Oh, the Democrats

As I have stated time and time again, I refuse to associate with any one political party because both sides are made up of politicians who are just plain idiots.  Today, though, I would like to focus on the genius (I mean that sarcastically) of the Democratic party.  While I definitely think that Republicans are huge idiots as well, I think I need to focus on the recent actions of certain Democratic politicians. 

(DISCLAIMER: I refuse to associate with any one party – I am NOT a Republican.  In fact, I certainly believe that some of the actions taken by the Republican party do more damage than anyone can fathom.  HOWEVER, this blog can only be about one topic at a time, and I have chosen it to be about the Donkeys.  I most certainly will write another day about the idiots running the Republican party.  Right now, I am just stating things as I see them, with as much logic as I can.)

Obviously, one of the biggest issues today is the presidential election.  With voter satisfaction at an all-time low (seriously, I didn’t think it could get this bad), the people of this country are looking for a new way, a change in the running of the government.  As many people have said, all three candidates right now are huge powerhouses.  Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama are running neck in neck for the Democratic nomination.  John McCain has the Republican nomination locked, even though many say he’s not really a Republican at all (actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if McCain himself said it).  Lately, it has become clear that the Democratic party is willing to tear itself apart over this nomination.  Obama and Clinton have become vicious in their attempts to make themselves seem better than the other candidate.  No one really knows how the issue of the nomination is going to be solved because there is no possible way for either one to get the required number of delegates.  Some think that it should be the superdelegates, some think it should be the popular vote or whoever has more actual delegates.  We won’t find out until the National Convention.  However, what has become clear is that this is a no holds barred fight.  As more and more information comes out about these candidates, I can’t believe either one thinks that they are good candidates.  Personally, I think Obama’s shady dealings may destroy his chances for the presidency, and with good reason.  Think about it – in every aspect there is something wrong with his dealings.  Until yesterday, Obama never really addressed the statements made by his pastor.  In fact, he had repeatedly said that he couldn’t denounce him at all.  Well, yesterday, the gloves came off and Obama has completely disowned Rev. Wright and his comments.  I wonder, though, if it is too little, too late.  And then there are the dealings with Rezco – totally shady and totally shrouded in mystery.  No one really wants the true details of that coming out, but as an acquaintance of mine said, it’s Chicago politics – completely dirty and totally unethical.  It seems to me that Obama is either totally crooked or totally naive – neither trait we want in the White House in the middle of a recession.  And to top it off, the American public has no real idea what Obama will do if elected.  He’s a mystery.  I don’t think I like that anymore. 

Don’t worry, Obama fans, I’m about to move onto Clinton.  The whole debacle with Obama hasn’t cast her in a very flattering light either.  To me, she looks like a vulture, flying around and picking at the carcasses she sees below.  She just can’t wait to jump on any little thing done by Obama.  It’s kind of childish, and it really just gives me a sour feeling in my mouth.  She is a complete opportunist AND she thinks that Universal Healthcare would actually work in this country.  With 300 million people, there most certainly needs to be an answer to the issues with medical care in this country, but I personally think it completely idiotic to think that a country with this many people could have universal healthcare.  I mean, unless you want to wait 6 months to have surgery and end up paying 70-80% of your income to taxes.  If you do, then fine. 

Alright, I’m done with the presidential candidates – let’s move onto Congress, shall we?  To go into depth about the issues I have with Congress would be a much longer blog entry than I want to write right now.  Trust me, that one’s coming.  It amazes me that people can be so dissatisfied with what Congress is doing and yet continue to vote in the same people time and time again with the “hopes” that they will change.  It’s ridiculous.  But I digress.  The reason I am talking about Congress right now is that, in 2007, and Energy Bill was passed (and Bush passed it as well), that, among other things, required more resources to be devoted to the production of (corn-based) ethanol.  Not a month later a report came out saying that, not only is ethanol not as efficient as we thought, but is also just as much of a pollutant as petroleum and it takes valuable resources away from food production, adding to the food shortage that is plaguing us right now.  And now, have we heard anything from the people who helped pass the bill?!  No!  Not at all!  Hello, Congress?   Welcome, to the town of Admitting Your Mistakes.  Sit down, pull up a chair.  DO IT!  And now, they want to introduce a bill banning the chemical that is in the hard plastic.  You know, the news about that has exploded over the past month or so.  I will definitely agree that more research needs to be done.  But not enough to support a ban like this when the research is still relatively unknown and we don’t know enough about it yet.  All they are doing is devoting time and energy to something that shouldn’t even be discussed yet.

Here are my final words on this topic:  STOP JUMPING THE GUN ON ISSUES THAT DON’T HAVE ENOUGH RESEARCH TO BACK IT UP, YOU IMBECILES.  DO SOMETHING SMART FOR ONCE AND FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY AND THE RECESSION.

Economic Stimulus: The Bad, The Worse and The Worst

I was sitting on the bus this weekend heading home after working overtime at my job downtown (it’s not enough that I have two jobs, I feel the need to work overtime as well), and I had my iPod on, listening to music I’m kind of starting to get bored with, when, at a major intersection, this girl with a few obviously heavy shopping bags gets on the bus.  She had a conversation with the bus driver (one I couldn’t hear for obvious reasons) and they chatted through a couple intersection light cycles and it was clear she was trying to convince him to do something and I can only assume it was to let her on the bus without paying.  Eventually, she got off the bus, stood at the curb and we moved on.  She didn’t ask anyone for anything, she just got off the bus and then stood at the curb, staring at the bus until we had driven off.

