An anonymous commenter known as "L" left a comment yesterday that I thought was worthy of its own post, as it covered many topics that begged to be addressed.
Her comments are in red italics.
I agree with college student about sex since the beginning of time and will one up that with "read up on human history." After all it was a long, long time ago that the Catholic Church itself was waffling on the sticky issue of "ensoulment" (for college student, this was the notion that a fetus did not have a soul until 40 days gestation for a male or 90 days for a female... because the church, like most folks at the time, did not see females as equal.)
L, thank you so much for this opportunity to publicly correct this very common error. The issue of "ensoulment" was a theological concept, a pondering put forward by theologians at the time. There was never a time when the Catholic Church condoned abortion. The Church, regardless of the "ensoulment" discussion, has always and everywhere taught that abortion is an inherent evil. Moral truth does not change.
Has there been sexism in the Church through the ages? Because her members are human, and sinners, yes. There have been sinners of every stripe in the Church, as much yesterday as today. To read what Pope John Paul had to say about sexism and the dignity of women in general, please read his Letter to Women. If you truly desire the Catholic response to this concern, it's worth your time.
Some Popes denounced any abortion regardless and some said it was okay as long as they did it before ensoulment.
Some popes "said it was okay"? When you make a statement like that, you really need to cite your evidence. The truth is that no pope ever -- at any time, in any era -- taught that abortion was okay.
There have always been drugs, teas, tinctures to induce abortions - even hundreds of years ago. It is WELL DOCUMENTED.
You are absolutely correct. Not only has abortion existed hundreds of years ago, but thousands of years ago. Catholicism has stood against abortion since Christ founded the Church over two thousand years ago; after all, abortion (and infanticide) was quite common in pagan Rome. No one on this blog, nor any Catholic I know, would dispute the fact that abortion has always existed. Murder, rape, theft, lying, cheating, and myriad other sins have also always existed. There is no new sin under the sun.
Ever since men have had the upper-hand over women, there has always been rape, incest, domination and subjugation throughout history. But here, in modern times we have a voice to say "NO MORE."
The wording here makes me think of the first part of this story. You are correct that sinful men have oppressed (and continue to oppress) women. Rape, domination, and subjugation are evil and unjust, and I thank God that we live in a nation where we do have a voice to fight that evil and assert our innate human dignity. If you "read up on human history" (to borrow your words), you will see that Western civilization has provided women the greatest freedom and dignity, as well as the loudest voice with which to oppose misogyny. In most cultures outside of Western civilization, women are still systematically and/or legally dominated, subjugated, dehumanized, raped and even murdered. I encourage you to investigate why Western civilization has been so good for women, while other civilizations have continued to oppress and misuse them.
What about suffrage? Thank you feminists. NOt Being the PROPERTY (not partner) of one's husband? Thank you feminists. Being able to breastfeed in public? Thank you feminists.
Oh, how I love the suffragists! Thank you, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Victoria Woodhull, Sarah Norton, and so many other strong, courageous women! The early feminists knew that the violence of abortion was a crime against both women and children and an affront to human dignity. Their stories are compelling and inspiring, and I join you in lauding these amazing women.
Now, "women as property" is a non-Christian concept, as the dignity, equality, and partnership of spouses is made clear from the beginning:
1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be alone." The woman, "flesh of his flesh," i.e., his counterpart, his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a "helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom comes our help.
1662 Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love. [Catechism of the Catholic Church]
Breastfeeding, in public or otherwise? You've come to the right place! God Himself designed breastfeeding, which is so beautiful that it's actually theological:
…[Breastfeeding] benefits the child and helps to create the closeness and maternal bonding so necessary for healthy child development. So human and natural is this bond that the Psalms use the image of the infant at its mother’s breast as a picture of God’s care for man.... [Pope John Paul II's Address on Breastfeeding, 1995]
So, thanks be to God for breastfeeding! And thank you to the seven courageous and devout Catholic mothers who founded the La Leche League
in 1956 to support nursing moms when the rest of society had turned to bottle feeding. Even if modern feminism never existed, Catholics are all over breastfeeding.You may hate contraception and abortion and the using of sex as a cheap way to fill carnal and sinful desires (secular people don't like a lot of this lifestyle either) But stop with blaming feminism.
I hope you are correct that secular people don't like that lifestyle either. But what part of secular/liberal philosophy will lead to the cessation of that lifestyle? Can you show me in feminist literature where the "free love" mindset is being fought against or repudiated? Help me understand why modern feminist thought is not an accessory to the sexual mess we find ourselves in today.
