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What makes good electronic music
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
My wife ran an errand tonight and was subjected to one of the finest examples of electronic music that exists to this day; the 2002 release In Between by Jazzanova. There are a myriad of reasons why that CD is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of leaving in my CD player for months on end. Part of what makes it work, for the programmer in me, is the fact that they use the synthesizer for what it is GOOD at; making noises other instruments struggle with. Not only that, you can tell someone spent a long time making excellent sounds and integrating them appropriately, without complicating the mix. Furthermore, they employ them in a manner that is thoroughly musical. I like to think of "In Between" as a jazz album using newer instruments and different techniques. Drum machines can perform tasks that drummers cannot. That is what they are best used for. Samplers can perform tasks that previous recording and performance techniques just couldn't. That is what they are best used for. Synthesizers make unique sounds and provide unique opportunities for performance and in-studio excellence that other instruments just can't do. That is what they are best used for. Long gone is the time when synthesizers were pretending to be brass sections or drum machines were pretending to be real drummers. Now they are being used as the instruments they CAN be. The TB-303 took on a life of its own long after its release because potential was seen for use beyond its original intent. Initially it was intended to be a bass accompaniment for a lounge musician. Crank out a cheesy, farty bassline, sing Margaritaville and be on your way at 2 am. It didn't meet its market all that well. Its potential was only realized in the late 90's acid craze where used TB-303's were people were taking out second mortgages (not quite) to get their hands on one. It took a different style and a different time for people to use it as an instrument in and of itself that was unique and entirely different from its intent, which was immitation. This is where "In Between" shines and it is why it is my current favorite album and has been in that spot for nearly 3 years.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Last night, by chance, I happened upon the website of Per-Andre Hoffmann. The pictures on it are incredible. There is even a picture of Lake Malawi, which is a place I would like to visit one day. My interest in Malawi stems from the African Cichlids that can be found in the lake. I find it just incredible that many species of cichlid exist only one place in the world. Also, last night my son was told a story that involved a volcano and my wife voluteered to look for volcano pictures on the Internet. A second picture that I stumbled upon is a shot of a volcano and an aurora over Iceland.
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I am reading the following today
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Catholic group not going away - Too bad this article didn't mention much of their beliefs which are grossly opposed to Catholic teaching. Also, given that I have read the average age of VOTF members is in the mid-60's, it really is just a matter of time. They will go away. Never fear, there will always be another movement trying to advance the gates of hell against the Church. They will always fail. White fixated on Catholicism - White Stripes ... I know little about them and I didn't like much of what I heard on LAUNCH but somebody is excited about being Catholic. I can't say I blame him ... his fans should get on board too. Boycott Tan? via Amy Welborn - Well, I was interested in reading this book after I saw her on the Journey Home ... now I am not so sure. Church of England votes to back women bishops - This is no shocker ... It must be noted that one of the bishops threatened to "become Catholic" if this went through. Same old mythsAn Islamic Opus Dei? - Haven't read this but I will do so later ... Emily is with us in the Atlantic ... slightly more southerly path predicted. If it follows a similar path to Dennis after that, well, I might be visiting some other part of the country.
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My One Year Blogiversary is tomorrow
Sunday, July 10, 2005
 Sort of ... I didn't get serious about doing this until later and I still have big gaps of time where life pulls me away. I am happy I made it this far ... now if only I could get some readers ... :)
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What irritates me about the press ... and some recent random reading
Sunday, July 10, 2005
 Not bad since Catholics are supposed to be all opposed to science. (get the facts about The Galileo Controversy) Speaking of science ... First off, my prayers are with those in the path of Hurricane Dennis. The following example will show you why I do not trust the press all that much. Consider the following quotes from the following articles. Fierce early storms bode ill for seasonIt also is the earliest occurrence of a Category 4 hurricane in the Caribbean, and possibly the U.S., meteorologists say. Dennis affecting local travelersDennis is also the first storm this intense to hit the country during the month of July. To me the slight of hand in the wording of these statements is most bothering to me. Both of them imply that this is the earliest that a Cat 4 has formed in the Atlantic basin AND made landfall. I have even seen people on the Internet using these quotes in global warming discussions to show that things are happening that have never happened before. Fact: This would have been the earliest in July that a Cat 4 had made landfall in the US if Dennis had not, by miracle, collapsed before moving ashore. Fact: Hurricane Audrey made landfall in southwest Louisiana on June 27, 1957 as a Category 4. Maximum sustained winds were 145 mph and the death toll was near 400. Now go back and read the statements in those articles again ... With the first statement, there is no possibly to it. Audrey made landfall in June. Case closed. As for the second statement, yes, a storm this intense this early in the season is unusual but it has happened before. Interesting how the second piece of information gives a tiny bit more perspective to the intent behind such clever wording. In fact, consider that four named storms in early July set record ... This is a good article pointing out another thing that IS unusual about all of this. Still, the year 1959 started off with a bang similar to this year and ended up with 11 storms. According to the NWC FAQ the record is 19 storms (1995) ... I find it interesting that weird things were happening in the 50's yet only one of these articles managed to mention that. I wonder why nobody has drawn the parallel between these last couple of seasons and then? Finally, how come I can verify these statements were misleading with a few web searches and yet these articles manage to make it to press? I thought there were fact checking teams at most newspapers or at least a process to ensure that information is being accurately portrayed. In the debate about mans role in global warming, I want facts. Facts exist and they can make a compelling case. Clever wording and omission of information that tries to prove to me that the sky is falling is unecessary and it undermines the press by giving me, the reader, the indication that the whole truth is not something the press really cares about any more. Is it about agenda or news? Make up your mind and be blatantly honest about it. Don't try to hide one in there and say it is the other. What I am reading online todayMusic leads pianist to a life of CatholicismAristotle on AbortionCreationism talk suggests need to revisit Catholic educationCatholics cannot support abortion rights-Vatican - read it and weep pro-abortion heretics. My Launchcast Radio Station - Dappled Things has a LAUNCHCast station. Do Protestants Become Catholics for Love? - IMHO, too many folks convert to Catholicism to marry someone and for that reason alone. It cannot, however, be ignored that an increasing number of folks ARE converting for doctrinal reasons, including the author of this blog and many other folks that I know and have encountered online and in person. Fornication, contraception, and the laughter of God - An EXCELLENT essay on Catholic sexual morality and the standard two wrongs make a right mentality that prevails within a large percentage (majority?) of lay Catholics. A Christian boy band hits New York City and the girls go wild - Intersting ... I plan to do a little research on this in the near future.
