iSoul In the beginning is reality.

Kinds of rights

December 2, 2019 3:27 pm ⋅

Human rights are the political rights people have because they are human beings. They apply equally to all because of their common humanity. There are several statements of human, or natural, rights. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued in 1948 is a statement of human rights.

Developmental rights are the political rights people have because of their stage of development, notably, childhood or adulthood. The rights of children differ from the rights of adults because of the differences between children and adults. Children require adult parenting, whereas adults do not. Adults can marry, whereas children cannot.

Parenting is a developmental right because it concerns the stage of development. Adults parent children, not the other way around. In the confused times of today, developmental rights are confused with human rights and children are treated as adults.

Sexual rights are the political rights people have because of their sex, that is, male and female. Sex is also called gender, although gender is a grammatical term, whereas sex is a biological term. The rights of males differ from the rights of females because of the differences between males and females. An unmarried male adult has the right to marry any unmarried female adult. An unmarried female adult has the right to marry any unmarried male adult.

Marriage is a sexual right because it concerns a sexual relationship that naturally leads to the birth of offspring. In the confused times of today, sexual rights are confused with human rights and the sexes are treated as if they did not exist.

Woe to the society that confuses childhood with adulthood and male with female. That society will learn the hard way the importance of developmental and sexual differences.

Posted in: politics, Relating ⋅ Tagged:

Communitarianism

December 2, 2019 2:58 pm ⋅

This post is a parallel contrast to the previous post on Old style liberalism.

Communitarianism puts major emphasis on the freedom of communities to control their own destinies. Communitarianism is its creed; individualism and alienation its enemy. The state exists to protect communities from coercion by other communities or individuals and to widen the range within which communities can exercise their freedom; it is purely instrumental and has no significance in and of itself. Society is a collection of communities and the whole is no greater than the sum of its parts. The ultimate values are the values of the communities who form the society; there are no sub- or super-community values or ends. Nations are convenient social units; patriotism is a part of its creed.

In politics, communitarianism expresses itself as a reaction against individualistic regimes. Communitarians favored limiting the rights of individuals, establishing geocratic governing institutions, limiting the franchise, and moderating civil rights. They favor such measures both for their own sake, as a direct expression of essential political freedoms, and as a means of facilitating the adoption of communitarian economic measures.

In economic policy, communitarianism expresses itself as a reaction against individuals controlling economic affairs. Communitarians favor free cooperation at home and among nations. They regard the organization of economic activity through free private enterprise operating in a competitive market as a limited expression of essential economic freedoms and as unimportant in facilitating the preservation of political liberty. They regard cooperation among nations as a means of eliminating conflicts that might otherwise produce war. Just as within a country, communities following their own interests under the influence of cooperation indirectly promote the interests of the whole; so, between countries, communities following their own interests under conditions of cooperation, indirectly promote the interests of the world as a whole. By providing common access to goods, services, and resources on the same terms to all, cooperation would knit the world into a single economic community.

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Posted in: politics, Relating ⋅ Tagged:

Old style liberalism

November 29, 2019 12:11 pm ⋅

The following excerpt is from “Liberalism, Old Style” by Milton Friedman, published in the 1955 Collier’s Year Book, pp. 360-363. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1955. Reprinted in The Indispensable Milton Friedman, Essays on Politics and Economics, edited by Lanny Ebenstein, pp. 11-24. Washington, D. C.: Regnery Publishing, 2012 (see here).

Liberalism, as it developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and flowered in the nineteenth, puts major emphasis on the freedom of individuals to control their own destinies. Individualism is its creed; collectivism and tyranny its enemy. The state exists to protect individuals from coercion by other individuals or groups and to widen the range within which individuals can exercise their freedom; it is purely instrumental and has no significance in and of itself. Society is a collection of individuals and the whole is no greater than the sum of its parts. The ultimate values are the values of the individuals who form the society; there are no super-individual values or ends. Nations may be convenient administrative units; nationalism is an alien creed.

In politics, liberalism expressed itself as a reaction against authoritarian regimes. Liberals favored limiting the rights of hereditary rulers, establishing democratic parliamentary institutions, extending the franchise, and guaranteeing civil rights. They favored such measures both for their own sake, as a direct expression of essential political freedoms, and as a means of facilitating the adoption of liberal economic measures.