Stay out of FoxNews type talking points.
That came seemingly out of the blue! But let's address it: Fox News talking points on what? Contraception? I have never heard a FoxNews reporter or commentator oppose contraception. I assume they use contraception at the same rate as the general public. In fact, I remember when Sean Hannity (a Catholic) fought on air with a priest, vehemently defending his own use of contraception!
Or perhaps you believe that Fox News has talking points in defense of Catholic moral teaching? It's quite the opposite. Bill O'Reilly (a Catholic) has bashed John Paul II and the Church's teachings on sex more times than I care to remember. I was so offended that I stopped watching Fox News for years because of it. Fox News is most definitely not a mouthpiece for the Catholic Church.
These are effects of the human condition, they don't exist because some women don't want to get pregnant and take a pill to keep from doing so.
You are absolutely right that sin is part of the human condition, a result of the Fall. And as we humans have the strong tendency to be drawn toward sin (virtue ain't easy!), any mindset or philosophy that facilitates or encourages sin is best avoided. There are better alternatives, which keep us happy and healthy. :)
L, in conclusion, I can't assume that your misrepresentation of the Catholic Church is due to bigotry or malice, so I will assume it's just that you didn't know. I like your passion, I think we do have points of agreement, and I do hope that you will continue to comment. However, if you are going to make your case against Catholicism, please check Catholic sources to make sure you first understand what Catholics believe. That way the debate is fair and honest, and readers can see both sides presented with integrity. I truly appreciate it.
“The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.”
G.K. Chesterton
Such clarity! Triple wow. Now, how do you pull quotes and research so quickly and write so amazingly clear?
ReplyDeleteAh, this kind of teaching can only come from one who is truly intregated, one who is truly following. Your mind is stunning.
I hope some college doesn't snatch you away from us anytime soon. Unless that's what you want.
But, we will have to be invited to your E-Lectures when the do.
Don't forget your first students in the Bubble when you get really, really famous.
I never knew that JPII wrote a letter about breastfeeding, or that the LLL was founded by Catholic women. Wow! Thanks for a great post, Leila!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post Leila! It is amazing! I'm with JoAnna, I had no idea LLL was founded by Catholic women or that Pope JPII addresses bfing. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post! I always learn something new when I read what you write.
ReplyDeleteLove the GK quote! He always manages to hit the nail on the head.
You misunderstand me - first off, I did apologize on the last round and corrected myself to say the church itself has always been against abortion.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I wasn't at all trying to condemn the Catholic church. I was ONLY trying to hammer home the notion that abortion has been around forever.
My point was never to slam the church. It was to say that feminists and liberals aren't the enemy. The FoxNews comment came out because I feel you are doggedly pursuing this notion when in fact, I think you are taking liberties and stereotyping those groups of people either out of total ignorance or for your own agenda.
Just like people slam the church out of total ignorance or their own agendas.
-L
L,
ReplyDeleteLike Leila mentioned, though, more evils than just abortion have been around forever-- murder, rape, abuse, incest, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying, etc.
The only one of these things that pro-choice advocates want to endorse, though, is abortion.
What if I said, "You know what... rape has been around forever. We should just accept that it's a part of history and our world. It happens, so that's just the way things are."
Those same "feminists" who think that murder can be called a "choice" would turn out in droves to scream about the horror of rape that I would be endorsing.
Just because something has always been around doesn't mean that it's ok. Some things are always evil/wrong, no matter the era.
Leila is not dismissing feminism-- she's knocking down those who use the term for purposes that are against the actual principles of the early feminists. I'm all for choice-- but once you make the choice to sleep with someone, there may be consequences. Your choice ended with the one to get under the sheets. If a baby is made, should anyone be surprised?
L, thanks for the response. I'm not sure where I misunderstood you?
ReplyDeleteWe know that abortion has been around forever (as Lisa just said so well).
Also, I have repeatedly criticized the mindset and philosophy of modern liberalism. I think the ideas and consequences are destructive to the dignity of the human person.
I have repeatedly made the distinction between people and their ideas. I've even done entire posts on that very thing:
http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/2010/11/youre-not-monster-and-nobody-called-you.html
and
http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/2011/01/answering-miss-gwen-distinction-between.html
Maybe you did not see those posts? Either way, I don't see where I have attacked people personally. I am addressing and "attacking" ideas, not people. Please let me know if I am missing something.
