My $0.02 . . .

I rarely ever talk about politics, but I feel compelled, much like I did to write this blog post. A friend of mine posted a "question" on her blog about whether or not a Catholic could vote for Obama. I say "question" because the rest of the post seemed to be reasons to say you aren't Catholic if you do. You can read the post here. Basically she cites issues related to the sanctity of life and gay marriage. You can see my stance on gay marriage in the first link, and as far as sanctity of life read on.

I do not deny that the sanctity of life is very important. As I posted on Facebook status that really prompted me, being pro-life is fundamental to who I am, and I mean all stages of life. Before I got into theology, before my senior year in high school, a horrendous hate crime was committed in east Texas, 3 white supremacists drug James Byrd behind their pick-up truck to his death. I recall talking with my mom about this as we were going into Kroger as the trial was starting. I remember telling her something to effect of: I know what those guys did was awful, and they really deserve some major punishment, but I don't think we should kill them for it. Even then I saw the death penalty as a violation of the sanctity of life. Consequently, one of those murderers, Lawrence Russell Brewer, is now the cause of those on death row no longer getting a special last meal because he ordered enough food for at least four people and ate none of it. The waste of food really made me mad, but that is another issue for another time.

The sanctity of life is not a negotiable issue for me. I believe that life should be protected and cherished from conception to natural death, in all cases. That being said, I hate that our major political parties have aligned themselves so firmly on either side of the debate. I see it as a manipulative strategy on the part of the parties to get people to align themselves with one party or another based on that issue where otherwise, they may not. And I do understand that there are pro-chose republicans and pro-life democrats, but they are very small minorities in the parties. Especially as Catholics we are told over and over we should not vote for Pro-choice candidates, unless of course there is a very legitimate well-founded reason for doing so. So, you end up with Catholics feeling locked in to vote republican to be true to their faith. 

Realistically though, whether a candidate is pro-life or pro-choice, doesn't seem to matter to them after 7 PM on election day. Pro-life politicians at high levels of government don't seem to be doing anything to overturn Roe v. Wade. For example, Bush 43 ran on a pro-life platform and did nothing to help make abortion illegal. Along those same lines, abortion being illegal doesn't really solve the life issue either. The real issue is that we need to change people’s hearts with regard to these issues, a law will not be effective without a change of heart. Before abortion was legal, people were having abortions, usually much to the detriment on the mother’s health, and even in the 1st and 2nd centuries, infanticide was regular in the Roman Empire. This isn't a new issue and laws have certainly not done anything to change the hearts of people in regards to it.

I say how you vote depends where your conscience leads you (falling back on my Thomistic roots) presuming you have formed your conscience well. There could be well-found reasons for voting for a pro-choice candidate.

4 weeks

4 weeks, that's how long I have been in Boston and in Grad School. It's been a crazy 4 weeks. I've already written 9 papers, and I've read over 1,000 pages of material.  And, while I am totally overwhelmed most of the time, I love it!

I am adjusting to walking everywhere too, and navigating the buses and T. I tried to go to Mass in town last week, misunderstood the directions, and ended up God knows where, but tomorrow I am headed into town after a coat and some boots, so I am hoping I have better luck. I might try to get my phone looked at as well, every time I try to use the camera, it restarts. Ugh, they fixed this problem once.

Still working on making friends in Boston, I think part of the problem is I am always in the library reading or watching tv on hulu.  I'm addicted or something. :)

I am also getting acquainted with Karl Rahner, and I am not sure I like it.  People keep telling me he's a Thomist, but I'm not processing him as such. I am trying to keep an open mind.

So things about Boston:

• People don't acknowledge each other on the street, no hellos, no passing greetings, no smiles, very different from Texas.
• It's already cold (and yes, I know it will get worse :( )
• Hills!!!!
• I've actually voluntarily eaten clam chowder, twice!
• Things are much closer together than they appear on the map (but unless you walk, that distance takes the same amount of time it would in Houston by car on the T)

Things about BC/STM:

