Family and Society: April 2006 Archives

Abstinence on NPR

|

That is not a typo. And it was actually positively portrayed. Have a listen and consider dropping them a line to express your appreciation for using your tax money for something good.

Bookmark and Share

More Human Sexuality

| | Comments (1)

Speaking of the teachings of the Church, David of the "Cosmos, Liturgy, Sex" blog recently completed a five-post series on "Sex and the Human Person" that would serve as an excellent primer for those who've never encountered the Church's dealings with the subject.

Part I: The Problem
Part II: Sex in Creation?
part III: Sex Differences
Part IV: Complementarity
Part V: Consummation

Bookmark and Share

Birth Control Debate

|

I found this link last week, don't remember where. It's a debate between Janet Smith and Charles Curran on Humanae Vitae. I was able to listen to it last night at work.

It's a two-hour long debate, so budget some time. I'm far from an objective listener, but it was hard to hear it as anything but an overwhelming victory for Janet Smith. She had data and common sense on her side.

Most unbelievable moment: After opening statements and rebuttals, the debaters had a chance to ask each other questions. Smith asked Curran why it is that those of his camp have never critically engaged the thinking of John Paul II on birth control and human sexuality. His answer? JP2 didn't really contribute anything new to the discussion.

!!!

Smith did make one mistake, though. At one point, she said (and repeated about a dozen times) that ordinary Catholics don't have time to read all the documents of the Church and study moral theology to inform their consciences on the subject. She said it falls to pastors and theologians to make the teachings accessible, and draw couples into the thinking of the Church on the issue.

That is all exactly right, but later, when speaking about couples who actually live the teachings of the Church, she (repeatedly) praised them as couples who have read the documents and live by them. I know she didn't mean to say that you have to read the documents to understand the Church's teachings, but it almost sounded like she was trying to have it both ways.

All in all, a great performance by Smith.

Bookmark and Share

I Love You!

|

NPR has a feature called StoryCorps, where a van equipped with a recording both roams the country and anybody can reserve some time in the booth to interview a friend or relative who has an interesting story to tell. The feature airs weekly on NPR and the stories are archived at the Library of Congress.

A few weeks ago, Joyce Lee interviewed her mother, Hee-sook, a first generation immigrant, who tells the story of how she got her husband to begin telling her that he loved her. It's a incredibly sweet story, well worth a listen.

Bookmark and Share

Pages

Mama-Lu's Etsy Shop

About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the Family and Society category from April 2006.

Family and Society: March 2006 is the previous archive.

Family and Society: May 2006 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.