Today marks the first day that people can start receiving the Economic Stimulus checks – $600 for individuals, $1200 for couples and $300 per child.  Only people of a certain income can receive them.  I will be one of those people to receive a check, and I have to say, it is going to really help me start my investment portfolio and I will be able to buy a new computer once Apple comes out with their updated stuff in June (I’m very excited to be moving to a Mac, by the way, I hate my PC).  Still, this and the girl I saw on the bus got me thinking about hand-outs.  Are they in any way a good idea?  Where do people think this money is coming from?  Does the economic stimulus inherently discriminate? And, in the case of offering hand-outs to people, is it human nature to want to offer to help someone when they are obviously in need but then when they ask for help, our inclination is to turn away because we feel they should do it on their own?  I know what I think the answers to the first 3 questions are, but the last one is a little tricky.  I think everyone has a different idea as to how to answer these questions, but I will do my best to coherently answer them as I see it.

I don’t think a governmental hand-out is in anyway a good idea.  When the Economic Stimulus BIll passed, it was heralded as a wonderful thing the government was doing in an effort to help consumers and put money back into the economy.  However, a few people raised eyebrows and wondered, does the government really think this is going to help?  I mean, only certain people are receiving this – people the government has decided are worthy of the money.  And the checks aren’t coming until 3 or so months after the bill has passed.  It doesn’t make much sense to me. 

All this Stimulus package does is redistribute wealth.  Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know, where do you suppose a government that is trillions of dollars in the hole got this money?  It got the money from taxpayers.  So all we are doing is taking money from one group of people and giving it to another.  It’s like a Robin Hood complex, and that is not a complex the government should be having.  Basically, the people who are not receiving the stimulus check are giving the money to others.  My dad, my sister, the attorneys I work for are all contributing to the check I will be receiving.  It’s the equivalent of me going up to them and saying, “Can I have $10 to participate in the walk-a-thon?”  Only it’s mandatory and the government will do things like audit you and put you in jail if you don’t pay your taxes.  To be perfectly honest, that concept doesn’t sit well with me.  It’s like the government is saying, you can’t take care of yourself so we are going to force everyone around you to help take care of you.  It makes me feel like a charity case.  AND the bill is inherently discriminatory.  People of only a certain background can receive this check and that just isn’t fair.  People from all economic backgrounds are feeling the economic hit we are taking, not just those who make less than $150,000 a year. 

So this brings me to my final point: when people ask us for help, are we less inclined to want to help them than someone who is obviously struggling but doesn’t ask for help?  I think the answer is a resounding yes.  You see it all the time, people offering to assist someone with bags or something but then turn a blind eye to the guy begging on the sidewalk.  Sometimes the only difference is the fact that someone made the mistake to ask.  The girl on the bus yesterday didn’t ask anyone for help.  Actually, I have no idea if she needed help or not.  But I did have a strong urge to go up and just pay for her fare (that is, once I finally figured out that that might be what was going on).  But had she started walking up and down the bus aisles asking for fare (I believe that’s called soliciting), I would not have wanted to give it to her, and I’m sure others on the bus would have felt the same way. 

On the other hand, this economic stimulus bill was given to us without anyone asking for it, so maybe it’s all just that we are willing to accept charity in certain cases, but when it inconveniences us, we instinctively turn a blind eye to it.  Maybe that’s why people like Mother Theresa are so impressive.  She decided to be ultimately inconvenienced her whole life in order to help others.  She truly tried to help others instead of just handing out stuff. 

So the next time you have the urge to help someone out, either monetarily or otherwise, think about it for a minute (I mean, after you actually help that person).  Were you willing to help them because they didn’t ask for help, or did they ask you for help, and you did – but were you willing to be inconvenienced or was it done reluctantly? 

Just some food for thought. . .

The Poor, The Starving, and The Ignorant

It always amazes me how people in the US can be so out of touch with events happening in the rest of the world.  This is not to say that Americans are awful and look at how horrible we are because we don’t pay attention, but, unfortunately, it is a fact.  The US is so large and there is so much BS that happens here every day that all of our news revolves around American issues.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because US events are very important to the people who live here, but it’s a definite problem when there are things going on that are directly affected by our actions and then come around to directly affect us (ie. bite us in the ass). 

Since Americans have no idea what is going on in the rest of the world, only recently have we figured out that there is a world-wide shortage of food.  A report came out that 800 million people in the world are chronically hungry.  (ref. in OneWorld article)  800 MILLION - that’s almost 1 in every 7 people! The people in the US don’t see this – all they see is rising food and fuel prices.  Well, guess what.  A lot of it is attributed to a recent Bill passed by Congress requiring more ethanol be produced.  Since there now has to be more fields used for corn production for ethanol fuel – a fuel, by the way, that as much of a pollutant, if not more so, than petroleum and is less efficient - that has taken drastically away from US manufactured food.  And they did this amid a growing food shortage, thereby taking even more food away from those who need it.  When this bill passed, I remember that very few people even bothered paying attention to it, and it most certainly did not receive a lot of air time.  So now we are stuck with a Congressional Bill requiring more ethanol while MILLIONS AND MILLIONS are starving (a recent report on the inefficiency of ethanol can be found here).  

There have been riots around the world because of the rising cost of food and recently the WFP called the issue a “Silent Tsunami.”

