Reflection Blog- Benjamin Franklin

By reading about Benjamin Franklin, I have also learned quite a few things about Deism. Deist's believe in god or in a supreme being, but unlike most other religions they have more of a natural view (Deism). What I mean by "natural view" is that Deist's believe that god allows the universe to rule itself according to nature, without the need of his supervision (Deism). In English class we have talked about two extremes that deal with religion, the Puritans and the Rationalists. The Puritans are very religious and they believe that everything that happens to them is the doings of God, which opposes the views of the Rationalists. Rationalists are much more logical then religious and seem to reason more than believe. I think that Deist's are a perfect mixture between the two extremes because they believe in a god, but they are much more rational than the Puritans in many ways.

I have learned a lot about Benjamin Franklin in the past few weeks, but one thing that has really stuck in my mind about him is that he was very knowledgeable. There were quite a few points in his autobiography that showed us about how much he studied, for example

This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me (Franklin 143).

Benjamin Franklin frequently talked about his studies, which I thought was unusual for the time period this was written in because most people back in the day did not spend their time studying like he did. Also, Benjamin Franklin mentioned how he spent his Sundays studying rather than attending church, which I found very surprising since it is completely different than what we have read previously. Here is a passage from his autobiography that shows how he spends his Sundays

...I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I was never without some religious principles. I never doubted for an instance, the existence of a Deity (Franklin 144).

In this passage, Benjamin Franklin claims to spend his Sunday's studying rather than attending church which I think is really weird considering the time period and what not. Even though it is kind of weird that he did not attend church, I think it is pretty cool that he valued his studies and that he spent so much of his time learning. I think that by seeing how Benjamin Franklin is not strict with religion it is supports Deism just because they seem to be more relaxed about things. Also, Deist's go by facts and what is known, and I think that Benjamin Franklin supports this well because he is always striving to learn more about anything and everything.

I think that Benjamin Franklin's thirteen virtues support Deism because he is trying to perfect himself so that he can learn more about religion.

Bibliography

"Deism." Philosophy - AllAboutPhilosophy.org. All About Philosophy. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .

Franklin, Benjamin, and Leonard Woods Labaree. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964. Print.

Journal #14- Benjamin Franklin

I think if I could be an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin I would learn a lot about everything because Benjamin Franklin is really smart. By reading about him in class, I have learned about how knowledgeable he is and about how much time he dedicates to studying. I think that I would not only learn about everything, but that I would also develop new skills that he would teach me. I think that because Benjamin Franklin writes from more of a Rationalist view, I would learn a great deal about Rationalism. I think that if I were an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin I would become a better version of myself because of his thirteen virtues. With his thirteen virtues, he tried to perfect himself and I think that by being around someone who is perfecting themselves I to would begin to become a better version of myself. I also think that by being around him I would become much more intelligent and I would get a first hand look at why he wanted to perfect himself and why his thirteen virtues meant so much to him. If you think about it, they must have been pretty important to him considering how much time and effort he invested into them. I think I would become a better, more knowledgeable person if I had the opportunity to be an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin. I think that by being around him all the time I would become a knowledgeable person and that I would also become a better person because of his thirteen virtues. I think it would be pretty cool to be able to be around Benjamin Franklin and to be able to be educated by him and be a part of his life.

Journal #13- American Dream

I think that in these days the American Dream is very different than it was way back in the day. Back in the 1950's the American Dream was very simple, and now I think it has become a little more complicated. I think it is more complicated now than it was back then because now people want all different kinds of things in life. Some people want wealth, some people want families, and some people do not really know what they want. Back in the old days, basically everyone wanted a family and what not, but now sometimes people do not even want to get married. I think that my vision of the American Dream is to have a job that I like, a family, and basically to just be happy. Most people probably have a more planned out dream, but I do not know all of the details of my dream yet. In addition to everyone having different dreams, everyone also has their own definition of what it means to be successful. Some people base success on how much money you have, how many friends you have, or how big your house is but I have my own definition of success. I think that you are successful in your life if you can look back at what you have done and be happy with it. I hope that at the end of my life I will be able to look back and be happy with what I have done with my life. Although I do not think money equals success, I think that it is necessary to be happy and to life a successful life. Money is a big deal in society today, so if you do not have money it would be really hard to do anything and therefore to be happy. I hope I can live the American Dream and have a good job, a lovely family, and overall a happy life.

