Colourful Life Of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Prior to 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan is an observing member of the Turkic Council.

It's going to cost you 50 dollars to get to Samarkand from Tashkent (a 300-kilometer drive) by taxi, which is like nothing if compared with Moscow prices. On the way there you'll come across piles of melons of all kinds which they sell along the roads, so if you happen to pass by, pull up to taste some.

Piles of melons of all kinds which they sell along the roads

The road runs through hills.

Click to read more »

Can You Do Evil To Get A Good Result?

Q - I watched a show called "The Confession", and it was about how a hit man comes to confession and unrepentantly confesses some of his sins.

One murder he confesses is about how he goes to a man's house and gives him a gun and says if he kills himself, he will let his family live. However, if he will not kill himself, the hit man will kill him and his family.

I know this situation is hypothetical, however I was curious about what Catholic Church would say is the correct path to choose for someone who knew suicide was gravely wrong. I was thinking that the man would not be held liable for killing himself because of freewill, is that correct? Thanks.

A - Thanks for the question. Lucky for us both, the Catholic Church gives us tools to answer questions like this. The principles that guide us in complex moral decisions are clear in this situation.

It boils down to this - we can never do something that is evil in order to get a good outcome. Another way of saying it is this - good ends do not justify evil means. In this case the good end would be saving the life of others, but the evil is taking your own life. We can play out the hypothetical situation below.

Here are the two options that the hit man gives the other man, and the moral reasoning why neither are options:

1. Kill yourself and I will not kill your family.
   --We cannot willfully kill ourselves in any situation. Our lives have an intrinsic value, but are not our own. They belong to God, who alone ought to decide the time of our death.
2. Don't kill yourself and I will kill you and your family.
   --Here we must understand that if the man chooses not to kill himself (a good decision), then the decision is not his to make if the hit man kills anyone because of that decision.

The moral reasoning of modern man is relativistic and utilitarian. Most modern people would say the Catholic Church is too strict in the principles and needs to try and do something in such situations, because lives are going to be lost. Yet, a Christian can never be the one who decide to kill an innocent person (even themselves), because we must answer for how we lived our lives, not the choices of others and life is not our own to take.

Modern moral thinking says that morality is relative to time, people, situations, etc. and that we must do what is best in that situation to bring us the most happiness via pleasure (with the least amount of pain). This kind of moral reasoning has no anchor, but blows on the wind of human whims. This is the thinking that has brought us abortion, genocide, cloning, etc.

A good intention, the situation surrounding the act, and the relationships that are part of the situation cannot make an evil act a good one. Our first priority is to God and his moral law. This law, at it's core, is to do good and avoid evil.

BTW - based on the way you describe the show, the priest would not be able to absolve the man from his sins, because he is unrepentant.

I hope this helps.

Federal Government Now Requires Free Contraception for All

As I predicted last week, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines today that REQUIRE insurance companies to cover birth control and sterilization. This is scary. There is no conscience clause (they say there is but it doesn't work unless you primarily serve those that believe as you do!), which means there is no opting out. They are also giving money to Planned Parenthood through the backdoor.
More:

(CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines in Washington Monday requiring health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 to cover several women's preventive services, including birth control and voluntary sterilization.

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the decision is a part of the Affordable Care Act's move to stop problems before they start.

"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," she said in a news release.

In July, the Institute of Medicine issued the results of a scientific review of women's health needs and provided recommendations on specific preventive measures to help them. Today HHS approved those recommendations.

Besides contraceptive use, the list includes free screenings for conditions such as gestational diabetes and the human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as breastfeeding support and counseling on sexually transmitted diseases. The full list is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Continue Reading.

Don't let this one fly under the radar. Call your elected Representatives and tell them you don't want this! Cardinal Dinardo has already spoken out, but we need to as well. Here is a snip of what he said:

The IOM proposal underscores a major deficiency in PPACA – it lacks a conscience clause to prevent the Act itself from being used to suppress the rights and freedoms of those who may have moral or religious objections to specific procedures. This omission is especially glaring in light of the fact that the Act does accommodate the religious beliefs of those who object to participation in government-run benefits programs altogether, those who wish to address illness solely by prayer, and those on Indian reservations who are committed to traditional tribal practices of healing.

