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A Vocabulary of Delights

series-vos — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:36:38 +0000

A young monk, with little exposure to the company of women, finds himself aroused and seduced by a peasant girl:

“What did I feel? What did I see? I remember only that the emotions of the first moment were bereft of any expression, because my tongue and my mind had not been instructed in how to name sensations of that sort. Until I recalled other inner words, heard in another time and in other places, spoken certainly for other ends, but which seemed wondrously in keeping with my joy in that moment, as if they had been born consubstantially to express it. Words pressed into the caverns of my memory rose to the (dumb) surface of my lips, and I forget that they had served in Scripture or in the pages of the saints to express quite different, more radiant realities. But was there truly a difference between the delights of which the saints had spoken and those that my agitated spirit was feeling at that moment?” [Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose]

Unacquainted with the vocabulary of love, this young man caught in the moment of passion finds himself helplessly uttering words from the scripture.

We may also imagine its converse, a more familiar example: devoid of a proper vocabulary, a mystic caught in divine ecstasy finds himself helplessly uttering words of passion, love and desire.

A Myth in Creation: Awais Aftab’s Blog

Military Chaplains Told to Read Archbishop’s Letter From Pulpit Were Asked Not to By an Administration Official

series-vos — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:51:35 +0000

This is another major blow to religious liberty. I really am astonished at this.

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.

The Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop’s letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit. The Chief’s office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel.

Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants.

Following a discussion between Archbishop Broglio and the Secretary of the Army, The Honorable John McHugh, it was agreed that it was a mistake to stop the reading of the Archbishop’s letter. Additionally, the line: “We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law” was removed by Archbishop Broglio at the suggestion of Secretary McHugh over the concern that it could potentially be misunderstood as a call to civil disobedience.

The AMS did not receive any objections to the reading of Archbishop Broglio’s statement from the other branches of service. Continue Reading.

Archbishop Broglio has visited us twice. He is a good man. Please pray for him and for our nation.

Aggie Catholics

Alcohol Addiction Counseling – The Way It May Help Get Your Life Back To Normal

series-vos — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:17:18 +0000

It is not easy for an alcoholic to decide to get help. They do not feel comfortable talking to people about their situation and how they feel. So, alcohol group counseling provided by a trained professional helps people take the steps to sobriety. With feelings of shame and guilt, alcoholics are often depressed about their circumstances. The professional counselor will be able to help them deal with the struggles of change.

The Professionals

The trained counselor has the experience and skill needed to guide an individual through the recovery process. They are non judgmental and genuinely care about the clients success. There are a number of options for individuals who want the help getting sober. Counselors will listen and not be critical of the client so they can find a plan that will work well for them.

The Evaluation

On the client’s first visit, he or she will meet with the substance abuse counselor to complete an assessment and evaluation. In order to develop an appropriate treatment plan, the professional must gather personal and family history information, medical history, and relationship history. The counselor takes the time to get to know the individual and to find out what prompted them to seek help.

The Plan

Working with the client and based on the evaluation and assessment, the counselor will develop a treatment plan. Gathering as much information as possible and getting to know the client is crucial to finding the right approach to recovery. The client who has an addiction will have a number of issues they will learn to identify and address appropriately to overcome their dependence on alcohol.

Confidentiality

Every reputable counselor has a high standard of confidentiality when working with clients. People will not learn to trust the counselor is they cannot be assured that their sessions stay confidential. It is important to develop a trusting partnership so the client can feel safe opening up about issues that must be addressed to maintain their sobriety.

The Root Of The Problem

A skilled counselor can provide the tools to assist the individual to stop drinking and learn alternative coping skills. There are many problems the alcoholic will face that are the direct result of excessive drinking. Counselors help the individual gain control of life so they can live alcohol free. In addition, counselors help clients develop their goals and objectives that will give them confidence as they accomplish them.

The Decision

It is important to be sure to contact a skilled alcohol rehab counselor as soon as you are ready for help. The decision to make certain changes in your daily life to get sober is just the first step in the process. When you understand what triggers drinking, the counselor will be able to teach alternative and appropriate skills for coping that will help prevent a relapse.

Lillian’s Interviews

series-vos — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:26:39 +0000

LSCauldwell interviewed Jan Mulder, Piano Music.

passionateworldradio

Kirsten Lindsmith on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Autism

series-vos — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:43:38 +0000

Recently, an article appeared in the New York Times featuring my boyfriend, Jack, and me. It was about how autism affects romantic relationships, though really it was about how our autism affects our relationship. Every relationship is different, and every autistic is different.

