[Note: This is a duplicate posting of a post I just made on my other blog The Eternal Universe. If you want to comment on this post I would suggest going to The Eternal Universe and commenting there so that you can be part of the conversation. Or you can post comments here if you want.]
On a previous post Stan left a comment about the "anti-science undercurrent in our society". In a broader sense this observation of the "anti-science undercurrent" is related to what many people know as the "Conflict" between science and religion. But the very real and important questions here are, "Where did this conflict come from?" and "Does this conflict represent a fundamental disagreement between science and religion that can never be reconciled?"
In terms of the second question this is a rather important point because the implication is that if there is a fundamental disagreement between science and religion then the obvious conclusion must be that one or the other must ultimately be rejected as false. This is of course assuming that the two can never be reconciled, which is itself an assumption about the nature and relation of science and religion. But we cannot deny that there exists, at least on some level a disparity between the world views of science and religion, which results in a real, or at least a perceived, conflict between the two. Which leads us back to our first question, "Where did this conflict come from?"
A common accusation leveled against religion, and especially the Christian religion, is that it is inherently anti-scientific. While this may be sufficient for some people to prove the irrationality of Christianity, it is not a very good argument, nor does it address the issue of why it is (or perceived to be) anti-scientific. The counter argument most commonly used against this approach is to point out the inherent short-comings of science that any scientist would readily acknowledge and embrace and an integral part of science. Essentially this argument boils down to "Scientists don't know everything, so therefore there may be something you don't know about and that thing that you don't know about is the mystery of God."
These arguments can and do continue ad nauseum, but will not bring us any close to understanding the nature or the source of the conflict. So again we approach the question, "Where did this conflict come from?"
To start out let me introduce a line from an editorial piece that I read in The Daily Tar Heel. In addressing the conflict between Atheists and Theists the author offered this piece of advice to the Theists, "Theological honesty is needed. Admit that there are some aspects to Christianity that cannot be proven or even explained and must be taken on faith." (The author also had words of advice for Atheists as well, so it was not a one sided argument.) I found this line rather interesting because I felt that it is directly contrary to how I relate to my Religion. I put emphasis on my Religion, because obviously this statement must apply to someone's religion or it would never have been included in the editorial piece. But here in this statement we have potentially uncovered the root cause, or at least something that will lead us to the root cause, of the conflict between science and religion.
So let us consider this statement. First off it states that in Christianity there are things "that cannot be proven or even explained", and it is these unproven, unexplained, or even unknown, things that form the foundation of "faith". This way of thinking leads to a belief or an understanding of a God that is wholly other, unapproachable, unknowable and is outside the realm of science. Which leads directly to the conclusion that religion deals with things that cannot fall under the purview of science. With this understanding it is easy to see where this can result in conflict. If religion deals with things that are not or cannot be covered by science, then if science expands and attempts to explain the former "mysteries of God", such as creation, then those who hold to this understanding of God will naturally feel that science is impinging on "God's territory". They will view it as a kind of turf war and will view it "as if it were a threat to [their] beliefs!"
So how did we get to this point where most religious (and non-religious) people view the Christian God as having exclusive rights to, or even in the extreme case is based solely in, the realm of the Unknown, and science as pertaining to the realm of the known (and provable)?
That very important question I will leave as an exercise for the interested reader, but not to leave you with no answers (like most philosophers), so I will offer this observation by way of insight, but I will present it without proof (again an exercise for the interested reader).
In learning about this topic I have noticed that those who generally hold to the view of Christianity expressed above, where the basis of faith is something unknowable (that's unknowable as opposed to unknown), have as the basis of their world view a Platonic Philosophy. It is this group of people, both religious and non-religious alike, that consider there to be an inherent conflict between science and religion. The Platonic world view is not the exclusive domain of the non-scientific but it is a view held by the scientific an non-scientific alike. But even though the same world-view is held by both groups, different conclusions are reached, and thus results in the conflict that we know of as the conflict between science and religion.
But there is a way out of this irreconcilable debate, and again I have noticed that those who find no inherent conflict between science and religion hold to an Aristotelian world view. This means that there is a fundamental difference in the way that some people approach the world, and how they view and gain knowledge and understanding about the world. In the case of the Platonic world view there are certain assumptions about knowledge (epistemology) that affect how we view and/or know God, which results in the conflict. But the Aristotelian world view does not make the same assumptions about how we know and approach the world, and this subtle difference means that those who hold to this world view do not see an inherent conflict between science and religion.
This observation would be nothing more than an interesting philosophical footnote, if it were not for the fact that in Western societies approximately 80% of the people hold to a Platonic world view. This overwhelming majority of people that operate with the Platonic world view creates ample opportunity for conflict and for the collection of people into groups of similar beliefs and conclusions about the world. Hence you have people dividing into groups of Theists and Atheists, that perpetually seem at odds with each other. It also leads to a division of knowledge (epistemology) into the realms of the known (dominated by science, and indirectly by Atheists) and the unknowable (dominated by religion). Thus for those who hold to one side or the other, when they are presented with anything that they associate with the other side they react to it as a direct assault on their beliefs.