As you may know, the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, actively campaigned for the outcome proposed in IOM’s report. The report’s authors note with apparent regret that mandating coverage for surgical abortions is beyond their purview because PPACA forbids such a mandate. Nevertheless, they now recommend that HHS mandate coverage for drugs that can cause abortions.

Last fall the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops presented a detailed case against such a nationwide mandate on several grounds. For example, there are solid reasons to doubt IOM’s claims that expanded contraceptive programs reduce abortions, or that prescription contraceptives enhance the health of women (www.usccb.org/ogc/preventive.pdf). But in this letter I wish to focus on the threat posed by such a mandate to rights of conscience and religious freedom that Congress has protected in the past.
CONTINUE READING

Don't let this happen without working against this plan! If you doubt that it is a bad idea, then check out my previous post which included the following list:
Top 10 Reasons Free Contraception For All is a Terrible Idea.

The Church is Full of Hypocrites!!!

I am guessing most Catholics have heard someone who doesn't go to church tell them one of the reasons they don't darken the doorway of churches anymore is because they are "full of hypocrites".  Is it really?

Well, yes and no.

First things first, we need to define our term. What is a hypocrite?
There are two definitions in the dictionary:

1. a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2. a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

Do Catholics fall into either of these definitions? Sometimes we do. Anytime you sin or fail to live up the the standards that are set before us by Christ and the Church, then it could be said we are hypocrites.

But, what most people mean when they call someone a hypocrite is that the person is two-faced and does not even try to act in accord with the standards of their faith. So, in this respect many Catholics are not hypocrites.

Regardless of the semantics, I think some motherly wisdom is the best way to get to the heart of the matter.

My mom was a public high school teacher for decades. She frequently had her students throw the hypocrite charge at her as a reason they didn't care to engage Christianity. My mother simply replied with something similar to this (she also used it on me when I made the same accusation of hypocrisy when I was rebelling):

"You are correct, the Church is full of hypocrites. Come join us."

Motherly wisdom for the modern man.

Fr. Barron on Relationships and Marriage

Open Minds

"Don't you have an open mind about everything?" I guess I really don't have an open mind if it has to be open to everything and to tell you the truth, I think that is a very good thing.

An open mind can be a dangerous thing to waste because:

• Do you really want an open mind about genocide?
• Do you really want an open mind about rape?
• Do you really want an open mind about terrorism?
• Do you really want an open mind about evil?

I think that problem lies in the fact that many who style themselves as open-minded people aren't very "open-minded" about those who disagree with them. They want everyone to think as they do...of course it ends up looking pretty close-minded when quickly examined.

I think GK Chesterton said it best:

Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.

Our Anti-Child Culture

I previously wrote about the anti-child movement, but most of the movement, as I knew it at the time, was fringe groups that had a small sphere of influence. The groups included radical environmentalists who believe humans need to be eradicated and those that want to have a lot of fun and think kids are a distraction.

But, I was wrong, because the trend isn't just fringe groups. A recent article shows how mainstream the movement is becoming and it is a very disturbing trend. Here is a snip:

"Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants (ok, anywhere, really, but I don’t want any death threats)," writes Charlotte Savino on Travel and Leisure's blog. She lists a slew of a popular destination restaurants with kid-free areas and policies for travelers looking for quiet vacation dining.

Traveling is one thing, but what about in kids' own hometowns? Should kids been banned from local movie theaters, like they were at a recent adults-only Harry Potter screening? In Texas, one cinema chain has even flipped the model, banning kids under six altogether, except on specified "baby days".

Even running errands with toddlers may be changing. This summer Whole Foods stores in Missouri are offering child-free shopping hours (kids are allowed inside but childcare service is available for parents who want to shop kid-free.) Meanwhile in Florida, a controversy brews over whether kids can be banned from a condominium's outdoor area. That's right, some people don't even want kids outdoors.

I echo the article's author when she asks, "When did kids become the equivalent of second-hand smoke?"

