Vox Nova

Part 3: The Person, the Other, and the Community in communio Ecclesiology

Part 4: Affinity and Lifestyle Enclaves

Part 5: Communities of Memory

Part 6: The Parish and the Mission of the Laity

“Civic” Ministry

Having considered the role of the parish and the mission and responsibility proper to the laity, we can consider practical ways in which the principles of the public life can be fostered at the level of local parishes. We recall at this point our previous discussion of how the individualism that permeates American culture alienates the individual from the community to the point that he loses his sense of relatedness to others. The local parish can restore a sense of belonging among its members through many different ways. Initially, the parish should have small groups with different focuses (e.g. bible study groups, singles groups, married couples groups, book clubs). These are in addition to diverse ministries (e.g. catechesis, social justice ministry, liturgical ministry) that are assumed to be in place in most parishes. Also, the parish should have a structured series of social events such as socials, pot lucks, and festivals, just to name a few. These initial structures need to be in place because they allow parishioners to interact with one another in a casual way but also give them an opportunity to work together for a common goal as in the case of a children’s play or the organization of a festival. In addition, these structures are meant to provide a foundation upon which a “civic” ministry can be built, which I suggest next.

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Christian Identity and Communities of Memory: Renewing the Public Life at the Parish Level (Part 6)

May 13, 2009

Part 3: The Person, the Other, and the Community in communio Ecclesiology

Part 4: Affinity and Lifestyle Enclaves

Part 5: Communities of Memory

The Parish and the Mission of the Laity

The Second Vatican Council recognized the important role of the parish in the context of the universal Church: “The parish offers an outstanding example of community apostolate, for it gathers into a unity all the human diversities that are found there and inserts them into the universality of the Church.”[1] With regard to the mission of the laity, the same document, the Decree on the Apostolate of Laity, highlights how the

laity should develop the habit of working in the parish in close union with their priests, of bringing before the ecclesial community their own problems, world problems, and questions regarding man’s salvation, to examine them together and to solve them by general discussion.[2]

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Christian Identity and Communities of Memory: Renewing the Public Life at the Parish Level (Part 5)

May 12, 2009

Part 3: The Person, the Other, and the Community in communio Ecclesiology

Part 4: Affinity and Lifestyle Enclaves

Communities of Memory

Bellah directly contrasts lifestyle enclaves with communities of memory, which he defines as those communities that do not forget their past. A community of memory is involved in “retelling its story, its constitutive narrative, and in so doing, it offers examples of the men and women who have embodied and exemplified the meaning of the community.”[1] As a community of memory, the Church retells the story of our faith when we celebrate the memorial of the Lord’s sacrifice: “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). Throughout the liturgical year, the Church also remembers the examples of the saints who throughout the centuries have unwaveringly chosen to follow Christ. Thus, it is through the liturgy (literally meaning “the people’s work”) that the Church remains a community of memory. In the liturgy, the People of God participate in the work of God.[2] Read the rest of this entry »

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Christian Identity and Communities of Memory: Renewing the Public Life at the Parish Level (Part 4)

May 8, 2009

Part 3: The Person, the Other, and the Community in communio Ecclesiology

Affinity and Lifestyle Enclaves

Although American culture is highly individualistic and its emphasis can be quite overpowering, the human tendency toward relationships is still present. Americans across the country still gather in small groups around the country: voluntary associations, country clubs, bowling leagues, church groups, sewing clubs, just to name a few. However, it is necessary to make the distinction between superficial and genuine communities, which Bellah calls lifestyle enclaves and communities of memory, respectively. Bellah notes that lifestyle, as opposed to community, is “fundamentally segmental and celebrates the narcissism of similarity.”[1] Lifestyle enclaves, then, are self-contained groups in which only those with similar tastes and interests gather together. Lifestyle enclaves are sectarian. Due to their heavy reliance on affinity, they tend to create boundaries and fences, where those outside of the group who are dissimilar or different are unwelcomed. They fragment and limit the person, because they offer a narrow view of the world: the only one that is shared in common. Read the rest of this entry »

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Christian Identity and Communities of Memory: Renewing the Public Life at the Parish Level (Part 3)

