Hobby Lobby

Hobby Lobby Blog    

            Headline news in a recent Wall Street Journal article detailed the Supreme Court’s ruling that “closely held” companies can invoke religious objections to avoid covering contraception in workers’ health plans. “Supreme Court Makes Religious Exception to Health-Care Law”, Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2014. It is considered one of the most important rulings on religion in years.

            The case of Hobby Lobby is the first to challenge President Barack Obama’s 2010 health law that extends health care to women of childbearing age.  The Affordable Care Act requires employers to cover all forms of contraception approved by the government.

            Hobby Lobby is a for profit arts and crafts chain owned by an evangelical Christian family. They objected to health coverage that included the morning after pill and certain intrauterine devices because their belief is that it is a form of abortion.

            The ruling by the Supreme Court in effect opens the door to individuals, nonprofits and other companies seeking exemption from federal laws they believe is against their faith. As it stands, there are a number of related cases in the lower courts at this time.

           

            There are arguments on both sides of this fence. On one side there is concern that this will jeopardize women’s health by denying them full medical benefits. There is also concern of what other exemptions are going to be sought based on religious beliefs. Other positions are not that people shouldn’t be able to have these, but that they shouldn’t be forced to pay for it. 

            It is every individuals right to have an opinion and approve or disapprove the use of certain contraception’s based on their religious beliefs. I somewhat understand the ruling on one level – If it is against your religion, how can the government force you to pay for it. It has been suggested that there are other ways that Congress could ensure that every woman has access to the specific contraceptives that are at the center of this argument.

            Interesting case and the not the last we will be hearing about it and others that follow from it.

Genealogy Blog

Genealogy Blog

            Through all the discussions of the past from the beginnings of humans in the Paleolithic era through the modern era, I became thoughtful of my own heritage and family history.

           

            I am adopted and when I was in my mid-twenties I ventured on a journey to discover who my ancestors were. This was before the time of current Genealogy websites and services promising to trace your ancestor tree.

           

            All I had was one simple piece of paper and a lot of gumption. Written on that single piece of paper were the names, height, weight, vague location of residences at the time of my birth, interests and hobbies of both my biological parents.

            What I eventually discovered was that I was conceived in Oahu, Hawaii (although I am not Hawaiian). My parents were not married and during that era is was inconceivable to have a child out of wedlock.  

            With a surname and a rotary dial telephone (lol), I called a number of residences in the Hawaiian Island of Oahu asking to speak to the person whose name appeared on my piece of paper.

            On the fourth call, I had miraculously connected to my natural grandparents. They said my mom had just left to return home in the Bay Area and asked if I was a friend of hers.  Long story short, I was reunited with my grandparents, and eventually met my natural mother and father.

            One of the most memorable discoveries that came out of this reconnection was a story my grandfather told me about his life in the Navy during Pearl Harbor. He was a captain and had built a bomb shelter for his family. A Times photographer took a picture of my mom and her two sisters inside the shelter sitting on a bed. On the chest of drawers next to them were supplies (e.g., candles, flashlight, canned goods – one of which was a can of Spam).

            This photograph was featured in Times Magazine after which Hormel Foods sent my grandfather’s family a semi filled with cans of Spam! They distributed it to all their neighbors, family, and friends and donated what was remaining to other shelters on the Island.

            My mother gave me a copy of this picture ~ three tow head little girls all snuggled together while big wide grins; I still cherish it today.

World War I and Prosthetics

                                                                              

World War I and Prosthetics

Prior to World War I, most severely injured soldiers often died as a result of their wounds due to gangrene and infection. However, advances in medicine led to many injured surviving but with disabilities such as missing limbs as a result of amputations. Slayer states that there were 10 million deaths during World War I and that at least double that number were left wounded, crippled, or disfigured. (p. 985).

Due to the sheer volume alone of disabled vets, they had a negative direct effect on the pension and welfare systems. One solution was to get these men returned to work and this led to major gains, and mass production, in the area of prosthetic limbs. Because it is nearing the 100^th anniversary of the start of World War I, there is an incredible amount of recent news and photos available. One such article, “The ‘bionic men’ of World War I” by Thomas Schlich (Special to CNN), described the effect of and technology advancements of the Prosthetics industry. In the United States the Artificial Limb Laboratory was established in 1917 at the Walter Reed General Hospital.

The most unusual part of the article was the description of how many of the prostheses merged man and machine, leaving the disabled man firmly attached to his workstation. “An amputee veteran would arrive at his work place in the factory, hook up the remaining part of his limb to the prosthesis, which in turn would be linked to one of the industrial machines in the factory.” (Schlich, 2014). The individual would work like this for hours literally connected to the machine. There is something eerily disconcerting about this particular image. However, I must remind myself that it was in its early stages of prostheses development. 

The evolution of prosthetics and advances transports us to ‘current day’ wherein a double-leg amputee competed in the 2012 Olympics running on carbon fiber blades. It is interesting to note that he wasn’t allowed to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics because they thought he had an unfair advantage. This concept would have been unfathomable 100 years ago.

Note: This is an example of prosthetic advancements and has nothing to do with character, as this individual is currently on trial accused of murder. 

