.  I look at all that America has to offer and feel a sense of pride.  We have some many opportunities that are just a few steps away.  I cannot let those chances and experiences get away from me just because I run into a small road bump.  After all if someone half my age can climb a mountain and watch his brother die in front of him I can more than complete my degree and go off to help others learn theses lessons.    

Brian Weyers

Directed Writing 6

                Galileo, Darwin, and Hawking by Phil Dowe is an amazing book.  It is filled with powerful examples of how religion and science interact agree with one another in many cases.  He takes the reader through the main ideas of science that really contradict what religion tends to say and digs deep into them to show what they really say.  After he has done that he goes on to explain the opposite belief and then connects the two with stunning bonds that seem so simple yet vastly intercalate at the same time.  This author will take the more difficult idea of God and chance and explore as to what Dowe was thinking.  After that is made clear the strengths and weaknesses of how he connects the two will be examined.    

Dowe takes on the extremely difficult idea of God and chance.  The rational worldview is that of most theologians.   It states that God is in control of the universe.  This is called providence.  There are three basic ways in which providence works.  The first is that God is the necessary cause of every event and aspect.  This means that without God no event would ever happen.  The second claim is God is the sufficient cause of everything.  This idea implies that if B needs A to happen then if A occurs B will as well.  It is sufficient because there might be other ways that ensure B happening.  The third way is that God is the complete reason for every event.  Boiled down this statement tells us that God has a specific reason for every event that happens.  The chance worldview, the opposite of the rational worldview, is what is most commonly accepted by the scientific community.  This idea is basically that they world people live in is in chaos all the time.  When it is developing moment by moment, some of those moments are completely up to chance.  In even more simpler terms the world does not know where it is going next.  He goes on further to explain each of these coming to a very important conclusion.  If chance exists then God does not and if God exists than chance does not.  With further reading we find the Dowe goes on to explain how Bell's theorem proves God.  The first premise of this is that everything has a sufficient cause.  The next is that there some events which do not have a sufficient physical cause, therefore something else, God, must have caused them.  He finishes by saying that if there is no chance then God is proved and if there is chance then God controls the meaningful parts as proved by Bell's theorem. 

                In Dowe's argument there are many strengths and weaknesses.  The weaknesses are few but very crucial.  Many concepts and ideas expressed by Dowe are speculative and dependent.  They are quite broad and cover a large grey area instead of being black and white.  Some sections of his argument are left up to "chance", if you will, and can go either way.  He does not have a complete 100% way to prove his argument for the simple fact that he cannot prove that God exists.  If that detail was settled then the rest of the debate would be over and could be settled straight away.  In contrast to that there are many strengths to this argument that Dowe offers.  The first is that he uses logic that can be understood by your everyday person.  He takes complicated principles in science and applies them to everyday knowledge and thus creates a book where the incredible intellectual can understand as well as your average everyday human being.  Dowe also takes scientific knowledge and uses it to prove a very theological argument which is a like the final touchdown in the Super Bowl.  He takes a study that is generally thought to be the rational and logical way of thinking, and used it to prove another study that is thought to be based on faith and fairy tales.  Overall it is this author's opinion that Dowe has given a very solid and genuine argument.  It can be put up as a place where Theology and Science do in fact coincide and work together.  Dowe is able to take two studies and mold them together where it seemed impossible to do so. 

                In conclusion the works of Dowe are explored through looking at what he says and then taking it deeper and indentifying the strengths and weaknesses of it.  The idea of chance and God has been debated and disputed throughout history and probably will continue in that same manner.  There is no definite way to prove how God interacts with the idea of chance because there is no possible way to prove God exists in our world right now.  That is the key concept needed in order to finish Dowe's argument.  However without that he does an excellent Job to illustrate his points and make them understandable.  That is the what makes Dowe so intelligent.  He takes very complicated theorems  and principles and makes them understandable and relatable.  Dowe is a genius in our own time and is bale to share that vast knowledge with the rest of the world.                                    

Directed Writing 5

The Enlightenment was an Era of a thinking in which the old ways thought of to be true were challenged.  The traditions and beliefs of the past were not superior by definition but had to be reasoned out and examined.  The Declaration of Independence is a piece of work that is strewn with Enlightenment thoughts.  In this work there are traces of the concepts of Reason, Nature, Progress and Change, and Deism.   

Reason is the main concept behind the Age of Reason or Enlightenment.  The idea of reason is very prevalent in the Declaration of Independence.  The whole point of the Declaration of Independence was to show that the Colonies wished to break away from the British Empire, and the reasons for this course of action.  Looking the Reason of this is extremely interesting how much this document was influenced by the Enlightenment.  The opening words in the Declaration of the Independence is that of how when a Nation's Government begins to look beyond the people it is there to serve, and only interested in its own gain. That is the time when the citizens use their reason and realize that they need to break away and fix the problem emerging. 

                The idea of Nature in the Enlightenment era was that it was a standard of Judgment since Nature functions reasonably.  That is why the people of the Enlightenment period saw a shift toward nature as the way to true Enlightenment.  Thomas Jefferson uses the concept of Nature being a perfect existence before humans to say that this is a shift to a better idea than that of being under a King.  Nature dictates that people govern themselves in a fair and just way.  With a King true justice can never be attained for there is only one who decides everything.  Also it can never be fair in any way since only one voice is heard and listened to. "...the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them..." (Declaration of Independence). 

