Monday, March 26, 2007
I WILL
I will be responsible for all my actions.
I will do what is right even when no one is looking.
I will not steal or take things which are not mine.
I will attend school regularly and punctually.
MY THOUGHTS
A human being has integrity if he or she is what he or she appears to be. That's why integrity commands us to disclose conflicts, so that what we say, and who we appear to be, are in synch. Change the appearance if necessary.
In my humble opinion, everything starts with integrity, boats, rocks, houses, people. When I get a bad feeling and really probe it, go deep into it and ask it to explain itself, the concern almost always relates to integrity. If I lied about something, or did something dirty it makes me feel bad. From that I conclude that my brain has an integrity mechanism that has something to do with survival, because the bad feeling is primal and feels related to survival.
This is why our planet works, to the extent that it does. You don't have to lock every door all the time. There are times when it's OK to be vulnerable. The Web, believe it or not, is quite vulnerable. Yet it works.
This makes sense because evolution created humans as a social species, the judgment by and acceptance of our contemporaries is very important to our survival. When the integrity of communication is compromised, the survival question is triggered, it's as if Who I Am is bleeding, and if I don't stop it, I will turn into something other than a human.
I WILL
I will speak the truth though it may hurt.
I will not cheat or copy.
I will not tell tales.
I will have the humility to admit my mistakes when I am wrong.
MY THOUGHTS
Truth is not a feeling. Truth is not an idea. The truth is found in the Bible. The cults are wrong because they do not have the truth. That is, they have a false understanding of God the Father, of God the Son, of the Holy Spirit, and the work of Christ on the Cross. Because they are in error in these things, they are in error concerning the doctrine of salvation.
Sincerity and good works do not bridge the gap of sin between God and man. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse a person (Heb. 9:22; John 14:6). Sincerity and good works are merely the reliance upon what is in the individual to merit favor with God. Sincerity is a form of pride when it is appealed to as a justification for being accepted by God: "But God, look at my heart. See how sincere I was? I deserve to be in heaven."
No. If sincerity and good works were good enough to satisfy God, then He wouldn't have given us the Bible to correct our sincerely wrong ideas, and He wouldn't have sent His Son to do what our good works cannot.
Truth is what God says is true.
The truth is important not because it is simply true. It is important because truth is what defines who and what we believe in. Is Jesus the brother of the devil as in Mormonism? Is he an angel who became a man? Or, is He the creator of the universe, second person of the Trinity? Only one is right.
Faith is vital. But faith placed in something false is the same as having no faith at all. Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. That is why it is important to have the true Jesus. The one of the Bible, not the one of Mormonism, nor the one of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I WILL
I will have the moral courage to speak up when I see something wrong.
I will be impartial even at times when the odds are against me.
I will treat everyone fairly regardless of status, race or religion.
I will not do something that wil benefit myself but hurt others.
MY THOUGHTS
Justice means fairness, and it is the idea behind how laws are put into force.
On one hand, justice means that you have the right to be protected and treated fairly by the law. If somebody does something wrong to you or the people around you, it is fair that that person should be stopped, and that they should have to pay a price for what they did.
Justice also means deciding carefully and fairly whether someone actually did something they are accused of. If there is proof that somebody broke the law, it is fair that they should pay a price for it.
This might mean that if you were found guilty of a crime, the police might take some of your time, your money, or even your freedom as a price for what you did. But it would still be responsible for making sure you could live peacefully and safely during your punishment, and when your punishment was over.
I will have the moral courage to speak up when I see something wrong.
I will be impartial even at times when the odds are against me.
I will treat everyone fairly regardless of status, race or religion.
I will not do something that wil benefit myself but hurt others.
MY THOUGHTS
Justice means fairness, and it is the idea behind how laws are put into force.
On one hand, justice means that you have the right to be protected and treated fairly by the law. If somebody does something wrong to you or the people around you, it is fair that that person should be stopped, and that they should have to pay a price for what they did.
Justice also means deciding carefully and fairly whether someone actually did something they are accused of. If there is proof that somebody broke the law, it is fair that they should pay a price for it.
This might mean that if you were found guilty of a crime, the police might take some of your time, your money, or even your freedom as a price for what you did. But it would still be responsible for making sure you could live peacefully and safely during your punishment, and when your punishment was over.
I WILL
I will value group interest over seif-interest.
I have the right to ask others to maintain our school values and image.
I understand that while I have the freedom of speech, I will not use it to hurt others.
I will not destroy public property as others have the freedom to use it.
MY THOUGHTS
What is freedom? Libertarians define freedom primarily as freedom from the might of the State. Socialists often define freedom in terms of freedom from want: freedom from hunger, freedom from sickness, freedom from the elements. Modern day hippies might talk about freedom from big corporations.
There is at least some truth in all these visions. And there is even some truth to the moralistic vision that conservatives invoke as they call for regulation on personal mores at the same time they call for less government elsewhere.
In the following pages, I want to develop a more complete vision of freedom that encompasses aspects of the libertarian, leftist and environmentalist visions. With this vision I hope to build a foundation for a consensus that can unite all freedom lovers so that we can form a majority coalition that trumps the special interests who are using the State to nibble away at our rights.
One very useful definition of freedom is the ownership of one body. To be a slave is to be unfree as one is owned by someone else. To be a serf is also to be unfree, though be a somewhat smaller amount. The owner of a serf does not have the right to sell.
Fortunately, to horrible institutions of slavery and serfdom are dead or dying in most of the world. But there are institutions that claim similar rights as the master or the feudal lord, though not always to the same degree.
People should have freedom but must not have complete freedomto have complete freedom that means you can kill people freely without getting trouble from the law.I think that parents should not give their children too much freedomif you give them too much they might get out of handbut freedom is important tooif a teenager don't even have the little right for freedomshe might hate her parents or think that her parents treat her like a childYou might think everyday you saw birdsand think that they must be very goodas they have freedom as they fly freely in the sky.
I WILL
I will love and respect God and not use his name in vain.
I will respect the authority of my parents,teachers and school leaders.
I believe that God will help those who help themselves.
I will uphold our school values and school rules.
MY THOUGHTS
God loves and He doesn't want us to be afraid. And if you live right, there's no need to fear anything. Because God is love, He's a forgiving God. It's like if you cheat on your partner, you say you're sorry and you really mean it, and you promise never to do it again. Then, if you're lucky, your partner will forgive you. It's like that with God, but you're always lucky in that if you ask, with sincerity from your heart, He always forgives and then you are safe. All pretty simple really. People who are religious minded and god-fearing do not dare to tread on the wrong path. They always prefer the right path of truth and honesty.
I WILL
I will love and cherish my family and myself.
I will be a faithful and trustworthy person.
I will be compassionate and sensitive to the feeling of others.
MY THOUGHTS
Attention is the most basic form of love; through it we bless and are blessed. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away. To me love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, friendship set on fire. Love has no awareness of merit or demerit; it has no scale... Love loves; this is its nature. To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven. Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. To the Jewish mind, it isn't unexpected at all. What we value most in ourselves, we value most in others. God created us to see ourselves as good. So, too, we seek goodness in others. Nice looks, an engaging personality, intelligence, and talent may attract you, but goodness is what moves you to love.