Thanks for your graciousness in correcting yourself about the abortion thing.
L, I want to revisit this one sentence:
ReplyDeleteI think you are taking liberties and stereotyping those groups of people either out of total ignorance or for your own agenda.
What is the "total ignorance" that I am guilty of? That is a pretty strong statement, and I think it's only fair that you provide some evidence or back-up. Where have I gotten my facts wrong?
What do you think my own "agenda" is? I can tell you that my agenda is to show the truth and beauty of Catholic teaching, and to bring people a step closer to an amazing, transcendent, loving, glorious God. That's my agenda. So yes, I am working for my own agenda, which happens to have nothing in it for me. But if you think I have gotten facts wrong, or misrepresented someone/something on my way to that agenda, then please, please, be specific. I will correct any errors.
Wow! That was great. I didn't know about JPII writing about breastfeeding either.
ReplyDeleteL, FWIW, I don't agree with everything Fox News says either. I only watch it because that's what my husband wants to watch. I know, I know...LOL. :-)
Stacy, I watch Fox News, MSNBC and CNN regularly. I like Fox News for news (they report on things that the liberal media ignores), but not for Catholic theology, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteLeila, let me rephrase - instead of saying THE CHURCH used to treat women shabbily, I will say that THE PAST treated women shabbily. (Though scholarly research shows some cultures, like the Vikings/Norse for example, treated their women as near-equals. But that's splitting hairs.)This is a statement truer to what I believe.And the JP letter was very nice, btw. I liked him as pope for the way he stuck to his faith, while still being progressive and present/future minded.My late Grandfather really loved him.
ReplyDeleteLisa - nowhere did I say I condone abortion. To be honest, I don't like it one bit...OMG, did a LIBERAL former contraceptive user just say that?? ;) But I am not talking about abortion here - or contraception. I am trying to say that we cannot simply blame feminism and liberals for the hooking up culture.
This is both my educated and anecdote-ridden opinion. I truly believe the problem goes deeper than that. From my perspective, I believe our culture is anti-family. Not because of liberals (who aren't all pro choice!) and feminists (who aren't all liberals!) But because we have this "every man is an island" mentality.
This is the sort of prevailing zeitgeist that says, "I'm not paying for your children!" Everyone is so busy toiling for their homes, their cars, and the simple food and utilities necessary for survival that crap TV and peers who know no better are "raising" most of the kids. And now people say "no maternity coverage," "no healthcare for kids," "I'm not paying taxes for education." No one 'owes' the village that raised them anything.
I think kids need more than sex ed. They need role model adults, they need boy/girl scouts, they need education, they need a society that values them as our future. Not a society that has no patience for them anywhere and doesn't want to contribute to their well-being. Watching healthy adults in loving and respectful relationships (which occur in religious and secular homes)will go the farthest in combating the ills of rampant meaningless sex and all it entails.
That is not a "liberal" or "conservative" mindset, btw. Selfish people are on both sides of politics.
-L
L, thanks for clarifying. I agree with much of what you say!
ReplyDeleteI agree that adults are the problem here. But I would say it this way: Watching adults in loving and respectful marriages will help combat the hook-up culture. Adults need to be adults, not arrested adolescents. We have a huge crisis in that regard. Even parents want to be "cool" and go out and party at bars and "swing" with other couples and tattoo and pierce themselves to oblivion. Huh?
Unlike you, I don't think that taxes and bigger government and more spending helps people behave better or become more virtuous. We've tried that for decades, and the family continues to decline, and the hook-up culture gets more prevalent. Proof is in the pudding.
Of course we all want a safety net and we all want to help those who truly are in a hard spot or who cannot help themselves. But we are way past that and into an entitlement mentality that actually enables many people to stay in a bad place in their lives, and which actually dehumanizes them. Surely you saw the welfare system become a way of life through the generations, rather than a hand up, right? You've got to ask why.
The only long-term answer to our moral crisis is virtue. Not forced "charity" (more taxes) by an ineffective government that can't seem to manage its own fiscal house, but true, voluntary giving (conservatives give a bigger percentage of their income to charity than liberals, by the way, because we don't see paying taxes as fulfilling our obligation to give). I don't see that we will be saved by more "programs", but I do see how human beings benefit from self-discipline and self-respect that comes from knowing one's inherent worth (not some hollow "you are the center of the universe, you are the greatest!" programs which only breed emptiness or narcissism).
