Religion Essay #1

Religion, it is a very complex subject. You utter that very word and almost everyone has a different opinion about it. Well here is mine. I grew up in a very religious family. My best friends all had pastors as fathers and I adapted into a Baptist style of religion. I was forced to church weekly, but it was nothing more to me then a gathering of all my friends. I never received a message from God. I never felt the Holy Ghost consume my soul. I just never really got it.

This class is something I have been trying to get into for a long time. I figured since I was raised in a Christian religion, I am naive to many of the other religions out there. I have tried for the past three years to get in this class, and every year I wait too long and the class gets filled up. I got lucky this year.

I hope to gain a better understanding of the world's religions. In my mind, I don't feel that one religion is better then another, because that would be like calling millions of people wrong or stupid because of what they believe. At the moment I would not call myself a true Christian. I believe that there was something out there that created all this, but who or what that entity is? I am not sure. The universe is filled with an innumerable amount of ideas we can not and will never grasp. A higher power is one of those things.

As with most classes I attend, I can honestly say I enjoy the way the professor goes about teaching us. He makes fun of Christianity for the most part, but that is fine by me. Most Christians are blindly following a belief that they never understood. They are sheep, so to speak. I guess you could say the way I feel about Christians nowadays are the blind leading the blind. I like to question things personally. I don't just accept what someone else has told me. I like to discover the truth for myself, if someone can not give me an answer, then doubts start to swim up in my head.

The class should be fun. I hope to gain a better understanding of religion around the globe. I know most by name, but after their Deity's I know little to none about them all. The truth is out there. Usually it does not land on your doorstep, and almost always, someone else’s beliefs are not compatible with your own. You have to do the work yourself if you ever want to be enlightened.

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Ryan Adam Radcliff

HCC#: 0461942

August 24th, 2011

Psychology 2012-17291

Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:45 P.M.

Pysch

Life Value Clarifications

1. What do you specifically want in your life? (If you don't know what you specifically want: you'll never know when you have it.)
I want to be involved with sports, specifically Football. I am a decent writer, so the best option for me is to work my way up the ladder in sports journalism. If that does not happen I would like to be a commentator or a coach of some sort. Every ideal path leads me to a job that involves Football in some way, shape, or form.

2. What are you basic beliefs? (Beliefs are those concepts that you hold valid and true. Beliefs do not change over time; and they guide you over your lifetime.)
I believe in karma. You do nice things in life and not so much you will receive wealth or recognition, but bad things will not happen as frequent. With the way of the world as is it, its really hard to stick with this belief because bad things happen to good people all the time, but I digress. 

3. If money wasn't a problem what would you really want/do?
Watch sports all day long. When sports are not around, I tend to play video games without a care in the world.

4. The key to success is to follow your passion. The trick is to identify your passion. What is your passion?
The  satisfaction of waching and analyzing sports is my passion. Ever since I was little, sports has been a part of my life.

5. Compare yourself to an inanimate object and why.
A pebble rolling down a mountain because I am constantly in motion.

6. What would you like to have accomplished by the end of your life?
I would like to have some impact on the world of sports. Be it with some great writings, uncovering some hidden truths, having my stories notices by the NFL, or even a job at ESPN. That at least is what I want career wise. As a man, I want to have a large family. I want at least two children, and I hope that I get a boy and a girl. I want the respect and love from my child that was never there between me and my parents. They might have tried, but I will learn from their mistakes.

7. What biographical information would you like the newspaper to include in your obituary?
I want it to read that I was loved by everyone that knew me. I inspired people and my company was always welcomed. I want to be remembered as a funny person and someone that will sorely missed.

8. What would your spouse, friends, children, boss, enemies add to your obituary?
I want to be known as someone who was charismatic, charming, sarcastic, and witty. I also had a great sense of humor. I was someone that always was in a good mood and I helped cheer up people when they were down. My enemies, if I had any would say I was persistent and I never quit. I never took no for an answer and I always asked a lot of questions so I could gather the truth.

9. In only one or two sentences, describe how you want to be perceived and remembered?
I want to be known as someone that always made everyone around him laugh and feel good about them.

10. If you could (and you can) change one aspect or behavior what would it be?
I need to shake free of this whole laziness bug I am infected with. I am lazy and I procrastinate on most, if not all my projects and papers due for my classes. I hardly ever study either. I am trying to not have to cram all my studying and writing assignments on the last night before they are do. That is one of the reason I created a blog. See the answer to question # 13 for more details.

