A Reason for Everything

This was another one of those weeks where everything we read or talked about in Humanities seemed to apply to something happening in my own life!  It's also neat to see how some of the philosophers' views actually parallel my own Christian beliefs.

It started with Rousseau's writing...  When reading it, I felt that the main point was that if the world revolved around just one person, everything would be better.  But the addition of others and the idea of relationships complicates everything.  Now, like I've recently experienced, we find ourselves desiring to be noticed, especially by the opposite gender.  In order to do this I am constantly watching myself so that I'm not exposing things that should remain hidden.  We are introduced to the idea of the social contract.  Maybe we wouldn't hear the phrase, "It's not fair!" as much if we had this perspective.  Because by this we are given freedoms, but must be willing to sacrifice some for the good of all.  My view of how "unschooling" would best be helpful would be a lesser version in which students were asked at the beginning what type of things they would be interested in learning.  That way, they are allowed to do some of the choosing, yet they aren't allowed to run wild with their freedom so there is still some guidance.  I do in a way believe that one's surrounding environment impacts their level of sin, but overall I believe that we were all born sinners.

Now to Candide where indeed we are puzzled whether or not the good of the world outweighs the evils.  Because I do lean toward the belief of predestination in which God planned everything before we even came to be, I would agree that everything happens for a reason and in the end, it is the best possible way that it could turn out.  Although something may seem horrible at the time, God will actually use it as something good for someone somewhere.  For me, knowing that God has it all planned out is the most comforting thing and it gets me through the day, but it also can be the most frustrating when you are waiting for certain parts of the plan, like finding Mr. Right, to play out.  Another idea that was interesting to me was that in the case of humans, "All knowledge is believed, but not everything that is believed is known."  However, God is all-knowing so this is not true for God.  I can relate to this though by saying that with my overanalyzing mind, I may believe something means a certain thing, however it is hardly ever known for a fact at the time.
It was also interesting to see the parallels between Candide and the Garden of Eden.  To think, one sin and now look at all the evil in this world.  However, going back to the overarching theme, there is a reason for everything...so hopefully in the end all the good will overshadow the bit of necessary evil...God is in control of this earth that is best for now until we reach heaven, which I believe will be the "Best of All Possible Worlds!"