Virtue, virtue, virtue, virtue, virtue. You can't get that from a government program. It has been proven time and again that throwing money at a problem, whether education, poverty, etc., doesn't work.
There is a reason why inner city kids do better in Catholic schools than in public schoolsin the same neighborhood, even though the Catholic schools spend much less per pupil. There is a reason. (Don't get me started on why "compassionate" liberals block voucher programs for these kids.)
Anyway, I am babbling now, and I have wandered off into the land of public policy and taxes, which is a huge topic all its own. I will say (as a political junkie and with a husband who works in public policy and government) that programs that "sound compassionate" don't always have a good effect. I'm much, much, much more interested in the results of something, rather than how nice it sounds or what the good intentions are.
But that's a whole other blog post, ha ha.
"I'm not paying taxes for education."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, over HALF of state revenues go to fund public education, so I think we already are "paying taxes for education" (on a massive scale). What many of us are saying is, we don't want to continually pay more in taxes for abysmal schools. Schools need to reform, but the liberal teachers' unions won't allow it. Did you see "Waiting for Superman"?
L, one last thought, to show where I think we have a disagreement:
ReplyDeleteYou believe (I think) that helping others and being a good member of the community means funding ever more and ever bigger government programs by raising taxes and increasing the size of the federal government.
I believe that helping other and being a good member of the community means personal donations to local charities and volunteering face to face with those who need help (along with paying a fair tax, as well).
I don't think the federal government does a very good job of helping people get a leg up or restoring their human dignity. In fact, I have no confidence or evidence that they do better work than the local communities or churches.
Of course, as I said, we all believe that there should be a government safety net for those in dire straits, and that there should be disaster relief, etc. But the entitlement culture has gotten way out of hand, and it does have the effect of not bringing us together, but separating us. If I don't have to help you anymore because you get a gov't check in your mailbox every month, then how are we being a community? I would say that is every man being an island. Not good.
L - I agree that our culture has become very anti-family in many ways, some obvious and some subtle. Like Leila though, I don't see more taxes as the issue. Both conservatives and liberals want to help, I believe, but we often disagree on what method truly helps. If we want to use education as an example, I think we need to take a close look at the structure, system and curriculum not simply throw more dollars at a system that is not producing educated children. At my public high school, $12,000 was being spent per student, per year. Guess how *little* I learned in high school? By the time I got to college, I was so deficient in math and science that my college sent me a letter saying I was not allowed to declare a math or science major unless I took extra, remedial courses to catch me up. I wasn't even allowed to SIGN UP for some intro math and science courses because of my background. Btw, I tested for *gifted* in math and science in 8th grade and here I was, by 12th grade and considered remedial. This was at a well-funded, suburban public school that is often ranked as one of the better public schools in our nation. What a waste of taxpayer dollars... 12k a year just for ME to slide backwards!
ReplyDeleteI've seen the inner workings and politics of public education.... the jockying for higher test score averages by trying to rearrange the school populations instead of improving the programs. I also see how burnt out the teachers are not because of salary (many make the same as RN's who save people's lives regularly - not a bad living) but because of the system.
Meanwhile, my sister is home schooling her kids, spending a thousand a year on them. They are leaps and bounds ahead academically.
How enlightening, Leila! Thanks for all the information :)
ReplyDeleteWoa - lol! I don't think we need massive government and entitlement programs across the board. See, this is where we have to stop stereotyping each other.
ReplyDeleteI think primary education and health care should be a right, not a privilege. True. I believe maternity care should be covered by insurance - ALWAYS.
Where you see welfare, I see my widowed Catholic aunt with her five kids on public aid because her husband died of a freak brain aneurysm. She and her children were able to survive for a few years until she opened up her business and was able to put food on the table again. But her children remain on public aid for health care because the insurance premiums were too high. I have a good friend who manages a halfway house of sorts for wayward adolescent boys. She is their den mother, teaching them how to cook and clean and take care of themselves because their parents (to put it bluntly) suck. She is helping them become responsible citizens so they aren't loose on the streets or robbing your house or mine. So, I can't say all govt programs are bad. Though personal responsibility rates very highly on my list.
Also, in regards to school, tax money is used for equipment, bussing, lunches, academic and sports teams, after school clubs, etc.