Another big problem which is causing the rise in food prices is the rise in the cost of oil.  Because of the cost of transportation, the price of oil directly affects the price of food.  But for the life of me, I cannot figure out WHY the price of oil has risen so sharply all of a sudden.  And as far as I can tell, NO ONE knows why.  The supply is huge right now and I can only imagine that demand has dropped because of the influx of things like fluorescent lightbulbs and hybrid cars . . . so why?!  There is only speculation and the only conclusions I have been able to come to is that people behind the scenes are driving up the cost (no pun intended) and the rapid and sharp decline in the value of the US dollar – I mean, it’s never been so awful.  If the biggest powerhouse in the world’s economy is tanking, of course there are going to be huge, horrible ramifications.  So I have decided that two things need to happen, and they need to happen soon. 

1. Oil needs to be obtained from other areas – off-shore drilling, etc.  It sucks that this has to happen, but it does because right now we need the resources and we cannot get them anywhere else. 
2. We need to build nuclear reactors and really take advantage of that technology.  Other countries have been using it and there is absolutely no reason why the US shouldn’t be either. 

Please don’t mistake me for an anti-environmentalist.  I am most certainly an environmentalist, and proud of it – one of my recent entries clearly states this.  It cannot be denied that 6.6 billion people will have a negative effect on the world they live in, especially if people live irresponsibly.  The idea and the practice of living environmentally-friendly is fantastic and more people need to do it.  Of course research has to continue to find better alternatives to fuel and nuclear energy.  That should be a given, and when the technology is there, we can finally get rid of this lamentable dependence we have on oil.  I do have a problem, however, with untested technology being forced upon us and then people not admitting to their faults.  This stuff doesn’t happen overnight and it won’t be usable overnight, either, as the issues with ethanol have proved.  But how can we spend the money on research when all of it is going towards food and fuel?

So we now have an issue where the poor and the starving are crying out for relief and the ignorant haven’t cared enough to listen or don’t realize that the world’s issues are directly affecting our way of life.  Please, please, please, take a stand on this!  Congress needs to see that the 2007 Energy Bill was a mistake with regards to ethanol use and that there is an answer to the immediate danger of famine and tanking economies.  We are headed for a rough time of it all if people insist on remaining uninformed and the people in power insist on maintaining a cause that is in danger of being destroyed from within.

Humor

Alright, so I was trying to figure out what to write about today and the answer came to me in the form of another blog – one that I just discovered but already absolutely love – Stuff God Hates. 

Now, obviously, I am a devoted Catholic.  I love the Church, I love the Pope (even though dislike some or a lot of the things he does), I love the tradition, and I follow the Sacraments whole-heartedly.  But you know, some if it is pretty funny.  Some of the rules and whatever can be looked at very humorously and should be laughed about.  People take themselves so seriously these days.  With the whole “PC” movement and trying not to offend anyone, people have forgotten what a really good sense of humor is.  If you can’t make light of a situation you are involved in, you can’t make light of anyone else’s situations.  Sure there are some very serious things going on, but imagine if everyone just laughed it off and let other people live their lives – the world would be a much more peaceful place.  Christians, for example, are always worried about other people’s souls – well, worry about your own soul and laugh at some of the ridiculous traditions you still follow.  I could go on, but I think you understand what I mean.

There is a really interesting movement right now, especially in Germany, of writing about the Holocaust in the form of comic books.  There have been a few out in the past as well, one of the ones I am most familiar with is Art Spiegleman’s Maus series.  In it, he turns Jews into rats and the Nazis into cats and tells the story that way.  It makes for a very moving piece and, I think, puts an even more human face on his family’s story of the Holocaust.  And yet, he used cartoons to depict it.  He even tells jokes, etc.  But that’s kind of what you have to do sometimes to get your point across.  There is a debate going on right now where some people think it is more therapeutic to laugh at Hitler and make jokes about him, and the other side says that it’s awful to do such a thing because of the damage he caused.  To be honest, I’m kind of on the fence.  I understand the importance of taking in the gravity of the situation and studying the Holocaust and WWII so that it doesn’t happen again (even though it definitely is), but I also think that people can lessen the hold he has on society to this day through laughter.

I think this goes to show that if you can’t laugh at yourself, you can’t laugh at anyone.  Satire is my favorite genre for that exact reason.  If you ever read Jonathon Swift’s essays or books, you would totally understand what I mean.  Jonathon Swift, by the way, is my favorite author.  Jonathon Swift clearly had a fantastic sense of humor, and he used his wit to try to bring about social change.  Read “A Modest Proposal” and you may understand what I mean.   

I get laughed at a lot – sometimes I just do really stupid shit.  But I’ve learned that laughing it off can sometimes be the best way to learn the lesson and just get over the fact that people are laughing at you.  Because then it turns into them laughing with you.  If you can acknowledge your faults, and be able to laugh at them, I guarantee that you will be better for it.  Stop taking yourselves so seriously!  The world could use a lot more laughter.

I realize this post is really random and totally unorganized.  But I like it.

Random Thought 4

Why I (thought I) loved the Midwest.

As you may have gathered, I grew up in Southern California.  In SoCal, fires and earthquakes are a way of life.  Every year there is a fire season and every year, somewhere in the area, is at least one earthquake.  Everyone would be talking about it the next day – where were you, what were you doing, or even if you felt it at all.  The fires cause major evacuations and, often, billions of dollars in damage.  It’s like, every year from about September to December, California is in a “state of emergency.”  It’s incredibly annoying and very devastating to have those dangers around you constantly.  In fact, the natural disasters are one of the many reasons I do not live in California anymore and don’t plan to in the near (or distant) future.  One of the memories of my childhood I wish I could forget was the Northridge earthquake.  My parents reacted to the earthquake as if it was ”the big one” - I remember sitting under my kitchen table for a little bit while my Dad turned off the gas line.  My sisters and I were all pretty young still, so I kind of understand their reaction, but it definitely didn’t help my future ideas of what an earthquake could/would do to us if it was strong enough.

