Sampson's Blog

2005-10-12T23:48:00.000-07:00

Review of The Brooke Ellison Story

This movie is based on the true story about the life of a quadriplegic young woman (Brooke) and the struggles that she faces. It is written not only to portray the difficulties of Brooke's Life but of her entire family. It starts with Brooke on her first day of school as a junior higher and the decision that she made that led to her accident. Then it shows the struggle of her parents as they try and decide what to do in the aftermath of the tragedy. Finally it shows the hope of overcoming the odds by portraying Brooke being accepted into Harvard and the adjustments that the family must make to cope.

The story carries a lot of Christian ideals and morals throughout. Even though the family is not Christian they stick together through the tough times and keep the an ever present hope for the best in all of their situations. As with any movie about a catastrophic accident their are the emotional scenes and the fateful decisions to be made. There is almost no foul language in this movie and no sexually explicit content. Although this movie is a PG it is very intellectual and may be over the head of younger viewers. Altogether this movie is recommended to anybody. It is a hope based movie that inspires its viewers.

2005-10-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Apologetix music review.

Do you like that old time rock and roll? Then you might like the old time Roman's road.
This song name is one of the many parodies the the Christian band apologetix has come up with. Their goal is to let people enjoy the classic beats and styles from the fifties through today without the bothersome lyrics and topics that often accompany them. They take a song from any variety of artists from Eagles to Elvis to System of a down and then take the lyrics and change them into songs that will teach about a story in the bible or worship the Lord. They sound almost identical to the original so you still have that same beat you love but it's Christian. They mainly parody rock songs but they also do some slower songs. They have 11 albums out now each of which has about twenty different hits on them. This excerpt is quoted from their mission statement:

ApologetiX gets their unusual name from the word "apologetics" which means
"the defense of the Christian faith." It's based on the Greek word for defense,
apologia, which is in the original text of this Bible verse from the Apostle
Peter in 1 Peter 1:15
This band is suggested to anyone Christian or not. But especially if you are a Christian check them out. Here's the website: http://www.apologetix.com/

2005-10-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Review of The Brothers Grimm.
This new movie is heavily based on the fantastic realm of fantasy and fairy tales. It is a spoof on the life of the real brothers Grimm who as you may know are responsible for the majority of the fairy tales we know today. The movie focuses around the two brothers as a pair that banish "Witches" which are all fake made up off peoples fears and banished by the two heroic brothers for a hefty fee. Then in a turn of fate they are caught by the French government and forced to look into a real problem. 11 girls have disappeared into the forest and the ancient queen is locked in her tower waiting for a twelfth to regain her eternal beauty. The two brothers end up over their heads in trouble. The ancient queen who has mastered magic turns the forest ,and anything else she can, against the brothers in an attempt to stop their meddling in her plan. It's up to the brothers to see if they can save the 11 girls and stop the queen from gaining eternal youth.

The theme of suspense and impending doom is heavy through the movie. It has some mild language about the worst of which is misusing Christ's name once. There is also no explicit sexual content in the movie. There is A LOT of violence throughout especially for a fairy tail, unfortunately most of it is semi-graphic. The last negative thing about the movie is the main theme of witches powers and magic that is the basis of the movie. On the positive side it does show the brothers devotion to one another. It has the main theme of good versus evil. Crosses seem to be the favorite tool of the brothers in warding off evil "witches". This movie definantly deserves it's PG-13 rating. It's not suggested to take younger audiences to see this movie but it is entertaining. In comparison it's the equivalent of Pirates of the Caribbean with more graphic violence.

2005-09-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Should creation be taught in public schools? 65% of the population believes that it should. As Kenneth Miller, a Brown University professor of biology said:
"It brings religious conflict into every science class ,"
MR. Miller couldn't have said it better. But is that A bad thing? This question has plagued the courts since the 1980's. This one question has united some groups under one banner and yet at the same time it has been the subject of countless debates all over the country. And the US is at it again.
Monday the federal courts just started a trial about the constitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" in the school system. Now to explain the differences between Creationism and the "intelligent design theory" is Mr. Thompson, of the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing the school district:

"Creationism normally starts with the Holy Scripture, the Book of Genesis, then
you develop a scientific theory that supports it, while intelligent design looks
at the same kind of empirical data that any scientist looks at,"

This argument has become a center piece in the courts as it has in the past but now there's the twist of intelligent design added into the fray. Some of the main groups in this debate are the United Civil Liberties Union and Americans United, for the anti intelligent design group. On the intelligent design side is the Dover school district.
This argument started after the Dover school district of Pennsylvania voted that intelligent design should be brought to the student's attention as the main alternative to the commonly taught evolution. After bringing that up a teacher would then recommend a book that highlights the differences and controversies for the student to read if they chose. This was too far for some concerned parents. They contacted the ACLU and the Americans United and then filed a suit against the Dover school district. Already many arguments have been made ranging from the ridicules as The NY Times quoted:

"You
can dress up intelligent design and make it look like science, but it just
doesn't pass muster. In science class, you don't say to the students, 'is there
gravity, or do you think we have rubber bands on our feet?' "
The NY Times went on to describe this person's idea of a fun family vacation being visiting fossil beds and natural history museums. And then you have the hard-to-get-around-the-logic-of-it arguments, like from Witold J. Walkzerman, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU:

"Intelligent design is not science because it does not meet the ground rules of
science, is not based on natural explanations, is not testable."
Others believe that this has nothing to do with the issue at hand at that it is an attempt to make the intelligent design look so badly in the court system that no school will want to teach it to their students in the future.
On the other side of the field are those in favor of the schools decision. They are using a variety of arguments, and surprisingly few of them are the traditional Christian viewpoints.

