NOT a Popular Blog

I note that the number of readers of my blog is nill. Well, I didn't promise to publish anything that makes sense or is interesting. I will still publish an occasional rant, and if only one other person finds it useful, that is enough for me.

Religion and Science (not Religion v. Science)

Have you ever had a discussion that seems to go in circles and goes no where, and you you seem to be taking past one-an-other? I have and tried to understand why so many discussions produce little more than noise movement of air. I believe the problem involves two basic ways to approach any question. Neither is inherently better or worse, but each should be used in a different contexts. I name these 1) a religious approach, and 2) and a scientific approach. Lately I have been confronted by or have participated in discussions involving science, involving religion, and involving both.

The religious approach is not involved solely with questions of diety, but is broader, involving one's basic assumptions that are inherently true. Everyone has such assumptions and are necessary as we can't evaluate anew everything we confront. In addition, there are qualities of right, the don't necessarily involve and logic. We must have some of these assumptions if we are to live a moral life. An aspect of the religious approach is identification of “Good” and “Evil”. Some things are without discussion are good, and some things are just plain evil. Among the many religious and proved assumptions that I consider valid in my life are,

• There is a God.
• Murder is Evil.
• Our role in life is to serve, to help and try to make things better for other people.
• One should love one's spouse above almost everything else.
• You can't love everyone, but you can at least be civil.
• Proactive or preemptory punishment or retaliation should be avoided.

The scientific approach involves questioning the validity of assumptions that are basic to an issue. Since we all are ignorant of most things, the only way we can learn is question and seek a better understanding of things around us by questioning our assumptions. All of the assumptions at the base of science and technology have been questioned at some time, and the result is the lifestyle that those in the first world lead. Scientific questions usually are “true” or “not true”, based upon the best knowledge we can find. A finding of “True” may not be the final answer, but may upon further investigation become “Mostly True”, or qualified by other assumptions. Newton's laws physics are “true” most of the time, but is unture under circumstances where relativity or quantum effects are important. Medicine would have gone nowhere is someone (probably an ancient Greek) questioned the assumption that sickness was a divine punishment. The approach involve a constant questioning and evaluation.

The problem is where an assumption that should be questioned scietifically is taken as inherent religious dogma. It isn't necessarily a theological question that can be taken religiously, as any subject can be approached in a religious manner. Some questions, because of our ignorance, sometimes have to be assumed without question, but they should be subject to change as we become informed.

My religious assumptions are few, but very broad. I have a problem in discussions when I am trying advance my thinking about in issue in a scientific way, and where the other person is approaching the same question religiously. The result is the religious side doesn't discuss but proselytizes his view. He will not willing retreat from his view, and when ask to respond to a question involving an unpleasant or inconsistent fact, will often skirt the issue, change the direction of discussion, or reply with a statement that doesn't make sense. He also sees a certain viewpoint as “evil”. From a religious standpoint, identification of something as evil is an efficient way to dispose of it without having to think much about it. If evil it can be assumed it is inherently untrue, and all issuing therefrom is untrue.

Below are examples of discussed issues where I have taken a more scientific approach.

1. The creation depicted in the bible is the actual way the earth was created.

Making this an unalterable inherent truth creates all sorts of questions, such as “If the Lord is truthful, why would he create an earth that overwhelmingly appears to be evolved?” Silly responses such as “Parts of other planets were used to assemble the earth.” or “The devil has changed things to lead us astray,” or “God created it this way to test us?” or some made-up Creation Science create many more basic questions and contradictions rather than providing any real solution.

2. Gold has an intrinsic value. There is no reason to make this as a religious assumption. It avoids many realities about the economy and history. Value is placed on anything by the culture and is in the minds of people. Many say this because of the long tradition in European cultures using gold as currency, but this has not been universal and it doesn't take much knowledge of the history of the gold standard to see that it is untrue. I will admit that under certain limited circumstances a gold standard might even be recommended. But a strict gold standard now in the United States would ruin the economy. Gold is not “God's metal.”

