Tag Archives: conservative

Religious tolerance, Fanaticism, Political beliefs, other thoughts

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My political beliefs

“Don’t you ever forget, that Republican economic policy caused the national debt to quadruple in the 12 years before I became president, and double in the 8 years after I left office.” – Bill Clinton

A lot of people at my work have been surprised that I “liked” Mitt Romney on Facebook, believing that I was somehow a typical liberal Canadian. A bit of history about my political beliefs – I’m a strongly opinionated person – I became a conservative once I started working and participating more in church activities. The strongest reasons why I am a political conservative is because I believe in fiscal conservatism, and being a Christian. Therefore the core foundations of the Republican party – supporting small business, free enterprise, personal freedom and liberties, lower taxes, a strong national defense, reducing the deficit, cutting spending, upholding strong family values – those are what I believe in.

So why do I seem like an Obama supporter? Because ironically enough, Obama’s policies come closer to these foundations than the modern Republican party does! The modern Democratic party is essentially the Republican party of old (Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower). The modern Republican party today is some extreme right wing mutation of Reagan’s policies that are too extreme for even Reagan to support if he were alive! The modern Republican party cuts taxes too much, spends too much on defense, and too intolerant of religious freedom. They added to the deficit instead of reducing it. The national debt quadrupled in the 12 years before Bill Clinton took office, and doubled again in the 8 years after Clinton left office (Thanks to Reagan and both Bushes). That’s not fiscal conservatism at all!

Which is why I’m supporting Obama this election. I liked Romney before when he was the moderate governor of MA, instead of the crazy right winger now. I’m a moderate Republican, which is kind of rare these days.

Religious beliefs

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” – Luke 9:23-24

That brings me to my religious beliefs. I’m a Christian, but not strongly slanted to any denomination. What kind of Christian am I? My beliefs most closely align with Catholics and Presbyterians, but what I think is the most important is the core belief in the Bible, the scriptures, the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, and adhering to the good points in the Bible. The Bible isn’t all good, but it does teach us some good things to live by, which I think is important.
A person is not kind, nice, smart, etc based on the virtue of being a Christian, but rather based on the virtue of that person’s personality, but if one takes all the good things taught by the Bible to heart, then it could enhance that person’s virtues. At least that’s my belief anyway. A lot of people say they are “Christian” but frequently commit sin in their lives, which is not being faithful. How many Christians murder? lie? cheat? steal? Probably a larger amount than you would think.

Fanaticism
I’m gonna rant now about one of the things I dislike about overly religious, which is intolerance. I have a friend who’s currently dating a girlfriend who’s strongly believes in Adventism. So Adventism isn’t a normal Protestant belief, it’s more of a cult, similar to Scientology, Jehovah’s Witness, Church of Latter Day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ Scientist, among others.

So you wanna know how insane this church is? Let me list some things the pastor says (from my friend):
1) You aren’t allowed to watch movies, except documentaries
2) You aren’t allowed to listen to secular music, which is most of classical or modern music
3) You aren’t allowed to eat ‘unclean’ food, such as pigs, ducks and fish without scales.
4) You aren’t allowed to do anything on Saturday but pray. And Saturday is the Sabbath, not Sunday.
5) A woman named Ellen White formed Adventism and is considered their prophet. She speaks the absolute TRUTH and anything contradicting her is heresy.
6) Jesus will come back “soon” and annihilate everyone who isn’t an Adventist. There isn’t a hell in Adventism, so everyone just disappears.
7) Other religions, pagans, atheists are satanic and will be annihilated.
8) Other Christians, including Catholics are FALSE Christians (they compromise with the world) and will also be annihilated. The Pope is satanic, and so are nuns, bishops and other Catholic positions.
9) People don’t have assholes in heaven, because people don’t eat or sleep or do anything in heaven other than play harps for Jesus.
10) Even babies will be condemned to annihilation, because of “original sin”
11) An advanced civilization who were homosexuals created Dinosaurs and were wiped out in the Great Flood.
12) Jesus actually descends from the Orion Nebula when he comes back.
13) Anyone who doesn’t love Jesus will be annihilated.
14) Wearing Jewelry, crosses, makeup, etc are prohibited.
15) You cannot have sex until you get married, and you cannot even think sexual thoughts until that time. (How you figure out how to have sex when the time comes is not explained)
16) Being gay is a choice, and you will be annihilated if you are gay.
17) Drinking, Smoking, Gambling, etc are all prohibited.
18) There’s a global conspiracy by the Roman Catholic church and United Nations (NWO) to force Sunday Law (praying on Sundays) on everyone.
19) It’s ok to kill, but not murder. (Killing is god approved, murder isn’t)
20) There is no evolution, God created the world 10,000 years ago, and Modern Science and Technology is because of Satan.
21) All animals were created vegan, until Adam sinned and they all became carnivorous.
22) All US presidents except JFK were 33rd degree freemasons and Freemasons will take over the world.