Rare Mastodon Fossil find

Hello fellow bloggers ~

I will elaborate on this wonderful find and my thoughts on same. But for now, I have attached a link to this incredible find of a rare mastodon fossil that was found in New Mexico by a bachelor party group. I thought some of you may find it interesting and related to our first chapters of class.  

(http://news.msn.com/offbeat/bachelor-party-finds-rare-mastodon-fossil-in-new-mexico#tscptme)

It never ceases to amaze me that we continue to unearth specimens from our past world that provides increasing evidence to support or contradict our thinking and knowledge of the past. There was an additional video related to this article that actually shows the unearthing of the specimen by Paleonologists (sp?). 

I hope you have a chance to read and see this newly found discovery. 

My best,

Heidi 

Five Pillars

I have had some previous exposure to Islam in my studies and have always been intrigued by the historically stated fact that Muhammad had a spiritual experience (a revelation) and although reluctant, nevertheless deemed himself a prophet. From his experience a new religion is created and within that religion a set of unique criteria is determined to be devout. Criteria that is not present in any other religion that I am aware of. They are the five acts of devotion to God, usually referred to as “pillars of Islam.”

The first pillar is the “testimony” known in Arabic as shahada ~ it is something that a person needs to say only once in their life, freely and as a believer, to become a Muslim. This is a testament that there is “no god but God” and that “Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

The second pillar is the foundation of Muslim devotion of ritual prayer service known as salat. It is practiced precisely five times a day (morning, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and evening). This is a call to prayer where people gather in a formal manner in predetermined areas designated just for prayer and when in prayer they are faced toward the Ka’ba in Mecca.

The third pillar is Almsgiving. This is the giving of one’s wealth somewhat similar to the passing the basket at church. The latter is to support the church and its faithful. Zakat is not charity; it is more like a tax, payable once a year and computed as a percentage of ones wealth. My only previous knowledge of a similar practice is with the Mormon practice of giving approximately ten percent of one’s earnings to the Mormon Church.

The fourth pillar is fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. It is a religious daytime fast that occurs during the ninth lunar month of Ramadan. I have personally viewed this practice through my daughters’ daycare person who is Muslim. She would wake and feed her family/children before sunrise and they were not to eat again until after sunset. I had a hard time conceptualizing how you could impose such a strict practice on children (they were very young at the time). However, it was explained to me that the children were encouraged but not punished if they cannot or do not comply. I understand it is a spiritual discipline to enhance one’s awareness on one’s dependence on God and to renew one’s religious awe.

The final and fifth pillar is Hajj: The Pilgrimage to Mecca. This should be done at least once in ones lifetime, if they can afford it. I saw a film in a previous class that was just amazing in its beauty and explanation of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It addressed the entire process and captured the essence and replication of the journey from Mecca to Medina and provided a clear explanation of the underlying meaning of each day’s movement. Preparations for hajj are a solemn leave taking of one phase of a person’s life to move to a higher and more fulfilled stage. It encompassed the religious beliefs and meaning, human sacrifices and struggles, their will to live and carry their faith forward.

Muhammad, how did you do it? In the reading it stated that he was an enigmatic leader and that the revelations that became the written Quran were “unmatched poetic beauty, miraculous to Muslims, convinced many that it was indeed a revelation from God.”(Pg. 415).

Indeed.

Foot Binding

Foot Binding

The Song Dynasty represents another culture that undermined the position of women not only in the Chinese textile industry but also in their society as a whole. Although women had at one point in time dominated the more lucrative silk weaving industry this was taken over by men. Women’s opportunities in this industry were limited to attending to the silk worms and the spinning of silk thread.

This also led many women transgressing into roles such as concubines, courtesans, and prostitutes. Which in turn led to women competing against women for men’s attention and for married women the result led to household battles.

But what intrigued me more is the foot binding tradition. This to me is just another example of the patriarchal societies attempts (and successes) at controlling their women.  The process is painful, debilitating, and is started at a very young age for girls. The foot is broken, bounded, and displayed in tiny beautiful slippers. Apparently, this was a right of passage of sorts. However, the picture of the results of this practice on page 372 made me rather ill. The foot has conformed to show that it is bound to. The reason you see images of these women walking slowly and gently is that they are in constant pain. This is obviously a form of abuse to an outsider, but what do the women feel that have been subjected to this tradition and torture feel about it?

I can almost hear the critics saying, “Well, look at how your current culture envisions beauty and to what extent women go to in order to achieve this ideal?” Small, delicate, ultra-feminine, submissive are in some cultures required in order to find husbands and procreate. Today’s society the message is to be thin, get breast augmentation, plastic surgery (you name it!). This superficial judgment and consequences on young girls is appalling.

According to the reading the foot binding is symbolized with female beauty that emphasized small size, frailty, and deference to their male counterparts and served to keep women restricted to the ‘inner quarters’. (Strayer, p. 371).

If this is a society that emphases this belief and practice then it is no wonder that a mother would inflict this type of abuse on her daughter in the hopes that she would be seen as desirable and hopefully find a good husband.    

I will take flip-flops any day of the week!!