3. Mental illness is caused by possession by devils.

I don't need to say much about this. I have family members who have mental problems (and may have my own). I consider this assertion ridiculous. I have not seen any behavior so extreme that I can even come close to attributing it to possession. This belief is only useful as an excuse to exclude people (and the evil within them) and not deal with a person's problem.

4. Vaccination of children causes autism.

The original study that alleged this association has been shown to be a fraud and the data was made up. Attempts to reproduce its findings have failed. This belief is particularly destructive. I don't have the data, but based upon reading from both sides I don't think anyone can find a proven case of harm caused by a vaccine, but there have been babies (who are too young to be vaccinated) who have become sick by contact to an unvaccinated person. Similar beliefs in unproven medical treatments are equally silly, but maybe not as harmful. These include most of chiropractic medicine, homeopathy, and herbal and “nature” healing.

5. Global warming is (is not) caused by human activity. There are adherents on both side that are equally silly. Every time a glacier melts, a hurricane strikes, this season is warmer than last season, or Arctic ice decreases is not in it self a “proof” of global warming. My current view is that at least some of what we see is due to human activity. (I won't now go into all my reasons. As I read more data, my view has slid in one direction or the other.) I have a problem with the religious proselytizer of their view. An oft heard is, “GW theory is a fraud originating from government funded labs.” The government has always been a convenient devil, particularly for conspiracy theorists. It allows one to dismiss any GW conclusions and excuses a really hard look at the data. The real issue here is more political - what we ought to do now - which is a different issue altogether from the cause. The issue of true on not-trueness of GW has become a proxy for what is really an issue of political power, and money.

6. No bicycle should ever have a motor on it, only human power should be allowed.

This seems silly, but this is a reaction I have gotten from some people when they confront my electric-assist bicycle. My vehicle rides like a bicycle, but there is hub motor on the rear wheel that assists when pedaling. I tell these purists that they don't have to call it a bicycle, but something else. I also explain that some trips are too long or hilly to make a regular bicycle practical, and that it is much better than the only other choice - a car. I suppose that if you can't be a pure bicyclist, you must use a car. None of them have ever tried an electric assist bike, “I would rather be struck dead.” Now, that is a real statement of this evil.

7. Lastly, most political issues are mixed, and shouldn't be purely religious or scientific. This is what makes them so difficult. The constitution is not scripture, although it was a great advance of moral principles. I reject the premise that seems common now that the purpose of a political party is to “annihilate” (or rendered insignificant) the other side. The partisan fighting in our national and local governments lends to much power to the extremists, and this usually leads to bigger problems. In the middle east the policy of the major actors is to prevail through annihilation, whether it is Israel v. Palestine, Sunni v. Shia, Muslim Brotherhood v. Egyptian Army, ISIS v. everybody else, and on and on. That is why it is all such a mess, everyone is trying to kill some else (and the US has often makes it worse by taking sides). The glory of our constitution is that no side is allowed to take full power and prevail in this way. It is called a balance of powers, not only between the parts of government, but all power that can potentially reign unchecked. We should celebrate disagreement, and opposing views.

School Days

Saturday was a reunion for my high school class for everybody's 65^th birthday. I have never gone to a reunion. Mainly because I didn't have much of social life in high school, and there are few that would come to reunion who I would like to see. I didn't go to this one, but Lucy found out about it and went. When Lucy announced to one of the girls that she was married to James Sonntag, she replied, “O I'm sorry!”

There was one lady there who I remember well and thought at the time that she was a classy lady. She reminisced to Lucy that she knew me in the 5^th grade in Miss Peterson's class. Maybe this illustrates another reason I won't go to reunions, I really don't want to remember Miss Peterson.

