Demotivator of the Day

Courtesy of: http://www.despair.com

Why calling myself a Republican makes me cringe (because I'm too conservative to be a Democrat)

Over the summer I took some time to re-examine my political party affiliations and was nonplussed to discover that my own brand of politics, for the most part, doesn't match up with that of the Republican party. I agree with the pro-life agenda and the idea that big government is bad government, but here is where I found myself beginning to separate from the party line: the manner in which Republicans go about "proving" their point is so full of informal logical fallacies that it gives me philosophical indigestion.

For example, rebuttals to democrat attempts to advance an argument are met with ad hominem fallacy or attacking the person making the argument as opposed to the argument itself. I don't think I need to give an example for this one, just turn on FoxNews.

Another favorite tactic is when a certain radio talk show host attacks a misrepresentation of a democrat's argument. This, I have noticed, is a favorite on both sides but it seems that the republicans have a lot more material to work with.

While I realize that both sides employ these fallacies to differing degrees (I mean, we are talking about politics), the way the party defines a persons life in terms of economics gives me moral ulcers. If you are rich it's because you've worked for it (not always true), and if you are poor it's because you're lazy. I think you can see where I am going with this. These are just a few of the things that make me want to separate from the party line, only I don't know where else I would go.

And so I am left with questions. Are these musings simply a product of the stage of life and post-modern culture I am in? Will I ever be satisfied with my political party of choice? Why am I still going into the field of social work knowing that I cannot stand the politics of it?

At least I have an answer to this one question: why there are so many antacid commercials during presidential campaign season.

My thoughts on the field in general

As classes begin again and I am bombarded with theories and speculations about the human condition, I am once again faced with a very stark reality: the field of Social Work is very materialistic. This truth is something that I struggled with last year because I couldn't seem to wrap my mind around it. How could a profession that is devoted to helping the helpless be so short sighted? I talked this over with a friend who is also in the same program I am in and she pointed out that a lot of emphasis is placed on students doing social work because helping people makes them feel better, thus setting the stage for them to provide their clients with an easy fix so that the social worker can then get their "fix". For example, I read a case study about a social worker in Los Angeles who thought that the best way to stop youth from joining gangs was to give them jobs so that they could earn money and feel like productive members of society. The social worker didn't address any reasons why youth would find gang affiliation attractive, nor any underlying social expectations that may exist within the community. This article is just one example of many that represents a big problem in the social work field: a lack of depth and emphasis on holistic care. I wanted to be a social worker because I thought that staying within the church walls would limit me to only providing spiritual care and encouragement but, I am finding that there is just as much of a limitation in the secular field on the other end of the spectrum.

Can a middle ground exist? Yes, at least I think so. As long as the social workers motivation is to help people, not to make themselves feel better, but to show God's love and acceptance then a middle ground can exist there and it can give great comfort and help to those who are in need.

I think one reason God has me in this field is to bring depth and holistic care to the way practitioners view their clients situation. That, at least, will be my goal for my own practice.

BBC News- Technology
“A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed.”
This artificial brain will be able to process sight, allowing researchers to trace the neuronpath through the brain, the same is true for other types of stimulation like smell, etc. The scientists even said that this brain will be able to process emotions!
“You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron,” he said. “So you need ten thousand laptops.”

This research could help develop new treatments for the mentally ill and those who have suffered brain trauma. While all of this is really great, innovative stuff, I am amazed by something else that is much bigger than an artificial brain manufactured by a bunch of scientists. That is the fact that God created this marvelous machine, the human brain, that interacts not only things seen, but also with things unseen. We can take reality and change it to metaphor and back again. God made a special neuron pathway in our brains just so that we could feel love, understand truth, and experience the touch of another human being. He gave us the ability to enjoy his creation and to glorify him for it! He gave us the ability to feel wonder, bewilderment, anger, pain, and peace. He has revealed his love for us in these things; he has revealed his lovingkindness for us in Jesus. And he created us with the ability to know that love.
That, my friends, is truly amazing.