This makes things difficult for those of us who do not have a Platonic world view, as we are constantly finding ourselves on both sides of the debate and we are constantly asked "Which side are you on?" or "How do you reconcile you faith with what you study?" But for those who have an Aristotelian world view, or something very similar, then these types of questions make no sense and we are left confused and wondering why they are even asking those questions.
Now we can finally come to the most important question, "Now that we have this understanding, how do we share this with others so that they too can understand it and not be bogged down with the "conflict" between science and religion?" That is the hard question, and the real question that we must answer, and in a way, I think that is the purpose of The Eternal Universe.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Optical Absorption
For one of the classes that I teach the students use a device called a spectrophotometer. Basically this device works by shining a light through a sample and measuring the amount of light that gets through the material. This device is more than a fancy light meter which simply measures intensity. This device can break down the transmitted light into specific wavelengths and thus measure the amount of light transmitted for each wavelength. By measuring the amount of light transmitted we can figure out the the absorption which can tell us something about the specific properties of the material.
In this case my students are trying to determine the band gap energy for different semiconductors and also whether or not the band gaps are direct or indirect. I plan on posting about this lab at some point, but for now I just wanted to mention one thing that I measured. While I was in the lab one day I put my glasses in the detector and measured the absorption of the plastic lenses. The results I got are shown in the graph below (click on it to view it bigger).
The wavelengths that I measured extended from 800 nm (infrared) to 200 nm (ultraviolet). In the graph I only show down to 400 nm because below that my glasses absorbed too much light and the detector could not get accurate readings. Still you can see a sharp increase in the the absorption as you approach 400 nm. Other than the region below 400 nm my glasses did not absorb much light. This can be seen by the low measurements that are all below 0.05. To give you an idea of what this means, all throughout the visible spectrum ( ~400-720 nm, except for the tiny bit close to 400 nm) my glasses absorbed less than 10% of the light. An absorption rating of 1 would mean that an object absorbs 90% of the light, a rating of 2 would mean it absorbs 99%, 3 99.9% and so on. Typically an absorption rating of 7 (99.99999% absorbed, yes that can be measured) or higher is considered fully opaque.
As you might notice the absorption of the plastic in my glasses is not constant. There are small bumps or waves in the graph. These bumps are a result of the the thickness of my glasses and some slight internal reflections inside the material. These bumps are useful because from the size and shape of the bumps we can figure out the index of refraction for the material that my glasses are made from. That would be useful information to know if I were the one designing the glasses since the index of refraction determines the corrective ability of the lenses, and the curvature needed to make them work. Unfortunately I did not put my glasses in straight in the detector which meant that the path of the beam was not normal (perpendicular) to the surface of the lens. This makes the measurement more difficult (i.e. it would take more work than I'm willing to put into it) so I was not able to figure out the index of refraction for my glasses.
In this case my students are trying to determine the band gap energy for different semiconductors and also whether or not the band gaps are direct or indirect. I plan on posting about this lab at some point, but for now I just wanted to mention one thing that I measured. While I was in the lab one day I put my glasses in the detector and measured the absorption of the plastic lenses. The results I got are shown in the graph below (click on it to view it bigger).
The wavelengths that I measured extended from 800 nm (infrared) to 200 nm (ultraviolet). In the graph I only show down to 400 nm because below that my glasses absorbed too much light and the detector could not get accurate readings. Still you can see a sharp increase in the the absorption as you approach 400 nm. Other than the region below 400 nm my glasses did not absorb much light. This can be seen by the low measurements that are all below 0.05. To give you an idea of what this means, all throughout the visible spectrum ( ~400-720 nm, except for the tiny bit close to 400 nm) my glasses absorbed less than 10% of the light. An absorption rating of 1 would mean that an object absorbs 90% of the light, a rating of 2 would mean it absorbs 99%, 3 99.9% and so on. Typically an absorption rating of 7 (99.99999% absorbed, yes that can be measured) or higher is considered fully opaque.As you might notice the absorption of the plastic in my glasses is not constant. There are small bumps or waves in the graph. These bumps are a result of the the thickness of my glasses and some slight internal reflections inside the material. These bumps are useful because from the size and shape of the bumps we can figure out the index of refraction for the material that my glasses are made from. That would be useful information to know if I were the one designing the glasses since the index of refraction determines the corrective ability of the lenses, and the curvature needed to make them work. Unfortunately I did not put my glasses in straight in the detector which meant that the path of the beam was not normal (perpendicular) to the surface of the lens. This makes the measurement more difficult (i.e. it would take more work than I'm willing to put into it) so I was not able to figure out the index of refraction for my glasses.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
My Favorite Christmas Song
There are many Christmas songs and carols out there and while I like many of them that I like there are a few that I really enjoy. But there is one Christmas song that I would have to say is my favorite. It is called "Mary's Lullaby" written by Bertha Kleinman with music by Wanda West Palmer [Update 12/25/13: You can purchase the sheet music here]. Most people who read this blog may recognize the song from the Mesa Easter Pageant but it was written long before it was used in the pageant. Below are two videos of performances of the song.