I think I dislike earthquakes for the same reason I love thunderstorms (ref. Random Thought 3).  There is the sense that everything is out of your control and things are happening to you and the only thing you can do is try to get out of the way.  It’s very scary, very humbling in a bad way, and I hate it.  The ground is moving under you at a pace that barely lets you stay on your feet – the best comparison I can think of is that it’s like you are standing up on a roller coaster without restraints and with your eyes closed.  My best friend doesn’t understand my fear of earthquakes – I remember her telling me about an earthquake where I was standing in my doorway in the middle of the night for a long time and then I had trouble sleeping after – she just rolled over and went back to sleep.  It’s hard for me to think of having that kind of reaction, but apparently people do. 

When I moved to the East Coast and then the Midwest, I was naively comforted by the idea that wildfires did not happen in the Midwest and I would not have to be woken up by an earthquake ever again. . . until I woke up this morning and discovered that a 5.2 earthquake hit in Southern Illinois.  I mean, what’s up with that?!  Apparently it was felt all the way to LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, AND MILWAUKEE.  I slept right through it, the naive sleep of one who thought she was safe.  And, I come to discover that the New Madrid fault line is composed of three or four major fault lines, which in some ways, makes it more dangerous than the San Andreas (the fault line running through CA).  This is unbelievable.  And to make it even better, this area was the site of the possible worst earthquake the US has ever had – it caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards!  I mean, really.  Couldn’t someone have warned me about this before I moved here?  And to top it all off, there are no seismic activity laws in the Midwest.  After Northridge, CA enacted all of these laws that said that practically every building had to be protected by some year in the near future.  And it’s almost done, which is good because they are expecting a really huge earthquake soon (there have been predictions of “the big one” for years now – but geologists had expected it to happen by 2006.  It’s 2008 now – oops).  But there are no such laws here.

I’m very flabbergasted by all this.

Pope Benedict XVI in America – This Catholic’s Perspective

            April 15, 2008 heralded the beginning of the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI in America as Pope.  With it has come speculation, a fervor of media attention, and, for this young Catholic, an examination of my life as a Catholic and the future of Catholicism in America.  As I contemplate my acceptance of the Catholic faith and all that comes with, I inevitably must acknowledge its inherent flaws.  Recently, I wrote a blog entry (Faith) about my journey to reconciling Catholic dogma with my personal faith, so I will not repeat that story here.  What I would like to talk about is the Pope, what it means to be a Catholic in America, and how I feel the Catholic Church needs to evolve if it is going to survive. 

            Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927 in Bavaria.  His childhood and teen years coincided with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany.  Like many Catholics (especially in Bavaria), his family did not support Hitler and were ant-Nazi.  However, in 1941, Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth because it was required for teenagers after 1939.  He was also drafted into the German Army when he was 16 (1943).  This was after he had already joined a Seminary in order to become a priest but the Nazis were getting pretty desperate by that point (it is widely agreed that Hitler had already lost the war by 1943 – some even think he was doomed the minute he invade the Soviet Union and started a two-front war).  After spending time in a POW camp after WWII ended, Ratzinger was released, and after re-patriation, went back to the Seminary.  He became a priest and eventually, a cardinal and now has been ordained Pope Benedict XVI.  He’s the oldest man to become pope since the 1700’s, and is known for his hardline, conservative views regarding Christianity.

            Benedict has often critisized the laxity Americans seem to have with their faith, saying that they have fallen victim to “the moral relativism he feels pervades Western culture” (Time online article dated 4/3/08 titled “The American Pope”).  He is known to be very conservative, and, to me, it seems as though he is trying to reverse some of the changes brought about by Vatican II in the 1960’s.  He has made it easier for a Latin mass to be said by priests around the world, and I wonder if he is trying to re-instate it as the standard for saying mass.  I don’t like this idea, and I don’t think it’s a smart move on his part, if it is true.  There is no better way to distance members of your congregation by forcing them to witness a service they don’t understand.  

            I don’t like how Benedict’s ideals seem to have changed since he became Pope.  In the past, he seemed to admire Protestantism, especially in the US as forms of religious freedom and ways to express a Christian faith in different ways.  However, he recently made a speech decrying Protestantism and claiming that they were not true Christians because they do not belong to the true Church.  It’s as though he’s trying to destroy the diplomatic moves of Pope John Paul II and doesn’t seem to care whom he hurts in the process.  He also sparked outrage among the Muslim community when, in a September 16, 2006, speech commemorating 9/11, he quoted an obscure text from the 14th century that completely insults the Prophet Muhammed.  While I do not think the violent outrage that this ignited was appropriate, I also think that Pope Benedict really needs to start thinking about his stance on world-wide religions and how he is going to disseminate those views to the public.  He preaches the necessity for religious freedom and then turns around and tells other groups of the same faith as him that they are wrong and cannot attain heaven until they see the true way.  Logic would lead this argument to say that the religions he is trying to find peace with (Islam, Judaism, etc) are completely wrong and that they are all going to burn.   This is actually one of my biggest problems with the Church – and most organized religion.  Catholics and Christians say the only way to attain eternal life is through Christ.  Benedict has added a new dimension to it, saying that since Catholics are the true Christians, only Catholics can attain eternal life through Christ.  This is a problem – and if you think I have to explain why, please don’t bother reading the rest of this entry – I really shouldn’t have to spell it out. 

