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Showing posts with the label America

Expectations

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Danae's odd view of Papal infallibility isn't accurate. ( July 30, 2017 ) But I'm not upset by Non Sequitur's 'Church of Danae,' particularly since I see the funny side of the cultural quirks Wiley Miller highlights. I do, however, occasionally use Danae's distinctive theology and Eddie's "Biblical Prophecies" as a contrast to my faith. I'm a Christian, and a Catholic. I have well-defined views on social and legal issues: but I am not conservative or liberal. I'm Catholic. That means acting as if Jesus, love, and people matter.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Death in Charlottesville

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A vehicular homicide case near the intersection of Fourth and Water streets in Charlottesville, Virginia, is international news. I regret the loss of life, particularly since the driver apparently intended to harm or kill the victims. I'll get back to that. Heather Heyer had been with several other folks there, protesting something — or maybe someone — which or who she felt should be inspiring more outrage. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Using Vaccines Wisely

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Using drones to deliver vaccines seems reasonable for places like Vanuatu. But vaccines won't help if folks don't know how to use them correctly, or can't. Others avoid vaccines because they believe warnings from dubious sources. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Independence Day 2017

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Today is American Independence Day. It's also the anniversary of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's publication and Trois-Rivières founding day. Ashikaga Yoshiakira's birthday, Pactum Sicardi , and whole bunch of other stuff make this day important, too. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

"Renewed and Expansive Hope"

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Wanting respect is reasonable. I think folks who support Gay/LGBT Pride Month for that reason have a point. I don't agree with much of what's said on the gay/LGBT pride issue — and explained why I won't spit venom in today's earlier post. Basically, I should love God, love my neighbor, and see everybody as my neighbor. No exceptions.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Respecting Everyone

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Gay/LGBT Pride Month will be over in about two weeks. Wanting respect is reasonable, but I don't agree with much of what's said on this issue. Don't worry, I won't be spitting venom. Even if I felt like it, which I don't, that kind of trouble I don't need. First, I'd better talk about love and respect, and why I think both are important.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

GSLV, Rocket Lab: Looking Good

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India's 'monster rocket,' the GSLV Mark III, successfully put the GSAT-19 E satellite in orbit this week. BBC News called some coverage of ISRO's launch "euphoric." That's understandable. India is like America in the late 20th century, where spaceflight is involved: and is rapidly catching up. I'm not euphoric, quite, but I see what's happening as very good news for everyone. Rocket Lab's Electron test launch wasn't entirely successful. But the company thinks they can get the system working, and plan to start commercial launches later this year. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

More Than a 3-Day Weekend

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Tomorrow is Memorial Day. It's equivalent to Dodenherdenking in the Netherlands, or Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations. The holiday's original purpose was to honor those who have been killed while serving in our nation's military. That's still the holiday's official purpose. Recent generations have used the three-day weekend as an unofficial start of summer vacation season. That's not, I think, entirely inappropriate. I'll get back to that. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Mother’s Day, and Mary

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Upwards of 40 countries celebrate mothers at some point during each year. America's Mother's Day doesn't seem to connect with Phrygia's cult of Cybele or Japan's Haha no Hi , apart from being a recognition of motherhood. Our Mother's Day has roots in my country's civil war. Ann Jarvis organized a committee in 1868, promoting " Mother's Friendship Day ." The idea was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Good Intentions

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Variations on "dead men tell no tales" go back at least to 1560 or thereabouts in my language. The idea is much older. 1 As advice goes, it's arguably flawed. Folks who are dead aren't chatty, but their bodies occasionally pop up at inopportune times. I'll be talking about unmarked and unremembered graves, insane asylums, and similarly-uncheerful things. It's not all bad news, though. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Speckled Axe

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I'm a perfectionist, a frustrated one. Somewhere between childhood and adolescence, I felt that if adequacy had a numeric value, it'd be greater than two and less than one; or something equally impossible. More accurately, I felt as if that was the standard imposed on me. I realized that it wasn't possible, and that there was no point in trying to reach it. Like I said, frustrated. That goes a long way to explain, I think, why results from aptitude and intelligence tests showed that I should be getting stellar grades: and I wasn't. Autism Meets Perfectionism Academics interested me, and I was paying attention. I just didn't see a point in "good grades." Besides, there was a whole universe full of things not being covered at any particular moment: including some inside the classroom. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Pesticides in the Water