What upsets me is the mentality that children are this "choice" we make instead of the future of our species. Like the venom I got on forums for "having more kids than I can afford" when I dared complain about health insurance costs. And this wasn't from feminists or liberals - it was the fiscal conservatives, libertarians (mostly men, but some women, too) who spat at me as if I was some 'welfare teen mom' who kept 'popping out kids for more government cheese.' That was the vision they kept conjuring.
To make a long ramble short, you can be liberally-minded and still have virtue. You can have tattoos and piercings and be a great parent with high moral values. The guy down the block has full sleeves of them & is the stay at home dad to four. He doesn't drink, do drugs or swing around. Nor do I and I have a few tattoos myself.
Maybe you can focus on the things we have in common and we can come together to help one another? You may never see certain things my way nor I yours, but there is some commonality that I wish we could explore without always resorting to feminists and liberals and contraception. If you took all three out of this world, you would still have a large number of jerks who hate "breeding" to contend with.
-L
L - I really appreciate hearing your perspective! This:
ReplyDelete"You can have tattoos and piercings and be a great parent with high moral values. The guy down the block has full sleeves of them & is the stay at home dad to four. He doesn't drink, do drugs or swing around. Nor do I and I have a few tattoos myself."
I couldn't agree more! :) Hec, some conservatives have full sleeves. I know a few! :)
In regards to school funding... I had to either bring a lunch or pay up (for junk food) and I was not involved in any clubs (couldn't... the bus left before then and I didn't have a car). I also had to pay for all equipment for any club and also equipment for say, science class etc. I don't know what state you live in, but in our state, the tax money does not go to those extra things except transportation.
I truly feel my school was over-funded and under-functioning. My sister went to a very successful, well-run school for the gifted (public school) where the teachers voluntarily took pay cuts just to work in a magnet program that actually focused on students' learning.
Excellant post Leila!! every point clearly stated! A friend of mine is a pharmacist. We were discussing the effects of the birth control pill on women. Back in the 1960's the hormone level in the pills were too high and women were getting blood clots. The high levels of hormones was to stop ovulation. The manufacturers lowered the hormone levels and what the birth control pill does is make the lining of the uterus inhospitable to implantation should an egg be fertilized. so often when a women is sexually active, on the pill and has a "heavy period" her body is basicaly "aborting" a baby :-(
ReplyDeletetheresa, great comment. Stay tuned for a post about the harms of the Pill.
ReplyDeleteAbout tattoos, I take back my blanket statement. Of course there are tattooed parents who are moral and wonderful. I admit that I do not like to see young parents at the mall, kids in stroller, and the parents have tattoos and piercings all over their bodies. I guess I am an old lady. I know of someone who allowed her 14-year-old daughter to get lip piercings, tattoos, etc., then got a ton of tattoos herself. I think that is not a good way to parent a 14-year-old girl, as like it or not, people do judge us by how we present ourselves. Anyway, there was an interesting article about Catholics and tattoos here, with a lively discussion to follow (in which I did not participate):
http://catholicphoenix.com/2010/09/24/tattoo-or-not-tattoo-tat-is-the-question—should-catholics-tattoo-their-bodies/
Bottom line, tattoos are not really something I get too worked up about (I will never do a post on them, for example), but I think we do need to think about dignity if we are tattooing every body part, then piercing them, and then raising children.
L, you said:
Where you see welfare, I see my widowed Catholic aunt with her five kids on public aid because her husband died of a freak brain aneurysm. She and her children were able to survive for a few years until she opened up her business and was able to put food on the table again.
A case like that absolutely falls under what I mentioned about helping those who need help... a safety net. I am all for helping those folks! I was talking about generational welfare, and that is a whole other subject.
So, yes, we do agree on a lot! That is true. I am not fond of the fiscally conservative libertarians myself. I am a Catholic first and foremost, not a libertarian (especially on moral issues). But I absolutely believe in fiscal responsibility, especially when spending other people's money (as the gov't does quite irresponsibly). My husband was an expert on K-12 spending in our state, and oh boy, is there a ton of reform needed. And did you see where California, which is beyond broke, just introduced a HALF BILLION DOLLAR public school building? Yes, you read that right. I promise you, it was not conservatives who authorized that:
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/10/morning-bell-half-billion-dollar-schools-cant-fix-american-education/
Regarding this:
there is some commonality that I wish we could explore without always resorting to feminists and liberals and contraception.
