A Talk on Morality

Starting from last night, I was busy trying to get some makeshift Professor Layton rom to work on my DS until 4 last night (it never worked) and this morning, I was woken up to help out with the installation of the new internet. I, like everyone else from my generation, am the "technician" of the house. Whenever there's a computer, television, oven, and other-machines-of-the-sort problem, it's always my responsibility to take care of it. So, this morning, my mom wanted me to see if the internet works on my dad's computer. Unhappy. I got out of bed, took a 5 second look at it and realized that the settings was already on the newly installed internet. Even unhappier. I went back to bed and was woken up 2 minutes later (right when I fell asleep) to hook up my iTalk BB modem. I'm not a morning person, so when I'm called up for something I consider trivial, I get rather cranky and start yelling at people (or speaking in a rude manner) as a few of my friends have experienced in the past.

I decided not to go back to sleep and spend the remainder of the morning "getting ready." I fixed my hair, brushed my teeth, and engaged in the usual morning routine. Once I got dressed, I... went to clean the restroom. Apparently my dad called earlier in the morning to "bestow" us with his expectations of a clean house. Really wasn't my morning. It took me about an hour, perhaps a smudge more time, to clean the restroom, excluding the bathtub.

Skip the relatively SHORT time I took to get ready.

I drove to Samantha's house and watched her and Heidi exchange love blows through a Wii boxing match. If only I had recorded how they looked. So freaking hilarious. After their match, we were just about to play Mahjong with Brandon, Sam's brother, but Michelle was already at Starbucks waiting for Heidi to pick her up, so we left before having the chance to even set up the game.

I arrive at Starbucks and see Michelle standing in the next row of cars. She comes running over and I thought she was looking at my car when she "Wow"-ed, so I ignored her hug. To Michelle: it really was an accident. LOL. Heidi and Samantha arrived shortly after and we decided to head to 85o Bakery.

I bought myself the $1.00-$2.00 bread and realized that I left my wallet in the car, so I ended up having Samantha and Heidi pay for me, and I still owe Heidi $5.00. Michelle bought me a drink too (that I was going to pay for), but it seems she treated me to 85's delicious coffee. We left the store, and decided that there was nowhere else to go, leaving us with the option of going back to Sam's house.

We got back played Just Dance 2, Rockband, and Wii party before Michelle and Heidi left. I was leftover, playing Wii games with Brandon and fixing his Kirby DS game for him. When Samantha's dad got back from work(?), he bought some Chinese food and suggested I stay for dinner. I hadn't planned on eating at their house, but when he said he bought a portion for me too, I felt guilty and decided to eat a little before I headed home. I grabbed some rice and noodles, ate it, and was about to leave when they told me to eat more. Oh, the pressure! I grabbed just a mouthful of rice and ate it as quickly as I could. This time, I went straight for the trash bin to throw away my plate, so they can't tell me to eat more. Rushed home.

I wish I had more of Sam's food :(

I got back and it turns out, my mom wasn't even rushing (or angry at me for taking my time). She slowly got ready and we headed out. I picked up a cup of McDonald's Peppermint Mocha on the way, which turned out to be pretty awful, and headed to church. It has been a while since I came back for church, so seeing everyone made me rather happy. I sat down with them in the kitchen and listened as they chatted away about the NBA and Super Smash, though I didn't join in the conversation.

Skipping worship, today's topic was surprisingly being taught by our fellowship's genius, Samuel. He's currently a junior in university (despite being younger than me) and is majoring in philosophy. Oh, and did I mention he's an atheist? The point of today's lesson was to understand the viewpoints from both the Christian perspective and the atheist perspective. "What is morality?" Our opening question and the only question asked tonight. We debated on what determines the morals of an individual, how it ties in with religion, and other aspects that I don't think I've ever thought about in my life. Apart from all the difficult philosophical concepts and terminology presented in today's talk, there was one bit that I've heard of and understood. Try thinking about it yourself (if you haven't seen these before and assume there is no "it depends" answer).

-Suppose there was a trolley and under certain circumstances, the its speed couldn't be controlled. At the front of the trolley, there's a lever that can control its path. If the lever remained untouched, the trolley will continue and kill five people standing on the rails, but if you pull the lever, you will end up killing one person on the other rail. Which would you choose?

-Suppose the same problem occurred. There's an uncontrollable, speeding trolley that's underneath a bridge, travelling in the direction of five individuals, but now, you're looking at this incident through a third person point of view. On the top of the bridge, there's a man fat enough to stop the trolley and save the lives of 5 people and you just happen to be standing near him. Do you push him off the bridge and into the trolley's path to save 5 people, or do you let the 5 people on the rail die?

-There's a bomb planted in New York City and the only way to save the potential victims is to retrieve information regarding the location of the bomb from one of the terrorists. Somehow, you managed to capture one of these criminals, but they refuse to give you the location. Will you torture him until he spills the information or will you let the bomb kill off thousands of people?

-Suppose the bomb did go off and he managed to kill off thousands of innocent citizens. Does the criminal you've held captive deserve the death penalty?

I've answered these questions in my writing class last year, so it helps understand tonight's topic a lot better. Instead of creating a heated debate between believers and non-believers, this talk on morality was meant to have us thinking about these issues as we continue our Christian walk (or for the most of us). Quite exciting. It's a shame that Leon didn't come :(. I was lonely to the point where I had to talk to Michelle. Gross. Just kidding, Michelle. :)

Well, I'm getting a haircut tomorrow morning so I should probably get some sleep. I'll have a nice post about our hot pot (if it's successful) tomorrow night!

-Jeffjeff

&& Michelle I beat you to 11/11/11 11:11pm and thanks for the coffee! :)
&& Sam, yea that's what I was thinking when your parents kept offering me food. LOL! But I am grateful, just... low on time.
&& Did I just spend an hour typing this up and revising it?.......