Before I explain the reason, I need to say something about myself. I have always had a gift of music in my head, literally. It varies from time to time, but some strain of classical music in some degree always seems to be there, sometimes in a great symphonic glory, better that even a live performance. The classical composers, Beethoven and Brahms were my favorite, and Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture was a big thing. Often when I was working on something, I might talk to myself, but just as frequently, I would spontaneously begin singing what was in my head, Beethoven's 5^th, Handel's Messiah, or whatever was playing.

In school I really tried to be a good student, not only academically, but also I wanted to be well behaved and stay out of trouble. The problem was that in the midst of a nice creative project, my happiness might burst out in music. It was never very loud, but must have been loud enough to be noticeable. My other teachers before this didn't seem to take notice of this, but Miss Peterson took notice and was determined to correct it. A rule of strict silence was enforced. The punishment was to sit in the very back apart from the other students. I remember one day in particular. Everyone was working on some project, and there was a low buzz of conversation. Without really being aware of it, I started talking or singing to myself, when like an earthquake, or some unpredictable natural thunderous calamity, I hear the voice of Miss Peterson, “James, go to the back!” I drug my desk to the back.

I think I spent at least half that year in the back. I was so afraid of Miss Peterson, that one day in the back I tried to hold back having to pee, not wanting to ask to go to the bathroom. I failed and peed my pants. At the end of class, I stayed seated until everybody else left, so I don't think anyone found that out.

I didn't like Miss Peterson.

This blog is an experiment for me. I haven't decided upon a comment policy and provisionally opened up comments from anyone. Comments are monitored, but I currently have no notifications of comments.

The Sonntag Military Tradition

This year is the anniversary of famous Civil War battles (150 years) WWI battles (100 years) and WWII battles (70 years). It is also around the 50th anniversary of the Viet Nam war really getting hot. All of this talk of famous battles – The Battle Cry of Freedom – The War to End All Wars – The Greatest Generation – (What was the slogan for Viet Nam?). All the talk of war has led me to ponder the military tradition of my own family.

On my mothers side, ancestors were Englishmen and Danes who joined the Mormon Church and immigrated between the 1840s and the 1870s to gather to Zion. Like Mormons in general, they sat out the Civil War in the territory of Utah. There is no evidence of any participating in the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican War or any providing defense against the US Army during the Utah War. My grandfather was probably too old by the time WW1 broke out to be drafted (b. 1878).

Both of my father's parents were from separate parts in Germany, and met and married in Utah. In my grandmother's family from Barsinghausen near Hanover there are no stories of military service. The Kingdom of Hanover became a part of Prussia in 1868, and unlike most of the several German states, Prussia had universal conscription of all males. My great-grandfather Phillip Tadje (b. 1858) might have been eligible, but if he served it must not be considered significant enough to mention in family stories.

He and his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), and fired by its message became a leader and missionary in Germany. He was a “warrior” for the Church, which put him at odds with his Lutheran neighbors and German government. This was certainly a motivation for him and his family to emigrate to the United States via Ellis Island in New York sometime around 1900.

My grandfather's family was from Bernterode, in Eichsfeld, which from the early 1800s was part of Prussia. My great-grandfather, Nikolaus Sonntag, doesn’t ssem to have had a military career. He was a was a Waldmeister, and maybe his profession exempted him from conscription. He undoubtedly had skills that would have made him a good soldier, as his profession including hunting and he knew how to use a firearm. His nickname was Eulenklaus, because he was able to shoot owls (Eulen) in flight with a rifle.

With my grandfather, we have the first known (to me) history of military service. Prussia after unifying Germany under its rule in 1871 extended mandatory conscription throughout all of Germany. My grandfather, Richard Sonntag, was conscripted sometime around 1900. He was posted in the eastern frontier of Germany, which now after the shift in borders is in the middle of present day Poland. He was clearly unhappy there. On his first leave he went straight to Hamburg and bought passage on the SS Frederick der Grosse to New York City. The only hint his family in Bernterode had of this was a letter he sent them after he arrived in New York announcing that he was in America. I don’t think there is any way to describe the act other than as desertion, which if he were to return to Germany would subject him to arrest and punishment. He basically left behind all he had in Germany - forever.