May 7, 2009

The Person, the Other, and the Community in communio Ecclesiology

In order to overcome the limitations individualism imposes on us as Catholics, we need to understand how the Church views the person (as opposed to the individual), the other (our neighbor), and the community in the context of communio ecclesiology. The Incarnation makes Christianity so distinct from other major religions, because it follows that the Christian who is searching for God encounters Him in another person: Jesus Christ. Therefore, the encounter between the individual and God in Christianity is a personal encounter, because the Christian is faced with someone concrete and familiar: a God who shares his or her same human nature. The Incarnation has given the meeting between humans and God a personal character. This understanding of the person is quite different from the understanding of the individual that takes place in the American culture as sketched above. Joseph Ratzinger summarizes well this different perspective on the individual when he writes that:

Christian faith is not based on the atomized individual but comes from the knowledge that there is no such thing as the mere individual, that on the contrary man is himself only when he is fitted into the whole: into mankind, history, the cosmos.[1]

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Christian Identity and Communities of Memory: Renewing the Public Life at the Parish Level (Part 2)

May 6, 2009

The Challenge of Individualism

We are Catholics, but we are Americans at the same time. It is an illusion to think that we can live our lives as “good” Catholics while being isolated from the larger American society. Inevitably, if we are to engage American culture, we have to confront and understand the essential aspects of how Americans view themselves, their neighbors, and the world around them.

9 Comments | Culture, Democracy, Evangelization, Human Person, Identity, Individualism, Katerina Ivanovna | Permalink
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Open Thread: What do you understand by the term “public life”?

April 6, 2009

I am writing a paper for my Faith and Dominant American Culture class and I need input from Catholics (or even Christians from other denominations) as to what they understand by the term “public life.” Why do I need the input? I need to get an idea of where Catholics stand with regard to the “public”: how do they understand it? How do they approach it? You can take whatever angle or approach you want. Basically, when you think of the “public” or the “public life”, what comes to mind first? Also, how do you personally feel about the “public” or “public life”?

I will be posting my final paper here in May. Please feel free to share your thoughts! Thanks in advance!

6 Comments | America, Culture, Katerina Ivanovna | Permalink
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When are we going to stop yelling at each other?

April 3, 2009

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.” (Mt 12:25)

I haven’t posted as much in recent times, because many things have happened in our lives in the past few months: Policraticus and I happened to get married in the middle of a hurricane, I have been on extensive business travel, working on a Masters part-time, trying to publish a paper and I honestly got burned out from the Catholic blogosphere during the election cycle. The latter got to the point that it was hurting my spiritual life and my hope in decent and charitable dialogue with other Catholics.

That being said, I am not going to have time to write posts and read comments extensively until probably June when I finish my Masters, but I can somewhat follow the discussion that went on in my post regarding Cardinal DiNardo’s response to the Notre Dame “incident”, so to speak. I rejoice every time that a bishop defends the dignity of every person. I rejoice that our own Cardinal DiNardo has chosen to be outspoken about Notre Dame inviting President Obama and granting him an honorary law degree. I rejoice every time that our bishops speak sternly about the sins against undocumented migrants. I lament, on the other hand, when they are not as outspoken about torture and war. However, I will not fall into the trap of not rejoicing when a bishop speaks strongly about abortion and not about, say, health care or war. A pronouncement that defends life at any of its stages is always welcomed and a reason for rejoicing. I will not fall into the same trap that conservatives sometimes fall into when Democrats make a move that protect life and cannot recognize it as a victory for the pro-life cause, regardless of how small it may be. Liberals make the same mistake when they cannot come around to recognizing that, for example, former President Bush also happened to do things that ultimately helped the pro-life cause. Yes, he led an immoral war. He also allowed torture. That should make us, as Catholics, take things that either conservatives and liberals do with a grain of salt, but at this point, any small victory we can have in the pro-life cause should be a cause for rejoicing.

40 Comments | Abortion, Catholic Social Teaching, Human Person, Individualism, Katerina Ivanovna | Permalink
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Cardinal DiNardo’s take on the Notre Dame issue

April 2, 2009

I attended a talk on Paul last night by our own Cardinal DiNardo and one of my friends told me about an article he wrote regarding the Notre Dame issue that we are all very well aware of. He is the first American cardinal to denounce Notre Dame’s move. I personally have not expressed my thoughts about the issue in this blog, but for what is worth, I agree completely with our shepherd. He is a great man of courage and I’m very glad we have him as our archbishop and “spokesperson”!

92 Comments | Abortion, Bishops, Culture of Death, Culture of Life, Education, Katerina Ivanovna, Obama | Permalink
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Discovering the American Myth of Origin

March 12, 2009

(This is a synthesis paper I wrote for my “Faith and Dominant American Culture” class. It was supposed to be a synthesis paper, not a research paper: a way of showing that we have appropriated the knowledge that we have accumulated throughout the first half of the course, so don’t expect an extensive treatment of the points I make in the paper. The paper is simply supposed to pose questions that we should answer by the end of the course through a final research paper. The class has been mainly based on Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, Russell Kirk’s The Roots of American Order and Robert Bellah’s Habits of the Heart.)