11. In one word completely describe yourself.
Easy enough. Cynical.

12. Don't think about your feelings, be about your feelings. What are your feelings?
I want to be accepted. I do not like when people dislike me. I have a very welcoming personality and I enjoy the company of others. I guess acceptance and solitude, the act of living life alone are two feelings that drive me the most.

13. Tell me something about yourself: something no one else knows about. (Positive or Negative.)
I have my own personal blog. In fact I do most of my homework and other writing on the site. In FACT I am writing this very paper on that blog. I use the blog for a variety of things. I enjoy writing. i write about sports, current events, daily activities, movie ideas, I make some writing challenges for myself, and I even write about my annoying Psychology teacher excessive habits. Now, one of those might be false, but I will leave that for you to decide which.

14. If you had one wish would it be?
To not have a single care in the world.

15. What is your favorite sound and why?
Honestly, the old sounds of my favorite video games. The supreme sense of nostalgia I feel when I hear those melodies remind me of a better time and place. I usually play those tunes on my computer at night and it helps me go to sleep. I use to have a hard time going to sleep. With this, I close my eyes and the images of those games and the memories I had while playing them come rushing back into my mind and a smile usually is the last thing I remember.

16. What sound do you hate and why?
I do not like any sound that does not belong in the environment, such as a foreign sound. An alarm in the background distracts me, and if no one turns off that alarm it extremely annoys me. Other sounds such as people talking where they should not be irk me as well. My mind wanders, so I sometimes focus on these sounds instead of what ever it is I should be paying attention to. I get distracted easily. Oh look shiny ball!

17. What is your favorite word and why?
Gay. Now let me start by saying that I am not a homophobe or dislike the gay community whatsoever, but it is a fun word to use in my life. Remember when Gay meant happy? The Flintstones had gay in the lyrics of its opening song and no one thought ill of that. Well they did and made them change it which i think is silly. Regardless I find it to be a funny word to watch how people react when it is used around them.

18. What is your least favorite word and why?
Death, it scares me. When I think of hospitals, I think of death. I feel the grim reaper has a permanent room in that place as death is always around the corner in every hospital. The air in those places creeps me out. I do not like to attend funerals either. Going to a cemetery is another thing I try to avoid. I am surrounded by dead people, no thanks.

19. What profession would you like to attempt and why?
I would love to try to be a NFL Wide Receiver.

20. What profession would you never be in and why?
I doubt I could be a NFL Wide Receiver. As a realist, I know I am not tall, fast, or strong enough to be able to be competitive at that position. At best i could try out to be a NFL cornerback, but even then I would be undersized. My five foot eight inch frame would not grab the eye of any NFL scout.

21. Anger is fear. Always fear the loss. What is your fear and why?
To be alone.
22. If heaven exists - What do you hope God says to you upon your arrival?
"Welcome to paradise, grab a chair and enjoy the show my son."
23. What would you answer God?
"I hope you get the NFL package up here!"

Mark Twain

(So let us start gathering information on this mo fo.)

His birth name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

Mark Twain is considered to be America's most famous literary icon.

He was born in Florida, Missouri.

He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

He was born in 1835.

He was one of six children to his parents John and Jane Clemens.

He died in 1910 at the age of 74.

He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira New York.

His father died when he was 12.

He left school at the age of 13 and worked as a printer's apprentice.

After two years he joined with his brother newspaper as a printer and editorial assistant. The paper was named Orion's.

At the age of 17 he left the paper and moved to St. Louis in pursuit of a printing job there.

He also pursued a river boating license. He received the licence in 1858.

He created his pen name while a pilot on a river boat. The phrase Mark Twain means it is safe to navigate.

During the decline of  riverboats due to the Civil War, Twain took up reporting gig. He worked for newspapers across the US.

He started gaining notoriety after he wrote, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County."

The story appeared in the New York Saturday press on Nov. 18, 1865.

Reference - http://cmgww.com/historic/twain/about/bio.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/twain.html

He published over 30 books in his career.

His first book was called, "The Innocence Abroad." It was published in 1869.

Quotes - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html

During the Civil war Twain created his own Confederate militia known as the Marion Rangers. It was disbanded after only two weeks.

After his militia disbanded, he worked as a miner in Nevada.

Before coining Mark Twain as his official pen name, he used Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass as his pen name.

He married Olivia Langdon.

He had four children. One died in the infancy stages of its life. Two died while in their 20s. The last one died elderly, and with one daughter. the daughter died with children.

Twain has no direct descendants living.

In 1907 he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

The only time Twain ever collaborated with another writer was with Charles Warner. Together they wrote, "The Gilded Age."