Dale Miller

One of my responsibilities as a potential juror is to provide Perry County with the answers to a few questions. Most of them are obvious, but one seemed interesting. Am I of sound mind and good moral character? If I weren’t of sound mind, would I know it? I would presume that most crazy people don’t realize they’re crazy. And if I weren’t of good moral character, wouldn’t I be willing to lie about it?

I wonder if anyone ever answers “no”.

Arkansas started doing branded license plates a few years ago. They started with plates for the major university mascots, added game and fish, breast cancer research, K12 education, etc. I saw a new one a few days ago. It had a picture of the state capital and the words “In God We Trust”. It’s a well-known phrase. We’ve seen it on money for years. But have you ever really thought about it? If one posits that God is an omnipotent, omniscient being, then where does trust enter into the picture? God is going to do whatever she wants, and then tell you that was the plan all along. Furthermore, if you distrust God, what can you do about it? From whom could you seek redress if God abuses your trust?

Another thought — placing trust in someone implies that they have the ability to do the right thing or the wrong thing, but you feel reasonably confident they will do the right thing. It’s not a certainty. There’s a possibility that you’re mistaken. Is this really the sentiment we should be applying to a deity?

I suppose you could say that you trust that God has a divine plan and that it’s being followed, but that once again takes us back to the whole “omnipotent” thing. If there is, in fact, a plan, then of course it’s being followed and there’s nothing we can do about it either way.

I have too much time to think during my morning drives.

Upcoming topic: omniscience vs. free will. Discuss.

Earlier today I carried out the garbage and picked up yesterday’s mail. I expected the usual credit card offers, insurance offers, and other junk mail. What I didn’t expect was a summons for jury duty. Some people consider this the downside of being registered to vote. I consider it somewhat of a privilege. I realize that many people might rather be somewhere else, but the jury process is an important part of out legal system. I have served as a juror in Pulaski County, and in U.S. District court. This will be my first experience in Perry County. The bad (or possibly good) thing about it is that it’s in the opposite direction from UALR. Once I’m in Perryville in the morning, it’s unlikely that I will drive into Little Rock to work if I’m not needed. I don’t know how they handle letting jurors know whether they are needed on a particular day/week, but I expect I will find out when I show up in two weeks for the orientation. I hope they are as sophisticated as Pulaski County about it.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with interesting ways to spend my evenings. On Friday the 7th, I went to see the UALR Opera production of “Sleeping Beauty” at Wildwood. This past week included the UALR “Fringe Festival” (short student productions) on Wednesday night, and “If You Sing it They Will Come” at the Rep on Friday.

The only major thing on this week’s agenda is the Community Chorus concert on Thursday night. I think we’ll do a good job.

There are at least a few advantages to living in the middle of nowhere. One of these is the ability to vote easily. Here’s what my polling place looked like at about 11:15 this morning.

There were two voting machines, both occupied, and two people in line ahead of me.

From the time I left my car to the time I was back inside was about ten minutes.