Journal #12- Right & Wrong

If I could make up the rules for what is right and what is wrong, I would only change a few things. Firstly, I would want more people to actually do what is right verse what is wrong. It seems to me that a lot of the time today people (including myself) do what is wrong of what is right because that is what is easier. So, one thing that I would want to change would be making everyone do what is right all the time. I think it would make life better for everyone if we always did what we are supposed to do. For example, if we had a big test on Friday but we chose to stay up all night on facebook then we obviously chose what is wrong over what is right because what is wrong is more entertaining than what is right. Not studying for a test isn't the worst thing someone could do, but this is an example that everyone can relate to. Besides the fact that doing the right thing is most of the time not as fun as doing the wrong thing, I would not change much else about the rules of right and wrong. I do not see how people can be raised to do the right thing since they were little, and then in the blink of an eye forget everything they were taught about right and wrong. I wish I chose right over wrong more often, but I know that everyone makes mistakes and everyone has those days.

Journal #11- Aphorism

The word aphorism, as defined by our Glencoe Literature books, means "a short pointed statement that expresses a wise or clever observation about human experience". I think there are many aphorisms out there that can be applied to my life, but I found one that I thought was very realistic to today's world. "Believe nothing you hear, and only half of what you see" is a 19th century Middle English saying that I think can relate to the lives of many people in society today (Knowles). Magazines are a really good example of how you can not believe everything you read. Magazines publish stories about celebrities all the time, but in all reality only some of them are true. Another example of how this aphorism relates to my life is the fact that I am in high school. Everyday I hear a new rumor about someone or something, and I know that there is no way all of them are true. I think that this aphorism can be related to anyone's life in today's society because we have so much technology around us that sometimes things can be blown out of proportion and unfortunately a lot of people do believe everything they read online or hear about on the news. Another aphorism that is similar to this one was stated in an 18th century letter, and it reads "You must not take everything to be true that is told to you" (Knowles). I think that this aphorism is also very realistic because some people can be so gullible and they will believe everything they hear. There are so many aphorisms out there that can be related to life today, but I thought that these two were ones that I can relate to the most. Even though these are kind of old sayings, they are still relevant to society because no matter how modern we become, people are still going to lie or make up rumors. I think these aphorisms are very wise and that they would be excellent advice to give to anybody because they can apply to anyone's life.

Bibliography

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006.Encyclopedia.com. 11 Oct. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

The Crisis No. 1- Reflection Blog

I think that Thomas Paine writes from a more Rationalist style in The Crisis No. 1 because I think it was much more logical than the religious style used by the Puritans. Rationalist writers seem to have a more logical way of thinking and it seems that over time people stopped using religion as an excuse for everything and started to actually think about why certain things happened. Before this Rationalism period, anything that happened that was unusual it was just assumed to be work of the devil, but in this period people began to look at things a little bit differently. They began to try and understand why things were happening instead of just assuming it to be somewhat religion based. In The Crisis No. 1, Thomas Paine represents the Rationalism period very well in the way he wrote his story. Also, we are shown how the shift in the way people thought in this passage

However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves (Paine 135).

This passage shows us how people stopped blaming God for everything and started to be more realistic about things. This passage shows us a major difference between this story and stories we have previously read because in all of the previous stories we have read it always seems that people blame God and now in this one he says that there is no one to blame but themselves. I think this passage from The Crisis No. 1 is a very good representative for the Rationalism time period. From reading this story, we learn that Thomas Paine does not want a war, but he does seek independence from Britain. In this passage we are shown how he feels about starting a war

Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me and those who are in it, and to 'bind me in all cases whatsoever' to his absolute will am I to suffer it? (Paine 136).

In this passage we learn the thoughts of Thomas Paine in regards to starting a war with Britain. We see that he does not want to start a war, but he does want independence from Britain and if that means starting a war than so be it. I think that Thomas Paine wrote this to everyone, both those who are for and against the war, in an attempt to get people to see things from his point of view. I think that he would probably want to get more people to agree with him and to be on his side, so I do not think there was a certain group of people this was written for. Through The Crisis No. 1, we learn a lot about the way Rationalists write and we also got to see a few major differences between the Rationalists and the Puritans. In addition to these things, we also got to see how Thomas Paine tried to persuade people to be on his side through this story.

Bibliography

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis No. 1." Glencoe Literature. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Glencoe, 2010. 134-36. Print.