In economic policy, liberalism expressed itself as a reaction against government intervention in economic affairs. Liberals favored free competition at home and free trade among nations. They regarded the organization of economic activity through free private enterprise operating in a competitive market as a direct expression of essential economic freedoms and as important also in facilitating the preservation of political liberty. They regarded free trade among nations as a means of eliminating conflicts that might otherwise produce war. Just as within a country, individuals following their own interests under the pressures of competition indirectly promote the interests of the whole; so, between countries, individuals following their own interests under conditions of free trade, indirectly promote the interests of the world as a whole. By providing free access to goods, services, and resources on the same terms to all, free trade would knit the world into a single economic community.

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Posted in: politics, Relating ⋅ Tagged: ,

Combining equations

November 29, 2019 10:23 am ⋅

Given two equations with the same variable, how can they be combined? If the equations are consistent, they may be solved as simultaneous equations. But what if the equations are inconsistent? There are two ways to combine them in that case, one is OR, the other is AND.

Consider the equations x = a and x = b, where a ≠ b. If we multiply these equations together, we get

x² = ab,

in which the solution is x = √ab, so that x is the geometric mean of a and b.

If we make the equations homogeneous first, then multiply them together, we get: 0 = x − a and 0 = x − b, so that

0 = (x − a) (x − b) = x² − (a + b) x + ab.

The solution of the combined equation is either x = a or x = b. To combine equations with AND, multiply homogeneous equations together.

Another way to combine equations is to add them together. In this case, we get

x + x = 2x = a + b, or x = (a + b)/2,

so that x is the arithmetic mean of a and b. Homogeneous equations added produce the same result: 0 = x − a + x − b = 2x − (a + b), so that x = (a + b)/2.

Posted in: Knowing ⋅ Tagged: ,

Augsburg Confession briefly

November 24, 2019 12:45 pm ⋅

The Holy Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice for Reformation Christians. The Augsburg Confession is the doctrinal confession of faith adopted by the Lutheran Church. It is part of the Book of Concord, which includes the three ancient ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. It also contains the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, and the Formula of Concord. (reference)

Martin Luther wrote the Catechisms and the Smalcald Articles. Phillip Melanchthon wrote the Augsburg Confession, its Apology, and the Treatise. So, Melanchthon wrote more of the Lutheran doctrines than Martin Luther. Note that the other writings of Luther have no official status among Lutherans, although most of them make for sound reading.

The Augsburg Confession was written in a particular historical context in which the Lutheran movement attempted to explain and justify itself to the religious and civil authorities of the day, notably Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, at the Diet of Augsburg on June 25, 1530. Although reconciliation did not happen, the Augsburg Confession provided the primary confession of the Lutheran movement.

The twenty-eight articles in the Augsburg Confession consist of twenty-one statements of doctrine and seven declarations about abuses, and demands for reforms. Although Melanchthon and his associates compiled the confession, Luther approved it as an accurate account of his doctrine.

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Posted in: Knowing, theology ⋅ Tagged: ,

Motion as a parade

November 22, 2019 9:31 pm ⋅

Have you ever seen a parade? Have you ever been in a parade?

parade

A parade is basically a linear (1D) motion. It begins at a point in space and time and ends at a point in space and time. It is planned to progress in a certain order.

The view from the side sees the parade pass by. The parade participants change in time but the location does not. The parade represents the diachronic perspective of motion in time.

The bird’s-eye view from above (as of a camera on a drone) sees the parade as a whole. The time keeps changing but the general location does not. The parade represents the synchronic perspective of motion in time.

The view from a parade participant sees the streetscape pass by. The parade watchers change in space but the chronation does not. The parade represents the diachoric perspective of motion in space.

The view from the plan for the parade sees the parade as a whole. The stance keeps changing but the chronology does not. The parade represents the synchoric perspective of motion in space.

Posted in: Knowing, length & duration ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Prayers and benedictions

November 20, 2019 5:40 pm ⋅

Prayers from the New Testament (NET Bible)

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
10 may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Mt 6:9-13

22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins.” Mk 11:22-25

17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, 18 —since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened—so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Eph 1:17-23

I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. 16 I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Eph 3:14b-19

9 And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight 10 so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:9-11

6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col 1:9-14

11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Th 1:11-12

4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that the faith you share with us may deepen your understanding of every blessing that belongs to you in Christ. 7 I have had great joy and encouragement because of your love, for the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. Philemon 1:4-7

2 Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 3 Jn 1:2

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Posted in: Knowing, theology ⋅ Tagged: ,

Independent uniform motion

November 20, 2019 1:30 pm ⋅

This continues posts here and here.

