Just a little something

"One of the oddest questions I get asked in interviews, and I get asked a lot of questions, is: Is faith important to your politics? It's like asking someone whether their health is important to them or their family. If you are someone 'of faith,' it is the focal point of belief in your life. There is no conceivable way that it wouldn't affect your politics."

- former Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair, in a speech detailing the role of faith in his political career. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

You can call me Hillrod

I just lost some respect for our exemplary candidates. I mean, really...really.

Take a look.

Dating - A Vocation?

Dating - a strange phenomenon today - has taken on a new meaning for some dedicated Christians. Through conversations with friends I have become aware of some strange motivations for dating. It's important to understand how the world of dating is exercised for individuals in college. The basics are that there is no "dating". You meet someone, go to lunch with them, have dinner with them, study together, realize you like each other and decide to "date", but really you jump into a relationship. All of  a sudden, instead of taking time to get to know this person through various interesting encounters, you spend all your time with them because they have become engrained into your daily schedule. Not that spending time with a significant other isn't important; however, you must remain aware of how we are called to answer a vocation to marriage. Why should Catholic's date, and what should be there motivation?

I want to share a story:

Today at lunch I was sitting with a good friend who shared that she was interested in getting this boy, let's call him James, to ask her out. She was seeking guidance from me and another male involved in the conversation. She expressed that the important "faith" aspect was missing from his qualities. Instead of saying, I want to be friends with him and encourage him to come with me to Church, the statement was more like: By dating I want to bring him the truth revealed through Jesus Christ. Now, this is not bad, it should always be our goal to bring Christ to people through our actions and words. However, as Catholics, we are called to experience dating as a preparation for marriage. If we are not willing to marry a non-catholic, then dating one isn't proper preparation. In my opinion, I feel that strong friendship and a good effort at sharing faith and your motivation for living a Catholic life is the more appropriate response to this situation.

I'm hoping that my friend prays over this decision and understands that yes, God had brought you into this persons life for a reason, but also realize the beauty of dating and learning about other people. Don't enter into a friendship or potential dating opportunity with the mindset of already changing a person. Your lack of appreciation for who they are and the choices they could prevent a solid friendship. Be open to differences and be aware that we are meant to struggle with faith and acceptance of God's will. 

The Wrong Direction

The Philadelphia Inquirer carried an editorial today that pointed out the frightening direction that "justice" is turning. The April 16th Supreme Court ruling re-opened the door to allow states to use lethal injection and ended the temporary national moratorium on the death penalty. This, in and of itself, is frightening. Lethal injection is not a perfected means of execution. In an NPR article from last week, we learned that

In Florida, no one has been executed since a lethal injection went wrong in 2006. Sterling Ivy, spokesman for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, says "the inmate did not pass away for 16 minutes after the execution had started."

But within hours of the Supreme Court's decision, several states had signed death warrants in order to get the process rolling again for those inmates on death row.

Before the sun went down on the Supreme Court ruling, officials in several states — including Mississippi, Oklahoma, Virginia and Georgia — took steps to move ahead on executions.

The okay to torture, the rush to execute inmates on death row, and now another case that could extend capital punishment to non-homicide crimes? It's downright scary. Where are we heading as a country? Just when I think that we're getting something right (most Americans' disapproval for the Iraq war or New Jersey's repeal of capital punishment), there's a whole bunch of evidence to the contrary.

The editorial from today's Philly Inquirer mentions the fact that several people are wrongly convicted and then executed in this country. They cite an organization called the Innocence Project, a non-profit law firm that works to get inmates freed from prison, based on DNA evidence. I had the privilege of knowing some folks from IP-NO, as it was called for short in New Orleans. The agency has done a tremendous job granting release for 12 innocent, wrongly-convicted individuals since its inception 7 years ago. The other organization in their building, the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center's A Fighting Chance program works on the flip side of the coin. They work to reduce capital punishment sentences to life imprisonment. They work with the guilty, but recognize that no matter how heinous the crime, that a life is worth saving. I also knew an employee at this program, and he had to read case files full of the gory details of these crimes. He was invited into the homes of the families, as he tried to piece together the case and work toward releasing these individuals from death row. Talk about commitment to all life. Neither of these agencies are faith-based, but they embrace the church's teaching on life and human dignity. And they are saving lives each day. This gives me just a bit of hope within this "justice" system that is embracing the culture of death.

peace and common humanity

In the opening sections of the Dalai Lama's How To See Yourself As You Really Are, he discusses the importance of the recognition of our common human desires, and their connection to the potential for world peace.

