STUFF, The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C Ryan and Alan Thein Durning
This book is small, (80 or so page,) easy to read, and is basically an over-sized pamphlet that is geared towards environmentalism. It is published by the Northwest Environment Watch.The point of the book is to get people to consider the impact that their personal consumerism has on the planet.
Now, I am no environmentalist...I mean, I believe in being responsible a steward... thinking and acting in such a way as to make good use of things and not be wasteful with water, electricity, ect. I put litter in it's place,I turn off the water between the moments of brushing my teeth and rinsing my brush, but I am not religious about it to the point that I worship earth, know what I mean? I did however enjoy learning more about where stuff comes from and what goes into it's production.
Coffee, newspaper, t-shirt, shoes, Bike and shoes, computers, hamburgers, fries and coke a cola... didn't you always want to know how consumption of these products affects the environment? Didn't you want to know how many beans you used in the morning for your coffee? These guys go through a typical day and address some of the products that might touch your or my life and examine where the come from, and what kinds of things need to happen for the millions of people who use such things to go about an "ordinary day." The point is that consuming too much stuff can be bad for us.
For example, did you know that (this book was published in 1997) Americans drink more soda than water? This book says that the world drinks 70 million gallons of soda everyday. They point out that it takes a factory to carbonate the water....and then of course the main ingredient is usually high fructose corn syrup.. the second largest use for corn, after feeding cattle. They say the caffiene in the drink is a by-product of extracting the caffeine from coffee. (YUK)
Then there's the can.. which has to be mined...processed with all kind of chemicals, some very caustic and dangerous...smelted and all the electricity that Bonniville power had to use to run the smelting plant. It is made in to an ingot, more power is used to process the ingot and turn it into a high tech can and then once the drink is consumed the can may or may not get recycled... 40 billion are thrown into landfills and 60% are recycled.
In addition to recycling you cans, they recommend that people use refillable bottles instead of the aluminum can, citing that recycling uses only five percent of the energy it takes to mine new materials for a can. More importantly, they recommend drinking water instead of sugar laden soda. Good advice if you think about it, and this book will make you think about it everything from what you wear to what you buy and eat, even what you drive.
They even say, "friends don't let friends drive sport utility vehicles."
Really?
There is a lot of politics going on within the pages of this book, but I still thought it was interesting to delve into the details of how we get what we get and what goes into it' production. No doubt things could be written in another light besides help save the world... just the same, I wonder what the world would be like if more people drank water instead of soda.
I am into recycling, so if you want to read this book, I can pass it on to you... just let me know before it goes of to the resale shop. If you are just slightly interested, you can read an excerpt on the internet at their web page. I thought it was interesting.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Escaping the Endless Adolescence ...
How We Can Help Our Teenagers Grow Up Before They Grow Old by Joseph Allen, PH.D. and Claudia Worrell Allen, PH.D.
This book is not written from a Christian viewpoint which means it is very humanistic. In spite of that, it gives some practical tips in ways parents can encourage their teenagers. The book discusses ways in which we, as a society, have changed with the times and not necessarily for the better. The fact that in times past, children were expected to work with adults and accept consequences for behaviors and actions as opposed to now, we protect them, limit them, and expect a lot of 'seat' time in order to accomplish their educational goals. They argue a very good point for why we need to go back to letting teenagers accept consequences in mistakes made and learning from those mistakes.
It was irritating to me as a 'purist homeschooler' in that they recommend all the school programs. Yet, I do agree with their ideas in letting teenagers do apprenticeship training, taking risks, accepting the consequences for actions, etc., etc. I also find it scary as a parent- no one wants their child to be hurt or exposed to 'bad people'. So, if you're like me, and need a reminder on why we should let our children take risks, then it might be a good book. However, I fully disagree that your teenager can be all they can be if they do not have the Lord in their lives.
This book is not written from a Christian viewpoint which means it is very humanistic. In spite of that, it gives some practical tips in ways parents can encourage their teenagers. The book discusses ways in which we, as a society, have changed with the times and not necessarily for the better. The fact that in times past, children were expected to work with adults and accept consequences for behaviors and actions as opposed to now, we protect them, limit them, and expect a lot of 'seat' time in order to accomplish their educational goals. They argue a very good point for why we need to go back to letting teenagers accept consequences in mistakes made and learning from those mistakes.
It was irritating to me as a 'purist homeschooler' in that they recommend all the school programs. Yet, I do agree with their ideas in letting teenagers do apprenticeship training, taking risks, accepting the consequences for actions, etc., etc. I also find it scary as a parent- no one wants their child to be hurt or exposed to 'bad people'. So, if you're like me, and need a reminder on why we should let our children take risks, then it might be a good book. However, I fully disagree that your teenager can be all they can be if they do not have the Lord in their lives.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Universe Next Door (book)
The Universe Next Door by James Sire
I recently did a class with a few people interested in films and the study of "world views," and this books was part of our study, so I had to read it. The class was a very good way to get me to watch some movies... because I generally have not made time for doing that, especially of late... and I also got to interact with a group of Christian thinking people, four youths and two adults, one of the adults being myself. We would watched the same movies separately at home, read two chapters in the book and then meet together and discuss them both.
One of the young people in the group was the leader of our meet ups. He is a senior, and as part of his senior project he taught the "class." He gave us tests on the materials and selected the films for viewing as well as lead the discussions about them. I got an A + as a grade.. for which I am very pleased. I am also please to have had the opportunity to sit under the instruction of this young man. I would give him an A+ also.