            I have come to believe that there is a very simple explanation as to why there are so many religions in the world and why we all have a chance at attaining eternal life (which I definitely believe is there).  Look at the world around you – there are different cultures, different ways of living.  Even within our own cultures, people act differently and live their lives in different ways.  It’s one of the best aspects of human nature.  If it can be accepted that there are different cultures in the world, and that none of these cultures or ways of life is inherently better than another, why can it not be the same for religion?  A person growing up and living in the deserts of Asia is most certainly going to have a different lifestyle than someone growing up in downtown Manhattan.  So why is it so hard to believe that there may be different religions which are decided by the culture as well?  Catholicism is said to be the most diverse of the Christian faiths, but think about it, if you are raised in a remote area of the world and are taught from a young age that all religions are wrong except the one that you follow (no matter what religion it is), do you really think that you are going to “see the light”?  I don’t think that is a very sound argument, and I don’t think that it takes away from His power to believe that God works in only one way.

            Catholics in America have an interesting time of things.  This nation has very Protestant, very anti-Catholic origins.  Yes, the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian values, but it must be understood that those who founded this country had a deeply ingrained animosity towards Catholics.  Many of the immigrants that entered Ellis Island in the beginning of the 20th Century were Catholic – Germans, Italians, Irish all have a very predominantly Catholic culture, and A LOT of them came into America through Ellis Island.  One thing that is not as well known is the fact that very often white supremacy groups are anti-Catholic as well as anti-everything else.  Don’t worry, I am not suffering from a “persecution complex”, but it is definitely true that, historically, Catholics have had a harder time of it in the US because of the fact that they are Catholic.  I can’t tell you how many people look at me as though I’m insane when they find out I am Catholic and I go to mass every week – and these same people go to church services every week.  They just don’t understand how I could worship in the Catholic manner.  It’s kind of interesting, actually.  And yet, the US has the third-largest population of Catholics in the world.  There are 1 billion Catholics in the world, and 67 million of them live in the United States.  However, that also means that only 67 million out of 300 million Americans are Catholic, and even less actually practice. 

            So what does this mean for the future of American Catholicism?  Well, it seems to be a well known fact that, very soon, the majority of Catholics in the US will be Hispanic.  And it also is apparent that, if the priest sex abuse scandal isn’t handled and handled well, it is going to cause a lot more people to leave the Church.  The other problem I think Catholics have, especially younger generation Catholics, is the perceived disconnect between how we live our lives and how the men at the Vatican say we should live our lives.  It is definitely difficult for me to accept the fact that an 80 year old never married European man can tell me how to live my life.  Forget all the other stuff, the generational gap is problematic enough.  There needs to be more of an association there, and it needs to become apparent to younger Catholics that the Vatican has it’s finger on the pulse of younger generations’ way of life.  I also definitely have an issue with the fact that the Church does not allow the marriage of priests, or women priests.  To be honest, I often wonder which should come first.  We already have nuns, so why is it so hard to accept that a woman can stay celibate the rest of her life to pursue God’s calling to the priesthood?  When is the Catholic Church going to realize that women want to be as much a part of the sacraments as men are?  This clearly shows the fact that the Church still views women as inherently inferior.  And that definitely needs to change.  I would say that this is even more important than allowing priests to marry, even though I think that the problems of priest shortages would be solved very quickly if priests were allowed to marry.  I know these ideas may seem revolutionary, but I think they are just logical.  The problem is how to merge tradition with progress without losing what makes the Church special in the process. 

            As the Pope moves his journey from Washington to New York, Catholics all over the country, and maybe the world, are contemplating what this visit means.  I don’t think we will be able to properly analyze its results until after it has ended.  It’s certainly possible that this visit will do nothing to answer the questions American Catholics want answers to.  Hopefully, we will see some results and some true progress – for the Church’s sake and for her people’s sake. 

Author’s Note: I was able to find a lot of information on the Time magazine website as well as Wikipedia

Polygamy

            The recent raid on an FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas, has called national attention to the issue of polygamy in American society.  Polygamy has existed in America for centuries, but mainly on the fringes of society.  The question you may be asking yourself is, why would I want to write about polygamy?  Well, I became interested in the idea and issues surrounding it a couple years ago because of a book I read called Under the Banner of Heaven – A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer.  The issues surrounding polygamy, especially those regarding religious freedom and the law and other moral codes make for a fascinating debate.  As a necessary disclaimer, I want to state now that I am just talking about polygamy in America, focusing on the fundamentalist offshoots of Mormonism.  I know that polygamy exists in many forms outside of the US – that is not what I am discussing here.  I do not have enough of a knowledge of international polygamy to discuss it here.  And besides, what other people do in other countries under those countries’ laws is their business.  I am not one of those Americans who thinks it is right to push US ideals on other places whether they want it or not.  But I digress.