Introduction

When we look at America today as a people of faith, we often find ourselves overwhelmed wondering how it is that we have come the point where we are today. We witness an increasing number of divorces, single-parent families, cohabiting couples, premarital sexual relations among young people, and a nation divided by issues such as abortion, assisted suicide, torture, and the definition of the institution of marriage in our society. All these issues are in addition to chronic consumerism and a growing economic gap between the rich and the poor. Christians are called to make the Gospel message known to all, but with such bleak circumstances and a culture that often seems ambivalent to Christianity and religion altogether, the prospects of successfully transforming the world with the saving love of Christ do not look too promising. Christians of all ages have lived through difficult times and even hostile communities. But history tells us of Christians who, because of their steady faith, incessant hope, and self-giving love, proved successful in the long term. For example, even in the midst of the frustration that is palpable in several of St. Paul’s letters, he nevertheless pleads incessantly with the people of Corinth so that they may leave their old immoral ways behind and act according to the Gospel. Or in the middle of Roman persecution, Justin Martyr still appeals to the Roman Emperor saying that Christians were his “allies in promoting peace.” [1] Their success, moreover, can also be attributed to how well they knew their audience—their values, problems, and concerns—because that knowledge made them more effective evangelists. It is in the example of these men and women that has left such an imprint in the secular world—the imprint of Christ—and the Church that we should ultimately look up to so we can do the same in America. Read the rest of this entry »

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Quote of the Week: Habits of the Heart

February 19, 2009

“We [the authors] believe that much of the thinking about the self of educated Americans, thinking that has become almost hegemonic in our universities and much of the middle class, is based on inadequate social science, impoverished philosophy, and vacuous theology. There are truths we do not see when we adopt the language of radical individualism. We find ourselves not independently of other people and institutions but rather through them. We never get to the bottom of our selves on our own. We discover who we are face to face and side by side with others in work, love, and learning. All of our activity goes on in relationships, groups, associations, and communities ordered by institutional structures and interpreted by cultural patterns of meaning. Our individualism is itself one such pattern. And the positive side of our individualism, our sense of the dignity, worth, and moral autonomy of the individual, is dependent in thousand ways on a social, cultural, and institutional context that keeps us afloat even when we cannot very well describe it. [...] We are not simply ends in ourselves, either as individuals or as a society. We are parts of a larger whole that we can neither forget nor imagine in our own image without paying a high price. If we are not to have a self that hangs in the void, slowly twisting in the wind, these are issues we cannot ignore.”

Emphasis added.

Bellah, Robert, et al. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. 3rd ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 84.

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Vox Nova at the Library: The Catholic Worker Movement – Intellectual and Spiritual Origins by Mark and Louise Zwick

February 17, 2009

(My husband showed me this book in a half-price bookstore a couple of years ago and after reading it my life has never been the same. This book introduced me to the Catholic Worker movement, which I barely knew beforehand. It now stands as the first of many books I have read about the movement and the cause for many long conversations between my husband and I about how we understand and try to live out our faith. Since reading the book, we have had the pleasure to meet the authors, Mark and Louise Zwick, founders of the Houston Catholic Worker [Casa Juan Diego] and who day after day, without a break, perform the corporal works of mercy that Day and Maurin emphasized so much.)

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin Misunderstood

Known by many only as a secular activist or as a Communist by her strongest opponents, Dorothy Day was far from being either one. In fact, during their lifetime, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, fiercely opposed Communism, because its ideologies hurt the dignity of the human person and did not uphold the inalienable rights of all human beings that they strongly fought for. They did not like to be called conservatives or liberals, as they believed that the values that they stood up for were simply Catholic, and therefore, true. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, were and are still considered as radicals, which they did not mind, because to them Radicalism “meant getting down to the roots.”

Many know about her abortion or her participation in radical secular movements, but only few know about her devotion to the saints, daily Mass, and the Divine Office. Dorothy explains how she explained to communists her conversion to Catholicism:

“I had a conversation with John Spivak, the Communist writer, a few years ago and he said to me, ‘How can you believe? How can you believe in the Immaculate Conception, in the Virgin birth, in the Ressurection?’ I could only say that I believe in the Roman Catholic Church and all She teaches.I have accepted her authority with my whole heart.”