• First names everywhere (yes we call our professors by their first names, even the priest minus the father before)
• Jesuits everywhere, but I guess that happens at one of the only 2 Jesuit seminaries in the country, and none of the priest wear collars, so my 3 male professors are all priests, but I had no idea, crazy. Same with the Jesuits in my classes, glad I am not looking for someone to date cause I have no idea who most of them are!
• Coffee!!!! 
• The TML is the place to be, seriously.
• BC loves using Initials for stuff: BC- Boston College, STM- School of Theology and Ministry, and TML- Theology and Ministry Library
• Free food - Breakfast on Tuesday and Lunch on Thursday
• The best chocolate chip cookies . . . I had 3 yesterday
• Rahner, Rahner, Rahner, everywhere
• 500 pages of printing = about 4 weeks worth

That's all I have right now, but give me another 4 weeks and there will be more. :)

Thinking about "Marriage"

Just throwing this out there because it seems to be the topic of the hour/day/week/month, and I am sure my view will offend someone. I really never intended to express my opinion on this, but really I feel compelled to at this point in time.

I believe in traditional marriage, one man and one woman, until death, from a religious standpoint.  

God ordained religious marriage as such, see Genesis 1-3 and Matthew 19 when Jesus references back to that in speaking of Marriage.  I know several other places in the Old Law (Leviticus and Deuteronomy) say some other varying things about Marriage, but Jesus told us himself that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, by which, those are no longer rules we are supposed to follow.  We are now to follow Jesus's Commandments, which sum up the whole Law and the Prophets, Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself.  Now this requires a proper understanding of love and persons (I suggest reading Love and Responsibility, or the Theology of the Body, or something by Christopher West to get what I mean, I am not expounding on that now).

However, as a woman who has been married in the Catholic Church and subsequently gone through a divorce (which is only civil), and the annulment process in the Church, I can say that while there was one ceremony that made both the religious and civil bond of marriage, the two were very different.  The civil dimension of my marriage was easily dissolved, just a few signatures on a paper and it's done.  The process of getting my Declaration of Nullity was entirely different.  This is how I realize the difference between these two kinds of marriage.

Having said that, my views on marriage are as follows: as far as a civil marriage is concerned, I don't really care who marries who, as long as it is two human beings be it a man and woman, man and man, or woman and woman.  We live in a country were we each have certain rights and speaking from a civil aspect they should be the same for all people regardless of sexual orientations, race, or creed.  Because we stand up for religious freedom in this country, sometimes that requires us to stand up and support other people's right to believe something to which we are apposed. 

We need to remember we are called to love the sinner and hate the sin, we do not live in a Christian Theocracy.  The first amendment does not only protect religious freedom for those with a Jude-Christian belief system, but all religions, including the right not to have one. That being said, I do not believe religious institutions who oppose same sex unions should be forced to perform ceremonies to bring them about.

The way I see it, especially as a Catholic, religious marriage and civil marriage are two different entities.

Various Things . . .

Been a rough week and a worse weekend.  Nothing like getting dumped on the phone minutes before attending Mass.

I am pursuing my dream, but why does following my desires mean I have to give up so much?  I have to give up my 2 kitties I love so much, especially Augie, it breaks my heart and now this.  I also have to give up most of my stuff, seeing my friends (which lately I admittedly have been not so great at doing anyway), and Peter.  Things really started unraveling at the beginning of April when I decided to leave.

I am sure the hand of God is guiding me in this, but it doesn't make it any easier.  Although I am no stranger to having everything in my life change at once, it happened before and I survived it, and I can get through it again. I just wish I didn't have to.  The same song lyrics are running through my mind that always do when things like this happen: "I say my heart is broken Lord, You say, put down your mourning for I am leading you in joy; I hate what's new, I miss what's old, You say, look and see you would not believe what I was doing were it told to you!" (I Sing by Kelly Pease)

~~~~~~

And onto another thought . . . .

The 5 love languages by Gary Chapman

OK, so I haven't read the whole book, but I do know my 2 primary love languages and based on the part of the book I have read, I can say, he has it right.  If you aren't experiencing love in your language, you aren't really experiencing love.  My love languages are receiving gifts and quality time; it doesn't matter how may words of affirmation, acts of service, or physical touching I get, without those two things I feel unloved.  Which isn't to say that I don't value those other 3, there are times that is important.  It's like being fluent in one language and understanding bits of others, while you may know a word here and there, that language doesn't communicate to you. 

Help these Kitties find a Home!

Please help me find my kitties a home.  Share this with everyone you know in the Houston area!