Friday, January 05, 2007

all men and women are created equal

1. snark of the week is about a comment by mara liasson on npr that "there are these two 800-pound gorillas in the democratic race..." she's talking about the fact that clinton and obama haven't yet said they're running even though everyone knows it. but i hope that some interns in their press offices found that quote and laughed a lot. and maybe bought it to their bosses and told them that mara liasson called them fat.

2. "i don't know if the pants still fit, but i know the hat will." - harrison ford, on MAKING ANOTHER INDIANA JONES. oh boy oh boy.

3. i heard that ellison was making a "politically savvy" move regarding people being mad that he's swearing in on the koran. i was like, aw hell, someone told him not to do it. but guess what. he's swearing on on THOMAS JEFFERSON'S KORAN. because thomas jefferson had the koran. take that, people who say that this country is built on christianity alone. you can't argue with mr. jefferson.

4. here's something troubling. i mean, it's been bothering me for a while. i was reading the reviews on the book a daring promise, by richard gaillardetz.

here's the first one, that made me say hmmm, looks good:

Gaillardetz has served on the Catholic delegation in the Methodist-Catholic dialogues, and his writing reflects his ecumenical sensitivity. As a Methodist myself (married to a Catholic), I very much appreciate his tone. It is a pleasant change from those Catholic authors who write with what I call the "fullness of truth" attitude. I also appreciate the author's sensitivity to those who are unable or choose not to have children. Overall, I highly recommend this book to Christians (Catholics and non-Catholics alike) who seek a practical framework for making sense of Christian marriage.

this, from a catholic theologian [self-proclaimed]:

I must disagree with those who say that G is unfaithful to the magisterial teaching on contraception. On the contrary, he presents the official teaching accurately and sympathetically. At the same time he is candid about the difficulty of adhering strictly to the discipline of natural family planning, but cautions readers against ignoring the discipline simply because it isn't easy.

and then this one:

The other item was his flawed view of conscience. When talking about the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception, he does a decent job of explaining why the Church teaches against it, but in almost the last sentence about the subject he says that if you still don't buy it and your conscience tells you the teaching against contraception is not for you, then you must follow your conscience and dissent from the Church's authoritative teachings. He should reread the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1792: CCC 1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.

okay, first of all, the last post is crappily written, which you all know makes me completely prejudiced. [keeping me humble: the fact that i can't spell prejudice without thinking really hard.] but because i'd like us all to have legitimate opinions, i'd like people to express their ideas in ways that appear reasonable. you know? all right, i'm a style-ist.

at any rate, it's not a catholic book, it's a "christian marriage" book. and birth control, i believe, is not an issue of public morality - or, at least, i think that's what this speech i've been meaning to read is going to say. i worry that the emphasis on morality above all else is distracting and divisive. more about this later, i think.

5. "Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal." - Madam Speaker. i like how this happened really normally. like oh, the democrats are in power, and our new speaker is - oh hey, it's a woman. and oh, it's historic. i'd like to be able to tell my granddaughters that this was a historic day and have them be surprised.

6. west wing quote of the week [and you understand i use "week" loosely]:

josh: you know what cj, i really think i'm the best judge of what i mean, you paranoid berkeley shiksa feminista! [pause] whoa, that was way too far.

cj: no, no. well, i've got a staff meeting to go to and so do you, you elitist harvard fascist missed the dean's list two semesters in a row yankee jackass!

josh: feel a little better getting that off your chest there, cj?

cj: i'm a whole new woman.



you know what other word is hard to spell? fascist.

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