Read the rest of this entry »

8 Comments | Books, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Worker Movement, Katerina Ivanovna, Peace, Spirituality, Voluntary Poverty, War and Peace | Permalink
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Quote of the Week: Russell Kirk

January 26, 2009

“This Protestant cast of mind and social view would dominate England’s Thirteen colonies. Did the Protestant spirit then create American civilization? One must beware of possible exaggeration. Had the bulk of the early settlers on the Atlantic seaboard been Roman Catholics rather than Calvinists and Anglicans, would the shape of American society have been unrecognizably different? The Catholic minority in Maryland, or the French Catholics of Canada whom British victories brought within Britain’s colonial structure, did not live an existence radically dissimilar from that of the dominant Protestant colonists.

Suppose that massive Catholic Irish migration to America had occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rather than in the nineteenth; suppose farther that this transplanting had been conducted under English law and within the frame of English political institutions, the Irish Catholics nevertheless being accorded complete religious toleration–as, after the English victory at Quebec, the British government would extend such toleration to the Catholic French of Canada. In such hypothetical circumstances, would not America then have developed socially much as it actually did develop with a Protestant population? Economic growth might have been somewhat slower in such conditions, and surely New England’s republican tendencies would have been less pronounced; still, perhaps these hypothetical colonies, by 1775, would have become rather like the actual Protestant colonies in 1775.

So it is somewhat more true to say that the Christian spirit, rather than the Protestant spirit only, helped to create American civilization.”

Russell Kirk. The Roots of American Order. 4th ed. (Wilmington: ISI Books, 2003), p. 237.

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Racism in Europe: NPR Series

January 13, 2009

I recommend listening/reading the three-part story NPR is running on the growing xenophobia in Europe. The third part is due tomorrow. So far they have covered the worrisome situation in Germany and Italy. The topic of the treatment of undocumented migrants in the U.S. has been exhaustively discussed in this blog, but we can never forget that the situation is quite widespread around the world. I was aware of the growing xenophobia and subsequent violent treatment of South Asian migrants in Russia, but I was honestly unaware about a similar situation in Western Europe. The series has been so far an eye-opener for me.

This topic becomes crucially important in a globalized post-colonial world that should spark serious discussions at the ground level, but also at the highest levels of policy-making and international diplomacy circles. It would be interesting to see if the Holy Father comments on migration on his upcoming encyclical due this Spring (maybe).

8 Comments | Europe, Globalization, Immigration, Inculturation, Katerina Ivanovna, Patriotism, Postcolonialsim | Permalink
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“Hispanic Voters Divided by Religion”

October 22, 2008

From Gallup:

Catholics and those who attend church less often are most supportive of Obama.

Taken as a group, Hispanic voters solidly support Barack Obama over John McCain for president, but there is a significant difference in the Hispanic vote by religion. Catholic Hispanics support Obama by a 39-point margin, while Hispanics who are Protestant or who identify with some other non-Catholic Christian faith support Obama by a much smaller 10-point margin.

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Sounds familiar?

October 20, 2008

I’m getting flashbacks:

“The media are perverse factories of lies. What they sell is poison.”

“El Nacional and El Universal are pathetic, the television stations—with a few exceptions—are pathetic…. They call cowards those who do not bow their head to the fundamentalist and dictatorial ideas and the infamous campaign by the media owners.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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American literature is “too isolated, too insular”

October 9, 2008

The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Horace Engdahl, said these words about whether an American could win the Nobel Prize of Literature:

“The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature,” Engdahl said. “That ignorance is restraining.”

What are your thoughts? Do you agree to an extent or disagree completely? What contemporary American writings would you recommend that rebuke Engdahl’s idea of American literature? I have to admit that I have been so immersed reading theology and philosophy lately that I have not been able to immerse in fiction, so I cannot make an informed judgment about his statement. I enjoy Flannery O’ Connor, for instance, but I am wondering about contemporary American novels or poetry, for that matter. My favorite literature will always be, however, Latin American. Nobel-prize winner Gabriel García Márquez remains one of my favorites novelists along with Isabel Allende and the late poet Pablo Neruda. The late Venezuelan novelist, Rómulo Gallegos is excellent as well.