What a tragedy, our future interfering with our present pleasures. Another example of the me-first, pleasure-seeking, damn-you-if-you-get-in-my-way attitude that has filled our culture. We are a spoiled culture of people that has forgotten the value of humanity. Where does it come from? It comes from a God-less world view that tells us the ultimate purpose of life is to eliminate pain and maximize pleasure as much as possible, because pleasure is the greatest of all goods.

The sad thing is that if pleasure is the greatest thing there is in life, there is no hope. Without hope in the future our culture has no future.

This is why Catholics must offer the alternative world view that the purpose of life is much more grand and that we are all made for something much better.

We must bring the antidote to our culture which is killing itself and everyone who lives by it's laws of pleasure.

Facebook + Bathing Suits = Bad Idea

Something I never really wanted to post about, but feel I have to, because I don't think that young women quite understand the problem.

Yesterday when I logged onto Facebook, I had several pictures of college co-eds in bathing suits, who are friends on Facebook, come up on my feed. In response, I posted the following on Facebook as my status:

A note to young women on Facebook, from a guy who works with young men struggling with pornography...you might look good in your bathing suit, but if you were able to see yourself through 20 year-old male eyes, which are struggling to see you as a human and not an object, you would never post that pic. Just a thought.

But, that isn't enough to describe what is going on. So, here is the science behind it all:

Researchers used brain scans to show that when straight men looked at pictures of women in bikinis, areas of the brain that normally light up in anticipation of using tools, like spanners and screwdrivers, were activated.

Scans of some of the men found that a part of the brain associated with empathy for other people's emotions and wishes shut down after looking at the pictures.

Susan Fiske, a psychologist at Princeton University in New Jersey, said the changes in brain activity suggest sexy images can shift the way men perceive women, turning them from people to interact with, to objects to act upon.

I believe that most young women who post pics of themselves in bathing suits aren't looking to be objectified, but it is happening to them nonetheless. I hope this shows once again why modesty is a necessary virtue in our society today and it is an act of charity to your brothers-in-Christ to avoid immodest behavior, including posting pictures of yourself that are not modest.

A note for men - you are not off the hook for lusting after women because a woman dresses immodestly. There is no excuse for using a woman, regardless of how she might present herself. Your lust is your problem, not her problem. Her problem is immodesty.

I should add a note for the women - you would never have put on the bikini in the first place if you ever had 30 seconds behind those 20 year-old male eyes I describe above.

UPDATE: I forgot to post the history behind the bikini - I summarize it like this:
The modern bikini came from a Frenchman running a lingerie boutique. When he introduced it, he couldn't find a model to wear it so he hired a stripper. It was a hit with the guys and caught on.

Related posts:
**Top 10 Reasons Men Should Practice Custody of the Eyes
**Top 10 Reasons Women Should Dress Modestly

Is Harry Potter Evil?

Q - Because the final Harry Potter movie is coming out, I thought I might ask what the Church teaches about the books and movies. Is Harry Potter considered evil or more accurately, should I be careful with the books and movies?

A - Thanks for the timely question. I am guessing this will create a lively discussion. I read the books just a few months ago to see if they were appropriate for my 11 year-old daughter to read. We ended up reading the entire series and talking about them and had some great discussions as a result. I am also working my way through the movies and have watched the first four.

I, unlike some other Catholics, do not believe they are dangerous to read for the average adolescent who is well-formed in their faith and is emotionally secure, for their age - as long as a parent reads and discusses the moral pitfalls with them.

There are some Catholics who believe the series is "evil". It is criticized in this manner because the books contain magic done by witches and wizards. I can see this side of the argument, but do not share such a harsh view. While magic plays a part, as long as the boundaries between the magic described in the books and real occult magic is discussed with a child, it could help a young person understand the real problems with seeking power in magic, not drive them toward it.

What I can say is the Church has no official position on these books or movies. So, we must use our best judgment as to whether or not someone should read them. Is it possible that someone could be spiritually harmful, because of magic, for some who are immature in their faith? I suppose it is possible, but I believe it is unlikely. To be quite honest I have bigger reservations over the moral decision-making of the characters than I do about the use of magic. Also, there are much more dangerous things in our culture including parts of the internet, certain video games, etc.

