Friday, January 27, 2012

Quick Takes: Things that entertain (and boggle the mind)








1) Stop everything you are doing. You have to read the following article. No, seriously, you do. You don't have to read it right now, but click it open and then keep it at the bottom of your screen, or minimize it, or whatever, until you have a quiet few moments later to read it all. Jen Fulwiler (yes, the hostess of Quick Takes and the most insightful atheist-turned-Catholic that I know) has really nailed the problem. What problem? The problem! The reason why we Catholics and the purveyors of human abortion cannot even speak the same language. It's as if we live in two different realities, and this is why:



Oh, all right, here's a sneak peek, from somewhere in the middle:

All my life, the message I had heard loud and clear was that sex was for pleasure and bonding, that its potential for creating life was purely tangential…. This mind-set became the foundation of my views on abortion…. I thought of unplanned pregnancies as akin to being struck by lightning while walking down the street—something totally unpredictable and undeserved that happened to people living normal lives. 
My pro-choice views (and I imagine those of many others) were motivated by loving concern: I just did not want women to have to suffer, to have to devalue themselves by dealing with unwanted pregnancies. Since it was an inherent part of my worldview that everyone except people with “hang-ups” eventually has sex, and that sex is, under normal circumstances, only about the relationship between the two people involved, I was lured into one of the oldest, biggest, most tempting lies in human history….
And… you'll just have to read the article to find out what that lie is. :)



2) I do love a great quote from a brilliant mind, to be read slowly:
We live in a culture where our marketers and entertainment media compulsively mislead us about the sustainability of youth; the indignity of old age; the avoidance of suffering; the denial of death; the nature of real beauty; the impermanence of every human love; the oppressiveness of children and family; the silliness of virtue; and the cynicism of religious faith. It’s a culture of fantasy, selfishness, sexual confusion and illness that we’ve brought upon ourselves. And we’ve done it by misusing the freedom that other — and greater — generations than our own worked for, bled for and bequeathed to our safe-keeping. 
-- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia from “A Thread for Weaving Joy” 
(Archbishop Chaput makes me swoon!)


3) And now, how 'bout a quote from a not-so-great mind? I have to reprint for you all one of the dumbest things ever said to me. It came during one of my myriad time-sucking facebook debates, from a young male atheist who thinks I'm stupid:

"I don't care if god is real... I care about whether there is evidence of his existence. If there is not, then it makes absolutely no difference if he's real or not." [emphasis mine]

Now, how can I argue with something like that?


4) The annual March for Life and the annual media blackout that accompanies it was actually pretty fun this year! If you read Bad Catholic's smackdown, you can't help but smile:


Also, I was originally going to link to the positively reedonkulous "coverage" of the March from CBS news, but they had so many negative comments about their bogus slide show (with ZERO shots of the hundreds of thousands of pro-life marchers, but numerous shots of the same eleven pro-"choice" folks) that they had to go in and add actual photos of the March itself!


When you look at the CBS slide show, note that the first six photos there now were not there a few hours earlier, nor was the last photo. And even though CBS was shamed into adding those seven photos of the pro-life marchers, the bias still jumps right out: The pro-life side and the pro-"choice" side each gets seven photos? A sea of young, vibrant marchers as far as the eye can see, from all over the nation, hundreds of thousands strong…. versus a handful of protesters that no one even noticed (save the liberal press)? Methinks they missed the story even on their second try!

It is so laughable, and very entertaining, but the big question still remains: Why would anyone trust the MSM these days?


5a) Planned Parenthood, keeping it classy, as usual! Check this out:


Ah, those crazy kids! What crude and degenerate thing will they think of next to corrupt our culture? 

(Be sure to read the comments! Some creative pro-lifers thought of their own ad slogans for PP's new campaign.)


5b) It's all over the news that "abortion is safer than giving birth", but of course that's another pro-"choice" obfuscation. Let's look at the facts and see through the spin:


Word to the wise: Those who make their living killing human beings do not always live by an honor code of truth-telling.


6) Okay, this is serious! I need you all to tell me if you know of any good, eligible Catholic young men who are looking for a bride. There just don't seem to be as many good men out there as there are young women who are looking for them! Please, email me (look under my picture) if you know of any decent, faithful, emotionally stable men between the ages of about 24 and 34. I've got women who want to meet them!


7) Still don't have much to update on my sister's condition, other than one amazing turn of events which has lifted a 10-ton weight off our shoulders: Her first diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer was wrong. I cannot begin to describe the emotions that come from believing your only sibling has four months to live, then having the imminent death sentence rescinded. She still has a long road to diagnosis and treatment, so please keep those prayers coming. She has been most grateful for them, as have I!



Thanks, Jen, for hosting!




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29 comments:

  1. Wow, what a turnaround for your sister! How could anyone have told her she had pancreatic cancer (one of the most hopeless cancers) without being certain and having the patient and his/her family go through emotional and mental distress needlessly? That being said, I'm glad her physician(s) were/was wrong. Pauline is still in my daily prayers. Thanks for the update.