Ready to Be There

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel that life is moving just a little too slowly and you feel so impatient that you wish you could find a fast forward button?
Well, that hasn’t been just a moment for me it’s been the last few months.
I know that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1) but I am ready for this one to pass because it is just so frustrating.
I want to be out there doing social work and really making a difference, not just trying to make my mind about intellectual questions; not that that isn’t worth while, I’m just ready for some work. While I do believe in being educated about your chosen field, I think there is only so much you can learn in a classroom or from a book. The majority of my big decisions are going to be made not based on theories I learned in grad school, but based on experiences of what has worked in the past, my knowledge of resources, my own intuition and God’s providential guidance. That last one isn’t something they teach you about in the College of Social Work either (yet it boggles my mind that I am paying for this education).
I pray that God will give me patience to get through these remaining two years of my degree without going totally insane. Who knows, maybe a little insanity will do me some good.

Future Plans and Present Battles

It has been a while since I have written and, just as before, much has happened. I will be starting my second year of graduate school in August and will also be registered as a student with a disability because I have night-blindness. I have never been formally recognized as having at disability because the state I live in (South Carolina) has no set standards for night vision- that is totally up to the ophthalmologist as to whether or not a person is declared officially “night blind”.
Frankly, it’s a little strange being on the other side of all this paper work. I worked in the office of Academic Services for 3 years at my college and served many students with various disabilities (loved every minute of it) but never thought I would end up being the one requiring services. Also, it’s an odd sensation because I’ve only had this informal diagnosis for 6 years and some days I still feel like I’m just starting to get used to it. One thing I know for sure, God has caused this to happen at this time for a reason. I don’t understand what that reason is right now, but I do have faith that he will make that known in due time.
Also, I will begin my first internship at a senior primary care practice that will last for the whole year. Geriatric social work isn’t an area that I know much about and I have zero experience in the field, but I think that is the purpose of an internship; to give students the opportunity to try out something that is completely outside of their comfort zone and yet still be able to build up their skill set and resume. I am very excited about this internship because my supervisor is wonderful. I knew I was going to like her when she told me that even after being in the social work field for over 20 years, she still learned new things every day. I am looking forward to learning all I can from her.
In addition to these changes, this spring semester (09) was mentally challenging for me in that many of my beliefs and assumptions about politics were challenged and are still in the process of changing. I am reassessing my own understanding of my chosen political party (republican) and I am trying to come up with answers to some questions that are vital to my development as a Christian in the social work field. For example, what is the role of the church in relation to government run programs like food stamps, affordable housing, and unemployment? Also, to what extent is the church to be involved in issues of social justice such as the sex slave trade, marital abuse, equality for women, etc. This is just the tip of the iceburg. Thousands more questions like these are swirling around in my head with no immediate answer available, it can be somewhat overwhelming. However, one thing God has impressed upon me is that this is where he wants me to be at this moment. I have struggled and prayed over the last month about whether God really wanted me to finish my degree. Even in the midst of this struggle, God has made it clear that I am where I am supposed to be and while that may not include having the words to give some grand answer to the hard questions my professors are sure to ask me in the coming semester, I can at least be confident enough to say that I know what I am going to be doing for the next two years. That and just being a faithful student is all that he asks of me now. Not having all the answers now doesn’t mean that I never will, it just means not now.

A Separate Morality

In class last night, during a discussion about belief systems and Socail Work, a fellow classmate began saying that one could have morality and make moral decisions without those morals having any basis in religion. Her arguement was in support of helping clients make the “right” decision without imposing one’s own beliefs on them.
I disagree. I think that separating one’s beliefs from one’s morality leads to either a false morality, or empty beliefs. Consider this, as a Social Worker you encourage a group of young men in the juvenile justice system to be good and do right because that is the right thing to do. You have not given them: a) reason to do good, b) the means to do good, or c) the motivation to do good. Those are things that belief provide to morality. Without belief, morality has no basis whatsoever because belief gives morality a purpose and a direction. Morality without belief is nothing more than a pious proscription; it is empty, meaningless, enslaving, and false. A false sense of morality can enslave one to a cycle of self-doubt, self-reproach, and depression. This is not what any one trying to better themselves should be told.
Now, for clarification, I am speaking from the view point of belief based on Jesus Christ as Savior and recognition of ones’ sin. However, reguardless of whether or not you believe in Jesus, the beliefs you hold become your basis for morality. That is the basic relationship of beliefs and morality. It is not morality that supports the belief (although some may live it out this way), but it is belief that support the morality.
Here is some food for thought: in South Carolina public schools they teach mainly abstinence in sex ed classes. Is it effective when taken out of the context of the sacredness of marriage?