He begins:

"Happiness is a combination of inner peace, economic viability, and above all, world peace. To achieve such goals, I feel it is necessary to develop a sense of universal responsibility, a deep concern for all, irrespective of creed, color, sex, nationality, or ethnicity" (5-6).

I really love this idea of universal responsibility, because it necessitates treating the people around us like community members rather than the "public," which is a distinction made in Wendell Berry's Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community. Being a community means issues of like "justice" and "rights" ("I have a right to this cookie!") rarely come up, because, like in a family, sharing and being generous come naturally. As we discussed in class when Meg used the example of the stolen camera in New Orleans, it is also through conversation that this community is built, not through fighting or worrying about "just" distribution of goods. Justice becomes unnecessary when its advantages come naturally.

As we discussed after my presentation on just war, it is also conversation that begins to prevent the necessity of war. The Dalai Lama continues,

"If the twentieth century was the century of bloodshed, the twenty-first has to be the century of dialogue" (9).

He recognizes that it is through discussion that people work out their differences, acknowledging them without needing to reconcile them. We don't need to combine our religions in order to prevent problems, we simply need to listen. Also, by noting similarities, most importantly the recognition of the humanity of the other, we open the door to peace.

The Dalai Lama writes,

"Every being wants happiness and does not want suffering" (6).

He says our ignoring this fact is what allows for such suffering, because we forget that we are all human, and to thus treat each other as we want to be treated. The Dalai Lama writes, "we really are part of one big human family" (7). Thus, we must recognize our oneness to begin to converse about our similarities and differences, so that rather than falling into a trap, the pattern of war, we can instead live in peace, a hope of the Dalai Lama and of Jesus Himself.

Cost of Living

One of themes that I have noticed being mentioned a great deal on the news programs is the cost of living and the devastating effects it is having on those of lower means. I saw this reported on three different news programs in the past four days. I had trouble finding news articles that outlined the same points, but I took some notes on the programs I saw and will base the post on those notes. One of the things I will mention, gas prices, was taken from a ProJo article I read yesterday.

The Providence Journal reported yesterday that gas prices hit an all time high in Rhode Island with the average price being $3.48. This price is staggering, especially considering that I can remember a time when gas was under a dollar. With the price of gas at such a high level, it is only one contributor to an increasing problem of the sky-rocketing price of living. It is not a mistake that in America our cost of living is rising and our percentage of those categorized as living in poverty simultaneously increases. Gas prices are only one part of the picture. The price of education is increasing out of control. In order to attend Providence College this year we had to pay about $30,000 in tuition and roughly $1o,000 for room and board if we lived at school. These numbers are extraordinary. Even for an instate education at University of Rhode Island the tuition for last year was $7,000, only a fraction of our own tuition, but still a large amount of money for a person living in poverty. The problem of education is also exacerbated by the fact that lower education is vastly unequal based on neighborhood. The school systems in lower income neighborhoods are often inadequate and provide little opportunity for advancement, academic or otherwise. Clearly, the cost of private schools is out of the question for these families, so they have no choice accept to send their children to these inadequate schools.

Along with gas and education the cost of social services and programs is also on the rise. The costs of health-care, insurance, and social services are all either too expensive or too difficult to obtain for those without proper means. The heath-care crisis is one that we are all aware of, and the situation is an economic one. If health-care is going to be so pricey, wages need to increase, otherwise, families are going to continue to go on without health-care, living in fear of health problems. If a family is forced to choose between groceries for a week or health-care, they will choose the groceries, and we can't blame them for that.

The cost of housing is another crisis at the moment. The cost of renting an apartment is incredibly expensive, and the cost of buying one's own home is even more difficult. It is nearly impossible to rent or buy with only one income, making the situation of single parents that much more difficult. Of course the only apartments that are available for a reasonable cost are those in poor, rundown neighborhoods, causing the cycle of problems that I alluded to above. Once a family is forced into these neighborhoods their problems are doubled due to poor education, poor neighborhood efficacy, and lack of social resources and services.