             Just like with every topic I write about, I think it is necessary to look at the history of polygamy in the US.  This is a good practice because examining the history helps in understanding the modern trend.  Polygamy was made a formal practice in the Mormon Church by its founder, Joseph Smith, and was practiced until the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) prohibited it in 1890.  It’s possible that they only did that so Utah could easily obtain statehood, but the US federal government required the state’s constitution to have a clause in it prohibiting polygamy and plural marriage.  They kind of got one up on the people of the state so that even if Mormons in Utah wanted to re-instate the practice of polygamy, they couldn’t.  (I personally find this a little amusing – it’s like the US government basically said a big f-you to the Mormons.)  But either way, whether the Church of Latter Day Saints wanted to practice plural marriage again, it became a moot point once Utah was a state.  However, it wasn’t until the beginning of the 1900’s that they started actually excommunicating people from the LDS Church for practicing polygamy.  With regards to the legal system, bigamy and polygamy are considered criminal offenses in certain states, but generally it’s just not recognized as a valid marriage – kind of like gay marriage.  You can’t go into the courts and say that you want to marry someone if you are still married to another person.  They just won’t do it.  Most states won’t arrest you for trying, but I think in the laws, it’s possible to do so.  There are many, many loopholes in the law that allow bigamous and polygamous relationships to exist prosecution-free in the US.  The FLDS Church is just one of the fundamentalist offshoots of the LDS Church.  It began in the 1930s when a group of Mormons decided they wanted to practice plural marriage and therefore broke off from the LDS Church to start their own.  Since then, members of the FLDS have lived primarily in Arizona and Colorado, and there is a major community in British Columbia, Canada.

             On April 3, 2008, the YFZ ranch in Eldorado, Texas, was raided and 416 children and an additional number of women were taken into protective custody.  A 16-year-old pregnant girl had been in contact with police, claiming, among other things, that she was “spiritually married” to a 50-year-old man, she already had an 8-month-old son, and that she had been raped and abused.  In response, police raided the ranch and took all the children into custody, and some women went along as well.  Since then, the adult women with children over the age of 5 have been allowed to return – but without the children.  All 400+ kids are being assigned individual attorneys and people are saying this is going to be the largest family court case in Texas history, if not US history.  All this is not entirely clear – I mean, we aren’t there, the media only reports what it thinks we want to hear, so we may never know the whole story.  However, I do think that it is pretty telling that the women were allowed to leave, but the children were not.  They were not allowed to go back to the ranch, and that says something about the possible evidence. 

             To be perfectly honest, I don’t care if three or more consenting adults want to live in a polygamous relationship.  I know the Catholic dogma condemns it, so for that and many other reasons, I don’t think I’ll take up the practice any time soon.  However, if you are not coerced, or brainwashed or whatever into entering into a polygamous relationship, go for it.  That is not my issue.  It’s not my business, and frankly, I don’t care.  What I do care about are the obvious criminal acts occurring within the FLDS Church.  Not many people know much about FLDS followers because it is a very secretive sect, they have shut themselves off in remote areas partly because of fears of persecution, but also because they are taught that the outside world is evil.  Here’s the thing, if you want to engage in polygamy in a state where it is not criminalized, then go for it.  But the reports of girls being married off as soon as they hit puberty and being forced into it is a serious issue.  That’s called statutory rape, coercion, sexual assault.  I don’t care who you are or what religion you are practicing, if you force someone to engage in any kind of sexual act that they do not want to do, that is sexual assault – a felony.  When I hear of a 16 year old married to a 50 year old, I definitely see an issue there. 

             What really gets me is the defense of FLDS members – they are just practicing their religion, which is protected under the First Amendment.  Sorry, that just doesn’t fly.  When you force a child to become one of many wives to a man who is over the age of 18, that is criminal.  Forget the allegations of physical and emotional abuse.  Forget the seclusion of the sects.  Forget all of it – the basis of the problem is the crime committed against children in the name of religion.  In the past 10 years, the Catholic Church has come under a lot of fire for reported sexual abuse on children by priests.  In most cases, the priests were just shuttled around to different areas and not defrocked because it would have damaged the faith.  Everything was kept highly secretive and when it blew up, it blew up in a major way – and rightly so.  When something is kept secret like that, it is hard to find the necessary evidence to prosecute the offenders.  However, as history as shown us, sometimes when the rumors run rampant like with the FLDS and the transgressions of Catholic priests, they definitely true.

             One of the acts that angers me more than any other is the assault of a child – physical, spiritual or emotional.  It is an awful act that deserves some of the worst possible punishment (I am, by the way, in favor of castration for repeated sex offenders).  You cannot tell me any reason or excuse that would justify it.  Children are dependent on adults to survive and to learn how to survive – adults have a responsibility that many times is ignored. 

            What bothers me the most about this whole story is the sympathy that I have seen by the American media.  The stories I have read on the internet and seen on the news seem to have a misplaced sympathy for the women and the men at the ranch – not really the children.  Take a close look at what you are reading or watching – it’s definitely there.  And completely wrong.  It seems as though certain members of the media feel that these allegations have to be false or can be justified because it falls under religious freedom.  WRONG.  The Supreme Court of the US has time and time again stated that the First Amendment holds true as long as there is no harm caused to other people.  I have no doubt that there is evidence of wrong-doing, it will remain to be seen how much actually comes out.

            The women who are now kept from their children are as guilty as the men for putting their children through the abuse.  They help perpetuate the cycle and it won’t end until they figure it out.  These men claim to be “prophets” and the only way the women can obtain everlasting peace is through them.  This entire practice absolutely infuriates me.  Female readers, think about when you were 12 or 13 years old.  How would you have reacted to a man who is considered a leader in your community telling you that you need to marry a middle-aged man or else you will be condemned to hell?  The cycle will be perpetuated until people realize that this issue will not go away if we just ignore it.

             I feel it necessary to conclude by saying once again that I don’t care if people want to have two husbands or two wives or whatever.  However, when I hear of children suffering in an abusive home, I get really angry.  Especially when they try to hide under “religious freedom”.  This is an issue that needs to be addressed by the American public, it should not be allowed to be kept secret.