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Bowled tonight ... no-tap again ... 255, 200, 257 for a 712.
I am stressing out about our home selling. I request prayer.
I am noticing that my time to blog is being eaten up by this home buying and home selling process, not to mention unexpected car repairs. I need something in life to tone down. Please?
Also, pray that Hurricane Dennis hits a freak cold front or something that totally knocks it out ... we don't need the storm and Lord knows the rest of the gulf coast can do without it.
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We are buying a new house
First we decided on a smaller house but the monthly difference was not really that much so we sprung for this one which gives us several advantages. As we have learned any of the scores of contigencies can actually happen so we may not end up in this house, but we hope so. Clearly this might explain why blogging has been light. We close on our old house on July 26th. Lots to get done so I expect blogging to be light this month ... then I will breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that this plan is less likely to be interrupted. 
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Bowled a 681 NT last night (256, 228, 197) ... I left the Greek Church** in the last game in the 8th spoiling any chance I had at a 700. The middle game was scatch except for the last shot. It would have been a 227. We also went winless last night making up for the total thrashing we delivered the week before. Oh well, our visit in first place lasted all of a week. ** Greek Church: Split leave when three pins remain standing on one side of the lane and two on the other (the pins resemble church steeples) - from Bowling Glossary - Bowling Terms
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Southeast Kansas tornado last night 6/30/2005
Storm blows through SEKFor those who do not have a BugMeNot plugin login: SEKsports password: bugmenot  from 050630's Storm ReportsAccording to reports the tornado was a half mile wide at one point. I am not certain whether this was all one long track tornado or if it was a series of tornadoes spawned by the same storm. My guess is a series given how far apart these tornado warnings list them. Still, it seems a fairly significant event. I am sure we will see some film of it in the near future. Warning text ... 983 WFUS53 KSGF 010240 TORSGF KSC021-MOC097-145-010345- /O.NEW.KSGF.TO.W.0023.050701T0238Z-050701T0345Z/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 940 PM CDT THU JUN 30 2005 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPRINGFIELD HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NEWTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. SOUTHWEST JASPER COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. SOUTHEAST CHEROKEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS. * UNTIL 1045 PM CDT. * AT 935 PM CDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTINUED TO OBSERVER A TORNADO BETWEEN COLUMBUS AND SCAMMON...OR 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF JOPLIN. DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THIS TORNADO MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. GOLF BALL AND LARGER HAIL AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED JUST NORTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK. * THE TORNADO WILL BE... 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF BAXTER SPRINGS BY 950 PM CDT. NEAR GALENA AND JUST WEST OF JOPLIN BY 955 PM CDT. NEAR IRON GATES BY 1000 PM CDT. NEAR SHOAL CREEK DRIVE BY 1005 PM CDT. NEAR LEAWOOD BY 1010 PM CDT. NEAR NEOSHO BY 1030 PM CDT. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND! THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3719 9483 3703 9478 3699 9463 3676 9461 3676 9407 3694 9407 3717 9444 3720 9462 Warning text ... 099 WFUS53 KSGF 010344 TORSGF MOC145-010445- /O.NEW.KSGF.TO.W.0024.050701T0343Z-050701T0445Z/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 1043 PM CDT THU JUN 30 2005 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPRINGFIELD HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NEWTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. * UNTIL 1145 PM CDT. * AT 1038 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A TORNADO NEAR SAGINAW...OR 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JOPLIN. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE... NEAR DIAMOND BY 1100 PM CDT. NEAR GRANBY BY 1115 PM CDT. NEAR FAIRVIEW BY 1145 PM CDT. THE TOWNS OF RITCHEY...NEWTONIA AND STARK CITY ARE ALSO IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADIC STORM. SEVERAL SPOTTERS HAVE OBSERVED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF SAGINAW. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3703 9445 3699 9453 3676 9424 3675 9408 3682 9408 3694 9407
There was also a rogue tornado in Louisiana yesterday but I couldn't find any coverage of it.
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Thursday, June 30, 2005
I am not banking on the decisions of others and how they might affect my family. I am going to do what God wills I do right now and let the rest of it happen as it will. I am thrilled to be married to such a wonderful woman and to have such adorable and intelligent children. I am as happy as I have been and I am where I am ... Baton Rouge, Rome, Seattle or Texas City ... you name it ... My goal is to be pleased with His will in my life.
Sometimes reality pulling you away from a dream has a way of teaching you how to be really happy rather than teaching you to desire things you THINK will make you happy. I am coming to the conclusion that yearning for dreams as an end in and of themselves is not the same as yearning for Beauty and Truth, which you CAN have anywhere. Placing your desire in one boat is a constant disappointment. Placing your desire in the other shows you that joy is attainable in any condition.
