It's a matter of opinion

As a college professor, a complaint I hear fairly often is "if you don't agree with the professor's opinion, you'll be marked down - but my opinion is just as good as hers!" This raises an interesting question: if all opinions are equal, and your opinion (say, on evolution) is just as good as my opinion, why in the world are you spending 10's of thousands of dollars to learn about my opinion?

I'm feeling cranky because I'm grading exams (guaranteed to make a teacher cranky) and I'm getting a lot of this in some of the answers. I also had a conversation with colleagues about the inability of students to recognize what is and is not a scientific question and what we can do about it. The cynical side of me says "not much" because people are so wedded to their "opinions".

As educators, we of course believe that education will change that; but while I see some evidence of that in some people, I think a lot of students pass through their college years unchanged! I'm trying hard to understand why - it is foreign to my own experience. My "opinions" on a lot of things change frequently.

For example, I just read a very interesting article in The Atlantic about what "baby boomers" can do to salvage their generational status. The author, a senior editor at The Atlantic, argues against a universal service act (basically reinstating the draft, but for everyone and not necessarily for military service). I've always been something of a fan of universal service, but the author makes some telling points against it. His solution for what boomers could do to salvage their reputation? Pay down the national debt! Not what I would have picked, but he's clearly thought long and hard about this - and I was impressed.

So, I'm left wondering why people hang on to their "opinions" so tightly - and what can be done to open their minds. Back to grading....

Religious extremism

Remember how your mom always said that when you made conversation, the two things to avoid were religion and politics? And yet if you read the news it seems like we talk about little else!

Mom didn't want you to discuss these things because people feel so strongly about them. I can understand the strong feelings associated with religion since that is an intensely personal aspect of our lives; I'm still trying to figure out why people feel so strongly about politics (and that includes me, of course). I suppose the reasons are similar.

In any case, I've titled this post "religious extremism" because that's what's in the news right now - and it is September 11, a prime example of the results of religious extremism. Right now, some clown in Florida is planning on burning the Qu'ran and that has led to all kinds of interesting things worth reflecting on.

Let's start with the "news" aspect: here's a guy who is a pastor for a tiny sect of Christians in Florida who has brokered his way into a big PR event because the "news" somehow thought the actions of a nutjob in Florida was, well, "news". Why? What makes this event more important than, say, the break-up of a large ice island off the coast of Greenland (which may or may not be related to climate change)? Why is it worth more discussion than the deaths of 25 Mexican citizens in a single Mexican state in a single day due to the drug wars down there (drug wars, by the way, supported by users here in the States who seem to see no connection between their actions and these deaths: sure, take a hit, drug use is a "victimless" crime)? Methinks journalists need to critically examine what they're doing and why.

Next, let's look at the extremism aspect. Of course, there's extremism all around us now (which makes one wonder what is "extreme" these days) but in this case we have a "pastor" who thinks it's ok to burn the holy book of a religion different from his religion, but who I'll bet would have conniptions if some Imam decided to burn the Bible. Well, he's got the right to do it because of that 1st amendment deal, and it's certainly brought him and his "flock" attention - but it doesn't seem very "pastoral" to me. And then there's the reaction to it, from lots of "sides". Protests in certain Muslim states shout "Death to America" (we've heard that one before); the defense secretary cautions that this action could endanger U.S. troops (and it could); the FBI visits the pastor to inform him of credible death threats against him; people saying he shouldn't/should be "allowed" to burn the Qu'ran - whew! Does anyone have a "chill pill" for the world?

I think we can agree that religious extremism is a bad thing - what we can't seem to agree on is what is "extreme". There are folks out there who would like to turn the U.S. into a Christian theocracy - that seems extreme to me. There are folks out there who, because of certain passages in their holy book, believe it's not only ok, but required to stone "adulterous" people.

Seems to me, maybe mom was right....

Back to school

Haven't been able to blog since August - back to school! Seems like we're off to a good start, but you'll have to ask my students how they feel.

Movies - watched a couple of good ones recently. My favorite was probably Whip It - a quirky coming of age story starring Ellen Page. She continues her terrific work as an actor from Juno. It's a story about a high school girl who finds her place in "Roller Derby" of all things. Not what I would want for my daughter - and the movie shows the mom's struggle with this. If you watch it, you might notice the "Hi - How are you" art work and T-shirt. Comes from an Austin area "musician" by the name of Daniel Johnson, who was a favorite of Kurt Colbain (did I spell that right?). There's an excellent documentary (as a documentary) about Johnson out entitled The Devil and Daniel Johnson - a documentary about the "world's greatest living singer/songwriter". Sorry, I just don't buy it - the guy's voice sucks and his guitar playing is amateurish. I liked his art work much better. But Ellen Page rocks in Whip It.

Also saw Crazy Heart - finally. Reminds me very much of Tender Mercies - possibly Robert Duvall's best film - and Duvall was a producer and actor in Crazy Heart, so any resemblances must be coincidence! That said, there were significant differences between the two - and both are well worth a watch (or two, or three...). Speaking of Duvall, one of his early screen appearances was in To Kill A Mockingbird - as Boo. The man has staying power. Jeff Bridges finally got his Oscar for Crazy Heart - and he certainly earned it.

Also saw a really mediocre movie - Amelia. Hilary Swank is amazing - again! - but she couldn't save this film. Poor editing, direction, screen writing - pretty much sinks whatever movie is afflicted with those problems.