I’m not making any of this up. This is actually what the church teaches. It’s insanity.

Additional things
In American society, if you are a good sociable person, then you are more highly valued in society than being a smart engineer or scientist. Think about this. The athletes, actors, musicians in America are all rich and famous, while nerds, scientists, inventors, etc are all virtually ignored by the masses. Everyone knows who Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson are, but does the average person know who Dennis Ritchie was? In this society, the jocks are the ones treated with respect, rather than the nerds. And why is being nerdy or geeky considered a bad trait anyways? Being nerdy just means you are passionate about something, that you’re really into a subject. Its not a bad thing, but carries a social stigma with it. And if anything, who contributes more to society? the entertainers and athletes? or the scientists and engineers and inventors? Who causes our society to progress more, though under appreciated as they are? That’s one of the sad truths of reality, unfortunately.

Another update on my Korean studies:
Verb becoming a noun has several different ways. 보다 = To see, to watch. Seeing/Watching = 보는것 = the thing which sees. It can also be 보기. Making “seeing” the topic = 보는것은 (보는건 for short) = 보기는 (보긴 for short). Making “seeing” the subject = 보는것이 (보는게 for short). Making “seeing” the object = 보는걸 / 보길. So:
verb + 는것 / 는거 / 보기 = making verb a noun
verb + 는것은 / 는건 / 기는 / 긴 = making verb a noun and turning it into the topic
verb + 는것이 / 는게 = making verb a noun and turning it into the subject
verb + 는걸 / 보길 = making verb a noun and turning it into the object.

Also, I’ve been watching Vineyard Man recently, a great Korean romantic comedy. I recommend watching it.

Levels of Asian-ness

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Fobby fashion, imported from Korea!

Fobby fashion, imported from Korea!

There’s an interesting thing that happens to us Asians in the western world. We are stereotyped as perpetual foreigners in the media, but we actually get ‘categorized’ by our fellow Asians, generally into two groups: the Fobby group and the ABC/BBC/CBC group. What are these two groups I will explain.

If you are a fob it means you recently immigrated here from Asia… you are an international student, or been here for a short time. Your style of fashion is most likely different, you prefer to speak your native language and your English is less than great. You find Western culture fascinating but you stick with your own culture for the most part. You tend to be conservative minded, and have traditional values. You love Karaoke. You love to watch Korean, Taiwanese or Japanese dramas and listen to Kpop, Jpop or Mandopop.

If you are an ABC/BBC/CBC, you are American Born Chinese/British Born Chinese/Canadian Born Chinese (If you are Korean or Japanese just replace the letters C with K/J). You were born and raised in Western culture. You are more or less the same as a white person. You speak English fluently and your native language less fluently. You enjoy the same type of culture and values as do Western people. Your sense of fashion is the same as anyone who was born here. You tend to be liberal minded, independent and date out of your own race frequently. You like to watch Dexter, House, The Office, Family Guy, etc. You like to listen to pop, hip hop and rap.

Thing about me, is I’m neither of those two groups. I’m in between… the rare type of Asian who was born in Asia and raised in Western society. What does that make me? Half and half? I feel awkward hanging around my CBC friends, and I feel awkward hanging around my fobby friends. I speak English fluently, and Mandarin semi-fluently. I enjoy both types of culture. My sense of fashion trends towards the fobby side, but not completely. I guess my hairstyle reflects this… I hate having the same short spiky hair as other people who grew up here, nor do I have the long permed, waxed hairstyle of kpop singers. It’s medium length and I love my side swept bangs! I also don’t go crazy on dyeing my hair like most fobs; I’ve dyed my hair before but its since gone back to black and I don’t want to keep re-dyeing it. I am socially liberal minded, I listen to all kinds of music, I watch Asian dramas AND western TV shows, yet idealistically I am conservative.