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NFP, the place of sex in marriage and the role of sacrificing husbands
Below is a cut and paste fest of some things that I have written in recent weeks about attitudes towards sex. It also gives a little background into how I have come to the conclusions I have come to. I may clean this up later and link to some references on the matter. For now, this is what you have ... Read the letter in CCLI where a man has some choice words about NFP. Now, re-read the letter above with the thought "sex is my god" and see how it comes across. I hate to sound like a jerk, but I am not sympathetic at all. If you are using NFP for 18 years then I think "openness to life" is not high on the priority list. Lets face it, we live in a society where SEX is God and if it is infrequent or not present at all, that is hell. I think the average man needs to get in the mindset of asking himself if he would love and cherish his wife if one day she were to get into an accident and sex wasn't possible? Thats a tough one, yeah, but the answer should be so obvious ... This is hard to say on my blog, but I have made it known elsewhere and for the purposes of this post it is relevant information. My wife and I recently abstained for 8 months after the birth of our daughter. I used it as an opportunity to express my love for my wife in different ways. I feel closer to her now than I ever have. The time period ENHANCED our relationship. It felt like we were dating again. I cannot express to you how much of a gift that time has been. I also used the time to learn better how to TAME my desires in a healthy way. I personally think getting the flesh under control in this manner is a difficult but good discipline to put yourself through. Besides, every sacrifice is an opportunity to allow Him to INCREASE. (John 3:30) It also gave me time to learn more about my faith. Most importantly, the time period in itself was an immeasurable indication to my wife just exactly how much I love her. The purpose of marriage isn't rampant sex. Unfortunately we live in a world where that is the norm in a relationship. I have seen one too many truncated interpretations of Ephesians 5 resulting in men asserting their "biblical right" to indulge themselves at will, and with contraception that means without any consequence. If she is physcially capable then she is fair game. I then hear of women talking about their necessity to think about "doing it for the Queen". Total unitive and procreative love is damaged when the woman is submitting out of fear or indifference as opposed to surrendering herself out of love. Actual sacrificing love on the part of the husband, however, harbors a stronger desire to share in intimate moments in the context of true headship and submission. The corrupt version is a sexual attitude which COULD result in what Pope Paul VI referred to as men seeing their wives as a "mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires". (Humane Vitae 17) It can even happen in traditional Catholic marriages where men have no care for the physical and mental well-being of their wives. People focus to much on asking their wives to "suck it up" and "sacrifice" opposed to asking themselves to maintain a basic level of self-control for periods of time for the benefit of the wife. Ephesians 5 specifically indicates that men are to love their wifes as Christ loves the Church. Consider His sacrifice? To what level should we, as men, be prepared to give? The submission of a Christian wife in any matter is greatly compromised by husbands who demand submission without offering any amount of reasonable sacrifice themselves. Self control and sacrifice on the part of husbands is necessary. Without them, you are teetering on a dangerous edge of treating your wife no differently than the way men treat lap dancers in a strip club. It is high time people kick sex off the pedestal they have it on and get some perspective. People who have tons of children have long periods of time where they cannot have sex spaced nice and evenly throughout their marriages. It is hard for them too ... and they have a bunch of kids running around to make it even more difficult to find time to get away and be intimate in any manner, much less sexually. Some couples struggle having children and they have sex frequently. I am guessing it is tempting to think those men have it great. All sex ... all the time. Ask those couples what they would give for the opportunity to have a child, which is a gift so many people squander away in order to pursue other things. If the frequency of sex is a problem, open yourself to having a child. After all, that is far more in line with His purpose than your being sexually satisfied all the time.
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Kelo and the 100 Greatest Catholic Quotes
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The Lost Liberty HotelApparently someone is looking to make a hotel on the land that is currently occupied by the home of one of the Supreme Court justices. I cannot tell you how funny I thought this was. Apparently, they are serious. 100 Greatest Catholic QuotesI like most of their choices. An excerpt: 1. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. -- John 6: 55-57
100. Sin makes you stupid. -- Mark Shea
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We are about to start looking to buy a home. Our currnet home is currently under contract. Our last deal fell through so we are hoping this one works out a little better. They already seem much easier to deal with.
Back to buying a home ... We would prefer to have 4 bedrooms but house prices in the 4 bedroom range are totally outrageous right now.
Basically
1. DINKS can afford expensive homes and that is the primary market 2. ARM and interest only loans are big right now so people who want to buy above their means can. This helps people keep the property values high.... For a while... 3. No major builders dare step foot in Louisiana because of the good ole boy network so there are no builders taking advantage of economies of scale. 4. Almost all builders around here are "luxury builders" (see #1) ... i.e. you can't find a new home without marble countertops, triple crown molding and a large shallow ditch dug behind it to qualify it for the "waterfront property" price increase. Also, MOST of these so called luxury homes have yards. They are packed together like sardines and filled with gardens so you get all the maintenance headache of a garden with none of the advantages of having a real yard ... for kids that is.
Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clock when 4 kids was a more common family size. I could rant and rave about why large families have it difficult in this market but what is the point. This is reality. I have to deal with it. What concerns me even more is the numbers of ads I see encouraging loans that are quite simply a short term ticket to living in luxury. It gets the house built and the profits distributed. Then it sends people on a straight path to bankruptcy. If that doesn't happen, surely they will at LEAST lose the home. That is no way to live.
You know it is bad when you hear counter-ads on the radio about fair lending. Many folks are sold homes they cannot afford. Period.
Anyway, back to our decision ... Our choices seem to be
1. buy a ridiculously large house in ugly-ville that we will never be able to sell again. I have a feeling this market is set up for a crash in the near future because of #2 above. Houses in this category are going to lose even more value than they have now.
Dave Ramsey suggests #1 - I have thought about this and have come to the conclusion that it makes a lot of sense provided you are planning on pouring a lot of cash into it to make it NOT ugly. If part of the home is to incorporate your faith into it, BEAUTY is of great concern to me. I need a place that is conducive to contemplation. If I am daily having to tell myself "well, we really did get a lot of bang for the buck" just in order to make it tolerable to live, then I have lost something in favor of a savvy financial decision. Ugly is a lie. I prefer to spend my days seeking and appreciating Truth.
