5 Cost Efficient Ways to Cut Your Carbon Footprint

While most people with a brain would want to cut their carbon emissions it can be hard on the wallet. Plenty of us would love to shop ethically and drive Tesla cars sometimes life doesn’t allow those kind of expenditures. So here is a list of things we can do to prevent adding greenhouse gasses in our day to day life, Buzzfeed clickbait style.

  1.) Unplug things you don’t use

Your mom told you to turn off your light hundreds of times. Whether that was for money or the environment, she was right. I struggle with this more than anyone. I consistently forget to unplug things when I leave my room. You can save so much money on your electricity bill by unplugging the things you don’t use because whether its off or not electricity still cycles through the item. You can remedy this by getting a surge protector. They run anywhere from 10-50 dollars and are very useful because it has many outlets that have electricity streamlined to it. They also help in thunder storms to not blow fuses. Since all of your items that need to be plugged are conveniently placed into one thing you can just unplug the surge protector and save your energy (pun intended.)

  2.) Eliminate your plastic use

Of course this is easier said than done since our consumerist lifestyle demands ease and convenience. That being said, we use plenty of unnecessary plastic items. My girlfriend really caught me on to this when she quit getting straws and plastic lids at restaurants and pointed out that they are blatantly pointless. Think about plastic bags for a second. How many times can you use that plastic bag? Once at the store and maybe one more time to pick up your dog’s poop or to line your mini trash can. A very viable option would be cloth grocery bags, many stores now offer discounts when you use a reusable bag. Be critical of the amount of plastic you use for no reason and recycle the necessary plastic.

   3.) Take a walk

This is probably the hardest thing to do on this list especially here in Florida. Obviously it cuts the CO2 emissions but there are quite a few upsides to walking to where you need to go. Firstly, it is healthier as you engage your legs, heart and lungs. Not only that but you save gas and put less miles on your vehicle. Other good options would be biking or taking a form of public transportation.

   4.) Cut the meat

Calm down it doesn’t have to be everyday snowflake. You can cut it down to one day a week and shed 4 1/2 pounds of carbon. In one month you can cut 134 lbs of CO2 totaling over a thousand in a year. In 2013, the meat industry generated 198 BILLION dollars in sales. Think about that when you buy your 10 dollar steak. For those who are going to complain about the workers getting paid; the meat industry reports much better sales than that of fruit and vegetable industry who sit pretty at 5 billion dollars in sales according to the source.

    5.) Go to Goodwill

Time to swallow your pride and hit up a Goodwill or discount clothing store. Despite popular belief this is not dirty or unsafe as much of the clothes is screened. If you need a higher fashion check out places like Ross or Beall’s. These places buy surplus from major retailers and sell them at a discounted price. Buy at your discretion, if you think it’s ugly or it has one too many stains don’t buy it and save a pretty penny.

 

This is a very short list and there are endless resources online and elsewhere but remember you can’t save the planet by yourself. Tell others, share this post (or don’t), yell at your friends and make sure to do your own research on the effects of climate change and it’s causes.

 

A Sudden Transition

Our God King in Chief, Donald Trump has foolishly decided to wreak havoc on the efforts to save our planet from the death we bring to it. Whether it be defunding the EPA, declining the Paris Agreement, bringing back coal companies, implementing gas pipelines etc. etc. the President has screwed the future of our planet and it is now the job of the people to try and reconcile.

As much as I love Revolutionary history and the sort I can’t help but address my convictions to inform and arm those who care with information about climate change and what we must do. While I am passionate about this topic , I am also very unaware of many of the facts. I will be learning with the reader and hopefully in that way we can all become aware of this detrimental issue.

I openly admit I am trash when it comes to staying motivated to write and update this blog but hopefully the fire that drives me to protest and blabber on social media carries over to this outlet. I am struggling with the future of the structure of my posts, by that I mean the lingo and vernacular that I use. In one of my previous posts about the Boston Massacre I wrote as I speak day to day, which is extraordinarily lax. I recognize this can be discrediting and annoying so at this point I am looking at the reader to give me feedback on which is preferable. SO relaxed and unprofessional or clinical and grammatical? Let me know on whichever social media you use or in the comment section below while I reconstruct the appearance of this blog. Thanks for reading.

Women in the Church

In the 21st century the Western Church has made major changes in the way of tradition and ideologies. Cases in point would be tattoos, dancing, evangelism and who may lead a congregation. I plan on zeroing in on the last bit; specifically women being pastors in the church.

Many denominations in today’s Church still follow the example of the early Church in which women are not permitted to lead the Body. On the other hand, according to,this website, the percentage of women leading as an ordained minister is up 4% in the overall Body. It also points out that in the Evangelical Church it has dropped to 2%. Is this due to a misogynistic patriarchy in the today’s Universal Church or is this a Biblical reality some of the charismatic denominations can’t grasp?