One criticism of the article that really resonated with me was about my comment about how learning to dress differently opened me up to more romantic venues. I said, “A lot of it is how you dress. I found people don’t flirt with me if I wear big man pants and a rainbow sweatshirt.” Now, like many autistics, I have trouble communicating my thoughts and intentions when speaking aloud. I am far more eloquent in text, thankfully, but nevertheless, my speech difficulties lead me to say things like this. I want to clear up exactly what I meant, because out of context, this statement can be quite hurtful to many people. After my explanation, I want to address the larger picture behind the controversy: the autism world is currently extremely hetero-normative.

Read on. . .

Wrong Planet – Asperger / Autism News

Poverty in The USA

series-vos — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:03:06 +0000

Some thoughts by our Director of Social Ministries, Clotilde Pichon:

A Place For All At The Table
By Clotilde Pichon, St Mary’s Director of Social Ministries

It is sometimes hard to believe that in the USA, one of the richest countries in the world, millions of persons live in poverty and up to 2.5 million are homeless. Many of us may relegate poverty and hunger as problems of developing countries. Not so. And even worse, with the current economic crisis poverty in the USA is steadily growing. Being poor does not mean necessarily being jobless, more and more working families are living at or below the poverty line.

As disciples of Jesus, we cannot ignore our social responsibilities towards our neighbors in need. All people have basic human needs that have to be met in order for us to reach our potential. Ending poverty means ensuring that all have the opportunity and ability to meet those needs for themselves and their families. When we respond to our neighbors in need, we are feeding, clothing, and sheltering Jesus, “Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 40) Continue Reading.

Aggie Catholics

Some Thoughts on Islamic Feminism

series-vos — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:20:41 +0000

Saying that Quran is not inherently a patriarchal text does not automatically imply that Quran is inherently feminist either. Of course, feminist interpretations of Islam are possible but patriarchal interpretations are not just possible, they are already existing and dominant, and one cannot see much objective reason as to why a feminist interpretation should have more theological validity than a patriarchal interpretation as being the true interpretation, apart from the fact that it corresponds to feminist morality. If Quran cannot be read and understood at all without some sort of interpretation being imposed on it during the process, as the enthusiastic liberal Muslims who play the interpretation card would like to believe, then it implies that the text alone is devoid of meaning and there is nothing inherent to the Quran. It is inherently neither patriarchal nor feminist; it becomes either of these by virtue of the interpretation we choose to see it through. Yet this conclusion is something that would make most Muslims feminists uncomfortable, because they would like to believe that the “true Islam” conforms to their moral values of feminism. Apart from the uncommon Islamic variants which de-emphasize the centrality of textual interpretation in religion, such a deconstructed view of scripture is indeed awkward for most practising Muslims.

Some Islamic feminists say that Islam recognizes men and women as equal but prescribes different gender roles for them given their biological differences. Sounds neat, but it is a problematic position from a feminist point of view. It is not entirely clear how much biological gender can determine social gender roles. The tendency has been to view gender as primarily a socio-cultural construct (‘One is not born a woman, but becomes one’) and feminism has been in many ways a rebellion against the social norms of what women are and aren’t supposed to do. If Islam does indeed prescribe different gender roles, and it is a conclusion hard to avoid unless you resort to radical leaps of interpretations, then it is rendering itself an easy target for feminist attacks. All prescriptions of gender roles have a certain oppression about them. Furthermore, this is guilty of a binary conception of gender and ignores androgyny in its entirety.

The problem of reconciling Islam and Feminism becomes all the more apparent when we consider a topic like homosexuality. In this case Islamic feminists who support homosexuality have to explain away many Quranic verses (story of Lot, for instance) and hadiths which admonish against homosexuality, and even if we presume that this explaining away can be done successfully, there is still nothing left that is in favor of homosexuality. It may be possible to say that Islam can be interpreted in a way that makes it compatible with homosexuality, yet no one can demonstrate that Islam supports homosexuality, that Islam argues for homosexual rights. There is simply no textual evidence in positive acceptance of homosexuality, and this leaves a big chasm at the very heart of Islamic feminism. Clearly, the justified and well-cherished feminist support of homosexuality cannot be derived from the Quran. Therefore, feminism has at least some moral values on which Quran is, at best, silent.