2. buy a spec home in a flood plain that we will never be able to sell, once it floods the first time ... my parents live in a flood plain. I don't have the stomach for remodeling every 3 years, primarily because taxpayers foot the bill and I hate living in a hotel.
We already rejected #2 - Quite simply, we were going to get fast and tolerable construction on land that might flood with homes that likely wouldn't flood. New homes. A LOT of house. Good location, save my horrible drive to work. Still, for financial considerations, I know what the dreaded 100 year flood tag can do to a property value. It was a risk, bad timing on our part and we simply couldn't buy the house.
3. Buy a marginally larger house with a decent sized back yard and with a floor plan that is conducive to expansion.
Looking like our plan - We even found a waterfront home that is in our price range with a decent sized lot AND that is within 5 minutes of my office, which is outside of Baton Rouge. We found another a little outside of where I want to be with 2 acres of land, a swimming pool AND almost as large as some of the ugly-ville homes we were considering in nicer parts of the city.
4. Build
Long term goal, but likely not now .... (never say never eh?)
Anyway, this was a long roundabout way to say ... pray for us.
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For no-tap tonight, I got Regular, Super and Diesel
That is: $1.97 $2.18 $2.49 for a 664 giving me a 221.33 average for the night and dropping my average to nice even 226. The competition is two guys on the same team who are carrying 235 and 240 averages respectively. I come in at #3. One of the guys on my team says they carry about 190 averages in regular league. That is where I WANT to be right now as my book average was about 192 when I stopped bowling 5 years ago. I know one of them bowled a 260-something tonight so I have my work cut out for me if I plan to catch them. What is killing me is being square at the line on my spare shots and consistent speed (which was fine in practice this past week). My release is improved although I tinker with it when I realize that I have made a mistake elsewhere. I am hitting the pocket really hard right now. Strikes are NOT a problem. My first two games were 1 shot each from being scratch with a legit 4-bagger in game 1 (and two splits). I relied heavily on the 9-pin strikes in the 3rd game. Did you know you could do math with Google? ((228.333333 * 6) + 664) / 9 = 226You can do conversions too: 25000 sq ft to acresIn our league you get two points for a win and 1 point for total. It is 3-man teams. We beat our opponents by an average of 100 pins per game. We were just on as a team. 7-0 this week. We were in 3rd before this week. I am hoping we could make a move on the top two teams with that finish.
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Gaudium et Spes - On the Church in the Modern World
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World - Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes - On the Church in the Modern World(50)Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the begetting and educating of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare of their parents. The God Himself Who said, "it is not good for man to be alone" (Gen. 2:18) and "Who made man from the beginning male and female" (Matt. 19:4), wishing to share with man a certain special participation in His own creative work, blessed male and female, saying: "Increase and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). Hence, while not making the other purposes of matrimony of less account, the true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Savior. Who through them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day.
Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those to whom it has been transmitted. They should realize that they are thereby cooperators with the love of God the Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love. Thus they will fulfil their task with human and Christian responsibility, and, with docile reverence toward God, will make decisions by common counsel and effort. Let them thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and that of their children, those already born and those which the future may bring. For this accounting they need to reckon with both the material and the spiritual conditions of the times as well as of their state in life. Finally, they should consult the interests of the family group, of temporal society, and of the Church herself. The parents themselves and no one else should ultimately make this judgment in the sight of God. But in their manner of acting, spouses should be aware that they cannot proceed arbitrarily, but must always be governed according to a conscience dutifully conformed to the divine law itself, and should be submissive toward the Church's teaching office, which authentically interprets that law in the light of the Gospel. That divine law reveals and protects the integral meaning of conjugal love, and impels it toward a truly human fulfillment. Thus, trusting in divine Providence and refining the spirit of sacrifice,(12) married Christians glorify the Creator and strive toward fulfillment in Christ when with a generous human and Christian sense of responsibility they acquit themselves of the duty to procreate. Among the couples who fulfil their God-given task in this way, those merit special mention who with a gallant heart and with wise and common deliberation, undertake to bring up suitably even a relatively large family.(13)
Marriage to be sure is not instituted solely for procreation; rather, its very nature as an unbreakable compact between persons, and the welfare of the children, both demand that the mutual love of the spouses be embodied in a rightly ordered manner, that it grow and ripen. Therefore, marriage persists as a whole manner and communion of life, and maintains its value and indissolubility, even when despite the often intense desire of the couple, offspring are lacking.
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My basic politics and watching partisanship destroy the American will to create real change
Thursday, June 23, 2005
My basic politics
OK, since becoming Catholic my right leaning politics have shifted slightly to the left. Here are a few examples ... I think "rare" for capital punishment in the United States should be never. No matter how unlikely a person is to return to Jesus, the money should be spent to allow persons the ability to repent and attain salvation is of paramount consideration and that means life in prison. If we keep 15000 prisoners alive and ONE returns to the faith, then the money spent on all 15000 was worth it. In the United States we have the resources and our prison technology is such that they still do not pose a threat to society. If the United States was a third world country where keeping these people in jail was difficult and the threat to society was therefore great, I would understand the need for the government to exercise ITS authority in taking lethal action against a dangerous criminal. Ultimately the authority is in the hands of the government. I strongly question the decision to go to Iraq, although since my questioning it is mostly hindsight I feel the benefit of the doubt should be given to those who had the information in front of them and who HAVE the authority to make such decisions. Since we are THERE, our troops DESERVE our support. Once again, the decision of whether or not a war IS JUST falls into the hands of the government. I am against any form of torture even if the greater good would prevent another 9/11. I know the definitions of what is and is not torture is where most folks argue to days end about this. If you are looking for discussions on that, go elsewhere. I do feel that society has a responsibility to its poor and I am growing more and more weary of the insensitivity displayed by my fellow Republicans on the matter of dealing with the problem of poverty.