The accompanying text for this video reads: "This recording was made in 1980 at a church Christmas program. Mary was holding her nine-day-old son, Kristopher. She was first privileged to perform this song in the early 1970s before it was even published and has been invited to sing it many times since, so she almost feels like it is her song. The music was written by Wanda West Palmer and the words by Bertha Kleinman."
The accompanying text for this video reads: "This recording was made in 2003 at a church Christmas program. Mary was holding her 2 month old grandson Kevin. 23 years earlier, she sang this song to Kevins father, Kristopher, who was nine-days-old at the time. (See [The first video]). Mary considers this is her songs as she was first privileged to perform it in the early 1970s before it was even published. The song was written by Wanda West Palmer and the words were written by Bertha Kleinman. It has been a part of the Easter Pagent at the Mesa Arizona Temple for many years."
For those who are interested the lyrics read:
All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, For tonight you are mine.
The wise men are coming to worship their king.
The shepherds are kneeling, their homage to bring.
Out yonder, the star over Judah will keep;
No harm can befall thee, then sleep, Baby, sleep.
Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, But tonight you are mine.
Away spectered future of sorrow and plight.
Away to the years that must follow tonight.
The pangs of Gethsemane, let them be dim;
The red drops on Calvary, not, Lord, for him!
Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, But tonight you are mine.
All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, For tonight you are mine.
The accompanying text for this video reads: "This recording was made in 1980 at a church Christmas program. Mary was holding her nine-day-old son, Kristopher. She was first privileged to perform this song in the early 1970s before it was even published and has been invited to sing it many times since, so she almost feels like it is her song. The music was written by Wanda West Palmer and the words by Bertha Kleinman."
The accompanying text for this video reads: "This recording was made in 2003 at a church Christmas program. Mary was holding her 2 month old grandson Kevin. 23 years earlier, she sang this song to Kevins father, Kristopher, who was nine-days-old at the time. (See [The first video]). Mary considers this is her songs as she was first privileged to perform it in the early 1970s before it was even published. The song was written by Wanda West Palmer and the words were written by Bertha Kleinman. It has been a part of the Easter Pagent at the Mesa Arizona Temple for many years."
For those who are interested the lyrics read:
All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, For tonight you are mine.
The wise men are coming to worship their king.
The shepherds are kneeling, their homage to bring.
Out yonder, the star over Judah will keep;
No harm can befall thee, then sleep, Baby, sleep.
Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, But tonight you are mine.
Away spectered future of sorrow and plight.
Away to the years that must follow tonight.
The pangs of Gethsemane, let them be dim;
The red drops on Calvary, not, Lord, for him!
Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, But tonight you are mine.
All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, For tonight you are mine.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Moral Discipline
A few months ago I wrote a post about research done by a Dr. Dan Ariely. Part of the work done by Dr. Ariely showed that people tended to be more honest when they were reminded of their moral code (even if it was a nonexistent moral code). In my previous post I concluded that "In the absence of a moral code, or a consistent moral code, it would seem that the only way to keep most people honest would be through active regulation of their actions."
About a month after writing that post I watched a talk given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The talk was entitled Moral Discipline and I found it very interesting because he spoke on almost the exact same topic that I had covered, but with more insight and more advice as to what to do about the problem. Here are some excerpts from the talk that I found very interesting.
What I have learned from observing these different societies is that if people want peace then there needs to be more moral discipline and less unbounded personal freedom. More responsibility and less entitlement. More reminding and less enforcement. Only then can we be free.
About a month after writing that post I watched a talk given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The talk was entitled Moral Discipline and I found it very interesting because he spoke on almost the exact same topic that I had covered, but with more insight and more advice as to what to do about the problem. Here are some excerpts from the talk that I found very interesting.
Essentially the argument is that as societies fail to maintain and encourage moral codes the only other alternative to maintain a civil society is to increase the number and enforcement of laws, or as Elder Christofferson put it, "The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments." It is with these ideas in mind that I look at societies like those in France or Greece and find it odd that they accept or (as in the case of Greece) actively encourage protest and violent protest as a legitimate means of expressing political frustrations, and then they complain about living in a "police state". In my own experience with places where I have lived, the places where protest was not the first resort of political expression have tended to be more peaceful and less prone to be characterized as having a "police state" mentality. But in places (such as Argentina) were protest and violent protest was a societal tradition the people tended to complain more of government oppression and viewed police and other government forces as adversaries rather than protectors."The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation failed to foster moral discipline. They have taught that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right. Concepts such as sin and wrong have been condemned as “value judgments.” As the Lord describes it, “Every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god” (D&C 1:16).
As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that “gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. …
“Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.”2
In most of the world, we have been experiencing an extended and devastating economic recession. It was brought on by multiple causes, but one of the major causes was widespread dishonest and unethical conduct, particularly in the U.S. housing and financial markets. Reactions have focused on enacting more and stronger regulation. Perhaps that may dissuade some from unprincipled conduct, but others will simply get more creative in their circumvention.3 There could never be enough rules so finely crafted as to anticipate and cover every situation, and even if there were, enforcement would be impossibly expensive and burdensome. This approach leads to diminished freedom for everyone. In the memorable phrase of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, “We would not accept the yoke of Christ; so now we must tremble at the yoke of Caesar.”4
In the end, it is only an internal moral compass in each individual that can effectively deal with the root causes as well as the symptoms of societal decay. Societies will struggle in vain to establish the common good until sin is denounced as sin and moral discipline takes its place in the pantheon of civic virtues.5"
What I have learned from observing these different societies is that if people want peace then there needs to be more moral discipline and less unbounded personal freedom. More responsibility and less entitlement. More reminding and less enforcement. Only then can we be free.
