Change?
Given that Obama has been preaching the virtues of change, recently, along with any other buzzwords he's been using, I began to think about it. This is a sort of chain reaction logic that occurred last night, and was finalized today on paper.
Logic Chain I
Statement: Changed is defined as a difference between end result of an action and the state of things before the action.
Corollary: If the state of things before and after the action are the same, then there is no change.
Further: Because there is a difference between before an after, that difference is either positive or negative, i.e. the change is either for the better or for the worse.
Conclusion: All change is for the better or for the worse.
Logic Chain II
Statement: All change is an action (that's part of the definition given above).
Statement: A human being will not do anything for no reason whatsoever, i.e. all of his actions are ordered.
Reason: A human being will not do anything which is against his method of ordering.
For Example: A child will not rip his own "masterpiece" off of the refrigerator, and will be upset if someone does it for him.
Statement: This ordering can be called a "law".
Conclusion: All changes enacted by humans follow a law.
Logic Chain III
Statement: All change is for the better or for the worse. (conclusion of Logic Chain I)
Statement: What is better is more desirable than what is worse.
Query: What is better?
Answer: Better means that one has more good in some respect than the other.
Statement: God is most good in every respect (revelation! If you don't agree, just assume with me for the sake of this argument).
Corollary: God's mind is therefore also most good.
Statement: God's mind ordered all of creation (revelation again). This ordering is also called eternal law (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Part II, question 91).
It follows: Eternal law is "better" than any other law.
Statement: All change is governed by Law (conclusion of Logic Chain II)
Conclusion: It is desirable that all change be ordered by eternal law.
So, if a person agrees with me that God exists and that God is good, then he must agree that all change ought to be ordered by eternal law. Now, Obama says that he believes in God. The huge majority of Christians in America say that they believe in God. If so, then they ought to begin ordering their lives by His Eternal Law.
Logic Chain I
Statement: Changed is defined as a difference between end result of an action and the state of things before the action.
Corollary: If the state of things before and after the action are the same, then there is no change.
Further: Because there is a difference between before an after, that difference is either positive or negative, i.e. the change is either for the better or for the worse.
Conclusion: All change is for the better or for the worse.
Logic Chain II
Statement: All change is an action (that's part of the definition given above).
Statement: A human being will not do anything for no reason whatsoever, i.e. all of his actions are ordered.
Reason: A human being will not do anything which is against his method of ordering.
For Example: A child will not rip his own "masterpiece" off of the refrigerator, and will be upset if someone does it for him.
Statement: This ordering can be called a "law".
Conclusion: All changes enacted by humans follow a law.
Logic Chain III
Statement: All change is for the better or for the worse. (conclusion of Logic Chain I)
Statement: What is better is more desirable than what is worse.
Query: What is better?
Answer: Better means that one has more good in some respect than the other.
Statement: God is most good in every respect (revelation! If you don't agree, just assume with me for the sake of this argument).
Corollary: God's mind is therefore also most good.
Statement: God's mind ordered all of creation (revelation again). This ordering is also called eternal law (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Part II, question 91).
It follows: Eternal law is "better" than any other law.
Statement: All change is governed by Law (conclusion of Logic Chain II)
Conclusion: It is desirable that all change be ordered by eternal law.
So, if a person agrees with me that God exists and that God is good, then he must agree that all change ought to be ordered by eternal law. Now, Obama says that he believes in God. The huge majority of Christians in America say that they believe in God. If so, then they ought to begin ordering their lives by His Eternal Law.
Labels: Great Authors, Musings, Nature of Man, Obama?
posted by Ambrose at 2/25/2009 11:05:00 AM
2 Comments:
Excellent article.
This blog absolutely *needs* to have a followers button. :D
Hmmm. I still use the old system of layout-making. I haven't upgraded to the flashy new WYSIWYG editor. I might need to in order to get one of thos buttons.
That said, it still manage to have a couple followers. Not sure how that worked.
Thanks for your interest!
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