Never fear though, I am not going all John Kerry on you. I STILL side with the Republican party on abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, the role of faith in politics and a host of other things. I think the issues the Republicans "say" they support are the more important ones. I wish they would do something about them though. Even if it is unpopular an attempt at an ammendment to make abortion illegal again would let me know that the hot air that floats out of their mouths at election time comes with a will to ACTUALLY make that change. Anyway, abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research are intrinsicly evil. There is no gray area where legitimate opinion is allowed in Catholic teaching that sides with the standard Democrat stance on these issues. You cannot be for abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research and be in line with what Rome teaches.
All of that said, you CAN believe the war in Iraq was just. You can believe that the US definition of "rare" when it comes to capital punishment is acceptable and you can generally ride the Republican train on economic issues and be WELL within the comfy confines of Catholic teaching. This is why I can be disgruntled with Republican actions and feel absolutely no desire to switch to the other side. Still, I listen to my Catholic Democrat friends. After all, I want to be Catholic first, not Republican first ...
Watching partizanship destroy the American will to create real change
The whole point of this is to point out that we had a very unpopular decision by the Supreme Court today. This unpopularity tends to cover the entire ideological spectrum. Americans (generally) seem fairly united behind the idea that the Supreme Court goofed today. Naturally, I am concerned about the little old lady who owns the 100 year old house paying beans in tax revenue to the city coffers getting booted out of her home because Hyper-Huge-Mart will put millions of dollars in the city coffers. Therefore, I decided to read a little about it and send the usual emails to my senators expressing my disapproval of it. The least I could do was complain to the people who are supposed to be working for me. Then I reached the point of reading opinion. I saw two things:
LIBERALS ARE RUINING THIS COUNTRY CONSERVATIVES ARE RUINING THIS COUNTRY
Very few folks were amped up to contact their sentators and demand and consitutional ammendment to reverse this ruling. Most people wanted to point fingers at the other guy rather than actually take even the smallest step to try and get something done. Where has our will gone when the most important thing about any issue that comes up is WHO TO BLAME?
It seems, as a nation, that we have lost it. I am hoping I will wake up tomorrow and people will have decided to do something to change the outcome as opposed to suffering with it and complaining about being oppressed. If we are oppressed by this, it is because we did a collective nothing about it. We need to stop operating based on our political ideology first and operating on principles that extend beyond that. In my case, that is my Catholic faith. Quit your blaming and get to it.
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The hold the gnostic error has on us all
Thursday, June 23, 2005
is essentially the sin of pride.
It happens with doctrinal liberals who are more enlightened than the backwards superstitious teachings of the Church. They gather themselves into social action committees to do what "Jesus would have them do" as opposed to what the Church teaches Jesus said they should do. After all, they have special knowledge beyond that of the Church which is holding on to oppressive doctrines designed to thwart the type of progress that sparks real social change.
It happens with doctrinal conservatives who have cornered the market on what all of those Papal bulls, encyclials and ECF writings really were getting at. They [strikeout]gather[/strikeout] go to churches promoting a certain type of mass, or devotion, or books that we should be reading as opposed to all of that dissent out there. They have their own studies of authentic Catholicism and crow on about how their brand of Catholicism is superior to that of folks not doing all of the good stuff they are doing. They have special knowledge too, and it is better and heaven forbid you spend any time with those other folks out there practicing the wrong kind of Catholicism.
Honestly, I am sick of it. Seriously ... What have we lost? Universality. My wife went to a vacation Bible school at our parish this past week. In regular conversation it usually becomes evident quite quickly that the majority of people teaching our children don't plan to have more than a set number of kids and they are open about their use of artifical methods of birth control. We, on the other hand, are open about the fact that we plan to have as many as God will give us. My wife HAS the choice to get in a huge argument with everyone she meets about why they should be following the Church teaching on contraception, but she doesn't. Vacation Bible school goes well. She teaches a bunch of kids about why the Eucharist is so wonderful and she gets along with all of the contracepting moms out there who have the same goal and purpose. We have to go to mass with these folks every week and confronting them too directly generally leads a person who might be on the precipice of leaving the Church to go ahead and find a way out. God has them where they are and my wife calmly and lovingly explains our side of a most personal issue and leaves it at the stage of asking them only to look into why the Church teaches what it does. That said, who has the loudest voice in all of this? Christ. The mere presence of a faithful Catholic family with many more kids than the average American family proclaims loudly the statement: YOU CAN have more kids and it is a good thing. We don't have to be out there beating down doors in order to get the 97% of Catholics who use ABC to get with the program. I have to get with the program too in some other facet of the faith. I am constantly being shown that I AM WRONG when it comes to something I *think* I know about being Catholic. It is too big a burden for me to put upon myself to get that person to see what I have seen. It took me time during my conversion to truly shed my objection to various areas of Catholic teaching in sexual matters. I was convinced that the claims of the Church were true but I wasn't fully converted.
I am not a great apologist. Other people are. Jimmy Akin is fantastic at showing people their error in a loving and calm way. He has a gift. I, on the other hand, am prone to the sin of pride and I am eager to condemn. I have knowledge that I wish everyone had. If I let that knowledge become my god, then I am no better than the gnostic who openly lauded his knowledge above those who didn't have it. I cannot tell someone they are wrong without making them feel like a louse so maybe ... just maybe ... it isn't my place to do so every time someone brings up an errant belief around me. What I need now is to let Christ continue to convert me to His truth and pray that the actions in my life, and the explanations I do give are guided by the Holy Spirit, loving and not constructed of my own pride.
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Reading this ALWAYS humbles me ...