I wish we could too, truly, but we Catholics truly believe that we are in a spiritual battle, not against liberals or feminists, but against evil and sin. There is a Culture of Life fighting a Culture of Death, as our recent popes have said. The battle for the proper use of human sexuality (which is the very thing that transmits human life and human souls) really is the crux of everything. That is why we cannot stop trying to put sex back where God wanted it.... For as the family goes, so goes the society. And right now, the family, marriage, sexuality, babies, are all under a major attack.
I hope that makes sense. I may just be babbling now.... :)
Leila - it makes sense. Though I had sex before marriage to no ill effect, I see where you are coming from.I agree that sex should be held to a higher standard. Watching the Kardashians on TV makes me want to puke. Seeing how we treat celebrities like Paris Hilton and her ilk makes me want to triple-puke. And don't get me started on the "real" housewives of ANY county! It is all very "me-first" and hedonistic. And it is nearly inescapable for tweens & teens.
ReplyDeleteI think teens greatest desire is to emulate adulthood. Being grown up is cool. So what are we telling our children about "growing up"? Are we saying grown ups can drink and have sex and do whatever they want because they're grown ups? Or are we saying grown ups have a responsibility to take care of themselves and raise healthy productive children because they're grown ups?
When grown ups aren't around to raise the kids... they just think adults get to do all that "adult" stuff all day. So they mimic what they think is "grown up."
Sorry - I am rambling too. I want to say I do like a lot of you, it is too bad that we can't do business, as they say, because some of our principles get in the way. While I am not "all" liberal, I do believe homosexuality in of itself isn't a "sin," Sex before marriage isn't a sin, so long as both partners have respect for each other, masturabation is a-okay, and I believe contraception is okay as long as you are willing to have the baby if you get pregnant.(Though I cannot speak for anyone but myself on that issue!) If someone is unfit/cannot commit to having kids, I think it is good for them to get their tubes tied or a vasectomy.In all, I believe sex is a human instinct/drive that in many cases cannot be ignored or completely controlled by the gen pop.
Also, this is just an aside... when I was growing up, I dyed my hair crazy colors and wore punk rock clothes and pierced my nose. My cousin was a soccer star, total preppy and acted like a total goody two-shoes. My whole extended family had suspicions that I was the one getting "wild" and would warn my mother all the time. Guess what? I rarely drank (maybe one beer once in a while) I never did drugs in High School, I didn't lose my virginity until college. Guess who drank until she puked, slept with 3 people by the time she graduated and did enough acid in college to defecate in someone's kitchen sink at a crowded party? NOT ME!!!! But little miss perfect... so don't judge a book by her cover :)
-L
L - you said:
ReplyDelete"What upsets me is the mentality that children are this "choice" we make instead of the future of our species."
That is a huge issue to me as well! It's outrageous how the most basic things parents should expect from society have become a war to win, from maternity leave to the quality of 'family' TV and the lyrics of the music our kids hear everywhere they go.
Leila, you said
"The battle for the proper use of human sexuality (which is the very thing that transmits human life and human souls) really is the crux of everything. That is why we cannot stop trying to put sex back where God wanted it.... For as the family goes, so goes the society. And right now, the family, marriage, sexuality, babies, are all under a major attack."
To me, that says it ALL. You have a wonderful gift for seeing right to the heart of the matter and putting it into words so succinctly and eloquently. You kinda reminded me of Fr. Corapi with that last paragraph.
Your blog post was so beautifully researched and written, I am truly impressed. You obviously put a lot of work into this post. I couldn't find a bone of contention from my own faith perspective in any of your points. Truly, well done!
ReplyDeleteI can't find where to follow and I'd like to but without it being an email. May I follow but not subscribe?
ReplyDeleteL, I think we may have a lot in common after all! :) I think we definitely "can do business" on many fronts -- and maybe one day I can even convince you to embrace a few more of these crazy Catholic ideas! A girl can dream, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd, you are very right.... I know many "proper" looking and acting kids who are doing pretty ugly stuff on the side.
Everyone, thank you so much for your kind comments and great input/ideas! I read every one of them at least twice and I pinch myself at all the great people out there who are reading this blog! Wow, I am blown away.
Thanks, I think this post was very fruitful!
Leila, you just wow me! How you take care of your family and have time to do this blog just amazes me. I learn so much from you!!! If only you lived near me:) haha. It's probably a good thing bc I would bug the heck out of you!!
ReplyDeleteHugs and thank you always for your insight:)