The cycle of poverty is one that is almost impossible for many families to overcome. This cycle is exacerbated by the steadily rising costs of living which encompasses a variety of factors including gas price, social services, health-care, and cost of housing. This is not even including the steady inflation that causes the increase of prices of everything, including food, clothing, and the like. As inflation takes place, minimum wage does not make the proper adjustments to keep up with it. Therefore, everything costs more but people continue to make the same amount of money. America is one of the richest countries in the world, we need to learn how equalize this wealth and give all people the the same opportunities for success.

Hoax

After doing a little more research I found that the Yale Student's project was all a hoax. It was "creative fiction." The article brings into question whether or not we should believe that this was a hoax. Legitimate concern, I think.

Senior Art Thesis at Yale

I was quite disturbed when I heard about the senior thesis project of a Yale undergrad. She artificially inseminated herself as frequently as possible and then induced miscarriages. The article I found most relevant was from the Yale Daily News.

Whether or not this senior wanted her project to shock people the way it has, she has raised questions that Americans didn't really face before. Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" Americans alike are upset about this situation. The fact that both sides are up in arms about this is significant to me. Life is life and creating it just to destroy it is absolutely horrendous.

I don't know what else to say other than the fact that I am disgusted by the whole situation. I pray that this situation will not be acknowledged and let go, but that the intrinsic problem that we are faced with here will be addressed.

The Gospel Call

“Fellow bishops I want to encourage you to welcome your immigrants to join your ranks,” Pope Benedict XVI reminded his fellow bishops that doing so would be heeding the call of the Gospel. But if American bishops aren’t speaking out on this matter and other gospel-related, political issues, how is the laity supposed to?

Sure, we know that the “American Magisterium” spurns abortion and same-sex marriage, but what about simple living? How simple is the Gospel’s simple, how poor in spirit is the Gospel’s poor in spirit? How forgiving are we supposed to be, what is that figure again?

In a lukewarm Catholic world, whose job is it to be radical? Is that a “smart” move for the Church? But wasn’t Christ radical

Immigration is only one of the questions many pastors, bishops, and priests leave for us to decide for ourselves. With language like, “This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human conscience that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power” in one of its most political declarations yet, Dignitatis Humanae, the Magisterium disappoints with vagueness and self-reliance.

America- founded by individualism-preaches the success of a self-made man. Catholicism preaches the importance of developed conscience, but where are the tools to develop such a conscience? Is the ballot the concretization of our conscience?

PC: Potentially Catholic

News stories of the Pope are permeating through the media this week. There have been many opportunites to reflect on his visit and the impact his words have made on the American public. Today the Pope met with leaders of Catholic Colleges and Universities from around the nation. He spoke with them on various issues related to Catholic education, emphasizing the continued pursuit of truth and the necessity to adjust our social selves to the example of Christ.

In the article from Catholic World News the Pope shares his opinion on the need for Catholic institutions to have a distinct identity that is reflected in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Instead of outwardly reinforncing the need to not resist the outlines of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Benedicts praises younger Catholic colleges for adopting these regulations more thoroughly and explains the need for Catholic institutions as vehicles to spread the truth as defined by the Magisterium.

Pope Benedict presents a very relevant point to Catholics at Providence College:

   

"To preserve their Catholic identity, academic leaders should ensure not only that their students receive orthodox instruction, but also that they are encouraged to set high standards for personal behavior. The Pontiff said:

This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution's life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual."

Does Providence College, an institution that prides itself on the Catholic and Dominican Identity truly live up to the Pope's message? I fear that many of our students and faculty are falling short of this message. Instead of promoting Christian living contradictory to the general public, Providence College only further endorses the sinful mistakes of our society. We don't have individuals leaving PC with steadfast faith and a desire to bring that faith to the world, we have borderline alcoholics who continue to feed the monster of consumerism which is destroying our society. This is a sweeping generalization, yes, but also true, in many respects, to many of the graduates of PC.

How do we rectify this problem? Why should Fr. Shanley be meeting with the Pope as the leader of a great Catholic institution when we are barely Catholic by name? PC has potential, this needs to be realized and made effective for the future of Catholic higher education.