Monday, November 16, 2009
SLC Non-Discrimination Ordinance
Recently there have been a number of news stories (Deseret News, AZCentral) relating to the recent passing of a set of non-discrimination ordinances (pdf) regarding discrimination against people in Salt Lake City because of sexual orientation or gender identity (SLC City Code 10.04 and 10.05). What was also notable about the incident was that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also expressed their support for the city ordinances because, "they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage."
So what is it about how these city ordinances are written that would bring official recognition and acceptance from the Church? Also after reading several comments posted after the news stories there were a number of concerns raised by people concerned with the implications of the new city ordinance. So what were the main concerns and how do these city ordinance address them?
Effectively these ordinances make it illegal to discriminate against someone in terms of employment and housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It establishes a procedure for filing complaints and resolving disputes that may arise due to allegations of discrimination. These city ordinances are in addition to the previous ordinances regarding discrimination based on race, gender, religion or country of origin.
In relation to these ordinances some of the main concerns that people voiced in the online forums were:
1. If I have a small basement apartment that I am renting out, will this force me to rent it out to a homosexual couple?
2. Will this force religious book stores, such as Deseret Book, to hire cross dressers?
3. If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination?
4. If I am single and living in an apartment with other single people, does this mean that a gay couple can move in to my apartment and I (and my landlord) can't do anything about it? As in, we can't object?
So how do these two city ordinances address these concerns, if at all?
First let us look at the exceptions provided. Both religious organizations and "expressive organizations" (such as the Boy Scouts of America) are expressly exempt from these city ordinances. While that solves some of the potential problems it does not address any of the above concerns. It turns out that the first three objections are addressed and the fourth may be addressed depending on how certain language is interpreted.
1. In this objection the concern is that under this ordinance a family living in their own home will be forced to rent out a basement apartment to a homosexual couple. This is expressly addressed in the exceptions. Effectively the ordinance exempts small privately owned apartments such as basement apartments because in order for the ordinance to apply you must,
"own an interest in or title to four or more single-family dwellings held for lease or sale at one time, and are located inside the City....[sell] two or more single-family dwellings inside the City, and in which the owner did not reside in the dwelling within the 24-month period preceding the sale or rental of the dwelling....use the service or facilities of any real estate broker, agent, or salesperson, or of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings."
It also further specifies that owners are exempt if, "The rental of a dwelling that is occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, when the owner actually maintains and occupies part of the dwelling as a residence."
That takes care of the first objection.
2. Will this force religious book stores, such as Deseret Book, to hire cross dressers? In terms of hiring practices the ordinance stipulates that employees must adhere to "reasonable rules and regulations and other job related qualifications required by an employer." This would include a dress code (no pun intended). There are also other provisions to accommodate for positions where "sexual orientation or gender identity are bona fide occupational qualifications for employment."
3. If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination? The concern here is that this city ordinance will create a special protected class of citizens that will be able and willing to sue at the drop of a hat, and that the major employers and landlords of the city will be open to all kinds of lawsuits for discrimination. This concern is addressed in its own section.
"This chapter does not create a private cause of action, nor does it create any right or remedy that is the same or substantially equivalent to the remedies provided under federal or state law. This chapter does not create any special rights or privileges which would not be available to all of the City’s citizens because every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity."
This section is particularly interesting in that it prohibits a "private cause of action". This phrase is a technical legal phrase with a specific meaning, and with interpretations related to several supreme court cases. From Wikipedia, "Implied cause of action is a term used in United States statutory and constitutional law for circumstances when a court will determine that a law that creates rights also allows private parties to bring a lawsuit, even though no such remedy is explicitly provided for in the law. Implied causes of action arising under the Constitution of the United States are treated differently than those based on statutes."
In other words, if there were a private or implied cause of action then someone could bring a lawsuit against someone else even if there is no law expressly allowing it, i.e. there is no law expressly prohibiting the actions of the person being sued. What this means for the SLC ordinance is that someone cannot bring a lawsuit against someone else under violations of this city ordinance. The only way legal action can be brought under this city ordinance is through the complaint and arbitration provisions provided under the ordinance.
So in answer to the question, If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination? No. They can file a complaint which will then be investigated, but they cannot sue. Also this section in the city ordinance makes another interesting point. Even though it does not explicitly say it it implies that sexual orientation and gender identity is not a civil right, nor is it open to the same protections guaranteed to any other civil right protected by the Constitution or by law.