32 Comments | Books, Culture, Katerina Ivanovna, Literature, Poetry | Permalink
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Knowledge, Freedom, Conscience and the Politics of Incompetence

October 6, 2008

My Case Against Obama… and McCain

Three weeks ago, I was about to write an “endorsement” of Sen. Barack Obama on this blog. Our wedding and hurricane Ike got in the way, which prevented me from writing such endorsement, as it were. Along the way, I did some thinking and talking with my now husband, Policraticus, and I realized that the only reason why I wanted to vote for Obama was to vote against Sen. John McCain. Undoubtedly, Sen. Obama is an appealing candidate; however, his positions on abortion and, more importantly, embryonic stem cell research—given the fact that abortion is already legal in this country—are far too important for me to close my eyes, cast a ballot for him, and hope for the best. Jay Anderson’s example also affected my decision not to vote for Obama. What it boils down to for me, is that I will not be able to forgive myself once either President Obama or President McCain signs federal funding for embryonic stem cell research into law. After a long process of discernment I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot face God and tell Him that I did not have enough information: that I did not know that they both supported a grave evil. I truly believe that faithful Catholics can make a good moral argument for voting for either candidate. However, my conscience prompts me to move beyond fulfilling the basic requirements of the law. I wish I could justify how an Obama administration could provide a better framework for achieving the common good and how it would supersede the desecration of human life in its most vulnerable stages, but I simply cannot. Once the day comes, sooner or later, I do not believe I could face the living God, my source of joy and hope, the reason why I get up every morning, my innermost strength and comfort in the midst of discomfort, and tell Him that I simply ignored the facts that were presented to me.

56 Comments | Abortion, America, Consequentialism, Culture of Death, Democracy, Economics, Economy, Election, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Energy, Europe, Evil, Faith, Foreign Affairs, Globalization, Human Person, Human Rights, Katerina Ivanovna | Permalink
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Why was abortion not mentioned?

September 4, 2008

On her speech at the Republican National Convention, Governor Sarah Palin introduced herself to America–to all of us who did not know her. I was looking forward to knowing the “real” Palin and not the one who has been necessarily portrayed by the media. Much has been said in this blog and in others about her strong pro-life record. My fellow contributor, Radical Catholic Mom, whom I trust and respect very much, had a lot to say about Palin being the “real deal when it comes to pro-life matters”, so that made me even more eager to see her “real” side. But why did Palin not mention her work in the pro-life circles? If her work against abortion is such a core part of who she is as a woman, mother, and as an elected official, why not mention it on the night you introduce yourself to this country? The President, among other keynote speakers, had no problem mentioning it in their speeches yesterday. Why not Palin? It is nice to hear men talk about how we ought to protect the life of the unborn, but how much nicer it is to hear about it from a woman. How much more exciting it would’ve been to hear it from the first woman who runs for vicepresident who is pro-life at the same time? What happened?

Comments Off | Abortion, Culture of Life, Election, Katerina Ivanovna, Politics | Permalink
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The mother of all vocations

September 1, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the importance of a faithful and peaceful family atmosphere in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, “A peaceful family atmosphere, enlightened by faith and the holy fear of God, also favors the rise and flowering of vocations at the service of the Gospel.” (Read complete story on Zenit)

As John Paul II pointed out in his 1994 Letter to Families, families are meant to contribute “to the transformation of the earth and the renewal of the world, of creation and of all humanity.”

We are currently living in a world dominated by secularism, materialism, and a false feminism that is destroying the meaning of families and their mission in the world. As a woman, I truly believe that this false feminism that dominates today’s society is the most influential factor on the decline of faithful families today.

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McCain adviser: Everyone in U.S. has some health coverage

August 28, 2008

Source: CNN Political Ticker

“Apparently”, John Goodman, a McCain adviser who helped write the candidate’s health care plan, has had the solution for the health care crisis in this country all this time: we need to get better numbers on who is insured and who is not.

“So I have a solution [to the health care crisis]. And it will cost not one thin dime,” John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, told the Dallas Morning News in an interview published Thursday.

“The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care. So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved.”

“So instead of producing worthless statistics that people fling around in vacuous editorials and pointless debates, the Census Bureau should produce meaningful numbers, identifying all of the sources of funds people will draw on if they need medical care,” said Goodman, who helped write McCain’s health care plan.

You’ve got to wonder if this man has ever stopped from going to the emergency room for himself or his children, because he would not be able to afford to pay for it afterward. What a shame for someone who is advising a public “servant” to think like this. What a tragedy. Very out of touch with the sufferings of the people they are supposedly trying to serve.