Okay, so back to the book... The Universe Next Door; A Basic Worldview Catalog by James Sire:
From the beginning of my reading the book, I thought something was amiss. It wasn't just me who felt this way, it was the agreement of several members of our group that he said a lot we could not just give blanket agreement to as we read through it. In my opinion, this is not how one should feel about a text book that is TEACHING you something, and yet often when we would meet it would be part of our discussion that something was amiss in the text. We decided from the start we would read it anyhow... work through and discuss the book, and that is what we did.
I will say that the book is informative and challenging. We learned about naturalism, deism, theism, annihilism, Eastern pantheistic monism, postmodernism and existentialism, and I am better at understanding these differing points of viewand suppositions of first cause, purpose of life... ect. It was ism... after ism... after ism, but it was not Catholicism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hedonism, Atheism, Shamanism, Pantheism, and Judaism. No, this is a book about "philosophy", not "religion." Some philosophies just happen to believe in God.
It was interesting to delve into understanding some of these terms... and to consider the influence of films on people's beliefs as we read through te book or identified chacteristics of the beliefs in characters we saw on film. And to his credit, Sire challenges his readers to consider their own beliefs, or rather, "worldviews.". Used most frequently by Christians to help them understand the world and how other people view the world, .
The concept of a "worldview" seems to be a relatively new idea, one that Sire credits to a man named David Naguel in the forward to this book. As a new concept, Sire himself has revised his own thinking on the subject as well as his definitions in explaining and understanding what a world view is... as well as revised this book, several times as his own understanding of the word evolved into this forth edition.
Over the years I have found myself encountering this concept of having a Christian "worldview," many times. It always makes me uncomfortable as I believe is it a Jesus view, (not a worldview) that we Christians are tohave and to hold. (See: Hebrews 12:2) Colossians 2:8 also comes tomy mind, which says, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (KJV) The whole notion of a worldview as well as the selling of the concepts to Christians... seems rather bogus to me.
There are several more specific things that I disliked about the book. One is the Reformed Theology (monergism) of Sire himself, evident in the book; evident also in the fellowship he keeps and from where his worldview teaching originates as well. Another is the lofty thinking one must adopt, or even convince themselves they have, in order to understand such an intelligent spectrum of philosophical ideas. (In other word, you almost have to be a "braniac by worldly standards.) The thing I dislike is religious beliefs being coopted into "worldviews," the end result of which is to make every denomination in Christianity, just one of many valid ways (or worldviews) .. the "Christian worldview"... a way in which to view the world.
Christianity however, is a lot like Jesus' kingdom.... John 18:36..." not of this world".
I recently did a class with a few people interested in films and the study of "world views," and this books was part of our study, so I had to read it. The class was a very good way to get me to watch some movies... because I generally have not made time for doing that, especially of late... and I also got to interact with a group of Christian thinking people, four youths and two adults, one of the adults being myself. We would watched the same movies separately at home, read two chapters in the book and then meet together and discuss them both.
One of the young people in the group was the leader of our meet ups. He is a senior, and as part of his senior project he taught the "class." He gave us tests on the materials and selected the films for viewing as well as lead the discussions about them. I got an A + as a grade.. for which I am very pleased. I am also please to have had the opportunity to sit under the instruction of this young man. I would give him an A+ also.
Okay, so back to the book... The Universe Next Door; A Basic Worldview Catalog by James Sire:
From the beginning of my reading the book, I thought something was amiss. It wasn't just me who felt this way, it was the agreement of several members of our group that he said a lot we could not just give blanket agreement to as we read through it. In my opinion, this is not how one should feel about a text book that is TEACHING you something, and yet often when we would meet it would be part of our discussion that something was amiss in the text. We decided from the start we would read it anyhow... work through and discuss the book, and that is what we did.
I will say that the book is informative and challenging. We learned about naturalism, deism, theism, annihilism, Eastern pantheistic monism, postmodernism and existentialism, and I am better at understanding these differing points of viewand suppositions of first cause, purpose of life... ect. It was ism... after ism... after ism, but it was not Catholicism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hedonism, Atheism, Shamanism, Pantheism, and Judaism. No, this is a book about "philosophy", not "religion." Some philosophies just happen to believe in God.
It was interesting to delve into understanding some of these terms... and to consider the influence of films on people's beliefs as we read through te book or identified chacteristics of the beliefs in characters we saw on film. And to his credit, Sire challenges his readers to consider their own beliefs, or rather, "worldviews.". Used most frequently by Christians to help them understand the world and how other people view the world, .
The concept of a "worldview" seems to be a relatively new idea, one that Sire credits to a man named David Naguel in the forward to this book. As a new concept, Sire himself has revised his own thinking on the subject as well as his definitions in explaining and understanding what a world view is... as well as revised this book, several times as his own understanding of the word evolved into this forth edition.
Over the years I have found myself encountering this concept of having a Christian "worldview," many times. It always makes me uncomfortable as I believe is it a Jesus view, (not a worldview) that we Christians are tohave and to hold. (See: Hebrews 12:2) Colossians 2:8 also comes tomy mind, which says, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (KJV) The whole notion of a worldview as well as the selling of the concepts to Christians... seems rather bogus to me.
There are several more specific things that I disliked about the book. One is the Reformed Theology (monergism) of Sire himself, evident in the book; evident also in the fellowship he keeps and from where his worldview teaching originates as well. Another is the lofty thinking one must adopt, or even convince themselves they have, in order to understand such an intelligent spectrum of philosophical ideas. (In other word, you almost have to be a "braniac by worldly standards.) The thing I dislike is religious beliefs being coopted into "worldviews," the end result of which is to make every denomination in Christianity, just one of many valid ways (or worldviews) .. the "Christian worldview"... a way in which to view the world.
Christianity however, is a lot like Jesus' kingdom.... John 18:36..." not of this world".
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