Trashy tees - A&F at it again

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

The American Family Association and OneMillionMoms.com is spearheading an e-mail campaign to a popular clothing store over a new line of T-shirts. According to OneMillionMoms.com director Monica Cole, Abercrombie & Fitch is pitching a new line of trashy tees. "A few of their little slogans are pretty offensive to women in general, so you wouldn't want your daughters or nieces wearing these shirts," she contends.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=678784

Caritas in Veritate: The Truth about Humanity

This is part of a series by Jennifer Roback Morse. This installment focuses on the introductory chapter.

Many commentators read Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate as if it were a think tank white paper, and ask whether he endorses their particular policy preferences. It is a mistake to read the encyclical in this way. A close look at the document’s introduction makes plain that Benedict is not a man of the Left or of the Right: He is a non-ideological man of God.

The opening sentence soars above any political platform: “Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal force behind authentic development of every person and of all humanity.” This is our first clue that we are not dealing with a technocrat or ideologue. “Authentic development” points away from the deliberations of politicians and policy wonks. Benedict does not define his objectives in material terms, such as maximizing GDP. Neither does he conduct focus groups or consult experts to figure out what people want. Rather in this encyclical, Benedict reflects on what it means to be authentically human and what the human good actually entails. That is to say, he seeks the truth about man in society.

http://www.acton.org/press/caritas_in_veritate_truth_about_humanity.php

My Sister’s Keeper

Jennifer Roback Morse

The screen version of Jodi Picoult's novel poses the question: how much are we entitled to use each other? The use and misuse of artificial reproductive technology (ART) is a subject that deserves more attention than it commonly gets. My Sister’s Keeper is a thought-provoking dramatization of one of the most troubling ethical issues of the ART industry: the creation of “savior siblings”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/my_sisters_keeper/

In defence of moral absolutes

Richard Bastien

Forget the modern orthodoxy, there are real moral absolutes worth defending. Throughout the 19th century, theories abounded in the English-speaking world about the relativism of human knowledge and, therefore, the difficulty in establishing moral standards. John Stuart Mill, notably, reduced the idea of morality to a form of subjective ideal. In the early 20th century, Einstein’s theory of relativity, for all the wrong reasons, gave a semblance of justification to the idea that there were no such things as absolutes. This led to an increasing acceptance of the notion that all cultures and moral ideas are conditional and that none can pretend to be any “better” than any other.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/in_defence_of_moral_absolutes2/

American Mistra: Putting the Culture Back in the Culture Wars

by Matthew J. Milliner

The urgency of protecting the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, and the institution of marriage goes hand-in-hand with cultivation of the arts.

John Witherspoon (the man after whom Public Discourse’s sponsoring institute is named) was faced with a choice. His eighteenth-century Scotch-Presbyterian milieu was divided between two parties. The Popular party, which today might be called the conservative wing, displayed the rigorous thought that accompanied Calvinist orthodoxy. The Moderate party, the more liberal branch, was doctrinally compromising, but peppered sermons with generous helpings of poetry, drama and literature. Faced with these alternatives, the young Witherspoon picked a definite side and became the champion of the Popular party. Witherspoon perceived that the Moderate penchant for poetry was not a supplement to classical doctrine, but an attempt to replace it. He penned a widely read satire of the Moderates, wherein they recited an “Athenian Creed” which began, “I believe in beauty and comely proportions of Dame Nature…,” and ended with, “I believe in the divinity of Lord Shaftesbury, the saintship of Marcus Antonius,” and so on. Witherspoon was a serious man who chose hard thinking over sponsorship of the arts. On the matter of Christians attending the theatre he was clear: “Where [amusement] is not necessary, it must be sinful.”

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/08/798

Freedom, solidarity, subsidiarity

Martin Fitzgerald

Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical continues 120 years of Catholic social doctrine based on the dignity of the human person and his participation in society.
To understand Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in veritatem (Charity in truth), you need to know something about the history of ideas. This is not a document which the Pope tossed off after a couple of months of reflection. It is the latest instalment of at least 120 years of major documents from popes commenting on social trends especially in the field of economics. Broadly speaking, this is called the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church. It is a collection of principles governing social development while still respecting the integrity of the human person.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/Freedom_solidarity_subsidiarity/

Lead us not into temptation…

Carolyn Moynihan

In a refreshing change from research that looks for excuses for everyday vices in people’s genes or family background, a study from the Kellogg School of Management looks at things like temptation, willpower and humility (yes, really) in impulsive and addictive behaviour. Previous research has shown that people in a “cold state” (not experiencing hunger, anger, sexual arousal and so on) tend to underestimate how a “hot”, impulsive state will influence their behaviour.

