I chose to tackle gay or lesbian relations because I know an openly gay person, so I guess it has some personal significance to me. I think having gay or lesbian relations is RIGHT since I don’t see anything wrong with it. For me, as long as the couple love each other and if they’re planning to adopt/have a surrogate child, they can raise the child well and in a good environment, then it’s okay. Many people argue that marriage and relationships should only be between men and women, but I believe that physical aspects such as gender shouldn’t prevent relationships and marriage from happening. Also, it defends peoples’ rights of marrying and therefore strengthens the institution of marriage. In addition, there would not be a huge and negative impact on society if same-sex relations are allowed. My support of same-sex relations is from personal preference, maybe with a bit of own reasoning, but that has probably been influenced by other people and by media already.

Using the Bible, the Church, and my country’s constitution, having same-sex relations, more specifically gay marriage, is wrong, allowing it only between men and women (again, I personally believe that it is not wrong). To assess whether it’s sinful, the three criteria can be applied. Does it cause serious harm? I don’t think so. Having gay or lesbian relationships is a means of self-expression between people with the same sexual preference, so it shouldn’t cause harm to both of them. For society, some might argue that it harms the norm of heterosexual relationships. They also point out that allowing gay or lesbian relations will encourage a lot of people to have these, and because a gay or lesbian relationship will not be able to naturally produce children, it will lead to a decrease in birth rate. In my opinion, the latter situation is highly unlikely, and even if it’s against the norm, it does not negatively impact society. Gay or lesbian people are able to express their love for each other, and gay or lesbian people with children, again, as long as they can raise them well, then they are actually helping society. However, people who have same-sex relations have adequate knowledge and adequate freedom to go into it, so this makes gay or lesbian relations sinful, although it is not a grave sin since it did not pass the first criterion.

One particular situation that stands out in my head is when the couple really love each other and have a child that they raised well. Not allowing gay or lesbian relations would mean that the couple would have to be separated and that they cannot take care of their child anymore. By separating them, their human right of freedom to marry is taken away, and the child might not be raised as well or in a good environment anymore. However, even if the child is adopted by a good family, there might be some resistance from the child since he/she will want to be raised by his/her real parents. I think in this case, for the sake of the child and the relationship that was going smoothly, having same-sex relations should be allowed, and it will not be sinful at all in this case.

Based on my answer, which does not reflect my personal opinion, I am a moral evaluativist. I considered the principle that relationships and marriage should only be between people of the opposite sex and the fact that it has been the norm in society. I also considered the situation of the married gay/lesbian couple with a child. Since both the general principle and a particular situation were taken into account, my answer shows moral evaluativism.

 

Part B.

Hey dude, so you’re really in a relationship with this other dude? Personally, I think there’s nothing wrong with it, but you have to consider whether you really love him and whether your relationship will really work out, especially since this kind of thing is taboo in our country because morally, authorities think that relationships should be between a man and a woman. The fact that heterosexual relationships have been the norm in our country for centuries, you relationship will disturb that. You will go against the norms and values of our society. But if you really love that guy, I think you’d end up hurting yourself too if you just went with society’s flow.You might end up denying yourself a chance at happiness by suppressing your emotions and identity. Are you willing to give that chance up so you can live normally and fit in?

Yeah, the authorities might have a big say on everything, but it does not mean that they’re right all the time. The fact that heterosexual relationships have been the norm for a long time shows that it’s proven. Homosexual relationships just became more exposed and open recently, and it’s not as widespread as heterosexual ones. This means that we might not be entirely sure if it’s perfectly alright. I think you should just play it safe. If you’re not sure, maybe it’s better to be on the safe side, meaning you shouldn’t go into this relationship with him.

Finally, are you only doing this for pleasure? Do you just want to avoid pain and be happy and get on with your life? Do you only want to be able to express your love? If it’s just one of these things, I think you should be suspicious before you go into this because this might be you looking for an easy way. It’s a choice between what is right and what is easy, and I think if you just want the ease, convenience and pleasure, you’re going towards the latter, and that’s not a good thing.

It’s all up to you, dude. I think you have to ponder and reflect on it first before you make your decision, which will hopefully be the right one.

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genes are changed due to genetic engineering. GMOs sold in the market include tomatoes, alfalfa, soybeans, corn, etc.