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Storm report for Bridge Creek, Moore, Oklahoma City tornado - A9 was the monster. Some choice damage quotes Two areas of F5 damage were observed. The first was in the Willow Lake Addition, a rural subdivision of mobile homes and some concrete slab homes, in Bridge Creek in far eastern Grady County. Two homes were completely swept from their concrete slabs, and about one dozen automobiles were carried about 1/4 of a mile.
One slab home was cleanly swept from its foundation, and several vehicles were picked up from the subdivision and tossed across Pennsylvania Ave, a distance of approximately 1/4 of a mile.
... just east of the intersection of Pennsylvania and SW 134th. ... Oklahoma City Police indicated that part of an airplane wing, believed to have originated from Chickasha Municipal Airport in Grady County, landed in this area.
Entire rows of homes were virtually flattened to piles of rubble. Four adjacent homes on one street were virtually cleaned off their foundations leaving only concrete slabs, which earned an F5 rating. Three other homes in this housing division also received F5 damage, with the remaining destruction rated high F4. Three persons also died in the 600-unit Emerald Springs Apartments on Western Ave. located across the street from Eastlake Estates. One 2-story apartment building on the north end of the apartment complex was virtually flattened, and received an F5 rating.
A freight car, with an approximate weight of 18 tons, was picked up intermittently and blown 3/4 of a mile across an open field, with the body of the freight car being deposited southeast of the intersection of S. Sunnylane Rd. and SE 59th. Gouge marks were observed in the field every 50 to 100 yards, suggesting the freight car had been airborne for at least a short distance. (note from me.. Incredible ... I know the Pampa Texas tornado moved an 18 ton piece of machinery around a little bit but this is just unreal)
The Oklahoma State Department of Health in Oklahoma City recorded 36 direct fatalities. In addition, 5 persons died of illness or accident during or shortly after the tornado and were not considered in the direct fatality total. Five hundred eighty-three injuries were estimated based on numbers provided from the Department of Health, which were then adjusted to account for persons assumed to be unaccounted for.
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On the OSAS answer to 'What about that guy who fell away?'
Thursday, June 23, 2005
I used to think that the logic behind "they were never saved to begin with" put most Christians, for all practical purposes, in the same camp. After all, they have to worry about falling away because scripture is chock full of warnings about it and they are very capable of seeing that. Catholics have to worry about falling away for the same reasons. We come about it from different angles but the worry facing the average Christian about his walk is the same.
There is a difference though ...
The problem comes when trying to identify the person we are certain is saved. OSAS Christians are certain THEY are saved and I am sure there are folks who walk around their church they are sure are saved. Yep, that guy talks the talk and walks the walk. I can see it and his life is like mine. By grace, we are saved and we can be certain about it.
I knew a guy who talked the talk. He had gotten out of prison. He had been out 5 years, was married and "had his life together" as folks would stay. He walked the walk too. One night after bible study he went out and tried to brutally rape a woman with presumable intent to kill. He will spend the rest of his life in jail. I guess he didn't know Jesus, but he fooled me. How do I know I am not fooling me? After all, he talked the perfect game. His life for those years out of jail was exemplary. They were even taping a video with him as an example of how the prison ministry he was involved in changes lives. HE UNDERSTOOD and he fell anyway ... and hard.
The question then, for the OSAS person is, how do you know you aren't just like that? How are you absolutely certain you aren't one of the ones who isn't REALLY saved in the first place? If you are sure you are then Paul's warnings about falling away must be for those who aren't saved, but are on the edge somewhere; those who believe some of it, but haven't had "that" experience that gives them certain knowledge. Those warnings must be for those of us who sit in front of a fast moving train at a RR crossing knowing deep down that we likely wouldn't hit the gas but yet intensely fear the capacity we have to do something so irrevocably stupid. After all, we know we can hit the gas. That capacity in our will scares the daylights out of us. We know we can fall and that is why we are afraid. We want to be certain but we cannot be.
I think that fear is normal and it is that fear that makes the Catholic position more palatable and logically coherant.
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My struggles with incorrupt saints and relics
I blogged some of this earlier, but I re-post it here with some additions and minor changes since it essentially completes one of the segments of the conversion story I started this blog to document :).My wife and I were travelling full steam towards an entrance into Holy Mother Church when our train was violently derailed by learning of incorrupt saints. At first we were horrified to think that people actually kept deceased saints on display for centuries. The fact that they were incorrupt seemed almost a sign that something was wrong ... really wrong. Research of this led us into the realm of relics. This seemed even worse. Martyrs were divided up into pieces and sent around to the various churches for the purpose of veneration. Why was this? Why did it seem so foreign and wrong to this Protestant American? First, I should explain my reservation. Dead people creep me out. There is something seemingly dirty about death that I really think is at the root of what bothers us about this. Most people rather avoid passing by a casket at a wake. We prefer to distance ourselves as far as possible from the deceasesd seemingly for fear that we too might catch whatever it is that killed the person lying in the casket. Second, the flesh seems so much lesser than the spirit that the idea of degrading it to the point of it being worthless is a very common idea amongst particularly Protestants. Essentially, it is a corrupt mindset about the body and more significantly, about the physical. What careened this hurdle into the recesses of my past? First off relics and veneration of such was a historically observable fact of early Christianity. From the time of Polycarp we can see that the Church has kept remains and other items owned by or used by martyrs and Holy men and women of the Church. An excerpt from the Martyrdom of Polycarp (156 AD) best illustrates this principle: Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.