So, since there is no side the Catholic Church takes on this issue, I might provide some pros and cons (as I see them) and you can make the decision yourself. BTW - I HIGHLY recommend that parents read and discuss the books with their children and only allow them to read them if they are well-formed in their faith, act in a moral manner, and are emotionally secure, for their age.

CONS of Harry Potter:

• The protagonists of the series (esp. Harry) make poor moral decisions. There is regular rule breaking and the moral decision making sometimes equals "the ends justify the means".
• The consequences of breaking the rules and doing bad things is not always clear.
• The only ones who really enforce the rules are the characters who are either evil or questionable. The "good" authority figures generally sweep away punishment or minimize it.
• The use of magic might encourage some young children who do not understand the occult to think about magic or seek it out too much.

PROS of Harry Potter:

• Several virtues are highlighted repeatedly, including courage, loyalty, and love.
• Harry overcomes many terrible events in his life to do something very good in the end.
• Prejudiced and oppressive leaders are shown to be what they are.
• Voldemort, the antagonist, is clearly evil and corrupt.
• The magic used is not occult, but more utilitarian.
• Some compare the story to the life of every Christian and the moral drama of life that goes with it.
• The dangers of fame and the drawbacks of power/fame are clear.

Clearly there is no clear-cut way to decide what any individual Catholic or Catholic family should do. The best thing to do is be prudent and follow your conscience.

I hope this helps.

Priest in Mexico Fined For Speaking Against Same Sex Marriage

Coming to a country near you soon.

MEXICO CITY - The spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese in Mexico says an electoral court ruling that he illegally propagandized against a political party that promotes gay marriage is "totally false."

Father Hugo Valdemar says in a statement that he did not consider it propaganda when he told a newspaper in August that no Roman Catholic in good conscience would vote for the party. He says claims that he repeatedly proselytized against Mexico City's ruling Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, are not true.

Valdemar was responding Sunday to Friday's decision by Mexico's highest electoral court ordering electoral officials to have the Interior Ministry fine Valdemar and the Archdiocese.

Valdemar's lawyer Armando Martinez says he is already in an appeals process.

Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in March 2010.
Continue Reading.

Additional Links:
*Same Sex Marriage: Why Not?
*Two Reasons Same-Sex Marriage Is Gaining Ground

The Church and New Media

The Church and New Media is an important book coming out in August 2011, edited by Brandon Vogt. The book has 12 contributors that highlight different ways in which the Church uses new media to bring the Good News to the world. It has a forward by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, of Boston, and an afterword by Archbishop Dolan, of New York. Some of the contributors include Mark Shea, Fr. Robert Barron, and Thomas Peters. I am humbled to also be one of the 12.

A new website and video have been launched to announce the book.

Did I mention you can also follow on Twitter and Facebook?
You better be able to with a book like this.

Another great thing about this book - 100% of the royalties from The Church and New Media will help establish computer labs throughout schools in the Archdiocese of Mombasa, Kenya.

If you need one more reason to read the book. 5 of the 12 contributors are Aggies:

• Jen Fulwiler
• Taylor Marshall
• Shawn Carney
• Matt Warner
• Me

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD - An Aggie Nun makes her final vows.
Sr. Rose Marie, class of 2007, is a Passionist nun in Kentucky. You can read about her first vows here. You can also see a video of Sr. Rose Marie here.
Tip o' the hat to The Anchoress for sending me the link.


THE BAD - Mother to Have Dead Son's Baby
A woman from Austin, will have a surrogate mother impregnated with her son's sperm, and keep her grandchild as her own. Medical ethics mean nothing anymore and moral relativism now rules the roost.


THE UGLY - Lottery for In-Vitro Fertilization - Win a Baby!
This is disgusting. Life isn't just a commodity to be traded, now it is a prize to be won. Don't forget that IVF is immoral, in all cases, but that doesn't seem to matter when there is money to be made.
Tip o' the hat to CMR for the links.