4. The last objection is not expressly covered in the city ordinance but depending on how a certain sentence is interpreted it may be. That sentence (in context) says,
"This chapter does not apply to a temporary or permanent residence facility operated by a nonprofit organization; a charitable organization; or a person in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, including any dormitory operated by a public or private educational institution, if the discrimination is based on sexual orientation or gender identity for reasons of personal modesty or privacy or in the furtherance of a religious organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs."
The key phrase here is "for reasons of personal modesty or privacy". While in context this may be a rather qualified statement, it may apply in most situations of concern where someone, or even a group of people, feel that they have a reasonable expectation of modesty and privacy. Thus in cases of college dorms and other comparable housing units, under this ordinance the tenants may insist on a having a reasonable expectation of modesty and privacy. In other words, in an apartment that can allow six single students, four of the residents can object to a homosexual couple moving in and the landlord can agree and not allow the gay couple to keep their contracts. As I said, this particular situation may not be covered by the city ordinance depending on how the language is interpreted. Still any major concerns may be covered under the section that explicitly prohibits the creation of a special protected class of citizens. As the code states, "This chapter does not create any special rights or privileges which would not be available to all of the City’s citizens". In other words, they will be treated like everyone else.
So while the non-discrimination ordinance allows for the basic, "common sense" rights associated with human dignity, it does not create a special, privileged class of people that have access to more rights, protections or remedies than others. It guarantees that homosexuals will be treated with fairness and equality, just like everyone else, while at the same time preserving the rights to religion and expression that all other people have. In other words, this city ordinance does not establish the rights and freedoms of one group of people by infringing on the rights and freedoms of another group of people.
So what is it about how these city ordinances are written that would bring official recognition and acceptance from the Church? Also after reading several comments posted after the news stories there were a number of concerns raised by people concerned with the implications of the new city ordinance. So what were the main concerns and how do these city ordinance address them?
Effectively these ordinances make it illegal to discriminate against someone in terms of employment and housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It establishes a procedure for filing complaints and resolving disputes that may arise due to allegations of discrimination. These city ordinances are in addition to the previous ordinances regarding discrimination based on race, gender, religion or country of origin.
In relation to these ordinances some of the main concerns that people voiced in the online forums were:
1. If I have a small basement apartment that I am renting out, will this force me to rent it out to a homosexual couple?
2. Will this force religious book stores, such as Deseret Book, to hire cross dressers?
3. If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination?
4. If I am single and living in an apartment with other single people, does this mean that a gay couple can move in to my apartment and I (and my landlord) can't do anything about it? As in, we can't object?
So how do these two city ordinances address these concerns, if at all?
First let us look at the exceptions provided. Both religious organizations and "expressive organizations" (such as the Boy Scouts of America) are expressly exempt from these city ordinances. While that solves some of the potential problems it does not address any of the above concerns. It turns out that the first three objections are addressed and the fourth may be addressed depending on how certain language is interpreted.
1. In this objection the concern is that under this ordinance a family living in their own home will be forced to rent out a basement apartment to a homosexual couple. This is expressly addressed in the exceptions. Effectively the ordinance exempts small privately owned apartments such as basement apartments because in order for the ordinance to apply you must,
"own an interest in or title to four or more single-family dwellings held for lease or sale at one time, and are located inside the City....[sell] two or more single-family dwellings inside the City, and in which the owner did not reside in the dwelling within the 24-month period preceding the sale or rental of the dwelling....use the service or facilities of any real estate broker, agent, or salesperson, or of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings."
It also further specifies that owners are exempt if, "The rental of a dwelling that is occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, when the owner actually maintains and occupies part of the dwelling as a residence."
That takes care of the first objection.
2. Will this force religious book stores, such as Deseret Book, to hire cross dressers? In terms of hiring practices the ordinance stipulates that employees must adhere to "reasonable rules and regulations and other job related qualifications required by an employer." This would include a dress code (no pun intended). There are also other provisions to accommodate for positions where "sexual orientation or gender identity are bona fide occupational qualifications for employment."
3. If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination? The concern here is that this city ordinance will create a special protected class of citizens that will be able and willing to sue at the drop of a hat, and that the major employers and landlords of the city will be open to all kinds of lawsuits for discrimination. This concern is addressed in its own section.
"This chapter does not create a private cause of action, nor does it create any right or remedy that is the same or substantially equivalent to the remedies provided under federal or state law. This chapter does not create any special rights or privileges which would not be available to all of the City’s citizens because every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity."
This section is particularly interesting in that it prohibits a "private cause of action". This phrase is a technical legal phrase with a specific meaning, and with interpretations related to several supreme court cases. From Wikipedia, "Implied cause of action is a term used in United States statutory and constitutional law for circumstances when a court will determine that a law that creates rights also allows private parties to bring a lawsuit, even though no such remedy is explicitly provided for in the law. Implied causes of action arising under the Constitution of the United States are treated differently than those based on statutes."
In other words, if there were a private or implied cause of action then someone could bring a lawsuit against someone else even if there is no law expressly allowing it, i.e. there is no law expressly prohibiting the actions of the person being sued. What this means for the SLC ordinance is that someone cannot bring a lawsuit against someone else under violations of this city ordinance. The only way legal action can be brought under this city ordinance is through the complaint and arbitration provisions provided under the ordinance.