I am eternally grateful that my grandfather was an army deserter. I don't think he made his decision lightly. His family in Germany was very close, very devoutly Catholic, and was closely identified with the homeland – Eichsfeld. The American Sonntag branch, which now numbers in the hundreds, owes him a lot of gratitude.

He didn't stay in New York City, but started an exodus that took him across the country, staying for a time in Chicago, and on to Salt Lake City, where he met a beautiful German girl, joined her church, and settled down to have a family of twelve. Of the twelve were eight sons, some of which served in various branches of the military during WWII. Of particular interest in this story, though, is my father, Lawrence Sonntag.

My mom and dad were married on September 1, 1941. Not a good time to start a family, as the Pearl Harbor attack came only 3 months later. My dad, anticipating the draft, left his secure employment at a family business and joined the civilian workforce in war production at Hill Field in Ogden. There he was tasked with rehabilitating aviation instruments, specifically, he rebuilt altimeters. The proscribed procedure was to take one apart over a tray to catch the cleaning solvent, use tools and brushes to clean the parts, put it back together, do a preliminary test that it functioned, and pass it on to be calibrated. The daily quota was three, presumably two before lunch and one after. My dad was very intelligent, and it occurred to him that all the altimeters were the same and the parts fully interchangeable, so he could dissemble more than one on the tray and reassemble without any regard that the parts end up on the instrument they started out on. Using this logic, he was able to do three at the same time, and nine for the day without a great increase work time.

He was pleased with this increase, until he was called into his supervisor's office. His supervisor ask him, “What are you trying to do, make trouble for the rest of us?” Apparently, the increase in his production would set a dangerous precedent and a new norm for the others. He realized that keeping his production at three was the only way he could keep his job and survive there. So he would do his three, all at the same time in the morning, and during the rest of the day would work in the metal working shop. Legacy of this extracurricular work is some tools still in the family - a couple of punches made by swedging armor-piercing bullet tips into steel bars, and a gyroscope (salvaged from a crash) displayed and mounted on a heavy brass stand.

At one point during this service he caught someone stealing. The thief threatened to turn my dad into the FBI. My dad responded, “Go ahead, I have already been turned in four times.” I ask my dad what he did to get turned in four times. He said it was because he had a German name and some people didn't like him. In one instance, he and another man started a mocking German polka with each other and were dancing around and singing a silly song. In imitation of Hitler my dad would take out his comb and hold it under his lip while he sang and danced. Someone who saw that turned him it. All I can say, if he passed four FBI investigations during war time, his loyalty as an American is absolute - researched, confirmed and certified by the FBI.

At some point he was transferred to Colorado Springs, CO, still a civilian. In the church congregation there was an Army recruiter. He tried very hard to get dad to enlist in the Army, promising him a Sargent commission behind the lines. Dad was not interested, but the recruiter persisted. It came to head when he finally told my dad something like, “Well we are drafting you and you will go in as a private, probably to the front lines. You really blew it, you should have enlisted.” At soon as he could my Dad went and enlisted in the Navy. The rule was that if one enlisted before a draft notice arrived in the mail, the enlistment would take priority.

Things were a little bit more complicated now, because my brother had been born in Colorado Springs. My dad was assigned to Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, where he began training as a radar technician. It turned out to a good assignment. My mom's sister, Fern, and her family lived in Millbrae. Uncle Ford Arnason worked for United Airlines at the airport. My mom moved in with the Arnason's. It was good that my dad was assigned with a well-behaving group, as he got leave almost every weekend and could see my mom and his son.

My mom didn't like dad's absence during the week, but was gratified that he was getting good exercise in his basic training. However, it turned out that my dad had volunteered for mail duty, so while everybody else was doing push-ups, my dad was sorting mail. It seems to me it was all pretty easy duty, considering that there was a war going on. He only went on a real Navy ship once, to repair some cold solder joints on some aircraft. That was the closest he ever got to sea duty. (He told people he was in the battle of Catalina Island.)