            Author’s note: For more information on this topic, go to Wikipedia and search “FLDS,” “Mormon fundamentalism,” “polygamy.” Articles can also be found on CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and other news websites.  I also encourage you to read “Under the Banner of Heaven” and other books about Fundamentalist Mormon sects.  

Random Thought 3

Why I love the rain

It’s rainy here in the Windy City - with rumors of more snow over the weekend.  Everyone seems really tired of the snow/rain (mainly the snow), but I have to say that I love it.  I have always loved the rain, and I don’t know if I can adequately explain why. 

Growing up in Southern California meant constant talk of droughts.  It never rained.  And when it did, it was a whole bunch for a couple days and that was that.  Southern California is essentially a desert that has become habitable because of irrigation from the Colorado River.  Of course, this means relatively nice weather all year round – lots of sunshine and warm weather. 

It never fails that two questions are asked of me - where I am from and then how/why I ended up in in the midwest.  No one seems to understand why someone would voluntarily leave such wonderful weather and come to the midwest where winter lasts much longer than many places (although not as long as where I’m moving to ).  As an answer to that inevitable question, I usually just say that I love the cold.  Which I do – I would much rather be cold and have to warm up than be hot and have to cool down.  But it’s much more than that.  I love the change of seasons.  Nothing compares to the beauty of trees changing in Autumn, and it’s so wonderful to see life begin anew in the Spring.  I never had the chance to have a snowball fight in the winter or curl up in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate.  Yes, I’m sounding utterly romantic right now, but that’s kind of the point.  Everyone wonders how I can leave the glorious weather of SoCal when all I want to do is experience the good and the bad of seasonal change.

I think one of the most awesome sights to behold is a lightening storm – another thing we don’t really have in SoCal.  It can be a huge nuisance, but it’s so beautiful – nature’s power released.  When it rains, it feels as though everything is being washed clean.  Stomping in watery puddles or just letting the rain fall on you is not only fun, but can be quite calming.  Maybe it’s because there was no change of season when I was growing up that I appreciate it so much now.  And who knows, maybe in a few years, I will want to return to California and it’s wonderful weather.  I know for sure, though, that it’s not happening any time soon. 

As the rain pelts the windows at work, and as I gear up to head out into the storm, I am reminded of the fact that it is most likely at least 75 degrees in Orange County, with not a cloud in the sky.  And I smile as I step out into the wonder Mother Nature brings.

Respect Yourself.

So I’ve been thinking about the recent post I did called R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  In it, I wrote about the importance of respect for other people.  What I completely forgot to talk about – and I can’t believe I did – was the importance of respecting yourself and knowing who you are and what your convictions are. 

Today’s culture is pretty much a crap shoot of ideas and beliefs, and knowledge is thrown in there somewhere to give some credibility to it all.  No matter where you turn, or what you do, you are being told to do something else by someone who “knows better.”  Whether it is your parents, your friends, the media, scientists, or crazy men with beards preaching on street corners, someone is always trying to convince you that their way is better.  I mean, clearly I can put myself into that category, as I’m always trying to convince people I’m right (which I usually am). 

But here’s the thing: we live in a precarious world today.  People go back and forth on issues, changing their minds as the wind blows or as they find more information that supports another side.  This is great, it’s what is supposed to happen as information is spread for the world to take in.  But when you believe in something, believe in it wholeheartedly.  Don’t waffle back and forth – if you believe in something, really believe it! 

The problem with our society today is that people seem to just sit around and wait for others to make decisions for them.  This is what I have to say to them:  “Welcome to the Town of Free Will, where the population is many, but the intelligent are few.”  Be informed!  If you see something on the news, don’t just say, well, I saw it on the news so I am going to (not) believe that it is true (I throw in the “not” for those who think the media lies all the time).  Please, please, please, use the technology that is out there to not only become informed about things so that you can intelligently vote and be involved, but also so you can raise your families with conviction and honor.

This may sound like an odd thing to say – raising your family with conviction and honor.  But let me say that I think the concept of honor and conviction and, yes, respect, has completely left the home.  On the “Today Show” this morning, there was an extremely disturbing story of 6 teenage girls and 2 teenage boys beating up another girl for about half an hour for the express purpose of videotaping it and then putting it up on the internet.  There are so many problems with this story, I almost don’t know where to start.  First of all, I don’t care who you are, or what you are doing, there is no excuse for bullying.  Too many people are permanently damaged both physically and mentally through bullying.  The online world doesn’t make it okay, as people seem to think these days.  The girls and boys who participated in this videotaped felony (felony assault) are now possibly facing charges as adults – their whole lives are ruined.  And for what?  A few minutes of fame?  A desire to get their point across through physical violence?  If they go to jail, they will discover what physical violence is, all right.  I can guarantee that none of the 8 children involved in that were instilled with much of a sense of honor or conviction in their homes.  They certainly had no respect for each other or themselves, because each one was willing to participate and let the others participate in a felony – and they caught themselves!  They may as well have done this in front of a police station. 

Another aspect of conviction, honor, and respect is what goes on with the treatment of your own body.  I’m really talking about self-esteem right now.  I can honestly say that I have suffered from a low of self-esteem/self-confidence my entire life.  It’s part of the reason I have such bad stagefright.  It allows self-doubt to creep in and grab your heart and keep you from doing the things you love.  Throughout the past couple years, I realized that just because I am a little odder than most people doesn’t make me any less of a person.  I have come to embrace my oddities and I have come to realize that the old adage “if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one” is most certainly true.  So now I just try to please myself.  I hold true to the things I believe in, and I have come to be able to back a substantial amount of those beliefs with solid facts.  