Personally, I support GMO’s if they bring important benefits like extreme weather resistance, more nutrition, increased crop yield, etc. As long as it does not cause any major disease or outbreak and mankind, especially the poorer people, can reap the benefits of genetic engineering, I support it. For this to happen, I believe GMO’s should also undergo rigorous clinical trials like drugs to eliminate or lessen the possibility of the GMO having a negative impact.

 

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

Among the kropek prepared, I’d say the canola oil had the best texture. The kropek really felt like crackers in the mouth when it crunched perfectly. For the taste however, I prefer the one made with butter, which was what we made, mostly because I like that buttery taste.

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are synthetic antioxidants used to preserve lipids. These antioxidants prevent the spoilage of fats and oils by reacting with oxygen before it gets to react with the lipids. Both prevent oxidative rancidity in fats. Through this, the shelf life of the food containing the fats and oils is prolonged. These antioxidants are also used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

However, some studies suggest that some properties of BHA and BHT also make it carcinogenic and unhealthy, and that some people might have difficulty metabolizing these antioxidants. Due to these findings, some doctors are recommending that people should ensure they do not have BHA and BHT in their diets.

In my opinion, the link between these antioxidants and cancer should be studied further and clarified first. To avoid health hazards though, people should at least make sure that they are not ingesting or consuming a lot of BHA and BHT in their diets. I don’t think it would be possible for people to completely cut off these synthetic antioxidants from their diets because it’s just too useful, so minimizing the use of both of these is the best option for me.

 

http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/bha-bht-preservatives.htm

http://www.detoxprogram.net/articles/bha-bht.php

Even I find the food presented in the blogs weird. I think it’s cause the ingredients used in those foods are considered gross or hazardous. For example, eating the meat of a fish is considered normal, while eating the sperm of a fish clearly isn’t. It’s also the state in which the food is eaten. Most of the animal-based products eaten are non-living, so when a live octopus is eaten, it’s considered weird cause the octopus is alive. What is considered normal depends mostly on social norms and beliefs in society. It would not be normal for an Eskimo to eat balut and he would consider it gross, but for a Filipino who normally eats street foods, eating balut might just be a part of everyday life. I believe that “gross” and “abnormal” just varies from culture to culture, which is why most of the foods present in the list originate from exotic Asian or European places, not more mainstream places like the U.S. or the U.K.

I’ve eaten food my entire life, but I just realized that I never had to define it before. Food is a nutritional substance needed by livings things in order to live.

As for the top 5 weirdest food:
1) codfish sperm – the sperm of anything is just disgusting
2) kopi luwak – I always wondered what it’s like to eat or drink excrement since I was a kid. I’m pretty sure it’s gross.
3) tarantula – I know a lot of people who have a fear of spiders, so I can’t really imagine how other people can eat a creepy crawly.
4) rotten soybeans – who eats food rotten?
5) drunken shrimp – not only does it have to be alive, it also has to be drunk.

Having a long lay-off from participating or even observing a VC, I was quite unsure what to feel with the upcoming VC with St. Joseph’s School of Lebanon. Add that to the fact that I injured my knee the day before during P.E. class and was on crutches on the day of the scheduled VC. Since I found it hard to move (left leg was immobilized), I borrowed a wheelchair from the infirmary and sat near the front so I wouldn’t have to move at all when I wanted to talk into the microphone. As we were setting-up, I found out that the Indonesian observers were there to observe the VC, which somehow added to the pressure and made me feel that I had to be on my best behavior. I was quite disappointed when we already got the feed from St. Joseph’s because the orientation of the camera was not only skewed but also unclear. There was also a problem with the audio as sometimes, their voices cannot be clearly heard.

When we got to the discussion, I became more comfortable, remembering how similar the icebreaker of that VC was to my previous VC with India. We were chatting with Maronite Christians in a predominantly Muslim country. What surprised me was that despite the large and numerous differences in geography, culture, environment, etc., our common religion (Christianity) gave us a lot of similarities, way more than I expected. We were able to share our similarities in practices in special days like Christmas, school activities and motto, upbringing, principles, and others. As we went on, I soon found myself comfortable in the VC with St. Joseph’s and actually enjoyed answering the facilitator’s and their questions. I loved how this VC emphasized my similarities with people of a different culture from a country far away, as the previous VC (my first one) stressed how different I was with the people I was talking to. Through the VC, I was able to feel a sense of community with people halfway across the world. If I had one regret of the VC though, it would be that the discussion was mostly superficial and I felt that we only scraped the surface on talking about our faith.