So in answer to the question, If I fail to hire someone and it then turns out that they were homosexual, can they sue me for discrimination? No. They can file a complaint which will then be investigated, but they cannot sue. Also this section in the city ordinance makes another interesting point. Even though it does not explicitly say it it implies that sexual orientation and gender identity is not a civil right, nor is it open to the same protections guaranteed to any other civil right protected by the Constitution or by law.
4. The last objection is not expressly covered in the city ordinance but depending on how a certain sentence is interpreted it may be. That sentence (in context) says,
"This chapter does not apply to a temporary or permanent residence facility operated by a nonprofit organization; a charitable organization; or a person in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, including any dormitory operated by a public or private educational institution, if the discrimination is based on sexual orientation or gender identity for reasons of personal modesty or privacy or in the furtherance of a religious organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs."
The key phrase here is "for reasons of personal modesty or privacy". While in context this may be a rather qualified statement, it may apply in most situations of concern where someone, or even a group of people, feel that they have a reasonable expectation of modesty and privacy. Thus in cases of college dorms and other comparable housing units, under this ordinance the tenants may insist on a having a reasonable expectation of modesty and privacy. In other words, in an apartment that can allow six single students, four of the residents can object to a homosexual couple moving in and the landlord can agree and not allow the gay couple to keep their contracts. As I said, this particular situation may not be covered by the city ordinance depending on how the language is interpreted. Still any major concerns may be covered under the section that explicitly prohibits the creation of a special protected class of citizens. As the code states, "This chapter does not create any special rights or privileges which would not be available to all of the City’s citizens". In other words, they will be treated like everyone else.
So while the non-discrimination ordinance allows for the basic, "common sense" rights associated with human dignity, it does not create a special, privileged class of people that have access to more rights, protections or remedies than others. It guarantees that homosexuals will be treated with fairness and equality, just like everyone else, while at the same time preserving the rights to religion and expression that all other people have. In other words, this city ordinance does not establish the rights and freedoms of one group of people by infringing on the rights and freedoms of another group of people.
Friday, November 13, 2009
On How We Know: The Sixth Sense
This is a continuation of my series On How We Know. The introduction can be found here, and a full listing of articles can be found here.
In considering the knowledge we gain from sense experience the question arises, where do feelings of the Spirit or Holy Ghost fit into this. As we learn from one passage in the Doctrine and Covenants the feelings or knowledge imparted by the Spirit can be described as a "burning in our bosom". Feeling the Spirit can also be described as enlightening our understanding, or simply enlightening. So the question that we might consider is how feeling the Spirit or the influence of the Spirit relates to our other senses.
Some people choose to define it as a sixth sense that we have. In other words, when we feel the Spirit we feel it through our "spiritual sense organ" much in the same way we sense anything else through our other five senses. Without elaborating I will say that this always seemed a little ridiculous to me. While it may be useful to talk about the Spirit in this way so that those who do not understand can begin to understand, I think that it is not ultimately useful or even instructive to talk about feeling the Spirit in terms of having a sixth sense. So what is it then?
Better yet is the approach expressed by Joseph Smith as explained by Truman G. Madsen,
"On the senses, a colleague at an eastern university said to me one day, "Yes, I've heard you Mormons have a sixth sense. You do. It is the sense that enables you to swallow this nonsense called Mormonism." Even if you conclude with certain scientific naturalists that anything that is nonsensory is nonsense, that is an endorsement, in a measure, of your heritage. Said Erastus Snow, referring to the Prophet,
"Joseph taught that the Spirit of the Lord underlies all our natural senses, that is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. The Spirit communicates with the spirit of man and enlivens all the other senses. [BYU Special Collections, MSS. 44, Folder 5]"
Thus the sensations of the spirit and the feeling we have from the Spirit are the same things that connect all our normal senses to our spirit. It is the stuff of spirit, and when the Holy Ghost speaks to us it is directly to our own spirit, that which is the repository of knowledge and awareness. Thus the sensations of the Spirit are the sensations of sense itself.
In considering the knowledge we gain from sense experience the question arises, where do feelings of the Spirit or Holy Ghost fit into this. As we learn from one passage in the Doctrine and Covenants the feelings or knowledge imparted by the Spirit can be described as a "burning in our bosom". Feeling the Spirit can also be described as enlightening our understanding, or simply enlightening. So the question that we might consider is how feeling the Spirit or the influence of the Spirit relates to our other senses.
Some people choose to define it as a sixth sense that we have. In other words, when we feel the Spirit we feel it through our "spiritual sense organ" much in the same way we sense anything else through our other five senses. Without elaborating I will say that this always seemed a little ridiculous to me. While it may be useful to talk about the Spirit in this way so that those who do not understand can begin to understand, I think that it is not ultimately useful or even instructive to talk about feeling the Spirit in terms of having a sixth sense. So what is it then?