The new study led by Loran Nordgren confirmed that, and also found that those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation. “People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation,” said Nordgren. “The key is simply to avoid any situations where vices and other weaknesses thrive and, most importantly, for individuals to keep a humble view of their willpower.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/lead_us_not_into_temptation/

Lead us not into temptation…

Carolyn Moynihan

In a refreshing change from research that looks for excuses for everyday vices in people’s genes or family background, a study from the Kellogg School of Management looks at things like temptation, willpower and humility (yes, really) in impulsive and addictive behaviour. Previous research has shown that people in a “cold state” (not experiencing hunger, anger, sexual arousal and so on) tend to underestimate how a “hot”, impulsive state will influence their behaviour.

The new study led by Loran Nordgren confirmed that, and also found that those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation. “People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation,” said Nordgren. “The key is simply to avoid any situations where vices and other weaknesses thrive and, most importantly, for individuals to keep a humble view of their willpower.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/lead_us_not_into_temptation/

Primacy of Culture in "Caritas in Veritate"

Encyclical Offers Opportunity to "Think With the Church"
By Jennifer Roback Morse
SAN MARCOS, California, JULY 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's "Caritas in Veritate" is his contribution to the course of Catholic social teaching.

Many commentators seem to read this document as if it were a think-tank white paper, and ask whether the Pope endorses their particular policy preferences. I must say that I surprised myself by not reflexively reading it in this way. After all, I spent many years teaching free-market economics.

I distinctly remember reading "Centesimus Annus" for the first time, and mentally checking to see if I agreed with it.

But this is not the correct way to read papal documents. The papacy's prophetic role is to interpret the past, and provide guidance for the future, while avoiding the excesses of its own time. In "Caritas in Veritate," Benedict XVI argues for the centrality of moral considerations in both economics and politics. Without charity and truth, we cannot create a truly decent society, no matter how sophisticated our technology or how thorough-going our democracy. Benedict XVI stresses the centrality of the social, cultural sphere for several reasons.

http://www.zenit.org/article-26488?l=english

Money from love

Robert A. Gahl, Jr
In an encyclical released this week, an intellectually adventurous Pope asserts that love is ultimately the solution to the world economic crisis.
Today, by "economy" or "economical", what first comes to mind is low-cost, parsimonious, sparing, small, fuel-efficient, and, often, cheap. But now, with his third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth") Benedict subverts and reverses the common understanding of "economy" as a parsimonious reduction in costs or a miserly (re)distribution of resources. For this counter-cultural Pope, "economy" is principally a question of charity, of love. In his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est ("God is Love"), the Pope argued that love is inherently expansive, ecstatic, and effusive. For Benedict, the social doctrine of the Church, that includes a now rapidly developing theology of political economy, is not just about the distribution of wealth. Benedict is at least as interested in fostering wealth creation motivated by love, while exercising responsible stewardship over the environment.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/money_from_love/

A new Benedict for a new Dark Ages

Thaddeus J. Kozinski
The Pope's latest encyclical is another skirmish in his war on the moral relativism which undermines our culture.
I bet it never crossed the minds of many living during the Dark Ages that they were particularly dark, or of those living during the decline and fall of the Roman Empire that it was speedily declining, let alone falling. Since the Owl of Minerva flies at dusk, and hindsight is 20/20, it appears to be an inexorable law of both history and human nature that men recognize the "signs of the times" only after those times have passed.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_new_benedict_for_a_new_dark_ages/

What We Can Learn From Saudi Arabia's 'Miss Beautiful Morals' Competition

Josh Friedeman, the Millennial Perspective

I found this at Breitbart:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side. But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=519874

A Provocative Work About the Christian Right

By PETER STEINFELS

In “The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right,” Jon A. Shields posits that the movement has fostered deliberative dialogue and careful moral reasoning.