Competitive Eating and Gluttony

Q - Thanks for all the hard work you put into this blog; it is a daily must-read for me. I managed to catch a part of the annual hot dog eating contest today, and I was wondering: Is competitive eating a sin? The sin of gluttony comes to mind, but I also am thinking about wasting food that could go to others who need it. Of course, I can be guilty of over-eating at times, but it is certainly not on this scale or in the public eye (scandal?). I would be interested to know what you think. Thanks again.

A - Thanks for the question and for the compliments. We are always grateful for those that read our blog and are very happy that you find it helpful.

Gluttony is a sin when our passions become disordered, esp. in regards to food. The opposing virtue is temperance, which moderates the use of food and other things. Gluttony happens when a person eats an excessive amount, food that is not healthy at all and might endanger our health over a period of time.

Unlike a lot of other sins, this one is more difficult to reign in because the body needs to be nourished. It is clear that in our modern culture we have an obsession with food. Obesity is an epidemic and overeating is the norm. Billions are spent on fad diets and pills and the Food Network is one of the most popular cable channels.

But, that doesn't answer your question - what about competitive eating, which is now treated as a 'sport' and featured on ESPN. Yet, it is not without critics. The American Medical Association has endorsed a resolution that recognized "competitive speed eating as an unhealthy eating practice with potential adverse consequences." One doctor called it a form of binge eating that could result in terrible problems including a ruptured stomach.

The competitions end with many (if not most) of the competitors throwing up the food they engorged themselves on.

This sounds like a clear case of gluttony to me. It also seems that the sin of pride and greed might play a part, because the winners of such contests now become celebrities that can make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a day. But, that may or may not be the case depending on a person's motivation.

As to the wasting of food that others could use, I would be less stringent. It seems we are too quick to say that something could be "given to the poor", but not all good things in life that are non-essential should be given to the poor. Now, that isn't to say we don't have an obligation to help the poor, esp. those that can't help themselves, but not every luxury or excess is sinful.

Pray for temperance - of which the Catechism says:

1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart." Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called "moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world."

To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence).

I hope this helps.

Want To Change the World? Maybe Just Yourself?

Well, change starts with the first step forward and continues as you progress toward your goal. There are three great goals of the Christian life:

• Give God glory
• Grow in holiness
• Go to Heaven

If we want to achieve these three goals we have to make choices, in the present, that will help us reach our future destination. More than anything, we must have faith, hope, and love. Because these are goals that drive the Saints. These positive motivations will give us reasons to make the right choice.

But, making the right decisions isn't easy sometimes. This is where habit and character come in. We must ask God for help in making changes, because changing our bad habits into good ones is never easy. Yet, this is where virtue is formed and a virtuous person (a person of good habits) is a person with character.

Make the right choice today. Take that step forward.
With that in mind, I ask you to take some time to read the following thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI:

I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the twenty-first century. What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.

Perhaps some of you have never thought about this before. Perhaps some of you think being a saint is not for you. Let me explain what I mean. When we are young, we can usually think of people that we look up to, people we admire, people we want to be like. It could be someone we meet in our daily lives that we hold in great esteem. Or it could be someone famous. We live in a celebrity culture, and young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world of sport or entertainment. My question for you is this: what are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?

When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple – true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.

Not only does God love us with a depth and an intensity that we can scarcely begin to comprehend, but he invites us to respond to that love. You all know what it is like when you meet someone interesting and attractive, and you want to be that person’s friend. You always hope they will find you interesting and attractive, and want to be your friend. God wants your friendship. And once you enter into friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change. As you come to know him better, you find you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage, and you want to avoid falling into that trap yourselves. You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and you are eager to do something to help them. You want to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry, you want to comfort the sorrowful, you want to be kind and generous. And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints.

Fr. Barron - A Nation Under God

What Should Benedict Tweet?

In honor of Pope Benedict's first tweet, I am holding a Papal Tweeting Contest. The winner gets the prize of winning the contest.