18 Comments | Election, Health, Health Care, Human Rights, Katerina Ivanovna, Politics, Public Policy | Permalink
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Vox Nova at the Mall: Brands and Sweatshops

August 6, 2008

Quick research trip to the mall

Policraticus and I went yesterday to a new outlet mall that recently opened outside of Houston just to check it out and to walk a little bit. We usually don’t go to malls, period, but sometimes you just happen to need clothes or something else, so we decided to go. We stopped by the Ann Taylor outlet store, because that used to be my favorite brand, but recently I have been reading that the brand has been having problems with sweat shops and child labor abroad and has not done much about it to resolve them; they seemed to have turned a blind eye to the problems. After reminding myself of that, we decided to make our mall visit a bit more fruitful, so we started checking out the labels on some of the clothes in the biggest stores at the mall to see where they were made. The countries that dominated the labels in all the stores were China, obviously, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, and India. Kenneth Cole and Calvin Klein had clothes made in Jordan, which was not a common country in the rest of the stores. The only store that had a piece of clothing made in the U.S. was Kenneth Cole and it happened to be only one dress in virtually the entire store. Reebok had soccer balls that stated on the side of the box that they were guaranteed to not be manufactured in Pakistan by children as it had (apparently) been the case traditionally. We did not go into the New Balance store, but we have learned that a quarter of the shoes they make are made in the U.S.

38 Comments | Capitalism, Children, Consumerism, Economics, Economy, Ethics, Fair Trade, Fashion, Globalization, Human Rights, Katerina Ivanovna, Labor, Law, Work | Permalink
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Is Public Transit the Answer? It depends

August 5, 2008

(This is a response to Blackadder’s recent post: Is Public Transit the Answer? Don’t bet on it)

The wrong basis

The graph that Blackadder had on his post suggested that light rail consumes more BTUs per passenger per mile: that is, more than a car. Such numbers would suggest that in terms of energy consumption, the light rail does not stand as a better option to an individual car. As I said in my comment on his post, the graph in itself is ambiguous and misleading, because it is ranking forms of transportation solely on the basis of BTUs consumed. The graph’s main argument falls apart, because not all the forms of transportation noted are powered by the same fuels. Light rail, for instance, is powered by electricity and that electricity can come from different sources: coal, water, wind, nuclear, etc. Cars, on the other hand, are powered by gasoline or diesel. If a light rail in the northeast consumes, say, 100 MMBtu/hr of electricity that comes from coal and another light rail in California consumes the same amount of BTUs, but the source of electricity comes from wind, the negative net effect of the former on the environment (from coal extraction to emission greenhouse gases) is much greater than the latter. As noted in a post written by Christian Peralta from the Planning and Development network, “light rail beats the average car only in some cities — mainly where electricity doesn’t come from coal or oil.” So the question is not to be poised in terms of BTUs, but rather in terms of the fuel source. Thus, the only way that the graph can stand is if all the forms of transportation noted are on the same fuel basis. The crucial question that is missing from the graph and that most people will not ask is: what fuel are you burning? Natural gas? Coal? Fuel oil? Diesel? Gasoline? Steam? 1 BTU burned of fuel oil will be much more polluting and will emit more CO2 than, say, natural gas.

Part 1: Memory and Identity of the Mexican American Community

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Ethno-Catholicism and the Mexican American Community (Part 3 of 3)

July 24, 2008

Part 2: A New Consciousness: Attitudinal Shifts in the Catholic Church in Houston

The Need for Constant Renewal in Church Ministry

Although the Church in the United States has gained significant ground in ministering and attending to the needs of the Mexican community, as well as to the Hispanic community as a whole, there are still lingering challenges and difficulties force us to recognize that there is need for improvement and constant renewal in pastoral strategies within the Church. The particular example of how the evolution of Church ministry to the Mexican and Mexican American communities took place represents only a microcosm within a larger scope. Fast-changing times and a shortening of distances between cultures that used to stand worlds apart have deepened our global interdependence—and commitment—to one another and, hence, the need for the Church to address these changes accordingly in how she ministers to the faithful.

Part 1: Memory and Identity of the Mexican American Community

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Ethno-Catholicism and the Mexican American Community (Part 2 of 3)