The VC’s have been a great way to be exposed to the different cultures and religions in the world. After feeling so much pressure at the start, I actually find the VC’s enjoyable now.

1.) Epistemological World Views
2.) Social Justice
3.) Treating the Bible as Literature

CLE forced me to be prompt with my assignments, so I had to manage my time better. Also, I learned how to be concise because all the homework were limited to 7-10 sentences.

My most significant insight from CLE is that I have to take a responsible stand based on the evidence and authority. More specifically, the course taught me to be an evaluativist. CLE taught me not to be lazy with my opinions by adopting a relativist or an authoritarian view.

In a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest:

1 – Hitting my elbow, or the back of it on an object. It sends an electric shock up through my arm and renders it numb for a few seconds. Fairly annoying.

2 – Nocturnal cramps. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten cramps while playing sports, as most people do. I typically get it when I’m sleeping. I’ll be sleeping soundly, then I’ll suddenly wake up with my legs cramping, and it feels as if my muscles are trying to crush my bones. The pain lingers throughout the entire day, and I would have a hard time walking

3 – Stinky feet. I’ve been locked in a small train compartment with someone who has the smelliest feet I’ve ever known. Since I couldn’t transfer to another compartment, I was stuck with him the entire night. He did try to lessen our suffering though, by spraying body spray on his feet, which just mixed the musky smell of the spray with the disgusting smell of his feet. Made me want to kill myself.

4 – Falling from my accelerating scooter, gashing half of my face and earning some stitches. I was fond of racing my scooter with my neighbor, so one day we raced downhill. His scooter bumped mine, and I fell. With all the momentum I had, not only did I hit my forehead on the hard pavement with quite an impact, but I also gashed the whole left side of my face as it slid across the rough surface. Bandages covered my face for a whole month after that. And it wasn’t the last time I gashed the whole left side of my face too.

5 – Kicked in the balls. I think getting hit in the testicles is something all men have gone through at least once in their lives. My first time was in nursery. I was playing a simple game of Tag with my classmates when suddenly, one of the guys I was chasing suddenly turned back and kicked me in the nuts. The pain was excruciating. It took me a few minutes before I could get up, and then several more to resume playing (I was a kid who didn’t really know when to be angry). When I arrived home, it still hurt, even if it was already several hours after I got kicked. To alleviate the pain, my brother suggested that I keep jumping. It helped, but not much. I needed to sleep it off. Whether it caused permanent damage or not, I don’t know. I hope it didn’t…

To some extent, we are all at fault for this unjust system where the majority is at the bottom and suffers greatly, but I don’t want to linger on that point because I think it’s such a cop-out answer. From my perspective, the economic system we have right now might be unjust, but we shouldn’t work on changing it completely because comparing it to other economic systems, like communism, it is already better in the sense that it allows for more economic progress and more people actually get to benefit from the system, unlike in others where it is relatively more equal and just but all of them are suffering in poverty. Instead, we should just try to improve the conditions of the ones at the bottom and pull a lot of them up because I think that there really has to be a need for poor people, and in that case, we should try to at least improve their conditions with the assistance of the political branch through subsidizing basic services, etc. The political system should also be reformed to allow more transparency, less corruption, and a ‘cleaner’ justice system to deal with the eternal problems of corruption, inefficiency and instability. Most importantly, there should be a change in mentality in all of us that we need to watch out for other peoples’ and the country’s interests also and that we make sure we don’t pass on our problems and sufferings to the next generation by ruining the environment they’re going to inherit, conceiving more children than we can support, etc. In addition to mentality, there should be a change in character, and this involves having more compassion for the less fortunate in our society not only by donating stuff to them, but also to tilt the social justice balance in their favor. Moreover, even if the Church sometimes also contributes a lot to the problem, its four key principles of human dignity, solidarity, common good and subsidiarity transcend cultural and religious boundaries and are valid goals in making our society more just.