Things I Learned/Thought About Today From My Grad Sociology Class

• Maybe modernism influenced the church too much, you know, the whole rules and regulations thing (sin being quantifiable). Not saying that there is no such thing as sin (this is just an example), but maybe sin can be seen from a bunch of different angles, all of which can be helpful in learning more about it and why it sucks for us. I don't think the church should sway all the way into postmodernism either, and say that everything in the Bible is up to individual interpretation. There's a happy medium somewhere.
• The Matthew Shepherd Bill: A bill that made it a federal crime to commit a hate crime against a homosexual. It is named after Shepherd, who was a homosexual college student and was beaten to death by two other college students in 1998. (AP article) (Matthew Shepherd Foundation)
• Sociological studies show that when people (especially males) interact with homosexuals, they are more weirded out by them not acting like their gender than them actually being homosexual. Interesting.
• the website: http://www.wunderground.com/ is a kind of underground weather site that has weather information from airports, schools, etc. but also from established "underground" front porch meteorologists who look out their window and tell you what the weather is.
• Bailey's Irish Liqueur is good in cereal, apparently.
• Ex-convicts aren't allowed to vote. I didn't know that.
• Something that (especially) Christians should get involved in is helping prisoners get re-acclimated to society after getting out of jail. There should be more societal re-integration programs that (one idea) reverse the arrest and trial process. Kind of a ceremony that would re-birth them into society by doing an un-trial, an un-arrest, and finally an un-crime. This sounds kind of like in the Bible when it tells people who are convicted of stealing to serve their time, get jobs, and then give to the poor. Kind of not only stopping the behavior but doing better and helping others.