July 18, 2008

A New Consciousness: Attitudinal Shifts in the Catholic Church in Houston

Treviño notes that in the first years of the establishment of the Mexican community in Houston, there appeared to be a clash of religious practices between those expressed within ethno-Catholicism, characterized by vibrant family- and community-centered traditions, and those that were expressed by American Catholicism, generally characterized as more intellectual and institutionally-based. This conflict in practices and ways of living the faith prompted some in the Church hierarchy to look down upon the religious practices of the Mexican communities, characterizing their faith as “infant” and deficient due to the absence of “American values.”[1] It is worth noting that the Church’s perception that the Mexicans were in need of more catechesis was not altogether unfounded. A symptom of this valid concern may be expressed in an anecdote that Treviño recounts: a Mexican parishioner once asked a priest to bless a religious picture of someone who they considered to be a “miracle-worker” but actually turned out to be a picture of Martin Luther! [2] Undoubtedly, there was an urgent need for pastoral guidance and faith formation for the Mexican and Mexican American community. However, it is the way in which the Church approached the task that ultimately defined the relationship between the hierarchy and the nascent faith community. According to Treviño, many clergy considered the root of the Mexicans’ social problems and shortcomings in the practice of their religion to be their race and cultural traits, which were attributed as the cause of their lack of intelligence. [3] Based on these perceptions, it becomes clear, then, that the Church hierarchy of the time helped perpetuate the social inequality of Mexicans rather than alleviating it. [4] This is not to say, however, that these judgments were uniform across the whole of the Church hierarchy in Houston or that the Church had turned a blind eye to the socio-economic problems that the Mexican community faced. Many priests, in fact, agonized over the poverty and destitution that Mexicans and Mexican Americans suffered. [5]

2 Comments | Culture, Equality, Immigration, Inculturation, Katerina Ivanovna, Latin America, Liturgy, Racism | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

The lobbying platform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

July 15, 2008

(In the midst of a deep mortgage crisis in this country, you’ve got to wonder whether somebody thought this fending off of regulation would eventually backfire. I personally believe that the worst is yet to come from the credit crunch…)

The two giants in the mortgage business seemed to have prevented regulation through strong lobbying efforts. Here are some names of the politicians involved in networking with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

This is a paper from 2005 that talked about the need and how to reform the two GSEs:

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have proven exceptionally adept at lobbying Congress to preserve and enhance their privileges. Any effort that relies on new regulations will likely perpetuate the risk to the financial market and preserve their dominant influence. Indeed, if Armando Falcon, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), had not courageously persisted in exposing Fannie Mae’s suspect operations, often in the face of congressional hostility, former Fannie Mae President Franklin Raines would still have his job and Fannie Mae’s shaky finances and fabricated earnings would still be hidden.

18 Comments | Economics, Economy, Katerina Ivanovna, Public Policy, U.S. Affairs | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

Rising divorce cases in Iraq since US-led invasion

July 8, 2008

Mission accomplished? We have all heard how divorce rates have been on the rise in the Army since the start of the Iraq war. However, it seems that the problem can also be found in Iraqi families. Divorce cases have doubled in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. In some areas near Baghdad, the number of divorces has quadrupled. As John Paul II stated, war is indeed “always a defeat for humanity.” I can’t help but wonder what some bloggers have to say about the tragedy the invasion is causing to the Iraqi and military families.

54 Comments | Family, Katerina Ivanovna, Violence, War and Peace, Women, war | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

“Authentic polygamist prairie dresses” for sale

July 2, 2008

As someone who attempts to be a conscious consumer and avoids supporting clothing corporations that violate labor rights in their manufacturing facilities in the developing world, I am quite displeased–to say the least–with how the media has made fun of women from the FLDS community in the past couple of days. It turns out that the women from the FLDS community are making and selling clothes for children. You can find them at their website FLDSdress.com. They do have beautiful clothes and after all they are made in the USA!

Criticism coming from an MSNBC News correspondent was rather condescending: “Just in time for back-to-school shopping: authentic polygamist prairie dresses.” Another read: “Now you, too, can dress like a polygamist!” NPR followed with a short and similar “smart” remark yesterday during Morning Edition, which was rather disappointing. During the raid in which CPS authorities took 400+ children from the polygamist ranch, I wondered what was the obsession Nancy Grace and the media in general had with this case. I think it had to do much more than with a concern for how unfairly these children were being taken away from their parents. I think it had a lot to do with how these women and children lived and clothed differently than most of us.