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I live on Earth, so caring about what happens here makes sense. I've talked about enlightened self-interest, Yeats, Ehrlich, and getting a grip, before. Often, actually. ( February 17, 2017 ; January 20, 2017 ; September 16, 2016 ; August 12, 2016 ) A news item about scientists finding a particular sort of pesticide in America's drinking water got my attention. So did what they said about it: which made sense. Whether or not this becomes a hot news item, like the "Flint Water Crisis," depends partly on how badly editors need something to angst over. My opinion. What happened in Flint, Michigan, was real enough. There's a pretty good Wikipedia page on it. Briefly, Flint's drinking water was okay until the city started drawing from the Flint River instead of Lake Huron and the Detroit River. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Olathe: Death and Hope

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Murder and attempted murder in the Kansas City metropolitan area last week is international news. If the suspect's neighbor is right, the 'drunken mess' who killed an engineer from India was having trouble dealing with his father's death. 1 I think he could have found a better outlet for his grief.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Natural Law, Our Rules

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Back in my 'good old days,' a half-century back, some claimed that science, technology, and a changing culture, made the 'outmoded morality' we'd been working with obsolete. Others apparently believed that moral decay was caused by newfangled gadgets like the telephone and television: and, of course, 'Satanic' rock music.... ...Folks who claimed that a changing world made 'conventional morality' obsolete were right: sort of. That may seem odd, coming from a Catholic who agrees with Fulton Sheen.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Conservative? Liberal? No: Catholic

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My father-in-law has been asked if he's conservative — or liberal. His answer: "I'm Catholic." I'd give the same answer. Catholic teachings are quite definite, so it's possible to peg them on the American political spectrum — as long as you don't look at the big picture. Taking bits and pieces of Catholic beliefs, and the history of Catholics in America, I could claim that the Catholic Church is conservative or liberal. That would be as big a mistake as seeing all conservatives as hate-fueled foes of diversity, or all liberals as irresponsible lunatics. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Deciding Who Dies

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Death at a Bible study back in 2015, and at Fort Lauderdale airport last week, has been in the news. It's probably not as exciting as what glitterati were wearing and saying at the Golden Globe Awards ; but I figured now would be a good time to talk about those deaths, and decisions More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Love, Neighbors, and Voting

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(From Wiley Miller, via GoComics.com, used w/o permission.) (Wiley Miller's January 16, 2016, Non Sequitur. The field of major candidates has narrowed considerably since then.). I have no great enthusiasm for November's election, but I plan to vote with whatever prudence and wisdom I can muster. Being a good citizen, contributing to the good of society and taking part in public life, is part of being Catholic: or should be. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915 , 2239 ). In my country, that includes voting intelligently: thinking about issues and candidates, voting for whoever and whatever is best; or likely to do the least damage, in some cases. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Love, Mercy, and 9/11

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Airliners were flown into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon 15 years ago today, killing nearly 3,000 folks whose chief offense had been living in an American city and going to work Tuesday morning. The 19 immediately responsible died with their victims. They were waging Osama bin Laden's religious war against the United States. Osama bin Laden is dead now, and so are a great many others: perpetrators and victims; Christians, Muslims, and folks who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. On top of that, about 1,800,000 folks were stopped last year, while trying to get into Europe. Some may have had ulterior motives; but most were trying to stay alive, fleeing because their former homes had become a war zone. It's the biggest problem of that sort Europe's had since the 1940s. Quite a few folks are upset: partly because most of the refugees hadn't had opportunities to fill out all their paperwork before entering Europe. More at A

Citizenship and Being Catholic

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I like being an American, most of the time. I know that my country is far from perfect, but I'd rather be here than anywhere else on Earth. Living in Sauk Centre, a smallish central Minnesota town, probably helps. I really like it here. But it's no Brigadoon , unchanged and unaffected by the outside world.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

All Lives Matter

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(From BBC News, used w/o permission.) ...I was quite upset about the incident when I heard about it on radio news the next day. Philando Castile had apparently done exactly what he should have done: followed instructions of the police officer.... ...Later Thursday, I heard and read that someone had started shooting police officers at a demonstration in Dallas, Texas. So far, six people are dead as a result of that incident: five police officers, and the person who apparently killed them. Seven officers and two civilians are still alive, but injured. I was quite upset about that, too.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .