A New Game

Today, let's keep it lighter:

Because xkcd did a picture this way, someone put together a place to try using only the 1,000 most used words. I wrote this bit using it. I promise it is harder than you would think. I wanted to use it to explain my paper but I can't write with the right meaning of words. God's pain, God feels bad, God feeling things, and things change God don't quite cut it. This is more straight forward than the one at xkcd, but can you guess from that what it might be about?

[Note: xkcd isn't one of the 1,000 most common words, but I needed to give credit!]

On Luminous Geckos

M ost of the time when I am on my soapboxes online -- here, Facebook, Pintrest -- I am on them because they are fun places to be.  Not that I see the problems as fun, but I like a good fight.  Sometimes, however, the problem part hits home, and I remember I am not passionate about these things because it is a good fight.  I am passionate because this is real.  It's the difference between a midnight bathroom debate about abortion with a hallmate who is swiftly becoming a best friend and standing outside a abortion facility praying for the scared women and the men who don't know another way to love them.

The abortion soapbox is made real every week in that way.  Today, I want to make the feminist soapbox real.  I have two quick reads to do so -- two of the best reads I've stumbled across (one through Julia and one by following links from Unequally Yoked) on this subject.

The first piece is an anecdote about a Luminuously Beautiful Woman and an Awkward Dude.  The second is a parable about a dog and a gecko to explain the concept of "male privilege."  Read these first -- they are good reads, I promise (though you will have to excuse the profanity).  All educated?  Good!

I have to admit, when I read the Luminous story, I stopped to try to figure out The Question, and I couldn't.  It bothered me for a bit until I fully processed the story and The Question -- and then I realized that I hadn't been able to figure out The Question, because I assumed the answer.  It didn't need to be asked.  As soon as Luminous started placing physical barriers (such as Dr. Glass) between herself and Awkward Dude, I realized that this guy was a serious threat to her safety.  We use emotional and social barriers to deal with awkward; we use physical barriers to deal with danger.

Hopefully you can see the connection between Luminous and the gecko.  I like both these pieces because they put into words what I had previously grasped intuitively and brought out explicitly what I have experienced but never crystallized into coherent thoughts.  They also show why, despite the substantial progress feminists have made since the early 1900s, more work is needed.

Yet Another HHS Update

I haven't posted about the HHS mandate recently, though believe you me it has been in the background or forefront of my mind.  I am both a beneficiary and a victim of Obamacare: I stayed on my father's policy later than would have been allowed, but now I am about to embark on my own healthcare voyage.  Because of the contraceptive mandate, my school has dropped student coverage, which was going to be my route.  In the wake of the elections, I've had a hard time not being depressed by the anti-life state of the nation.

Now, however, cases are starting to hit courts and courts are starting to give answers.  Here's an article about a Bible-publishing company who won their case... though I am sure it's not the end of the story for them.  And it's definitely not for others (such as Hobby Lobby) who lost and are appealing.  The rationale for decisions, based on the limited information from these two articles, seems to be that the courts want to exempt religious organizations but not religious employers (i.e. individuals) from providing contraception.

In Honor of Papers

As well as some grammatical mistakes that have hurt my heart lately:

Of course language is not an infallible guide, but it contains, with all its defects, a good deal of stored insight and experience. If you begin by flouting it, it has a way of avenging itself later on. 

~CS Lewis, The Four Loves

On the Opposite End

About a year ago, I witnessed a phenomenon of water not freezing in the cold, then suddenly freezing when disturbed.  Today I learned about an opposite phenomenon: water exploding in the microwave!  How cool is this?  (Yes, it was Sunday brunch conversation.  Yes, I am from a family of nerds. I also learned about the state of matter of Jello and the Bose-Einstein condensate.  Please tell me you want my life.)

Day-Maker #77

Five hour (plus traffic) road trips are so much more bearable with another human being in the car.  Especially when that other human being is a great conversationalist.

The Holidays Begin

It's a blessing to be with family and loved ones during holiday-time -- from Thanksgiving through New Years -- and I will get to do a lot of that.  It makes blogging hard, but certainly keeps me aware of the many blessings in my life.  My sisters and I came home late Tuesday... and have been cooking and baking ever since.  It's worked out well for the other people who live here/hang around and eat the fruits of our labor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!  I'm still thankful for so many things in life: my thankfulness is not limited to one day.

Abortion: Who Decides?

Take a look at this story about a Nevada woman with mental impairments who became pregnant.  It apparently was newsworthy that a judge decided she could continue her pregnancy.  

A lot about this story bothered me.  Some of it has to do with the reporting (or lack thereof) rather than the details... though if I knew for sure, I might still be disturbed.  

First of all, the woman is said to have "the mental capacity of a six year old."  Yet it is questioned if she had "consensual" sex with the father of the child.  How is this even possible?  Does the idea of statutory rape not apply in the case of impaired mental capacity?  If not, whyever not?

Secondly, from the way the story reads, the judge stated that in some cases, the court would have the authority to force an abortion, in spite of the wishes of the woman and the parents (who are her legal guardians) -- and possibly even the doctors involved.  What? In what case ever would it be acceptable for a court to order a person to have an abortion?

If the woman and her parents do not want an abortion, why was it ever on the table to start?  What justification does anyone have to bring it to the discussion in that case?

Finally, a question not about details but about our legal process.  In this story, it appears that the woman and her legal guardians agree about carrying the pregnancy to term.  What would happen if they disagreed?  Whose "rights" would trump?  Whose rights should trump?  

Hipster Love, Part II

I've shared my love for hipsters on here before.  I believe I mentioned that I laugh at them and want to befriend them at the same time.  I find their skinny jeans amusing and their love of local endearing.  Their sense of irony, however, implies a cultural awareness and distance that I could never hope to achieve.

Of course, my mind went straight to my hipster-love when I clicked the link to this article on How to Live Without Irony.  The writer lambastes our entire generation for its trademark use of irony, which she characterizes as a "self-defensive mode" that acts as "preemptive surrender" to any critique or criticism.  While the scope of her attention goes beyond the hipster, she sees the hipster as icon of this irony that characterizes all that Millennial do and are.

I found especially interesting one little list, thrown in sideways:

Where can we find other examples of nonironic living? What does it look like? Nonironic models include very young children, elderly people, deeply religious people, people with severe mental or physical disabilities, people who have suffered, and those from economically or politically challenged places where seriousness is the governing state of mind.

 What a crazy group of bedfellows.  The funny thing is that this list could be one of people that Christians see as especially blessed by God.  The writer goes forward with the small child example to illustrate her point, but I am more intrigued by, well, everyone else on this list.

I'm particularly interested in the "deeply religious people" category, because I might fit in there, but also because that is the category that is out to bring others in.  Yet the writer doesn't mention religion as a solution to irony.  Yet its ghost is there.  Here's the last question on her irony self-inventory -- are you seeing the word "conversion" as well?

The most important question: How would it feel to change yourself quietly, offline, without public display, from within?

One Down...

... two to go!  I finish all the work I have for my bioethics class today.  We don't have any papers or exams, just a final presentation.  Guess who got assigned to the first presentation time, so that she has nothing more to do for that class, other than show up twice a week?

This arrangement is especially fantastic given the large amount of work I still have for two classes.  So prayers of thanksgiving for that presentation and petition for two papers and exams, if you have a moment to talk to God.  Thanks!

Brain Death, Soul Death, and PVS

Because I spend too much time on Facebook once papering time comes around, I found this article the other day.  It's about a man in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) who is able to communicate with doctors via fMRI.  This development certainly complicates the debate about the care of patients in PVS -- something we are discussing in my bioethics class today.

John Paul II, everyone's favorite Polish, pro-life pope, stated that brain death -- the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain function -- could be considered the death of the person.  That is to say, it is an indication that the soul has departed from the body.  (From a Catholic perspective, that is the definition of death.  Medical signs are indications that this event has happened.)  He also stated that patients in PVS are alive and, as living human beings, deserve the care given to human beings, specifically food and water/nutrition and hydration.

[Note: A patient in PVS has some brain activity.  This person demonstrates lower brain function and sometimes higher brain activity as well.  This condition is not medically (or morally) equivalent with brain death.]

JPII of course caused a stir by this second statement, but this latest medical finding lends support to his position: this person's soul is still present.

Day-Maker #76

When I am searching the web from Tim Horton's wireless, Google thinks I am in Canada.  (Yes, I do have that many tabs open.  Don't judge.)

How to Change the World

I like to joke that in my family, we solve the world's problems over the dinner table.  So far, we haven't really solved any problems, but we certainly spend much conversation time discussing what is wrong with the world and how to fix it.

One topic we hit on again and again is education disparity.  Why do certain people (i.e. races, ethnicity, genders) enter certain fields of study more frequently?  Is this a problem and if so, what needs to be done?  My siblings all went to an elite high school that started an affirmative action program while they were there.  Is this a good thing?  One sister is a female engineer.  Why aren't there more women in her field and in the maths and sciences in general?

In general, we agreed on one thing: to solve the problem for real, you need to start earlier than high school.  The gaps are there already, and ultimately the solution comes from keeping the gaps from being formed, not closing the gaps.  But how do you do that?

This morning, I stumbled across part of the answer to the gender question: Goldie Blox.  One woman's (brilliant) quest to bridge the gap and bring more women into engineering.  If you want women engineers, where do you start?

With little girls.

This solution in brilliant because it is made to appeal to little girls as little girls.  The subtle message is "You can be an inventor and keep your femininity" (but in a language little girls can understand).

Logic Puzzles

Too much research for my morality class, and my brain hurts.  However, this xkcd seems appropriate:

To Be a Flirt

Today, I stumbled across this article on flirting in a women's magazine with conservative values.  The basic message seems to be "don't flirt to get things," although I have to admit, I found it slightly hazy.  Either way, the writer offers a different view from the Wall Street Journal's take, which seems to be "flirt to get what you want; just be careful."  Neither of them analyzes the study that they both cite, which seems to be more interesting than either commentary.  (I just need to find time to hunt it down.)