Another example that can be brought up is that of the moral status of pre-marital consensual sex. Western Feminists are vastly accepting of consensual sex regardless of the marital status and do not deem it to be morally objectionable. Islamic Feminists tend to tip-toe around this. We may see them arguing that Islam doesn’t treat fornication as a legal crime, even though it does; the 4 witnesses requirement may be an unlikely possibility to fulfill in practice but it exists in theory. Let us give the benefit of doubt to the Islamic feminists and suppose that this can be successfully explained away and consensual sex is de-criminalized. Nonetheless, there is still no moral approval or acceptance of a casual sexual encounter in Islam. Islam morally prohibits pre-marital sex and all Islamic feminists who may believe that consensual sex is not to be morally judged and disapproved have a lot of explaining to do. And all Islamic feminists who disapprove of consensual sex also have a lot of explaining to do because it is a seemingly un-feminist stance to morally restrict sex to marriage.

These examples can be used to demonstrate the two grades of Islamic Feminism:

Weak Islamic Feminism: Islam and feminism are not mutually exclusive.

Strong Islamic Feminism: The feminist principles and values are already present in Islam and can be derived from them.

The feminist support of homosexuality and consensual sex, among other things, is in my view a refutation of Strong Islamic Feminism. Weak Islamic Feminism is a position that can be consistently argued for, though it still requires feats of creative interpretations, and has the accompanying (awkward) conclusions that Islam is not inherently feminist and that there are at least some feminist moral values that are meta-Quranic. Either way it shows that Islamic Feminism is yet to explore these questions in philosophical depth and is not likely to be successful unless it is accompanied by a broader reformative theology that tackles the problems of textual interpretation.

A Myth in Creation: Awais Aftab’s Blog

Abortion, an anti-Christian student union, and the closing of the British mind – Cristina Odone – The Telegraph

series-vos — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:39:39 +0000

Can UCL force pro-choice onto its students?

Had I been a good girl in my twenties I probably would have joined my university’s Catholic student society. I would have found myself among like-minded folk, signed petitions supporting freedom of conscience, waved placards outside a Richard Dawkins lecture… that sort of thing. I certainly would never have expected to be forced to listen to pro-abortion arguments.

But that is precisely what a Catholic student at UCL endures today. The UCL Union voted this month to ensure that “any future open events by UCLU Clubs or Societies focusing on the issue of termination invite an anti-choice speaker, a pro-choice speaker, and an independent chair, to ensure there is a balance to the argument”. In other words, no matter what its members’ religious beliefs, they must agree to give a platform to supporters of abortion. Oh, and to ensure that the “chair” in such a debate, be “independent”. Given its heavy-handed stage-management, I’m surprised that the Union doesn’t request the right to pack the audience with pro-choicers too (just as many people suspect the BBC packs the Question Time audience with liberal Lefties).

RichardDawkins.net – All Content

Give Your Brain Some Rest

series-vos — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:57:12 +0000

Generally, our minds have no problem with coming up with lots of ideas — it’s fairly easy for us to think about creating something new. And with perseverance, we can often turn our ideas into reality.

But too frequently, we don’t recognize which ideas should have just stayed in our minds until we’ve already expended our time, our energy and our resources — just think about New Coke, Qwikster or M. Night Shyamalan.

So is there way for us to better determine which ideas are worth pursuing in the first place, and which are not?

It turns out that there is. While hard work is the way ideas get actualized, rest is an effective way for us to evaluate our ideas.

In a recent article for Wired, Jonah Lehrer describes an experiment which shows the value of a mental break. In this study, 112 students were given two minutes to create as many solutions as possible to the problem of how to improve the experience of waiting in line for the cash register. Half the group was then told to go straight to work with no break, while the other half played a unrelated video game for two minutes, giving their brains a short respite.

While both groups came up with the same number of ideas, there was a huge difference in terms of how well they recognized good ideas. As Lehrer explains:

[G]iving the unconscious a few minutes…proved to be a big advantage, as those who had been distracted were much better at identifying their best ideas. (An independent panel of experts scored all of the ideas.) While those in the conscious condition only picked their most innovative concepts about 20 percent of the time — they confused their genius with their mediocrity — those who had been distracted located their best ideas about 55 percent of the time. In other words, they were twice as good at figuring out which concepts deserved more attention.