If you wanted a book title to speed the pulse of liberal academics, journalists and politicians, you couldn’t do much better than “The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right.” For many people that’s a title akin to “The Winning Ways of Serial Killers.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/us/25beliefs.html

A crisis of morals, not just of finance

Richard Bastien

The meltdown in the world economy calls into question the idea that economics and ethics belong in two different pigeonholes.

What I propose to show is that the current economic and financial crisis results not only from faulty policies, but more importantly, from serious moral deficiencies. I will also argue that attempts to counter the crisis should, in addition to tackling major policy issues, call into question the widespread notion that economics and ethics belong to entirely separate worlds.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_crisis_of_morals_not_just_of_finance/

Homo Sapiens, Get Lost

Anti-humanism comes to Hollywood.
By Wesley J. Smith
When Aldous Huxley wrote his prophetic 1932 novel, Brave New World, he envisioned a dystopian future in which mankind would become, in the words of bioethicist Leon Kass, “so dehumanized that he doesn’t even realize what has been lost.”

Huxley believed we would evolve into a society steeped in radical hedonism — where drugs would be used to erase every negative emotion and promiscuity would be not just common but the norm. He also saw us as becoming profoundly utilitarian and eugenic, depicted in his novel by genetically engineered babies being decanted through a cloning-type process rather than being born, and then propagandized rather than educated, so as never to question the existing order. Huxley’s Brave New World is a society without families, without the old and sick — who are done away with rather than cared for — and without real purpose other than experiencing transitory pleasure.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTZkZmFmMGU4MzAzYThjOTBhMjNmZmQyNGMxZTM4Zjc=&w=MA

Sex-ed leaflet: ‘Don’t mention morality’

Carolyn Moynihan

A leaflet urging parents not to put advice about sex to their children in a moral framework is about to be released through pharmacies in the UK with the support of the government’s minister for children, Beverley Hughes. It comes in the wake of the case of Alfie Patten, a 13-year-old boy who fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/sex_ed_leaflet_dont_mention_morality/

“Finding True Love in a Hook-up World”

Written by: Sean McDowell

If you were like King Solomon in the Bible and could have any one wish come true, what would you wish for? When I pose this question to my students they often say things such as, “to be rich,” “to be famous,” or “to find the perfect mate.” But of all the responses I have heard, the words of Ashley, an 18-year-old high school senior, stand out most vividly in my mind. After I spoke on sexual purity at a Tuesday-night youth group, she came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, “If I could have one wish in life, it would be to go back four years ago and hear this same message. I might not have ruined my life.” Ashley simply said thanks, and then walked away.

Continue...

College wrong to host week of 'sexploration'

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 2/9/2009

The University of Cincinnati is coming under fire for hosting a weeklong event promoting pornography.

"UC Sexploration" week was sponsored by Pure Romance and the University of Cincinnati Wellness Center. The event featured lectures by so-called sex experts, free sex kit giveaways, and a "Pizza and Porn" night. David Miller is the Vice-president of public policy with Citizens for Community Values (CCV), an Ohio-based family advocacy group.

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Reinventing campus sexual culture

by Ryan T. Anderson

Living a virtuous life can be a lonely struggle at college, but a new network of students and professors is changing that.

February 2005 saw the launch of a new student group at Princeton, the Elizabeth Anscombe Society, named for the famed Cambridge philosophy professor, star student and successor of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and intellectual defender of traditional sexual ethics. The Anscombe Society set for itself a lofty mission: We aim to foster an atmosphere where sex is dignified, respectful, and beautiful; where human relationships are affirming and supportive; where motherhood is not put at odds with feminism; and where no one is objectified, instrumentalized, or demeaned. We aim to increase the level of respect among members of the university community who disagree on these issues as we explore our common understandings as well as our differences. Lastly, we hope to provide those students who strive to understand, live, and love their commitment to chastity and ‘traditional’ sexual and familial ethics with the support they need to make their time at Princeton the best it can be.

Read the entire article.

Idaho college reverses co-ed dorm decision

Thank goodness for this!

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 1/31/2009

The University of Idaho has scrapped its plans to turn some of its dorm suites into co-ed apartments. Bryan Fischer of Idaho Values Alliance (IVA) says the idea was short-lived because it would have required students of the opposite sex to share the same bathroom (see earlier story). After word surfaced about the school's plan, Fischer sounded the alarm and residents began contacting their state lawmakers.

Continue...