This puts me at odds against myself in some ways. Maybe I can’t decide for myself whether I am Western or if I am Chinese. Yes you can call me a Chinese-American-Canadian and I guess that will reflect just how diverse I am as a person. Whether or not you are in the same situation as me, I still want to hear your thoughts on this! So please comment! :D

中文翻译：
首先要介绍这日志的主体：在西方世界里面，一般亚洲人都被分为两组；一组叫做‘Fobby’，另外一组叫做’ABC/BBC/CBC’。这俩组是什么意思呢，我来解释。

如果你是前者，所谓‘Fobby’，那意思就是你最近移民到北美洲了，或者你是留学生。你在北美洲的期间很短。你的时尚风格大概跟西方人不一样。你比较喜欢讲你所母语，而且你的英语相对薄弱。你虽说发现西方文化很有趣，但是你还是喜欢相处自己的文化。你的观点比较保守而有着传统的价值观。你爱唱卡拉OK，喜欢看亚洲电视剧，并喜欢听亚洲音乐。

如果你是后者，所谓‘ABC/BBC/CBC’，那意思就是American Born Chinese (美生的华人)/British Born Chinese (英生的华人)/Canadian Born Chinese (加生的华人）。你基本上是个老外，因为你对西方文化很熟悉。你的英语很流利，不过你的中文有可能不善。你或多或少与西方人享受相同的文化和时尚感。你的思想比较开放，你重视独立，并会看上自己民族以外的人。你也喜欢看美国电视秀，也听美国流行音乐 （嘻哈，说唱之类的）。

关于我自己的形式，我可不属于这俩组，而是我夹在中间了。我是中国出生的，加拿大养的男孩。可以说一半一半。我的英语比我的国语流利。我喜欢中国文化，也喜欢西方文化。 我的时尚感往往走向’fobby’的一面，而且我发型是中等长度的。我的思想比较自由，开放的。我喜欢听各种音乐类型，喜欢看亚洲电视节目和西方影片。可是某些方面是对自己有矛盾的。。。也许我决不断到底是中国人还是西方人。无论我是中国人或是西方人呢，我觉得自己的背景和观点是挺多样的。

总之，是否你的境地跟我一样，我还想看你们的想法！所以请给我留言！！

Chinese and Conservative

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First post of the year.

One thing I noticed about myself as I got older was that I started becoming more aware of my Chinese culture.
Well here’s the story. I was raised in a small city with virtually no other Chinese people. So I started becoming very white washed. I lost all my Chinese skills and sense of culture. When I came to Toronto, due to the influence of other Chinese people, I’ve started rediscovering that culture – and in the process becoming more traditionally Chinese.

Even more so than my parents. My parents never really thought much about going back to China, but I’ve been wanting to go back for a while now. There’s a sense of beauty and history there I wanted to experience. I guess you could call it “一种落叶归根的感觉”, a sense of belonging. I wanted to go back to visit because my ancestral home and my relatives were calling me.

My ideals for what the ‘perfect woman’ for me changed as well: It used to be that I had crushes on Caucasian girls, or Asian girls that were raised here. No longer the case. Now I’m all about the ‘traditional’ Chinese beauty – the shy, quiet reservedness, honesty, politeness, calmness, loyalty, obedience; basically the same qualities I had myself.

I’m the Chinese student that the average Asian parent would probably like to have. I’m obedient, reliable, took orders well, and work efficiently. I have ‘artistic’ talents, rather than physical talents. I wished that my parents had pushed me harder during elementary / high school because I wanted to get into a good university. I went into Computer Science not because I was forced to but because I wanted to. I wished my parents made me learn piano; instead I learned it by myself because I had no money for piano lessons. Same with guitar. I wish my parents sent me to Chinese school; I learn it by myself during my spare time. I’ve designed websites since I was a kid – again in my spare time.

In short, I didn’t really relate to other Asians saying their parents ‘forced’ them to do this or that, because I wanted to be a good student. You only get one chance at life so make it your best, that’s my way of thinking. Get a good education, network well, find a good job, marry into a good family. I’ve wanted to live a good life – hence I was never bothered by overwork; I liked working hard; I like striving; I wanted to be the best I could be. My brother is like me – but even more competitive. I think it may come from our genes – my dad was a farmer so he’s worked hard his whole life, and my mother’s side was descended from Chinese nobility so the ambition was always there. I guess some of it passed on to me.

Basically, during these past few years, I’ve ‘rediscovered’ who I really am; I’m at my core a Chinese person, traditional and conservative, and heavily influenced by American ideals of innovation and leadership; I’m also politically conservative. But I don’t think I would be satisfied with myself if I was any different.