Better yet is the approach expressed by Joseph Smith as explained by Truman G. Madsen,
"On the senses, a colleague at an eastern university said to me one day, "Yes, I've heard you Mormons have a sixth sense. You do. It is the sense that enables you to swallow this nonsense called Mormonism." Even if you conclude with certain scientific naturalists that anything that is nonsensory is nonsense, that is an endorsement, in a measure, of your heritage. Said Erastus Snow, referring to the Prophet,
"Joseph taught that the Spirit of the Lord underlies all our natural senses, that is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. The Spirit communicates with the spirit of man and enlivens all the other senses. [BYU Special Collections, MSS. 44, Folder 5]"
Thus the sensations of the spirit and the feeling we have from the Spirit are the same things that connect all our normal senses to our spirit. It is the stuff of spirit, and when the Holy Ghost speaks to us it is directly to our own spirit, that which is the repository of knowledge and awareness. Thus the sensations of the Spirit are the sensations of sense itself.
On How We Know: "Why do you doubt your senses?"
This is a continuation of my series On How We Know. The introduction can be found here, and a full listing of articles can be found here.
In the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the ghost of Jacob Marley confronts the character Ebenezer Scrooge, and after introducing himself the ghost and Scrooge have a rather interesting conversation. I will include the first few lines here:
"You don't believe in me," observed the Ghost.
"I don't," said Scrooge.
"What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?"
"I don't know," said Scrooge.
"Why do you doubt your senses?"
"Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!"
In this exchange the ghost of Jacob Marley asks a rather interesting question, "What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?" Essentially Jacob Marley is asking, "Is there any other possible way for you, or anyone else, to gain knowledge of reality than through your senses?" and the natural conclusion to this thought is that if there is no other way to gain knowledge of reality then, "Why do you doubt your senses?"
Scrooge's response is anything but unique. It is the response of sceptics and philosophers from many ages of Western Philosophy. Perhaps the one who expressed it better than anyone else, and is best known for it, is Rene Descartes. His particular approach even has its own name, the method of doubt. In applying the method of doubt, Descartes had a specific goal in mind, to find the foundations of reality, but unintentionally his method of doubt started a tradition that has continued and influenced us to this day. It introduced into not just Western Philosophy, but all of Western Culture a fundamental distrust of our senses. I have heard Descartes', and Scrooge's, arguments repeated over and over by college professors, by high school teachers and even by elementary school children. Even though most people live and act as if their senses are a good indication of what is real, the same people will immediate express doubt in their own senses, and especially those of others, when what they sense does not agree with what they already "know". There is always some other explanation that explains what someone saw or otherwise sensed. These doubts are given particular force because of the tradition we have of doubting or senses.
So let us consider this doubt, do we have any reason at all to doubt our senses? Essentially the argument of Descartes, and Scrooge, is that there exist well known instances where our senses cannot be relied upon. The classic example is dreams. We can "sense" things in our dreams that are not really there. This is not confined to our dreams but occasionally, as Scrooge points out, our senses can be cheated by other things, such as indigestion or other substances. So the question is, "Where do we draw the line?" How do we determine which sensations are real and which are false? The answer of Descartes was essentially, "Because I don't know where the line is I am going to assume that there is no line and that I can't trust any of the sensations I have." While Descartes ultimately acknowledges that this approach is insane, the damage was done and he had introduced the idea that because there is some doubt as to where the dividing line is between two things, in this case sensations corresponding to reality and those that do not, then we cannot assume that any of our sensations correspond to reality and we must doubt everything.
Effectively what Descartes has done is to confuse the ocean for a continent because he was standing on the beach and did not know where "dry land" ended and the water began. The method used by Descartes and the argument of Scrooge is like someone standing on a beach and wondering where the land ends and where the water begins. After puzzling over it for a while this person concludes that there is no such thing as land because they cannot clearly discern the boundary between a continent and an ocean. They then head inland away from the ocean and begin to talk to people and tell them that they are not standing on dry land but that they are actually in the middle of the ocean. In their defence they point to the presence of lakes, rivers and even glasses of water to prove that we do not live on a continent but that we live in the ocean. If someone actually attempted this and spoke like this then they would quickly be picked up by the authorities and taken to a "safe place" with padded walls. But in the case of philosophers instead of being ignored as insane they are called great and have their works and ideas spread around like manure.
Just because the boundary between an ocean and a continent is not well defined to someone standing on the beach does not mean that there is not a distinct, well definable and immediately recognizable difference between the two. Doubting the existence of a continent because the waves are washing your feet is an act of severe intellectual dishonesty. In the same way, doubting all our senses because a few of them may not actually correspond to anything in reality is also an act of severe intellectual dishonesty.
Continuing with this analogy we note that on continents there are lake and rivers which some will use to cast doubt on our assertion. These I will liken to physical injury, drugs and other mind altering substances. The fact that I can mention them in the context of "mind altering" indicates that there is a distinct, well definable and immediately recognizable difference between normal sensations and those arising from drugs or physical conditions. Again there is no reason to doubt the veracity of all sensations, or the existence of a continent, just because you are dabbling your feet in a river or a lake.
Related to this is the misguided approach of trying to "discover" something about reality by deliberately partaking in mind altering drugs. This would be akin to stating a desire to understand the rocks and dirt of a continent and then promptly going for a swim and spending your time staring at a fish.
