The Divorce Gap - The Atlantic

While this is all true, I've got another better option:  to Avoid the Divorce Industrial Complex,

Don't get divorced.



The Divorce Gap - The Atlantic:



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Amoris Laetitia and the Missing Word

The Exhortation Amoris Laetitia has been out for a few weeks now. I've done several hours of reading and analysis on it, including a word cloud:

Which gives us a phrase that I'd call the central message of this Exhortation: Family Can Love Life.

But what nags me isn't what is in this most excellent description of the state of marriage in the world. Even the "problematic" Chapter 8 is at least talking about the real experience some people have with irregular, less than ideal marriage. No, what bugs me is one word that was left out:

Repentance

It occurs to me though that there are two possible explanations for this word being missing, one of which is mildly irritating, and the second of which is downright frightening:

1. Mildly irritating to those of us in North America and Europe who are serious about our marriages and faith is that our small-t traditional language of sin and repentance is a foreign concept to Pope Francis. Not that he doesn't have the concept, but that he doesn't have the language. Sin and repentance in Latin America are considered private- the seal of the confessional inviolate in a way that does not occur in the United States. People don't talk about their sin, let alone repentance for sin- it's all hidden away behind the door of the confessional. So charitably, it was left out of the exhortation simply because people don't talk about it. Which leads us to the more frightening conclusion, at least to me.

2. This is a Synodal Exhortation- which means a small representative of Bishops met to discuss these issues *as they see them in their ministry*. They had non-Bishops speak as well, but even then, we're talking an extremely small representative sample. Still, hundreds of people spoke. But it is possible, that in all those people, we did not have a single one who understood the great role repentance plays in marriage- especially in the ideal form of marriage where divorce isn't a possibility.

Oddly enough, it is in those communities and cultures in the global north- in North America, in Europe and Asia- where the lack of repentance is exactly what has gone wrong with marriage. Thanks to no-fault divorce laws- which are completely unthinkable in Latin America and Africa, though sadly Australia joins in with the north on this topic- experiences of repentance in family are dying. Individualism, the individualism Pope Francis rightly says destroys marriage, destroys repentance first. It is the inability of the individual spouses to repent that destroys a family.

I fear that #2 is more true than #1- one doesn't get to be a priest, let alone a Pope, without learning to speak of repentance. And if #2 is the real reason- what a sad state of the family we live in today.

A cloistered Nun writes a webcomic

Truly, I say unto you, The Last Shall Be First is fullfilled on the Internet.

Caritas In Veritate- the Truth behind the document in a word cloud

It seems that even Pope Benedict can be clarified with this study method in interesting ways.

Evangelii Gaudium as a Word Cloud

I really like this shortcut for understanding Pope Francis. Will it also work for this document that was partially written by Pope Benedict?

Laudato Si as a Word Cloud

My previous Word Cloud was useful to people, so I'm going to start working my way backwards, starting with Laudato Si and going back to Rerum Novarum. Here is Laudato Si- and what we really should be concentrating on when we consider the environment.

Searchable Word Frequency List from Amoris Laetitia

Word Frequency list of Amoris Laetita, Generated by WordClouds.com


341 family
277 can
262 life
227 God
224 one
212 children
185 marriage
174 Church

Amoris Laetitia as a Word Cloud Try #2

I think this is a better visualization of Amoris Laetita:

Generated by WordClouds.com

Amoris Laetitia as a Word Cloud, try #1

Tagcrowd of Amoris Laetita


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created at TagCrowd.com

Amoris Laetitia

My short review of Amoris Laetitia, which I have just now finished reading:

Paragraphs 1-7 are a necessary setup to pray over. Set asside at least 4-10 hours to read this document.

Paragraphs 8 to 290 are orthodox as all get out, Church doctrine surrounding the family at its best. Don't be tempted to skip this- everybody in Europe and North America needs to read this part, Catholic or not.

Paragraph 291 starts the troublesome part for those of us with a problem with the sin of scruplosity, or for those of use advanced enough to understand what paragraphs 160-190 were talking about. Paragraphs 291-306 seem, at first glance to contradict paragraphs 160-190.

But that seeming is false. If you find yourself having a problem with paragraphs 291-306, which I expect *every* serious Catholic to have a problem with, take a deep breath and skip ahead to 307-312. Then go back and re-read 291-306. Every time you get uptight about it, re-read paragraph 307-312, and remind yourself that the pastoral response in 291-306 is specifically to bring about a conversion of heart to paragraph 307-312.

The rest- paragraphs 313-324 is good advice for how to avoid ever getting yourself into the situations in 291-306. If you are out of time and have no time to read this document, read paragraphs 313-324 and pray the prayer in paragraph 325. If you live paragraphs 313-324, you will have a much better marriage- I guarantee it.

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Opposite sex attraction can be sinful

With the statement on pornography Create in Me, a Clean Heart by the USCCB and the new Exhortation Amoris Laetitia by Pope Francis, the harm pornography addiction had brought to marriage is coming to the forefront of Catholic teaching on human sexuality. Custody of the eyes and control of our subconcious attractions is a struggle of every human male on the planet, especially in our society where pornography is so common.

Opposite sex attraction when it is outside of marriage can, and often is, sinful. Entertaining a use of sex not ordered and not ordained to procreation can lead to all sorts of trouble- it's a major cause of everything from abuse to divorce to impotence.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in sins against Chastity- heterosexuality gets 97 paragraphs and homosexuality gets only 3.

So I have to as the question- if opposite sex attraction can be so sinful, and can lead to such destruction, why is it that Side B Christians claim that same sex attraction is never sinful? Why are they special snowflakes that attraction does not lead to destruction?

My preferred taxation system

I prefer a mix of property taxes, government usage taxes, and shipping taxes. Eliminate retail sales tax and income tax. What this looks like to me: Run local governments (towns, townships, cities, counties) entirely off of property taxes. Run States off of assessments of local governments + port fees that consist of mileage/volume taxes. Run the federal government off of port fees of an additional level of mileage/volume taxes, plus assessments of states. Fund the roads and public parks off of usage fees. I believe this would enhance economic freedom by basically making domestic, middle class living inside of your city as cheap as possible for the services provided.

Man contests support for child he says he didn't father

Under Obergefell, marriage no longer carries the presumption of paternity.  This guy should fight this all the way to the Supreme Court.





Man contests support for child he says he didn't father:



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