(Source) Since the historical continuity of doctrine was one of the primary reasons that I felt I must become Catholic, this early indication of such carried great weight with me. Second was the fact that there were clear indications in scripture of God using items, like bones, garments and even shadows to affect persons in a very real way. (1)2 Kings 13:20-21: “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet.” Acts 5:15-16: “. . . they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.” Acts 19:11-12: “And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” (cf. Mt 9:20-22) Third, I came to recognize the false dichotomy that I had maintained between spirit and matter. This was even more intriguing from my standpoint because I had managed to conquer this objection in my study on the sacraments. Earlier, I posted about my lifelong affirmation of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. To me this naturally follows from the Incarnation. The same holds with baptism. What I wanted to do with relics was say that God couldn't do what Catholics claimed He could do with relics, especially in the case of the incorrputables. What this required of me was a total conversion to the idea of sacrament. I had to get over the idea that there is some kind of division between matter and spirit. I think this is a problem that exists in Americans as a whole. Europeans are not so squeamish about the dead, I think, because they have deeper Catholic roots. The division of matter and spirit is not a new idea though. It seems every major heresy from the dawn of time made the basic assumption that matter was evil and that the spirit was good and that none shall the two meet. The Incarnation is the single biggest indication that there is fault with that idea. To further find fault, from a Christian perspective, one only need look at Genesis. To summarize: God created and it was GOOD. Further understanding of what evil is, as taught by the Church, reveals even more clearly this truth. "Evil is the privation (or absence) of good." (paraphrase from Augustine) Nothing created by God is in and of itself evil. Few Protestants would disagree, yet the dichotomy exists in the minds of so many ... It did with me. What the Protestant convert has to struggle through is understanding the purpose of these "things" Catholics have. Statues, rosaries, relics, stained glass. All of them are things we can use as aids to piety. We do not worship them because they can do nothing for us and they themselves have no power. But God can work through them. That is the lesson I had to learn ... The final realization about the incorruptables was that this falls perfectly in line with the idea of the resurrection of the body which is something we recite in the Nicene Creed every Sunday. Death was defeated by Christ and in that it took that we can rest assured that this is a power that Satan does not have. That is why it is most assuredly of God that these things happen. Why did God choose to give us these type miracles? That is beyond the scope of this little brain of mine ... but there they are.
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Sunday, June 19, 2005
In order to force myself to write about something Catholic in the next day or two, I thought I would go ahead and put a post in place for it. This is in the form of late night ... I am tired, style, rambling ...
I have been thinking about common gateways that lead people into the Church based on conversion stories that I have read. Some of these one liners are related. I am brainstorming ... or braindrizzling more like it ...
Collapse of pillar of Protestant belief, usually sola scriptura Authority Biblical synergy .. it all made so much more sense read from the Catholic viewpoint Moral teachings, especially related to sexuality and marriage Real Presence Historicity of the faith Indescribable sympathy for the Church due to the unusual amount of outright hatred you witness spilled forth towards it.
Generally, a pursuit of truth and a HIGH expectation on what it is and that it can be found precedes all of this. All of the above were parts of my conversion.
For some folks it is ONE thing or ONE moment. For others, like me it was a struggle. This SEEMS true ... but is it? You spend years looking for ways to avoid a seemingly inevitable conversion but eventually your objections are answered. They ALWAYS are ... Its a happy moment to realize it is going to happen though.
My question centers around what FIRST gets one looking at the Catholic faith.
For me it was the moral teachings, particularly contraception and the history of that teaching within Protestantism and the unbelievable willingness by most people I talked to who simply avoid looking into the question. To me, getting married begged the question. Most people just assume it is answered ...
Anyway ... tired .... still Catholic. Bye
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Our Five year anniversary and some other personal notes
My wife and I made FIVE GLORIOUS YEARS on Friday June 17th, 2005. I never would have thought that I would be blessed with the wonderful marriage that I am in. My wife is perfect for met. She is nothing that I expected and EVERYTHING that I wanted and needed. God is truly wonderful. I always dreamed of being married as a child but the assumptions I made about what a "real" marriage would be like included minor to moderate levels of chaos and a distinct level of eggshell walking that "everyone knows" is just part of it. Prior to getting married I think 3 out of every 4 married couples told us how awful marriage was. The only ones who didn't were the older couples working on their 30th, 40th or 50th years of marriages. They had it right. Marriage takes hard work and it ONLY works if you work at it. If YOU sacrifice to make it work well, it will. I know that now. If anything my expectations were WAY too low about what marriage would be. I feel like we were married yesterday ... Add three beautiful and active children to the mix and you have the blurr that is my life the past five years. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Personal notes
Work: I managed to get out of a fix at work. Work goes like this. Task 1. High priority, needs immediate attention. Task 2. High priority, needs immediate attention. Task 3. High priority, needs immediate attention. Not enough time to do it even if I worked 24 hours a day ... this is typical in corporate America One of those tasks got pushed back until Friday but it ideally needed to be done two or three days earlier in order to meet a tight deadline and the glacial pace of getting work done in a massive corporate environment. I am used to small company life. We get things done when they need to be done. In mega-corp world, there is documentation that has to be in order, processes that have to be followed to the letter, scores of contacts that must be made to coordinate masses of folks being in the same place at the same time to open access to this resource or that ... all just to do one 15 minute task. Anyway, we were debugging a database that is used in Holland. I do not have direct access to it. It has to be fixed by Sunday night (Monday morning in Holland). My only quick access to the database is via calling someone who types in commands with me dictating on the phone. She gives me feedback either verbally or via email. Information is difficult to analyze that way. That is a hassle of a way to support something but it is what we have to work with for now. Fortunately we "accidentally received" a recent export of the problem database and I managed to get a look at it this morning and discover the problem in no time. Normally a request like that takes days so I didn't even bother. We didn't even request it but it sure came in handy. It just showed up with some other export information that we asked for eons ago. Last night when I went to sleep I was wondering what kind of hate mail I was going to be getting from a DBA that was going to get pulled away from his family to load an complete export of a database I know worked. I