Both these articles beg the question: What is flirting?  Only once we know what flirting is can we decide whether or not flirting is acceptable -- and if so, when and how.  So I pose these questions:

1) What is flirting?
2) For what purpose is flirting acceptable?  Unacceptable?
3) Does your "relationship status" (single, dating, married) make a difference?  Why or why not?
4) What is the difference between flirting and emotional manipulation?

Game Time

This weekend, Shelly and I played a rousing game of "What's your favorite heresy?"  It's inspired by reading too much from the patristic period.  The game is simple: ask yourself, "What twisting of the truth appeals the most to my inner heretic?"  Answer out loud!

Mine is easy: gnosticism.  There is a part of me that instinctively rejects the material world and wants to live as pure intellect.  However, I live in a world created by a good God, and luckily for me, God threw in a healthy dose of love for the sacraments when He made me.  My equally instinctive understanding of the sacramentality of the world is my saving grace.  Even the physical order mediates God to us, so I can see Him everywhere.  How then can I reject the material world for real?

Day-Maker #75

This weekend, as I slogged my way through more research, a certain young man made his way west to visit me.  I warned him that I was overwhelmed with schoolwork and so much of Saturday evening would have to be dedicated to studying.  So he cooked as I read.

Now I have leftovers that someone else made sitting in my fridge and packing dinner for tonight was so easy.

Day-Maker #74

Watching a little boy try to receive Communion.  His parents were ahead of him, so they didn't see; his older sister shook her head at the priest, who simply gave him a blessing.  The boy went away grinning at his near success.

Catch-Up

I missed Saturday and Sunday.  Shame on me!  Consider this Saturday's post.

In addition to the two papers I mentioned before, I am also doing a presentation for my bioethics class.  I am looking at the ethical discussion surrounded cesarean deliveries at the mother's request -- when a woman wants a c-section, in spite of the fact that no medical reason suggests it.

What I am swiftly learning is one undisputed fact: we don't have enough research regarding childbirth.  No one knows the range of medical risks and benefits.  Also what I am learning is that as a society we are seeking more and more control.  We don't like the idea of our bodies working, unless we can choose the when and how.

New Friends?

I no longer have room for friends in my car, so it's a good thing I don't have to drive people places.  I am carrying around a library in my car.  My backseat and passenger seat have been converted to bookshelves.  It's easy to tell that it's paper time!  This semester I am comparing Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine's views of gender in Eden and the eschaton (were we male and female in the beginning?  will we be in the end?) and I am reading everything there is to read about divine impassibility (God is not changed by the world; i.e. he cannot suffer)... at least what's been written over the past hundred years or so.

This state of affairs means that I eat, sleep, and breath theology, so these posts might be a little school-oriented.  I will do my best to moderate my inner nerd!

Resurrection Bodies

This semester, I am researching early understandings of gendered bodies at the time of the resurrection.  Will our glorified bodies be male and female?  St. Gregory of Nyssa thinks we will not be man and woman at the resurrection.  St. Augustine of Hippo disagrees:

In the resurrection, the blemishes of the body will be gone, but the nature of the body will remain.  And, certainly, a woman's sex is her nature and no blemish; only in the resurrection there will be no conception or child-bearing associated with her nature.  Her members will remain as before, with the former purpose sublimated to a newer beauty... Her womanhood will be a hymn to the wisdom of God, who first made her a woman. (City of God, Bk 22, Ch. 19) 

How beautiful is that!  I just want to sit and meditate upon it for a while.  Sadly, I have to keep working, so I am blogging it instead.

Day-Maker #73

As I was driving up to Ohio on Sunday, I pulled into a toll plaza and rolled down my window to take my ticket.  I encountered a common problem in my life -- I could not reach the ticket while remaining buckled in my seat with my foot on the brake.  At that exact moment, a toll worker was walking across the plaza... and he took the ticket out and handed it to me.  Thank you, kind sir!

The Things For Which People Die

I know I am just jumping on the blog/Facebook/Twitter/everything else bandwagon here, but today is election day.  People died so we could have the right to vote.  As a woman, I am part of the last group to attain this right.  Women have had the vote for under one hundred years in this country.  (Think about that, ladies!)  However, no matter who you are, someone sacrificed his life for you to be able to have a say in your government.  I know politics can be disillusioning.  I know there are few (if any) good choices.  But your vote still matters.  Go find a poll.

P.S.  If my little spiel didn't convict you, try reading this (from the maker of xkcd.com).

National Something Month

For a while, I have I have known that November is National Novel Writing Month.  Then I learned it is also "National Facial Hair Month" (to people not in my head, it is more commonly known as as "Movember" and "No-Shave November").  Much as the Novel Writing appeals to me, it does not appeal enough to make it happen.  And there is no appeal of the facial hair bit, so I will not be vicariously participating (much to a certain boy's disappointment). Then I discovered the bit of November for me: National Blog Posting Month -- the lazy-man's version of the Novel Writing.

I am getting on the bandwagon late, but this challenge will hopefully jumpstart my creative juices that have been sadly lacking on the blog-front lately.  Since I am starting five days late, I will go five days into December.  Wish me luck -- or better yet, read and respond regularly, so that I have some encouragement in this act of discipline.