Yikes, brenda. Good luck.

At least they're feeding you, ita?

Snow predicted today. It seems so outrageous. It's not that kind of winter!

ita,

incoming.

Jessica,

I love that letter. I need to bookmark that and share it with my students on the job market.

Which means that in the mind of many right-wing voters, the choice this year will be between a Mormon and a Muslim. Like I said, bizarre.

Seriously.

ita, I hope your lunch is awkward at worst.

Dang it. I just agreed to go into the office for a meeting and some training on Thursday. My birthday. Not that I have any birthday plans, but shouldn't that be the perfect day to work from home?

Still not really sure where things stand after the crap last night. Mama bear is still on alert, though.

ita, I'm sure your HR meeting will be much more enjoyable than mine.

Ugh, brenda. Lots of vibes for you. Sounds like it's going to be a long, taxing grind of a day. Wishing you peace and strength right along with le n.

Also, no fair having the USian Papistry discussion after I was in bed!

Charles Pierce in Esquire has a pretty damn good summary of the mess, the hypocrisy and why reasonable Catholics (who really are the majority, despite the screaming of the hardliners) really really want the bishops to STFU.

And, yup, poll after poll and study after study show clearly that 95+% of USian Catholic women have used artificial birth control at some point, and that USian Catholic women have elective abortions at about the same rate as all other USian women, of any religion or none at all. Worse for the hierarchy, one of the biggest doctrines affirmed by Vatican II was that the Church is all its people, that the body of believers is as vital to shaping doctrine as the hierarchy itself.* And if the hierarchy declares a doctrine but the body of believers consider it, reflect on it, and then reject it, as they've done pretty decisively with artificial birth control, then... it's not doctrine. The bishops can say it is until they're blue in the face, but they are wrong and the people are right. And man, do they ever not want to admit that.

Poking around the websites of various Catholic national journals and individual bloggers, it looks to me (please, please, please) like the pushback from within is getting bigger, stronger and more vocal. I hate to actively want a split, but I'm so fucking sick of a nasty but vocal minority screeching at us that we're heretics (and proving that they themselves either don't understand or want to deny and repeal one of our faith's core doctrines) and screeching to the world that they speak for all of us, and we're all being persecuted by the gubmint.

*For instance, the last time an ex cathedra (i.e., infallible for all time, period, no more discussion) statement was made, it was about a hundred years ago and was about Mary as the Immaculate Conception--something that hadn't been part of official doctrine but had been believed, loved and affirmed by the worldwide body of lay believers; the people had spoken, and the clergy had to get with the program and make it official on our say-so.

I'm sure it doesn't help that Obama was baptized in the UCC, which barely counts as Christian in the first place.

Some people think that Dan Savage's definition, uh, came first, so occasionally they write to news outlets saying it's not his fault his name's unfortunate. That's my favorite story about Santorum.

Some people think that Dan Savage's definition, uh, came first, so occasionally they write to news outlets saying it's not his fault his name's unfortunate.

For real? That's... that's beautiful.

Worse for the hierarchy, one of the biggest doctrines affirmed by Vatican II was that the Church is all its people, that the body of believers is as vital to shaping doctrine as the hierarchy itself.* And if the hierarchy declares a doctrine but the body of believers consider it, reflect on it, and then reject it, as they've done pretty decisively with artificial birth control, then... it's not doctrine.

You know, I never knew that. That's kind of awesome.

Also, dollars to donuts Pope Benedict would love to overturn it. God forbid church beliefs be set by the actual believers!