The extent of a motion is measured by a reference motion, just as a length is measured by a reference length. The reference motion used to measure other motions is a uniform motion. Galileo’s definition of uniform motion is the following:

By steady or uniform motion, I mean one in which the distances traversed by the moving particle during any equal intervals of time, are themselves equal. [Galileo’s Two New Sciences, Third Day]

Because equality is a symmetric relation, this could also be expressed as follows:

A steady or uniform motion is one in which the travel times of the moving particle during any equal intervals of space, are themselves equal.

Another way of saying this is that for a uniform motion the intervals of space and the corresponding intervals of time are proportional. That is, a uniform rate of motion is constant.

There are two measures of the extent of a motion, length and duration. Applied to the reference motion, these two measures produce two scalars, a measure of length called stance, and a measure of duration called time. Given a reference starting point, the length since the start point is called the stance, and the duration since the start instant is called the time. Because of the proportionality of uniform motion, given knowledge of stance or time along with the uniform rate, one may deduce the other measure.

The reference motion must also be an independent motion, not dependent on other motions, and it must continue indefinitely, so that any other motion would be at some point simultaneous or simulstanceous with the reference motion. Because of this, any motion may be a function of the reference motion.

This independent, uniform reference motion is commonly represented by a clock, which registers uniform motion continually. Even if the clock’s motion is a uniform circular motion, it represents a uniform linear motion as the numbers increase linearly. The reference motion may equally well be a metreloge, which is a uniform motion that registers length continually. As a clock may be a uniform angular motion whose angles register durations, a metreloge may be a uniform angular motion whose arcs register lengths.

Measures of the target motion may then be considered as a function of one of the reference measures, which acts as a parameter of the target motion. Parametric differential equations and geometry may then be used to represent the course of a motion.

Posted in: Knowing, length & duration ⋅ Tagged: ,

Vital records of society

November 19, 2019 3:31 pm ⋅

Vital records are the official documents of the birth, marriage, divorce, and death of members of a society. They are currently kept by an office of state government, but before the 19th or 20th century these documents were under the control of religious institutions, i.e., churches. For example, the state of Nebraska has birth and death records only since 1904, and marriage and divorce records only since 1909. Since marriage required a license, marriage certificates are often available since the 17th or 18th century in the older states.

State and national governments, however, have done poorly at this basic task. They have not recognized the personhood of children in the womb, they have made divorce “no-fault” and easy to get, and they have redefined marriage to eliminate the sex requirement. In some states, lawful death has been redefined to include assisted suicide.

With this in mind, it is time for religious institutions to take back the keeping of vital records. While legal requirements must still be met, religious requirements are different and need their own certificates and vital records. This is an opportunity to show the importance of recognizing the humanity of children in the womb by issuing a Life Certificate. It’s an opportunity to show the necessity for marriage to be kept for opposite sex couples only, and not same-sex or changed gender couples. It is an opportunity to set the requirements for divorce. And accurate death records would discourage the pretexts of assisted suicide.

Although religious institutions bear responsibility for this task, the operation may well be contracted out to a business. Because people move between the states and change church affiliation, it is best that a national database be established. This national database of vital records should be maintained with the highest integrity to safeguard how society treats the unborn, the institution of marriage, and the dying.

Posted in: Relating ⋅ Tagged: ,

Simultaneity and simulstanceity

November 15, 2019 3:20 pm ⋅

Max Jammer’s book Concepts of Simultaneity (Johns Hopkins UP, 2006) describes the significance, meaning, and history of simultaneity in physics. Here are a few excerpts from his Introduction:

… Einstein himself once admitted: “By means of a revision of the concept of simultaneity in a shapable form I arrived at the special relativity theory.” p.3

That not only temporal but also spatial measurements depend on the notion of simultaneity follows from the simple fact that “the length of a moving line-segment is the distance between simultaneous positions of its endpoints,” as Hans Reichenbach … convincingly demonstrated. Having shown that “space measurements are reducible to time measurements” he concluded that “time is therefore logically prior to space.” p. 4-5

P. F. Browne rightly pointed out that all relativistic effects are ultimately “direct consequences of the relativity of simultaneity.” p.5

One might give the dual to the second statement as: That not only spatial but also temporal measurements depend on the notion of simulstanceity follows from the simple fact that “the duration of a moving line-segment is the time interval between simulstanceous chronations of its endpoints. Space is therefore logically prior to time.

In the next chapter, Terminological Preliminaries, Jammer clarifies the relevant concepts. It is ironic that he gives an early example of the metonym “of spatial terms to denote temporal relations that is frequently encountered both in ancient and in modern languages.” (p.9) Space has priority in language.

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Posted in: Knowing, length & duration, relativity ⋅ Tagged: ,