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  2. I agree - Great news about your sister. I will pray for her & the rest of the family for peace whilst waiting for the diagnosis etc.
    LF

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  3. I am a fan of Archbishop Chaput, too, but the school closings and appeals have been absolutely heartbreaking and confusing for our area. Our monsignor is in the middle of an appeal for our successful school and our local high schools are also in trouble. It's so hard. Still, I do respect him.

    Prayers for your sister.

    And re: your blogging break ... very glad to have you back. You can't even conceive of the positive impact you have had on my life.

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  4. Yea! That is such good news about your sister! The power of prayer,perhaps? God can just take a situation and turn it around...

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  5. #7 - Wonderful news!! I hope and pray that she can get the correct diagnosis and necessary treatment ASAP!

    I love that article by Jen F. Probably my favorite of hers.

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  6. So wonderful about your sister! I'll continue to pray for you all! I hope she has answers before this but I'll add her to my labor prayer list.

    I know of an amazing young man looking for a bride! I believe he's 24, he went to seminary for a few years and decided that was not his calling. He is now the assistant youth minister at my parish. He's also gone back to school and wants to get into apologetics (which he will be amazing at).

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  7. So happy about your sister, continued prayers!
    As a previous poster already commented, Chaput is a wonderful speaker, now we get to see his leadership/management skills.

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  8. Girl from New York, exactly! It boggles the mind. It was the pathology report that came back, and the pathologist wrote that as his conclusion! UNREAL. Very life-altering.

    Sonja, how sad about the closings. I hope there is a good resolution. I can't imagine.

    Karen, let's get in touch!! :)

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  9. #10, YAY!!!!!

    Sonja! Are you the same one that had the blog about your quads??? It went private and I miss your sweet family!!

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  10. I mean, #7. Wow Kara, step away from the combox.

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  11. Kara, how funny that I thought #10 was right, ha ha!

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  12. I'm so glad to read the last one. Thanks for the quotes and for covering the MSM lack of coverage of the MfL.

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  13. #3 is D!!! It has to be! LOL

    So glad for your sister!

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  14. I really hate that blogger took away the comment box that I loved (without the "reply" which messed things up for me). Sigh!!!!! Blogger, bring the old option back!!

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  15. Leila
    The article by JF is well written. However, she doesn't address the fact that some people get pregnant by rape, not necessarily because they buy into contraceptive culture.

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  16. Sarah, you are right, she did not address that. The children conceived via rape is a very, very small number compared to vast majority the 54 million who have been killed for being "unwanted/inconvenient" after consensual sex.

    While her article did not address those few very tragic cases, there are articles and books which do address that. Basically, the child should not be punished for the sins of the father. The child is innocent. I think one of my more recent Quick Takes referred to folks who are products of rape (including one of our own blogger friends), and also moms who were raped and chose life for their children.

    It is a very sad situation (understatement), and rape is a heinous sin worthy of hell. But killing the child (also a victim) does nothing but add to the violence and tragedy.

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  17. Those young good Catholic men... always in short supply.

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  18. GREAT news about your sister...hooray!! And, my little brother is single. :) He's only 20 though, wait for him to get a few years older before you unleash the matchmaking. :)

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  19. WHY is your comment option different? It takes me to the comment-only page and I can't see the post as I'm trying to type a comment! Argh! What happened?

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  20. I know!! Nightmare, Nicole! Blogger switched things up, argh, and to get away from the dreaded "thread" style, I had to get to a different format. I am regretting it, but if I go back (which I think I will), then I have people hitting "reply" instead of posting at the bottom, and I can't find them when I go to look for them (after being alerted in my email inbox). I hate blogger!! There is no way to contact them and file a complaint!!!!

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  21. I've just switched back, with a new note to commenters, below. What a pain, Blogger!!

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  22. What a positive turn of events about your sister! Hopefully, things will continue to turn for the better!

    I am between the ages of 24 and 34... but I'm a woman... looking for a good Catholic man. Haha. I know that is not what you were asking at all...

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  23. Liesl, see you know the problem all too well! ha ha! Sigh.

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  24. Very, Very happy for your sister Leila.

    Regarding the problem of a lack of Catholic men, I think you should do a whole post on that. I am a Lutheran, and the problem is the same. Is it just that men are not as religious as women in general?

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  25. Mary, there is definitely a crisis of manhood and marriage-material men out there. Even the religious ones. A lot of the stable, good and faithful Catholic men are looking for a spouse early and find one. Some of the really "with it" and successful faithful Catholic women who are still looking find it hard to find a "normal" and stable man, even when he is devout. It's an imbalance, I think.

    I love the book Gut Check, by Tarek Saab.

    Oh, and stop being a Lutheran and come back to the Church where you belong!! ;)

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  26. Hey...I just got my husband to allow my three boys to be baptized.....we are really making progress!

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  27. Continued prayers for your sister.

    I know a number of young Catholic women here too... so maybe we just need to start praying for the men?

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  28. #5: PP's ads strike me as some aging Baby Boomer's attempt to be cool.

    #7: Awesome news about your sister!

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