The rules are simple. The person who gives us the best Papal tweet wins. Here is video of Benedict tweeting:

Two Reasons Same-Sex Marriage Is Gaining Ground

Catholics have not done a good (or even adequate) job of addressing the attacks on marriage. These attacks continue to grow stronger and without an understanding of how to defend marriage and the reasons behind the break-down of marriage, we will continue to see our culture slide into the anti-marriage mentality. Before I get into the reasons why same-sex marriage is gaining ground we need to explore some of the fundamental reasons why same-sex "marriages" are not good for those in them or society.

WHAT MARRIAGE IS.
Marriage is the basic cultural building block of society. One man, one woman, and their children unite as a family - every bit of evidence shows that families thrive in monogamous and stable homes with two biological parents of opposite sexes who remain married. This means that there is less poverty, crime, strife, etc. in homes where marriages do well. This is because the mother and father of children cannot be replaced. Two fathers or two mothers cannot provide what one mother and one father can. The role of the father can't be replaced by a woman and the role of the mother can't be replaced by a man. Studies back up this claim. Thus, same-sex couples can never provide all that children need to thrive. When families suffer the rest of our culture suffers.

Furthermore, same-sex relationships are not the same as male-female ones. While a same-sex couple might have strong affectionate feelings for one another, nature shows us they cannot bond as a married couple can. They cannot procreate and their bodies are not made to compliment one another. Think of this - a male or female by themselves is incapable of creating human life. They need the other. Thus, our bodies are incomplete without the opposite sex.

NOT ABOUT LOVE.
True love is to choose what is best for the other regardless of the cost to myself. This means same-sex relationships can never have loving sexual relationships. This is because the true act of sex is about giving yourself away, but in same-sex relationships you can't do this because the body isn't made to be given to someone of the same sex. A married couple can say, with their bodies, I want to create life and bond with you. I want to be one with you. This is impossible with same-sex couples, because while the body might still be saying this, the act itself is ordered toward selfish pleasure - not creating life or bonding the couple as one flesh.

NOT ABOUT EQUALITY.
Many people say that same-sex couples "deserve" the "right" to marry and that those that oppose them are merely bigots who want stamp out the rights of others. This isn't the case. The Catholic Church consistently teaches the respect of others, regardless of sexual orientation. It also teaches us to love and serve all. But, we must also work for truth and the common good. This means while we fight against same-sex marriage, we do not fight against individuals.

That being said, marriage laws are by definition discriminatory. They discriminate FOR families (not against non-married persons) in order to build up what is good for society. Where do children thrive? In the traditional family. If we tear that down, then society will suffer. Thus, the government needs to help support this building up of what is good for society.

Thus, marriage is about more than two people who have good feelings for one another. It is about the good of society - which is why the government got involved in it in the first place.

Some may argue that a same-sex couple should be able to do things such as share property rights, visit in the hospital, etc. But, all of these legal hurdles can already be overcome with current laws and a few documents.

So, what they are really looking for is social acceptance of their behavior. This is why the Catholic Church is enemy #1 for advocates of same-sex marriage. They cast us as homophobic, archaic, and mean-spirited. Which is not the truth.

Catholics need to fight such lies. But, to do so we need to know where it all comes from.
----
My thesis is that there are two main cultural culprits that have gotten us to where we are today:

1. Contraception
2. Pornography

REASON #1 - CONTRACEPTION - THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE:

Contraception has caused a number of cultural issues, not the least of is the fundamental re-orienting of the purpose of sex for the majority of people. What is the purpose of sex to modern man? Pleasure. This contraceptive mentality has changed us as a people. Sex is for pleasure however we can get it and is what we wish it to be. Sex is not for making babies or for bringing two spouses together. It is purely a selfish act of fulfilling a 'need', not a giving of self to another.

Contraception makes us turn inward, rather than outward - it perpetuates this selfishness on our part. It also sees marriage as an optional social construct (an attitude which harms women and children most of all)

This mentality is tearing apart our culture. I have seen it time and time again. It happens when sex between two people becomes about me rather than you. Thus the fruits of contraception include:

• Divorce rate doubled between 1965-1975 from 25% to 50%
• One demographer has shown that access to the pill paralleled the increase to the divorce rate
• 41% of births are to unwed mothers in 2008 (72% of black babies)
• 41% of pregnancies end in abortion in New York City
• 50% of marriages end in divorce.