wouldn't be doing all the hard work. The DBA would ... Fortunately, because I had this miracle data, I was able to send out a quick fix to the problem without inconveniencing too many folks. There was much rejoicing. House: Still isn't sold. We are still living in an apartment. Too much typing to explain how that happened. I love having access to a pool. It will be on my list of things to look for in a new house ... provided paying rent and a house note doesn't kill us financially first. Prayers welcome in this area. St. Joseph, pray for us!!! Reading: It is taking me forever to read anything these days. Still, I am forever working on Salvation Is from the Jews by Roy Schoeman Just bought and started a book with a most controversial title: How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Dr. Thomas E. Woods Jr. The book seems to be a well researched counter to the idea that the Catholic Church HINDERED progress of all sorts throughout the centuries. In fact, it argues quite the opposite. It also spends time tearing down some of the clear prejudices about the Church that exist in the minds of most Americans raised on mild a diet of latent anti-Catholic bias. The most obvious example that I can think of is the rampant belief that millions were killed at the hands of the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. Reality is far from it and recent scholarship has pretty much vindiacted the Catholic Church from the gaudy claims of the Black Legend. I look forward to reading it. Bowling: I am bowling in a no-tap league, which for the non-bowlers stopping by means that if I get nine pins on the first shot, it counts as a strike. That’s it. If I get nine in two shots, it is still nine. I had to get a ball drilled and so with virtually no research and an undisclosed amount of cash I settled on the now discontinued Ebonite V2 Clean.  For the fashion conscious it violates all social norms: purple/blue ball, green finger inserts, white thumb insert. Then again, we are talking about bowling. One gaze down a few lanes of bowler’s shoes and butterfly collars will give one the distinct hint that fashion is not a high priority. I'm with it ... My average after 6 games is 228.3. I have the highest average in the league but I am thinking that I wouldn't have higher than a 180 average without the no-tap advantage. I am also expecting reality to set in sooner or later. I am struggling with spares but I am not shooting at very many. The good news is that a high percentage of my strikes are legitimate and not of the 9-pin variety. For having not bowled seriously in five years, I must admit being pleased as punch that I haven't forgotten how to bowl. I did not expect to come out of the gate shooting 180's in practice and averaging near 230 in a no-tap league. Like I said, reality will overwhelm me at some point and I will have to work back up to the 190 average I used to carry with much patience. Weather:There was ANOTHER tornado down here on Friday. It was sighted at I-10 and 74 which is south of Baton Rouge in Prairieville. There were no injuries but it was blamed for an accident that happened on the Interstate at the time it crossed the road. My keen web search skills turned up ZERO fancy pictures of the twister. Speaking of skills Fathers Day is tomorrow ... woo hoo!!!
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Response to Sex and Divorce
Response to Sex and divorce ... I should have qualified at least the words "partially" with my cause being a modern day extension of the root cause. Call it the surface cause ... The basic gist of my point is that with contraception came, likely, the final blow ... the division of sex from marriage. The temptation to be as we are today has always existed. There is, after all, nothing new under the sun. The technological advances in "family planning" have made it easy to not get caught. The risk of getting pregnant is reduced significantly. It used to be that before you had sex with someone the question "Do I want to have children with this person" had to come to mind. That thought alone would deter the actions of most sane single men. With ABC, there is no need to give that thought much weight. After all, we have "protection" these days and giving in is seen as part of the normal exuberance of youth and as you say, forgiven. While adultery is still considered grave by most, I would say that is not the case for pre-marital sex. Cohabitation is almost universal now and with that near certainty that sex is occurring ( **1). I can off hand cite that 21/23 couples were living together at our EE. The numbers suggest the stigma of pre-marital sex is nonexistant ... in fact, quite the opposite for all the virgins out there who have been hassled for their most Holy state by their friends. In the logic of the "single" sexually satisfied man, for what purpose is marriage other than to make him responsible to the wife and accountable to a legal system that might rob him blind in the almost likely situation of a future divorce? I have seen that argument made on more than one occasion. I highly recommend reading Contraception: Why Not? by Janet Smith and also get a copy of Humanae Vitae. I note specifically what Paul VI predicted would happen with the ready availibility of contraception. Section 17 Consequences of Artificial MethodsResponsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife. **1: "It is estimated that 60% to 80% of the couples coming to be married are cohabiting." -- from USCCB - Marriage Preparation and Cohabiting Couples
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Doing the rounds following up on todays storm reports ... image removedAnd found the following article from the Hammond WI reports (all 6/11 reports): Tornado Touchdown In Hammond which includes a short video clip and a pretty good slide show showing viewer photos taken of the tornado. The picture is from the slideshow. 
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Tornado in St. Gabriel, LA yesterday evening
We had some excitement here yesterday 459 WFUS54 KLIX 092339 TORLIX LAC033-047-100015- /O.NEW.KLIX.TO.W.0062.050609T2337Z-050610T0015Z/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 637 PM CDT THU JUN 9 2005 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...BATON ROUGE IBERVILLE PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA * UNTIL 715 PM CDT * AT 634 PM CDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT SPOTTED A TORNADO 11 MILES SOUTH OF BATON ROUGE...OR ABOUT 7 MILES WEST OF GONZALES...MOVING NORTH AT 15 MPH. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3029 9121 3028 9105 3039 9099 3048 9100 3050 9117
Click on image for a larger versionMy sister lives in St. Gabriel and she could not get back to her home because of downed power lines until after midnight. My neice was home by herself and it scared her out of her wits but she is fine as is the rest of the family. Priase be to God!!! This morning my sister emailed me and said that a home was moved 8 feet and destroyed. My guess is, without seeing the damage, that it will come in around F1 to F2 damage. (revised based on media accounts of damage) ... We should pray for the victims of storms yesterday as I know there was a number of tornadoes in Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin yesterday. Not to mention hail and high wind damage. With a tropical storm headed our direction we may not be out of the woods yet. The storm season is officially in full swing here.
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