Co-ed dorms an issue in Idaho

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 1/22/2009

Bryan Fischer of the Idaho Values Alliance says the exposure of a co-ed housing plan is touching nerves.

The University of Idaho is planning to launch co-ed dorm rooms this Fall, and then allow for co-ed bedrooms by special request. Fischer informed state lawmakers of the change in the university's housing policy, resulting in what he says was quite a bit of agitation among Idaho legislators over the new policy.

Continue...

Modesty 'irrelevant' at Univ. of Chicago

A pro-family advocate is calling the University of Chicago's decision to allow coed dorm rooms troubling.

The university announced the decision to parents in a letter that was sent in mid-December. The change in boarding rules will allow students of the opposite sex to reside in the same room, and the school says the decision was born from a student-led initiative. Students who wish to have a coed roommate will not need parental consent.

Laurie Higgins, the director of the division of school advocacy with the Illinois Family Institute, calls the decision troubling, but not surprising. "I think it reflects a number of troubling assumptions: One is that sex differences are irrelevant, that modesty is irrelevant -- and modesty is not equivalent to prudery -- that parental values and beliefs are irrelevant," she notes.

The living arrangements will not be available to freshman, and the University of Chicago states that it is not aiming for "romantic couples," but couples will not be banned from rooming together. Higgins believes the living arrangements could lead to an increase in sexual assault and that the university is sending a message that it does not care about promiscuity.

"In addition, it's not going to stop here," she contends. "[At] some colleges they actually have coed bathrooms, which of course further emphasizes the idea that sex differences are irrelevant and modesty is irrelevant to administrations."

Higgins notes that one college student argued in favor of the rule change, citing that 18-year-olds are allowed to smoke cigarettes and own guns so they should be allowed to live together. In response to that argument, Higgins points out that most students are not allowed to smoke or have guns in dorm rooms.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=368454

Moral relativism - the 'troubling' future of America's children

A new study compiled by the Josephson Institute -- a California-based ethics organization -- highlights the problem of dishonesty among America's school-age children.

More than 29,000 students were randomly surveyed for the study -- and Dr. Bill Maier, clinical psychologist at Focus on the Family, says the results are troubling. The study reveals that 64 percent of those surveyed said they had cheated on a test, 36 percent claimed to have used the Internet to plagiarize their school work, 42 percent lied to save money, and overall 93 percent claimed they were satisfied with their personal ethics. On top of that, 30 percent admitted to shoplifting.

"I think this is very troubling, and it's just one more indication of how relativism has infected our society and negatively influenced the behavior of young people," Maier notes. "[W]e've seen over the last generation or so a move to question absolute truth and certainly to question biblical truth -- and it really doesn't surprise me that now we are starting to see the result in the behavior of our young people."

Another upsetting aspect Maier points to is that these students are the future of America. "These are our future leaders, our future business people, our future parents and spouses," he laments. "If they are willing to lie and to cheat and to steal, it doesn't bode well for the future of our society."

Maier also notes that the Christian realm is not impervious to this moral relativism-type of mindset. "Unfortunately we do see these problems in the Christian community, and I think a big reason for that is many Christian families are not living out their faith and don't really understand their own Christian worldview," he contends. "George Barna's research indicates very clearly that, unfortunately, [only] a very small percentage of born-again Christians...believe that there is a concept of absolute truth. That should be shocking to us." Barna is founder of The Barna Group, which monitors trends in the Christian community nationwide.

The fight against the mindset of moral relativism begins at home, according to Maier. He believes parents should start teaching their children at a very young age that money, power, and success are not the most important aspects of life, and that what really matters is a person's character. Maier points to the book of Galatians where the Apostle Paul talks about the fruits of the spirit that the true Christian should exhibit. The psychologist says parents should be teaching and showing, by example, things like love, joy, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control. He adds that they should also exhibit characteristics such as integrity, honesty, and service to others.

Another area that Maier says parents need to be diligent in is exposure to media. He contends the moral relativism mindset permeates music, television, Internet, and other such mediums, and that the only way to combat that attack is by becoming grounded in the scriptures and returning to a true biblical ethic.

Focus on the Family has launched an effort called The Truth Project, which is designed to equip individuals with an understanding of who God is and why humans exist. It also seeks to expose the truth behind many of society's vices such as sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. The Truth Project is set up for adult small-group study.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=341232