"They
(the Dover students) are merely made aware of the existence of another theory,"
Pat Gillen, a lawyer for the Dover school district said, adding that "teaching
intelligent design helps students grasp the controversy that surrounds science"

Another anonymous source pointed out that evolution was not tested either under realistic circumstances and that it was no more provable than the intelligent design theory. No matter who is on one side or the other of this debate it's not going to be an easy decision for the courts.
The amazing thing about this is that Americans are in favor of this new idea being taught beside the normal evolution.
No matter what the court decides though the community still won't win in this. By dividing themselves on this, whatever the court decides one group will not be happy and the other group will pay for their malcontent.
Will they decide to let the new kid on the block, intelligent design, challenge students ideas on evolution, or will the court put to death this "Trojan horse for creationism".

2005-09-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

How a nation pulls together under the Christian ideals

Hurricane Katrina has devastated the US as a whole. And has continued to do so since it flooded New Orleans by making people question each other, widening the racial gap, and probably the most significant, making the people question the government. Another concern is the effect that rebuilding will have on the national deficit (See Reuters).

"We're in the beginning of the rebuilding at this point, and there are a lot of ideas that people are expressing," says the white house's spokesperson. As Christians we know that the best thing we can do as a nation is to pray that some of these ideas can be implemented to help the needy.
"Americans of every race and religion were touched by this storm, yet of the greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle -- the elderly, the vulnerable and the poor," Bush told those gathered at the National Cathedral in Washington. "And this poverty has roots in generations of discrimination and segregation that closed many doors of opportunity. As we clear away the debris of a hurricane, let us also clear away the legacy of inequality we rebuild homes and business, we will renew our promise as a land of equality and decency." Bush talks about the governments dream for the country that also sounds as if quoted from the biblical ideas that we hold to. Many other countries and organizations are living out the Christian ideals by pledging their support(See CNN).

People are finding open arms from their neighbors and anyone who they turn to since being rendered homeless and jobless from Katrina. They are being given free housing, free food, clothes, jobs, and probably most importantly friends. CNN has multiple articles on the kindness and generosity that people are showing to one another. These people are truly showing us our nation as "One nation under God".

The government is helping victims by setting up funds that could be up to $5,000 per person to spend on job training and temporary housing. They are also beginning what is dubbed the largest building project in the US history. The government seems to be holding to the verse "Treat other as you would have them treat you."
Even though the national day of prayer for Katrina victims has passed the best thing that we as Americans can do now is to pray.

2005-09-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

What is hurricane Katrina doing to the US?

In the wake of hurricane Katrina there are many things in question, many things but not the love and the care that Americans are showing toward the victims of the national disaster. Americans have come together in a way that will go down in the history books, by giving more than any other time in history to help the victims as shown in BBC's news article. Americans have thus far donated a record $587,000,000 to relief organizations, and business's are opening their doors across the country to help the unemployed to get jobs. A day of prayer was held for the Katrina victims to the criticism of many. Comments over the effectiveness of it are coming in from every corner of the US. The general idea of it was said best by Rev. Fuzz :"We need a prayer that's walking and not just talking". Many share this idea but, the power of prayer is still unrivaled.

It's not all roses though in the wake of Katrina. The government is losing the faith that the people once had in it and the racial gap is widening in the wake of destruction.
"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Pres. Bush said in a new report. In an article from Cnet the FCC states its plans to investigate the governments communication over the crises. In response to this senators are asking for an additional $5 billion dollars to strengthen communications networks see News. Com . To test the government further is hurricane Ophelia ready to strike as well.

This is the true test of the Americans. How will we as a country overcome this. Or will we as a country let it overcome us.

2005-09-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Review of Jim Visini

In the Reuters article: Roberts may replace mentor as chief justice, the author Jim Visini does an excellent job of portraying the facts, on this ongoing and important issue. He starts by stating the circumstances around the story giving the reader a basis to continue to build on. He gives a few quotes from the subject of his article and then goes on to state some interesting facts. These facts however seem to have the central focus of President Bush attempting to put Roberts into the office. But all in all, they are portrayed in a very non-bias manner, giving the reader the opportunity to interpret them in any way they want. Jim next goes into some historical facts that even from a nonbiased standpoint give off the idea that Roberts is an overly conservative possibility for the office, and mentions the concern of several liberal groups and the democratic party. This does however show very clearly the conflict of this article and how it will affect every citizen in the US. He pushes the conflict further by highlighting some of the past matters that Roberts has been involved in. By stating Roberts decisions on issues ranging from abortion to Guantanamo Bay he definitely asks the reader the question, "Is he the right man for the job."
Jim then takes the other side and argues that Roberts is the right man for the job definitely crystallizing the importance of the article by making the reader come to their own conclusion. He closes with an totally irrelevant but a fun fact stating the Roberts family net value at five million dollars.
In conclusion Jim Vicini did a good job of showing the conflict and making the reader decide for themselves, stating the impact this could have on every US citizen, and best of all he did it in the most objective point possible for a political article.