38 Comments | Family, Katerina Ivanovna, Labor, Media, Morality, Women, Work | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

Ethno-Catholicism and the Mexican American Community (Part 1 of 3)

July 1, 2008

In his book, The Church in the Barrio, Robert Treviño traces the history of the relationship between the Mexican and Mexican American community and the Catholic Church in Houston from the 1910s to the 1970s. In so doing, Treviño explores the customs and traditions of the nascent Mexican community in the city and how its self-understanding as a group defined its Catholicism and its relationship with the Church hierarchy. The chief point of Treviño’s book stems from the concept of the “ethno-Catholicism” expressed by the Mexican community in Houston. He calls ethno-Catholicism “a religious style that blurred the line between the sacred and the secular and gave singular expression to the people’s identity.” [1]The thrust of his argument is that this “brand” of Catholicism, so to speak, of the Mexican American community maintained and nourished its identity in a foreign land in the midst of economic hardships and discrimination. Also, Treviño is heavily concerned with how this ethno-Catholicism was received by the Church hierarchy and how it ultimately shaped the relationship between the Church and the Mexican faithful. My concern in this essay is to use Treviño’s historical survey to explore four aspects of the ecclesial reality he describes, the first of which is the experience of the Mexican community in Houston based on their condition as migrants and how its collective understanding and identity developed overtime given its changing social and economic backdrop. Second, I will look at the Church hierarchy in Houston and how it progressively changed its attitude towards the Mexican community. Third, I will bring these two communities together—the Mexicans and the Church hierarchy—along with their parallel self-understandings, and I will make some remarks about the nature of their confluence. Finally, I will provide some closing arguments in support of a constant renewal in the Church’s ministry to different groups that have special needs.

10 Comments | Culture, Immigration, Inculturation, Katerina Ivanovna, Latin America, Liturgy, Racism | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

Rape victims’ groups support Supreme Court decision

June 26, 2008

“[I]f you have a death penalty, why not apply it to child rapists ?“

As if it were that simple. Let us see why victims’ rights groups like the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault that have a much better understanding of the issue actually disagree with Gerald and support the Supreme Court’s decision on Kennedy v. Louisiana (emphasis mine) :

“The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) supports the Supreme Court’s decision, released this morning to overturn the death penalty for child sexual assault cases. Victim advocates have long been concerned that the death penalty for child sexual assault cases could backfire and result in lower reporting rates and fewer convictions of sex offenders.

“The issue of child sexual abuse is complex. Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend. The reality is that, child victims and their families may feel greater reluctance to come forward, knowing that doing so could effectively send a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row. In addition, capital punishment trials are notoriously stressful for the witnesses involved, and typically face a lengthy appeals process. This forces the child witness to relive these painful events over and over again, severely disrupting their healing process.

The National Association of Social Workers also support the court’s 5-4 decision:

“We are heartened that the Court found the real-life experiences of victims and their families, as well as research on the reporting of child sexual abuse, persuasive. This ruling supports the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse while providing an opportunity for victims to heal,” said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH.

25 Comments | Consequentialism, Culture of Death, Death Penalty, Family, Katerina Ivanovna, Supreme Court | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Proposals

June 23, 2008

While researching about tax proposals by each candidate, I came across the Tax Policy Center by the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. I have only glanced through it for a couple of hours and they seem to have very helpful information. If you are like me and you prefer to see charts and tables rather than text when it comes down to numbers, then this seems to be a good resource. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the Obama and McCain tax proposals:

They also have papers on how federal tax policy could improve the living standards of working families, which seem worth our time as well. Morning’s Minion has already posted on the candidates and their respective tax policies based on the Tax Policy Center numbers.

Are you familiar with the Tax Policy Center? What do you think? Do you recommend any other resources on tax policy and research?

4 Comments | Katerina Ivanovna, McCain, Obama, Politics, Public Policy, Statistics, Taxing, The State, U.S. Affairs, Voting | Permalink
Posted by Katerina Ivanovna

Humbled to be an American

June 21, 2008

This upcoming Wednesday, after nine years of being a resident alien, I will become a United States citizen. I have been waiting for this time for so long. It is hard to express in words the great joy that I feel right now. At the same time, I do feel a great deal of nostalgia that leads me to reflect on this important step in my life. It means more than just a U.S. passport: for the first time in my whole life, I will be able to exercise my right to vote. I had not reached the age of eighteen yet when the presidential election in Venezuela came around in 1998 to elect either Hugo Chávez or his opponent Enrique Salas Römer. A few months following the election, we were moving to the United States forever. I have not been back to Venezuela ever since. These are some of my reflections as I transition from merely observing, listening or just taking the back seat in the issues that affect this country to actively participating and working towards the common good in the United States. These are some of my thoughts that follow my identity crisis when I first moved here. I knew who I was and my role was in Venezuela, because the context was an integral part of who I was and who I turned out to be. Once the context changed, I had to answer the crucial question: “Who am I now?” and “What am I going to do now?” This is the story of how I have come to love the country where I have lived, eaten, learned, studied, fallen in love, grown in faith, cried, laughed… for the past nine years.