So how do know to distinguish between between sensations that give us knowledge of reality and those that do not? The answer to that question is inextricably bound up with the answer to the question "How do we gain knowledge?" which is the purpose of these essays. So we know the limit or boundary by applying the selfsame modes of knowing that lead us into all knowledge. As for giving a more exact answer I would ask, "How do we recognize the boundary between land and water?" Understand that and you can learn to recognize the boundaries between sensations that give us knowledge of reality and those that do not.
In the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the ghost of Jacob Marley confronts the character Ebenezer Scrooge, and after introducing himself the ghost and Scrooge have a rather interesting conversation. I will include the first few lines here:
"You don't believe in me," observed the Ghost.
"I don't," said Scrooge.
"What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?"
"I don't know," said Scrooge.
"Why do you doubt your senses?"
"Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!"
In this exchange the ghost of Jacob Marley asks a rather interesting question, "What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?" Essentially Jacob Marley is asking, "Is there any other possible way for you, or anyone else, to gain knowledge of reality than through your senses?" and the natural conclusion to this thought is that if there is no other way to gain knowledge of reality then, "Why do you doubt your senses?"
Scrooge's response is anything but unique. It is the response of sceptics and philosophers from many ages of Western Philosophy. Perhaps the one who expressed it better than anyone else, and is best known for it, is Rene Descartes. His particular approach even has its own name, the method of doubt. In applying the method of doubt, Descartes had a specific goal in mind, to find the foundations of reality, but unintentionally his method of doubt started a tradition that has continued and influenced us to this day. It introduced into not just Western Philosophy, but all of Western Culture a fundamental distrust of our senses. I have heard Descartes', and Scrooge's, arguments repeated over and over by college professors, by high school teachers and even by elementary school children. Even though most people live and act as if their senses are a good indication of what is real, the same people will immediate express doubt in their own senses, and especially those of others, when what they sense does not agree with what they already "know". There is always some other explanation that explains what someone saw or otherwise sensed. These doubts are given particular force because of the tradition we have of doubting or senses.
So let us consider this doubt, do we have any reason at all to doubt our senses? Essentially the argument of Descartes, and Scrooge, is that there exist well known instances where our senses cannot be relied upon. The classic example is dreams. We can "sense" things in our dreams that are not really there. This is not confined to our dreams but occasionally, as Scrooge points out, our senses can be cheated by other things, such as indigestion or other substances. So the question is, "Where do we draw the line?" How do we determine which sensations are real and which are false? The answer of Descartes was essentially, "Because I don't know where the line is I am going to assume that there is no line and that I can't trust any of the sensations I have." While Descartes ultimately acknowledges that this approach is insane, the damage was done and he had introduced the idea that because there is some doubt as to where the dividing line is between two things, in this case sensations corresponding to reality and those that do not, then we cannot assume that any of our sensations correspond to reality and we must doubt everything.
Effectively what Descartes has done is to confuse the ocean for a continent because he was standing on the beach and did not know where "dry land" ended and the water began. The method used by Descartes and the argument of Scrooge is like someone standing on a beach and wondering where the land ends and where the water begins. After puzzling over it for a while this person concludes that there is no such thing as land because they cannot clearly discern the boundary between a continent and an ocean. They then head inland away from the ocean and begin to talk to people and tell them that they are not standing on dry land but that they are actually in the middle of the ocean. In their defence they point to the presence of lakes, rivers and even glasses of water to prove that we do not live on a continent but that we live in the ocean. If someone actually attempted this and spoke like this then they would quickly be picked up by the authorities and taken to a "safe place" with padded walls. But in the case of philosophers instead of being ignored as insane they are called great and have their works and ideas spread around like manure.
Just because the boundary between an ocean and a continent is not well defined to someone standing on the beach does not mean that there is not a distinct, well definable and immediately recognizable difference between the two. Doubting the existence of a continent because the waves are washing your feet is an act of severe intellectual dishonesty. In the same way, doubting all our senses because a few of them may not actually correspond to anything in reality is also an act of severe intellectual dishonesty.
Continuing with this analogy we note that on continents there are lake and rivers which some will use to cast doubt on our assertion. These I will liken to physical injury, drugs and other mind altering substances. The fact that I can mention them in the context of "mind altering" indicates that there is a distinct, well definable and immediately recognizable difference between normal sensations and those arising from drugs or physical conditions. Again there is no reason to doubt the veracity of all sensations, or the existence of a continent, just because you are dabbling your feet in a river or a lake.
Related to this is the misguided approach of trying to "discover" something about reality by deliberately partaking in mind altering drugs. This would be akin to stating a desire to understand the rocks and dirt of a continent and then promptly going for a swim and spending your time staring at a fish.
So how do know to distinguish between between sensations that give us knowledge of reality and those that do not? The answer to that question is inextricably bound up with the answer to the question "How do we gain knowledge?" which is the purpose of these essays. So we know the limit or boundary by applying the selfsame modes of knowing that lead us into all knowledge. As for giving a more exact answer I would ask, "How do we recognize the boundary between land and water?" Understand that and you can learn to recognize the boundaries between sensations that give us knowledge of reality and those that do not.
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