I have learned that trying to change yourself so that someone will like you, or in a broad sense, changing yourself so a group of people will like you, is totally not worth it.  I learned who I am, and I am not ashamed of it.  I refuse to hide who I am, and I refuse to care if someone thinks I’m ridiculous for it.  Because I am ridiculous!  I am a bit odd!  And it’s great!  Who wants to conform to a norm?  All ”the norm” means is a set of rules, etc, a certain group of people want to live by and in order to make themselves feel like it’s okay, get other people to believe that it’s okay. 

I hated being a teenager.  It was awful.  I was awkward, I loved to do things that no one else did (example: sang in high school choir).  I never had an identity crisis, but I knew that I didn’t fit in.  My friends often told me I was born in the wrong generation – my love for Frank Sinatra and jazz and WWII History and (of all things) crocheting classified me as an 80-year old in a teenage body.  All I wanted was to be liked and to be liked by a lot of people.  I never had a boyfriend in high school and I was never by any means popular.  It wasn’t until I went to Ireland that I realized that I could truly be me and people would still like me because of who I am, not in spite of it.  I became unapologetic about being myself, and I became even more strong-willed than ever.  After that point, I haven’t cared about people liking me.  I don’t care if I have 20 friends or 2.  My friends are those who accept me for who I am and love me for it.  To the teens, adults out there who struggling to find themselves, or struggling to understand who they are, please take this to heart.  It took me a long time to realize that being “the odd one” was okay.  It’s okay to just be yourself.  And it has a lot to do with honoring your convictions and respecting your mind, body and soul.  My friends still tell me that I was born in the wrong generation – but instead of being insulted, I am complimented, and I laugh along with them about how true it is.  I like what I like, I love what I love, and I make no excuses for it.

The minute I understood that being me was more important than being skinny or popular or whatever, was the minute I understood who I truly was. 

Author’s note: It was reported on 4/10/08 in a cnn.com article that the 8 teenagers involved in the beating are going to be tried as adults for felony kidnapping and assault – charges which could bring them life terms in prison.  I wonder if they are still laughing.

Music

Recently, I began what will probably become an ongoing dialogue about music with a (new) friend.  This conversation about why we like certain types of music brought to mind a very interesting couple of questions for me: What music do I like, and why do I like it?

It can’t be denied that music is inherent in every culture in the world.  It is a beautiful expression of culture and art, no matter the beat, rhythm, etc.  Even really bad music can have a purpose if only to tell us what we don’t like to hear.  And usually, even if you don’t like a certain type or piece of music, someone else does.  Music has been an expression of every kind of emotion, culture, idea since cavemen first hit eachother with rocks to see what would happen (ref. Mel Brook’s History of the World Part I).  Today, research has showed that when pregnant mothers listen to certain genres of music and hold headphones up to their stomachs, it can prove intelligently beneficial for the child as they grow up.  Everyone has different tastes in music, which is why it’s so great that it is so eclectic.

As broad of a statement as this is, I love music.  But that begs the question, which types of music and why? Of course, the first place I turn to is my iPod.  I have a list mainly composed of alternative, indie rock.  For example, my favorite band is Jimmy Eat World.  I also have a huge collection of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin jazz music that gets quite a bit of listening time.  What I really love, though, and it’s a genre that I think doesn’t get half as much respect as it should, is choir music. 

I’ve been singing since I was 10.  I started singing after I auditioned for my 5th grade production of “Beauty and the Beast”.  I’m pretty sure that before I started taking voice lessons, I was as close to being tone deaf as you can get without actually being tone deaf, so it doesn’t surprise me now that I didn’t get the part of Belle.  I decided I wanted to show my teachers that I could sing and that I would be the best.  If this isn’t an indication of my bull-headed tenacity, I don’t know what is, because 13 years later, I am still singing.  I discovered I actually liked it.  Unfortunately, I am also “gifted” with a debilitating case of stagefright.  I am fine talking in front of people, but I think singing has always been so personal for me that it’s difficult to put myself out there.  So I found my niche in choirs.  I sang for my church, in my middle school choir and two high school choirs.  My voice turned out to be a first soprano – and I still have a range that I am pretty proud of.  When I was 18 and entering college, I considered trying out for the music department (my school has a fantastic opera program).  However, the summer before freshman year, I developed nodes on my vocal chords.  This effectively put a stop to any hopes of a singing career because, even though my vocal chords healed, I never sounded the same.  And since I haven’t been singing consistently throughout the years, my range is not what it once was.  Now, however, I am in my church choir and appreciate choral music more than ever. 

The best kind of choral music is what came out of England during the Reformation.  Thomas Tallis and William Byrd are just two names from a plethora of fantastic composers from that time period.  Bach, Mozart, all the classical composers, wrote choral music.  To date, my favorite is Bach and I love singing in German.  A capella music has also become more popular over the years (well, I think it has).  UCLA Awaken, the first a capella mixed group I really came in contact with has two CDs out with some of the best a capella music I have ever heard.  It is absolutely astounding what the human voice can do in harmony with other voices.  The absence of instruments (and sometimes even directors) can make the pieces transcend the highest plane of beauty. 

I recently sang one of the most powerful pieces I have ever done.  There are no words for how awesome Colin Mawby’s “Ave Verum Corpus”, performed with an organ, is.  I actually almost started crying while singing it and I know that when that happens, something powerful is going on. 

I think that’s the best part about music – its power.  Music moves people in ways that simple words almost never can.