What I Learned From VHS

In this course, I have learned a lot. Essentially, I learned the aspects of the Catholic Church and how to apply it to my life. Doing the love stories, making my own mission statement, reading articles on Busted Halo, hearing sister Colleen tell her stories, and watching films regarding this topic have allowed me to learn all about the Catholic Church's view for specific topics.

This course has also taught me that different people have different views on hot-button topics. These topics may include pre-marital sex, cohabitation before marriage, abortion, IVF, and other things. Learning to accept other's views on these topics are important in accepting our religion. 

IVF

The pros of IVF are that it allows a couple to conceive a child if they are otherwise unable to do so. However, the church believes that there are many cons to IVF otherwise. IVF may lead to unnecessary abortions, or other means of killing embryos. In my opinion, IVF is not a bad practice. That being said, I believe that every embryo should be given a chance at life. No embryos should be discarded of or used for research, and no embryos should be aborted once taken to in the womb. The financial cost of IVF, although an important factor for the couple deciding to use IVF, in my opinion does not affect the morality of the practice in the least. If a couple is able to afford the practice, and would put into practice the correct moral practices in the process of conceiving a child, then IVF in my opinion is ok. 

Abortion: Why isn't this a National Outrage?

Although I was unaware of this case prior to class discussions and reading about Gosnell, since I have now read the story I am aware of the parameters it has consisted of. I think it has not been a large national story because of the controversy that abortion has caused across the globe. Although most human beings believe in the grotesqueness and utter injustice of murdering a baby as it is born, many believe it is just to murder a baby when it is still in the womb. This discrepancy between different beliefs is what may be preventing this story from becoming a national story. Additionally, the fact that the people that are mistreated are more likely to be African Americans, seems to be a reason for it not to be a big story in the media. I do believe that if the women that were mistreated were white, the story would be definitely considered more mainstream. I don't agree with any of the things that have anything to do with the entire story, including how it was broadcasted. 

The Changing Face of Marriage

The Church has ingrained in the minds of Catholics that marriage is between and man and a woman. Traditionally, media and the world were trained to think the same way. However, recently, there have been changes in media to incorporate new types of relationships. For example, in the show Modern Family, a gay couple is shown, and so is a couple with an older husband and a younger wife. The changing structure of marriage in today's society has many pros and cons. This may include pros in the form of accepting everyone in society. However, many conservatives see cons in that it is breaking tradition. 

But the main change in marriage not involved with sexual orientation is the change in breadwinning and salaries. Recently, the marriage roles have reversed women have become the breadwinners. Women's salaries have increased and men have begun to take on roles of a stay-at-home-dad, making this a new norm. 

The Pew Trust from 2010 say that those with a college degree are less likely to experience divorce and multiple marriages than those without a college degree. I am not quite sure of the correlation in this context, but maybe the marriages of those with degrees are more likely to work on saving a marriage, or taking time in those that they may choose as a spouse. 

Parents are called to teach the catholic faith to their children, which is what can be defined as the domestic Church. I hope to one day establish the domestic church in my household.

Dating: what's the point?

The dating scene, in today's culture, has had various reactions among various types of people. For example, some of the people against dating has said that dating in our current context is essentially practice for divorce. This radical point of view struck me. Although 50% of marriages today end in divorce, there are also 50% of marriages that end happily. Saying that marriage is practice for divorce is definitely a twisted point of view. 

Justifying dating is justifying a way to get to know a person. A person needs to get to know another person, and cannot do this unless they are in the correct setting and asking various types of questions. This will help them get to know one another, and determine if they are compatible.

The hook up culture prevalent in colleges and universities is very different. Professor Cronin made a point that students are reluctant to go out on simple coffee dates, but ok with the usual hookup that occurs. 

Papal Assignment

When a new pope is elected, he definitely needs to focus on modernizing the Church. The Church has stayed the same for thousands of years, but the world around it has been changing. The Church must adapt to accommodate its people. 

The future of the Church must require modernizing- such as granting rights for same sex-couples, women in the Church, and various other things.

With this new pope, women should be allowed to become priests. This would open up the priesthood to anyone, which would allow for the growth of people looking to be a part of this particular vocation. 

If I could change anything about the Church, it would be to allow same sex marriage. A person is still a person, no matter their orientation. If God loves all people, than He does not discriminate against orientation. 

There definitely should be room for democracy in the Church. God loves all his people, and says that everyone is equal and should be certain rights, so a democracy would be necessary. 

The Holy Spirit works through the hierarchy as a spiritual guide to make the correct decisions. 

"Who Am I?" vs. "Who Should I Be?"

Who we are is often different than we should be. When we say, "Who should I be?" are we asking ourselves or the people around us? Often times the important people in our lives tend to influence our decisions to what we become. This can be for the better, or for the worse. 

When I was an underclassman, trying to navigate the roads of the early college process and trying to   decide what I wanted to be my future occupation, I was inundated with possible choices. My parents influenced my decision to become a pharmacist. They encouraged me to look int he field because they thought it matched my interests. In this case, the question "Who should I be?" was answered by the people that know me better than I know myself.

However, "Who should I be?" is a question often asked in society, that receives a distorted answer. One of my favorite actresses, Tina Fey, said it well: "Every girl is expected to have caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall butt, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the hips of a nine-year old boy, and the arms of Michelle Obama." The media often distorts the views of what girls today should look like, and that is a negative example of answering the question, "Who should I Be?" 

Asking "Who am I?" is more important than asking "Who should I be?" This applies to life, religion, vocation, and overall attitude. I agree with Parker's assertions in that he states that we should be happy with who we are. Success and our vocation is what we make it to be and correlates directly to answering the question of "Who Am I?"