Wealthy Enter US to chose baby's sex

I just finished a complicated course in Genetics and it was an eye opener. Add this to the Biomedical Ethics class I took last fall and I have to say that I don't even know if I'm for prenatal testing for sex-linked diseases. This is an interesting story about wealthy couples coming from around the world to the US to choose the sex of their children.

I especially liked this statement,

The method can prevent sex-linked inherited diseases. But when it's used solely to help a couple get a coveted girl or round out a family of daughters with a wanted son, the practice is controversial, even among doctors who specialize in reproductive medicine.

"We don't do that. Sex is not a disease," snapped Yury Verlinsky, director of the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago.

Gay Catholic Blogging

I saw this article in the Fort Worth Weekly about a new convert and his experience as a gay man chosing to become Catholic.

I'm never sure exactly how I feel about this topic. Having been essentially brought up in the antique business, in addition to owning one, I've certainly known and respected lots and lots of gay men and women. I think I too love the same things about the Catholic church this blogger does

I admit, part of my attraction to the Catholic Church stems from surface things. I love the church’s pageantry and mysticism, the iconography — and the fact that the heroes of so many of the horror movies I adored as a child were cross-wielding men of God. Blame it on Peter Cushing.

I agree with his statement

“Is there any doubt where Jesus would have stood?” Wills wrote. “He would have stood with the gay man, not his haters.”

Something else for me to ponder today.

This seems like a nice start to really, really letting people know that the hierarchy of the Church considers asking for forgivness to be of value.

I think this picture is very moving.

There was an interesting article in the Dallas Morning News today about the role that women are playing in the Catholic Church in light of the shortage of priests and religious.

While I'm all for people serving in their parishes, I'm not sure I understand how a lack of religious to handle these parts of parish life translates into women and married men being ordained as Catholic priests.

I was recently led to this article about the U.S. bishops being asked to approve a new translation of the Order of Mass when they meet in Los Angeles June 15-17. According to the article

If the new translation is adopted as proposed and subsequently approved by the Vatican, Catholics will have to learn a number of changes in their Mass prayers and responses. Among the more obvious will be:

-- Whenever the priest says "The Lord be with you," the people will respond, "And with your spirit." The current response is "And also with you."

-- In the first form of the penitential rite, the people will confess that "I have sinned greatly ... through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." In the current version, that part of the prayer is much shorter: "I have sinned through my own fault."

-- The Nicene Creed will begin "I believe" instead of "We believe" -- a translation of the Latin text instead of the original Greek text.

-- The Sanctus will start, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts." The current version says, "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might."

Shawn Tribe has an interesting commentary at the end of this article. I will be praying that the Bishops accept this translation and move back towards a liturgy that is closer to the Latin.

Prostestant Church revealing "confessions" of members

In the Dallas area a local Protestant church is being sued for revealing the confessions of a few members.

Amending the Constitution

According to an article from "The Nation" linked to CBS's web site, it appears that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee wants to amend the Constitution to declare that, along with freedom of speech, assembly and worship, Americans also have the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians. I'm not speaking about whether or not it's appropriate for homosexuals to have the "right" to marry, just that I don't think we need to admend the Constitution.

Fr Marcial Maciel

It appears the Vatican has censured Fr. Maciel by asking that he remove himself from public life and administering the sacraments and commit himself to a life of prayer and penance. Here is the official statement from the Legionaries of Christ.

There's quite a bit of discussion about this issue on various blogs. It's interesting to me to see lots of self-reporting "nonpracticting" Catholics who are very, very angry at the Church over its decision in this case. I wonder why people who profess to be "ex-Catholics" feel the need to follow and comment on what is happening in the Church? I understand if you no longer think that you can follow the Church's teachings, but I would think that at that point one should take the advice found in Matthew 10:14 and "depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet."

Catholic University's Womens Lacrosse Team

This is an interesting article about alleged photos of a male stripper at a Catholic University Womens Lacrosse Freshman party. I think this due to the "pornification" of our culture. When strippers become "exotic dancers" and women take pole dancing "exercise" classes, we are actively encouraging men and women to continue to objectify each other.

Here is an interesting article from January about the effects of "porno chic". I've always been conflicted about pornography. When I was younger I didn't really see anything wrong with it (back in the late 70's early 80's). But that seemed to be when there was less of it and it seemed somehow more innocent. Now it seems ubiquitious. I saw a statistic that over 1,000 illegal pornographic movies are made each month in Japan alone (approximately 35 a day). I'm somewhat shocked that there are that many people looking at pornography.

As I've gotten older I see pornography not as something "innocent" that consenting adults engage in and view, but something much more insidious. I see it as something that takes advantage of women through the lie of "empowerment".