Now pick one of these that is good for our culture.

When sex isn't about babies or bonding, then it becomes selfish. Once this happens, the family breaks down. Once the family breaks down, society breaks down.

REASON #2 - PORNOGRAPHY - THE DEATH OF MARRIAGE:

If contraception weakened marriage, pornography is killing it. More and more marriages are being ravaged by pornography and the trend will not slow down anytime soon. With 80% of young men and 33% of young women regularly using porn, more people will be unable to really love another person. Why? Take a look at this:

• Shown to devalue the other person and sex within marriage.
• Porn creates fantasies that real persons can't live up to.
• Porn sets up sexual habits or addictions that create "boredom" with only one other person.
• Porn creates distrust within marriage and is cheating on your spouse.
• Sexual satisfaction is decreased significantly.
• Porn strips sex of love and makes it about using others and objectifying them.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. It gets much worse when you really crack open the stats.

Suffice it to say, porn kills marriages. Thus, it is destroying our culture. But, at the root of porn is the contraceptive mentality that sex is about ME.

HOW CONTRACEPTION AND PORN LEAD TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE:

How does it all fit together? Well, it is quite simple.

1. Contraception strips sex of it's intended purpose - babies and bonding.
2. Pornography re-defines sex into pleasure alone.
3. Thus, once someone has bought into contraception and pornography, they won't be able to argue that same-sex relationships are wrong, because there is nothing left to argue about. Who are they to tell someone what they are doing is wrong? Who are they to say someone shouldn't have pleasure when having sex?

We have given away too much. The stakes are too high. So, what do we do?

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that there is THE Good News - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ CAN restores hearts.
Christ CAN forgive sin.
Christ CAN change our culture.

But, we have to do our part. This is the action plan.

• We have to pray for our culture and for all people.
• We can't see anyone as the "enemy".
• We have to educate ourselves.
• We have to speak up and fight back.
• We have to vote our morals and faith.
• We have to evangelize others so God can change their hearts.

This battle for our culture is not lost yet.

Further reading:
**What is Wrong With Porn?
**Contraception - What the Church Teaches.
**"Same Sex Marriage: Why Not?"
**The Debate about "Same-Sex Marriage"
**Special Report on Gay Marriage

The Vatican Enters Agreement To Advance Stem Cell Research

I love this partnership.

The United Nations - In Need of Deep Reform

Some of the recent activity out of the United Nations included:

• UN Report Calls for Comprehensive Sex Ed for Ten Year Olds as a way to Fight AIDS
• The UN has Commissioned A Study to Find Laws and Practices that Discriminate Against Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
• 5 UN Agencies Join to Promote Universal Abortion Rights.

How any of these achieves the goals of the UN as set out in the UN Charter is beyond me.
The Preamble reads:

PREAMBLE

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

• to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
• to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Pray for our leaders, our government, and the United Nations.

The Cult of Personality

A cult of personality is a very dangerous thing
It leads us to seek truth from men and not God and it isn't good for the person who is at the center of the cult either:

"We are given to the cult of personality; when things go badly we look to some messiah to save us. If by chance we think we have found one, it will not be long before we destroy him."
-Constantine Karamanlis

Fame can cause some to believe that the person who is famous has some special power. Yet, God is the one who gives and takes away all gifts.

Even in Catholic circles fame has it's drawbacks. When famous Catholics act badly, scandal erupts. This, of course, has many examples today. But, what we must all remember is the following:

• We all sin.
• We all need forgiveness and prayer.
• We stand in need of grace and our talents and gifts are not our own - but God's.
• The only two sinless persons are Jesus and Mary.
• No person is converted by another person's power - but by the Holy Spirit. So, regardless of how amazing a person's talents are, they are not, in and of themselves, the reason another might grow closer to Christ.

As GK Chesterton said:

"The present condition of fame is merely fashion."