                The third concept of the Enlightenment is a pair that goes hand in hand.  They are Change and progress.  The belief was that in this time most changes were made to decided upon because they would progress the society that the change was occurring to.  There was no longer this belief that tradition was correct merely because it was the way things had been.  The people of this era began to look at what they were taught and examine it for validity and not accept it blindly because it was tradition or the way things have always been.  This is personified in the Declaration of Independence by the simple fact that they are changing the form of government they currently have and progressing to a new and better way. 

                       The last category of the age of Enlightenment that is also seen in the Declaratoin of independence is that of Deism.  Deism is a religion in which it is believed that everyone has the capability to know the universe's creator through their own reason.  Thomas Jefferson clearly states in the Declaration of Independence that everyone is given non-refundable rights as humans and creations of the God of Nature.  Now since he defined God as the God of nature we can see how they thought of God.  Since they believed nature to be an unchangeable standard to judge all else they look at the creator of this the same way.  God is someone who understandable by reason and a standard for living life.  In that way they discern that he has given them reason to judge what is fair and just for his creations on earth.  They no longer believe in idea that the Dictator is chosen by God.  For if God had chosen them, they would not treat their fellow brothers and sisters with such malice that is seen in most Dictators with absolute power.

                  When the Declaration of Independence is looked at in detail the concepts that drove the Enlightenment movement are very present.  The basic ideas of Reason, the way in which Nature works, the process of Change and Progress, and the belief of Deism are all there inside.  Thomas Jefferson, and many other Founding Fathers, were devote believers in the Enlightenment and its principles.  In that particular time these concepts were the thinking and made perfect sense to the people of this time.  The ideas particularly made sense to a group of people who were breaking off from a Monarchy that was arguably the most powerful at the time.  The Enlightenment brought on many new ideas and concepts and possibly the very country that is now the Superpower of the Modern World.     

Works Cited

Declaration of Independence, 1st Cong. (Thomas Jefferson 1776).

Knopf, Alfred A. A Short History of Western Civilizaton. 6th ed. New York, NY, 1985. Moore, Rebecca. Vocies of Christianity. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 1-477.

Directed Writing 4

Thomas Aquinas lived from 1225 to 1274.  He was an Italian Priest in the Dominican order.  Also he was a philosopher and theologian in his time.  While he lived he wrote many works that have been very influential to the study of religion and its meaning.  One such work is Summa Contra Gentiles.  This is the work that this author will be focusing exclusively.  Even more specific with this work the main focus will be chapter seven of this particular work.  In this work he talks about reason as related to Divine wisdom.  When looking at this particular chapter it is interesting to note the conclusions that he comes to.  They are very basic and build upon one another.  This being the case the individual can take the First Principle "There can be no contradiction in truth" and First Condition "the ability of the mind to understand truth" and apply them as to how he uses them in his work.  It is quite evident and straightforward as to how he does that.  With that being said a person can go in depth and learn as to what Aquinas is trying to say.

When looking at the First Principle "There can be no contradiction in truth" and applying it Thomas Aquinas' work it is very evident throughout.  Aquinas points out that ideas and concepts that are instilled naturally in human reason cannot be false.  They are ideas and concepts that we cannot prove wrong because they can never be untrue.  He then goes on to talk about Faith and the truth of that.  Aquinas states that since Faith is confirmed by God it cannot be untrue.  Also if God created all then he most definitely created human reason and nature along with the Faith in Him and confirmations of that said Faith.  In that case it is logical to assume, since God did indeed create both Faith and reason that they should coincide together and not contradict.  He goes on to say that the naturally known principles are instilled in humans.  Looking at that there is then the case of divine wisdom which God also created.  Since He is the author of both of these, then they must coincide and not contradict each other.  In that way the reason that humans have been instilled with, by God, must coincide with Faith, that God had confirmed through divine Wisdom, in that God has created them both.  God being an all powerful and the creator of all that is does not contradict himself in anything that he does and therefore is no contradiction in natural reason and Faith.  So by taking the First Principle mentioned before and applying it to Aquinas' work humans can find that Faith and reason are indeed in harmony with each other. 

                Tackling the First Condition "the ability of the mind to understand truth" is a bit trickier.  Aquinas does tell us that parts of divine wisdom do surpass human knowledge but that is not because it is not true or contradicts reason.  God only gave humans reason that could understand certain principles of God and his being.  Taking those aside Aquinas tells us that most ideas and concepts in Faith are understandable because God instilled them in people and created reason.  Along with that be created in humans the ability to understand reason as long as certain parts of divine wisdom.  There are parts of the divine wisdom of God that people cannot understand and that is because they are not meant to understand these.  The faith that humans hold in God would not be faith if there were not certain principles that escaped human knowledge.  With that being said human beings are able to understand that which coincides with the reason that God instilled in them.  That reason only goes so far into understanding God for who he is and what he does.  In that way humans can understand what God chooses for them to understand and the rest of it is left for him to know and them to find out when they are reunited with him.

                After taking the First Condition "the ability of the mind to understand the truth" and the first principle "there can be no contradiction in truth" we find that Thomas Aquinas sufficiently proves that human reason and divine wisdom do in fact coexist in harmony.  This was shown by many ways and concepts that are easily accepted and said to be true.  Truth is a funny thing sometimes.  It seems to be the simplest and most basic principle until a person digs deeper into it looking for its true meaning.  There is this harmony between Faith and Reason, people just need to dig deeper on certain ideas and leave others up the God to teach them later.  That is when the understanding can continue and flourish.