And yet it’s not simply taking a break that helps us evaluate our ideas — it’s also about using that rest to engender positive feelings. As Lehrer tells us, “Taking a break is important. But make sure you do something that makes you happy, as positive moods make us even better at diagnosing the value of our creative work.”

So rest and joy are two things that can help us assess our ideas before we try to transform them into reality. And those two aspects are what define one of Judaism’s signature contributions to the world — Shabbat.

Judaism recognizes that unbridled creativity isn’t all that constructive. And so Jewish tradition has even set up guidelines to help us deliberately stop creating. According to the Mishnah, there are thirty-nine specific activities that are prohibited on Shabbat, which include lighting fires, writing, and cooking. The common theme among those thirty-nine items (called melakhot) is that they were the specific actions that the Israelites undertook when the were building the mishkan, the dwelling-place for God.

So even though building the mishkan was sacred work, the Torah reminds us that even sacred work needs to stop for one day a week. And to the Rabbis, that meant that no matter how important our work may be, on Shabbat, anything we want to make, anything we want to do, anything we want to design — it has to wait.

And yet taking a break is only part of Shabbat. While we are supposed to be intentionally non-creative on that day, the Rabbis also outline certain things we should do to help make Shabbat a day of joy and peace. Not only are we supposed to shamor, “guard” Shabbat by avoiding certain tasks, we are also supposed to zachor, “remember” Shabbat by elevating our sense of holiness and delight.

So on Shabbat, we’re supposed to have a festive meal, with special food and a celebratory atmosphere. We’re supposed to be with friends and family — and to truly be with them. We’re supposed to read, to reflect, and to rediscover the blessings in our lives.

Ultimately, Shabbat is there to remind us that it’s far too easy for us to fall into the trap of constant business and constant busyness. And as Lehrer argues, constant creativity prevents us from distinguishing mediocrity from excellence.

So if we want to invest our precious resources in developing only our best ideas, then we need to structure our time so that we have an opportunity to stop creating, and give our brains a rest.
Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman

The Specifics Of Childrens Pasports

series-vos — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:08:03 +0000

Prior to planning a family trip to Europe, you will have to get your children’s passports. When traveling abroad, every member of your family will need a separate passport. While it is not a difficult process, there are certain documents you will need for completing the applications.

Form DS-11

You will need to complete a Form DS-11 for each of your children. Applications need to be submitted to an authorized location such as a post office. Check with your local postal office to see if they process passport applications. If they do not, they can most likely direct you to a government office that can help you. Once completed, both parents and the children must submit the application in person.

Citizenship

You will need to provide proof of the child’s citizenship. This can be done with an original certified birth certificate that has the registrar’s signature and a raised impression or multi-colored seal. You will submit the original with the application and it will be returned when you receive your passport. For children born in another country, a “Report of Foreign Birth’ may be provided instead.

Evidence of Relationship

Your relationship to the minor also needs to be documented. When both of the parents are named on the birth certificate, this is satisfactory evidence. The same would be required if you are using a “Report of Birth Abroad”. If you are divorced and have sole custody, you will need to present court documents as proof. An adoption decree will be needed as evidence of relationship if your children have been adopted.

Parental Identification

You will submit personal ID along with proof of relationship. You can use a photocopy of your driver’s license or a copy of your passport if it is still valid. Any State, City, or Federal worker can use their Employee ID as identification. Another acceptable form of ID is a Military ID. You will need photocopies to submit with each application.

Fees

There are two fees involved and they must be paid separately. The total cost for a child’s passport is one hundred and twenty dollars. The application fee is ninety-five dollars while the execution fee is another twenty-five dollars. You may be able to pay in cash if you have the exact amount or you can pay by personal check, money order or credit card. Not all acceptance facilities accept cash so you may want to check with the post office you plan to use.

Photos

A passport photo is the final step in completing your application package. Passport photos have strict guidelines but a professional photographer will be familiar with all requirements. Many post office facilities also offer passport photos as an additional service.

Stop! Don’t Sign It Yet

Once you have chosen where you will go to submit your U.S. passport renewal application, inquire concerning the hours when applications are accepted. Make an appointment if possible for a smoother process. Once you have completed the application and have all the accompanying documents and photocopies, you are ready to apply. Have the form completely filled out but do not sign it until you are in the presence of the acceptance agent.