Pew Research Center has made a summarized list of the major denominations that do and don’t ordain women. There are many reasons why people argue against and for and this post will establish the arguments for and against ordaining women. To make these points easily defined I will number the main point and the counter argument will coincide, an example below.

 

Now that it is established, the reasons for against will be listed first and after that I will do my best to argue those points in the same order presented by using the Wesleyan (Methodist) Quadrilateral.

This pretty much filters anything through four proofs; the first and foremost is Scripture which has the highest authority of the four and should be looked to first.

Next would be Tradition, looking at the Early Church as an example like it says in Hebrews 13:7. Tradition holds credibility because it stood the test of time.

The following is reason, which by no means, questions the legitimacy of Scripture but upholds it. Reason is the only way we can begin to comprehend Scripture.

Finally we look to experience, Wesley states we cannot have reasonable assurance of something unless we have experienced it. This simply states a testimony of having experienced something is the best (second only to Scripture) way to filter a religious ideology. After all that, here we go.

Arguments as to why women shouldn’t be ordained as head ministers in the church:

1.) Christ chose the 12 carefully and none of them were women.

2.) Tradition looks to the Early Church and it is composed of men. The founder of the Church was a man, Peter.

3.) There are just certain things men are supposed to do and certain things women are supposed to do and shepherding isn’t one of them.

4.)  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 it is disgraceful for women to speak in church.

5.) In 1 Timothy 2:11-12 it says I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man.

 

Reasons why women should be ordained as head ministers in the church:

1.) While that is true, you have to look at the culture of that time. In a very  male chauvinistic culture, women would have not be listened to like men would be. Women disciples ended up coming alongside Christ in His ministry as it progressed. You can see it at the death of Christ when the women saw Jesus proclaim it is finished (Matthew 27:55-56.) Women were also present at the Last Supper.

2.) Much of the Early Church was dominated by the patriarchy but I’ll just make a list of the Early Church mothers who have made a lasting impact and hailed as important figureheads by the Antioch Orthodox Church and many others, especially Roman Catholic:

Mary of Magdala, Desert Mothers, Mary the Holy Theotokos, Saint Mary of Egypt, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Thecla of Iconium and of course Saint Teresa of Avila.

3.) I am only going to use experience on this. I really don’t like this argument. Growing up in a household without Christian influence I was able to see what it was like for there not to be gender roles in the relationship. For a long time my mother made more money than my dad, we all took care of trash and dishes, decisions were made in compromise and my parents were equal in every aspect. That can be carried over to the Body. God spoke through a donkey in Numbers 22:28. Our God speaks through who He wants and sometimes it’s a woman.

-We can look to many Scriptural evidences where women were the messengers of God. The Samaritan woman at the well was the one to tell the town of Sychar about the all-knowing nature of Christ (John 4:28)  Another example is at the Resurrection. Mary of Magdala is on the scene visiting the tomb of  Jesus and sees that it is empty, then the apparition of Christ through the Holy Spirit and she went back to the disciples and shared the news of the Resurrection which is ultimately the Gospel.

4.) There is a lot of context that is being excluded in this argument. Culturally Corinth was pretty loaded with sex workers, especially in the female department. Men in Corinth objectified women because of this and I want to refer back to my argument in the 1st point; if men objectified women into people that could only provide pleasure and children then how much harder will it be to hear from a heart that is hardened towards a group you don’t respect. That being said, Paul was being cautious of how the Message would be received.

4 & 5.) I can’t argue the point here better than the author here, so I won’t try but this is a very descriptive source.

In summary, women are equipped to shepherd and teach just as well as men and should be utilized in the gifts they’ve been given by the Holy Spirit to strengthen the Body. The calling placed on one’s life should never be questioned by another. In that case, we, as the Universal Church, need to move past this outdated mindset and accept the blessing of leadership presented to us.

 

 

The Boston Massacre: A Story Pretty Much About Crispus Attucks

The Boston Massacre went down on March 5, 1770 on Kings Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Many people (who are wrong) think that this was the cause of the Revolutionary War. While this is definitely one of the most elevated events before the call to arms, it definitely isn’t the first. The first would be the Stamp Act, which was established on March 22, 1765. This new B.S would tax all imported paper products. Two days later, Parliament passed the Quartering Act. The Quartering Act demanded colonies house British soldiers in homes provided by the citizen. If they didn’t have enough room they would reside in inns or businesses. Boston colonists were pissed about this and resorted to boycotting British goods. Two weeks before the Boston Massacre, a 12 year old Christopher Seider, was shot dead. When it comes to the exact act that launched the Revolutionary War, that is up to speculation.

Back to it, Edward Garrick, a local wig-maker’s apprentice, started running his mouth at Hugh White, the soldier on guard and then he blasted the kid in the ear with a butt of a rifle. Edward took off and came back with all these teenage boys and said “There’s the son of a b***h that knocked me down!” People around were overall salty just because and were looking for something to square up on. With all these British empirical Acts in play, the water was boiling over and it was time. The British soldiers were mad because they were being mistreated by their officers and the pay was trash, on top of that they had to stay in houses they weren’t welcome in. So all this is going down fast, and more people are showing up and some wise guy started throwing snowballs and ice. Captain Thomas Preston of the British Army heard about all this and got heated quick. He went over to the Customs House with the 29th regiment because he heard things were popping off and he was worried. Customs House is where they kept the King’s money in Boston and  he thought people were trying to take off with it, so they had to rush over to the scene.

Rewind a second. So people are getting mad and throwing all kinds of wild stuff, like clams and snowballs. Somebody remembered that in New York there was a riot and it was escalated by the church bells. So this dude goes for it and rings the church bells, which signaled an emergency. The man, the myth, the legend Crispus Attucks heard the bell and quit being a sailor for a minute to go take care of business. Quick caveat, Old Boy Attucks is a tough dude. He was a huge African/Native American who escaped slavery in 1750 and went to Boston to become a whaler. Crispus was 47 at the time of the Boston Massacre but that didn’t stop him from being a boss.

The sailors were especially feisty with the British occupying force. Weeks before they went all out at the Boston docks in a place referred to as the Rope Walks, so there was some previous aggression from both parties. Crispus Attucks, being a saucy sailor, was fired up to throw it down for round two with the British. So Captain Preston is allegedly trying to calm people down. He’s yelling “Don’t shoot, damn you, don’t shoot!” People are being wily and salty, like they do not fear death whatsoever. Apparently the crowd is yelling, “They won’t shoot!” and “Kill them, they won’t shoot!” my favorite, “You lobster scoundrels!” and  “Fire and be damned!” along with much more. Mind you these people have no guns and they are talking big to people who are loading guns and they don’t plan on backing off.

If what President John Adams says is true then Crispus pulls off the most thug move possible. This man, apparently, grabbed a bayonet with his bare hand as it was being lunged at the crowd and binked Private Hugh Montgomery in the head with a club using his free hand. Ole Private Montgomery wasn’t having that and decided he had something for our patriot Crispus. Now the British side claimed in court that they misheard and thought Captain Preston yelled fire but it was the crowd and they got confused. Nope, Private Montgomery was salty he got slobberknocked and shot Crispus Attucks. Other soldiers were like “oh lit, we are allowed to fire now?” Two more people were killed instantly and another two died later on and four were injured. Shortly after the soldiers and Captain Preston were arrested and held for pending trial.The trial was crazy, a patriot leader defended the British and people got burned, but that’s for another post.

I will post another entry detailing the trial sometime this week or next week. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

 

 

 

WORKS CITED: 

http://www.ushistory.org/us/9b.asp

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/parliament-passes-the-quartering-act

http://www.bostonmassacre.net/

http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-massacre

http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/gemedia/amrev/revwar/bostmass.htm

http://www.biography.com/people/crispus-attucks-9191864#early-life

http://www.crispusattucks.org

Making America Great “Again”

This is more of an opinionated post than factual. The 2016 Republican front runner (for some reason), Donald Trump, uses the slogan; “Make America Great Again.” In response to this bold statement and goal, I would love to nullify the word “again.” The entire purpose of this essay is to review some of the ideas of a population that exists in the conservative party. We will go era by era dissecting some of the faults of our wonderful nation to realize that our nation has never been great. This is largely due to our nation being founded on and supported by the backs of the oppressed.

We could argue that our nation was discovered in 1492 by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (despite records proving Iceland and China before him) was the start of our nation’s oppressive behavior. The first would be addressing the First Nations people as Indians due to ignorance of his location. At the time, that wasn’t necessarily a problem but the fact that First Nations people and Native Americans are still being called Indians over 500 years later is baffling to say the least. The other problem would be the raping and genocide of the indigenous people of North and Central America. Many of Columbus’ men had forced themselves and their ideas on the natives and killed many of the men who opposed their aggressive imperialism. This arrival introduced new diseases and European ideologies to the New World.

We can fast forward roughly just over 100 years through the conquering of the colonies by British Anglos and the terrible treatment of the Native American tribes. This is by no means meant to trivialize the horrific suffering of the tribes, but I plan on writing an article on our First Nations people and their struggles by the end of May so keep an eye out. I want to pick up in 1619 when the first African slaves were brought to Virginia on the to start on the tobacco farms there. This continued for more than 200 years until The Reconstruction ending in 1877. It’s estimated that between 6-7 million Africans were forcibly detained and sold into slavery. Many people today justify slavery by saying African kings sold their people to the Dutch and other slaver nations and groups. The British campaign sapped western Africa of its resources along with many of its able-bodied men and women. The Europeans forced the hand of the tribunal leaders by taking resources and offering guns food and those very same resources back to the elders of the village for their people. When saying African leaders were the ones to give us the slaves you might as well say a bank teller gladly gave up the money to the robber.