As his training was coming to completion, it appeared that all this would change. Preparation for the invasion of Japan was underway, and my dad would probably be right in the middle of that. His mother wrote him not to worry, that Bishop Koyle had prophesied that the war would soon end. Bishop Koyle was a Mormon bishop in Spanish Fork who had prophetic dreams and had a sizable following until he was excommunicated in 1948. He is mostly known for the Dream Mine above Salem, the location of which was pointed out to Koyle by an angel in 1894 as the location of a Nephite mine. To the Sonntag's and his mother's family, the Tadje's, Koyle held the status like that of a general authority of the Church. At least at this time, the family's trust in Koyle was justified, for shortly after that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bombs. My dad could see what was in the cards, and figured that the war would end and he would soon go home.

He was recommended for Officer's Candidate School, but he felt that would only delay his release from the Navy so he deliberately failed the entrance exam. Japan did surrender and my dad left the Navy as Seaman First Class. As a kid I used to play in his old uniform, and his navy hats were used by the family on boating trips. In high school and beyond, I used his slide rule issued to him by the navy.

In my own personal history, I was able to obtain draft deferments by attendance of the University of Utah and a church mission to Germany. At some point, the deferment system was abolished and a lottery system was used, based on birth date. I drew the number 194, which saved me from the draft for the immediate future, but if the Viet Nam War lasted long enough, I would probably be drafted. It finally came to the point where my draft call looked imminent - the newspaper announced that the Selective Service was sending out letters for a medical checkup to numbers that included mine. Thankfully, at nearly the same time Nixon announced a general withdrawal of troops from Viet Nam, and I never got a letter. Nixon is not my favorite president, but I personally have to give him credit for that withdrawal.

So there is the sum of military service in my direct line. Grandfather – a deserter, Father – no combat service, and myself – a draft avoider. In addition, to the military service of some of my dad's brothers during WW2, I have nephews that have served in the U. S. Marine Corp, so maybe there is some compensation in their service.

Please note that none of my posts can be considered "History". Almost nothing is verified, but comprises mostly my recollections on things I have heard or read. I don't make things up, but I can't foreclose that I might be delusional. You may note anything that you feel is wrong.

Two Beautiful Women

Today in a combined Priesthood/Relief Society Meeting, the teacher ask members of the class to volunteer and tell of something that they have retained all of their life that they got when they were young. The responses were good, but predicable. Answers included hard work from a family business, holding family counsels, discipline and direction. I had my own story, but I didn't volunteer – so I relate it here.

When I was growing up, it was my dad that would give me specific instructions on how to behave, “Clean your room.”, “Get a haircut”, “Tuck in your shirt.” and anything else that required direction and correction. My mother never did anything like that. She rarely spoke up, but had something more powerful. My mother carried an aura around her that illuminated and pacified where-ever she went. A cousin told me that the room would somehow get lighter when she walked in. She was rather quiet, but helpful, tolerant and kind to anyone around her. I treasure her unqualified acceptance of me, and even now after she has left us I still feel unconditionally loved when I think of her.

I did not obtain any of that quality, and certainly have not retained anything from my youth like that in my own personality. I am too opinionated and too grumpy.

However, I compensated by using her as a model for someone I would like to marry. Lucy is that one. In some ways Lucy is like my dad and frequently corrects attire mishaps after I dress, and she would not be characterized as quiet. But, she does have that same aura. When people come up to me in church, they don't want to talk to me, but want to know “Where is Lucy?” Of the conversations in church today, only one wasn't looking for Lucy.

Tomorrow (June 30) is our 30^th wedding anniversary. Why has she stuck to me all this time. I don't have good looks, have no money, have no sparkling personality, nor have anything much.

I love her very much – the reason I love her – I don't have a reason - I just love her. I think maybe why she has stuck with me all this time, in spite of all my deficiencies, is that she has the same reason– She just Loves ME. With Lucy, the next 30 can only be better.