After the Revolutionary War, many of the northern colonies had the realization that slavery was similar to the oppression of Britain they experienced. Efforts were started in the north but no real progress was made until the mid-1800’s specifically 1861. Abolitionists brought the idea of emancipation to Congress on 12 April, 1861. Two years later, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Despite popular belief slavery didn’t end here rather 6 December, 1865. This came two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and again progress was not made until the Radical Reconstruction in 1867. The Reconstruction was the push for civil rights following the Emancipation Proclamation, the Radical Reconstruction took more of an aggressive, protesting approach to the matter. In order to counteract the legislative restrictions on lifestyles of former slaves in the south, the black people had to get into government. Some African American leaders were elected to southern legislation and even Congress in this time period but groups similar to the KKK and the KKK themselves fought hard to enact the Jim Crowe laws and eliminate black power in the south.

Into the 1900’s, the entire country was facing the effects of pioneering and using cheap labor. This included immigrants from Ireland, China and parts of eastern Europe and Russian. These immigrants faced poor living and work conditions but we as a nation proclaimed our diversity and “The American Dream.” Much of the First Nations tribes have been killed or relocated to the reservations designated by our oppressive governments. Women who had been fighting since 1848 had seen progress in 1920 by earning the right to vote. They had many more obstacles to overcome though. Black people were facing immense obstacles in segregation and violence that a blind eye turned to. Labor unions fought hard for fair conditions and better pay but were being killed or arrested. The nation was in between a social revolution and the oppression of the past and people were angry. World War 1 floats by while persecution continues and the economy is crippled by the Great Depression through and into World War 2 when many of the men went to fight in the Pacific and Europe. Due to Pearl Harbor, suspicion towards East Asian Americans sky-rocketed and many of them were placed in internment camps so they could be controlled and accounted for. These camps were between no means illustrious and often were cramped and poorly kept.

By the 1950’s, tension had escalated in Black rights and Martin Luther King Jr. gained national attention through his march in Montgomery. Soon, the nation invaded Vietnam to fight Ho Chi Minh and his rising army. Black men were being drafted but not given rights as a citizen and this fueled the rise of black activist groups like the Black Panthers. The end of Vietnam in 1975 brought a momentary satisfaction to the oppressed groups.

HIV was the phenomena in the 1980’s and blamed on the homosexual community at the time. HIV was crossed over from chimpanzees somewhere around 1920 from SIV (a disease known as Simian immunodeficiency disease that only affects primate species) in DR Congo. It traveled west and hit Haiti and moved North. Few cases were popping up in New York in 1981 among gay men and this was the ammunition for homophobia. In 1982 the disease started showing up in heroine addicts (see Forrest Gump) and the disease was no longer called gay slurs but AIDS. Homosexuality is still viewed as the origin of HIV/AIDs by the less educated and is still rampant in some parts of the world. The ’90s brought up women’s rights again as they sought fair wages and equal opportunity but to no avail. There was another target for persecution and oppression far to the east.

8:45 a.m: a plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center killing hundreds instantly and trapping even more on the floors above. 9:03 a.m. the second tower went down. This action by the extremist Islamic group Al Qaeda ruined the reputation of millions of Muslims around the world due to ignorant Islamaphobia (which will be hit on in June along with Islamic fundamentalism) and fear of another act. The nation was in a new time of increased security and fear, this was stimulated by new social media outlets and a hive mindset of xenophobes. This continues on today by example of the Syrian refugee crisis and how some of the conservative population handles the need of many.

We can look at multiple other forms of oppression in our time. Feminism is somehow a controversial even though it highlights ideas of equality. If you need a single example please research the pink tax, we don’t even have to bring wage gaps. The LGBT+ are being killed and bullied to the point of suicide. The “obvious” orientations construed as homosexuality and transgendered people are being denied jobs and rights (excluding the controversy of marriage) in the Bible belt. Black people are being killed in a justice system that has been proven (in certain areas) to paint targets on their back.

My argument is this, we were founded on the ideas of Christianity and we are to love like the One who first loved us. We can’t say we were ever great when we’ve never proved we were great through our compassion. If you would like to discuss this our have questions or corrections you can discuss it with me on Facebook or e-mail me at kaleb.morgan81@yahoo.com.

WORKS CITED:

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

http://www.theroot.com/articles/world/2013/06/where_did_slaves_come_from_in_africa_angola_is_one_place.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/02/10/black-history-slavery-dewayne-wickham-column/5341129/

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html

http://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin