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Daily choices, thousands a day. many without thought, others with just brief recognition by brain and mind. How many, influenced by the sub-conscience, may have been imprinted on the individual before self-awareness or even birth?
Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross).
In jest, I’d rather be writing about deciding upon the type of chocolate to have. Decisions have consequences upon other decisions, upon others, upon our soul and the soul of others. How do choices reflect/reflected by our faith? Can actions, automatic thoughts of the subconscious be sinful? Is any decision truly perfect? We’re wired to seek rewards and avoid losses, complicated by rules, regulations and culture, sub-culture. How do they affect, inhibit, enhance individuality, creativity?
Choices are part of the journey of the mystery of life. Every choice affects this journey and when, if possible.
The only journey is the journey within (Rainer Maria Rilke).
Factors Controlling Choices
Consider, throughout our varied stages of life, we may be unaware of cultural influences, even to the extent of the morality of right or wrong. Can the measure of the morality of a society, its individuals be objective? Consider some soldiers of wars past, with the actuality of ‘knowledge’ programmed from controlled sources, generation after generation, where obligation, duty rule over inquiring, questioning.
Consider, bias upon those different from cultural, ethnicity, illness, poverty beliefs.
Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors (CCC 1735).
Consider,
You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught
From year to Year
It’s got to be drummed
in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be taught
To be Afraid
Of people whose eyes
are oddly made
And people whose skin
Is a different shade
You’ve got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be taught
Before it’s too late
Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people
your relatives hate
You’ve got to be carefully taught (1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein Musical South Pacific).
There are also a variety of desires, urges, choices, beyond our dictates.
Moreover, the economic, social, political, and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise of freedom are too often disregarded or violated. Such situations of blindness and injustice injure the moral life and involve the strong as well as the weak in the temptation to sin against charity (CCC 1740).
Only with maturity may recognize them and hopefully choose freely, correctly, unencumbered. We hope. Consider the failure, the sadness, of the poverty of lack of choice.
We have free will, but our free will lies in our choice of thoughts (Emmett Fox).
Considerer. Our Birth.
Who has the choice of where, when, into what social, economic, structure, our soul shall inhabit? What of the influences placed upon the infant, even before birth? Consider the family’s social, spiritual, religious, economic positions, and values. Consider the place, neighborhood, nation, education systems, career opportunities. Consider the justice system, the policing structure. And the time of birth, understand how the influences of a year, even six months affect a child’s perception.
Only God understands.
Self- Awareness
Every child is distinct. Every child is innocent. And there’s genetics, complexities, barely understood, imprinted upon the innocence. Every child. Then exposed to the world. Then self-awareness, and the disappearance of innocence, into the reality created by human weaknesses, original sin?
With self-awareness comes not freedom but dictates, from biology, strong powering and empowering – puberty, peer pressure, education to work, family, responsibilities. Growth depends on influences beyond the self, mostly uncontrollable factors of life. The individual, physical, emotional, logical self, confronted, bombarded, and changing as genetics/DNA continue to develop/influence/change. How to adapt? Compounded by limitedness, of mind, body, and spirit. Time upon time, choices, decisions. Again, again. Everything, perpetual motion, with seemingly little time to discover the inner. Every decision, choice leads to another, then another with varied consequences. Still, how many are really of free will?
Overwhelmed yet?
Freedom of Will
Where, when then does actual ‘freedom of will” occur? Does God measure us against some unknown balance sheet adjusted, to the imperfection of every individual’s mental health – our brain presenting us with false hopes, desires, even falsehoods?
All you can do in regard to your own life is choose the best path that you believe in (Ichiro Kishimi).
When Jesus talks about sin, I believe, hope, He understands the limitedness of freewill. Consider, the frailty of the human condition inflicted upon by it by the imperfections of the human condition.
Will society may finally understand personal flaws, failings, limitations, desires, values, beliefs, are not weaknesses, imperfections of our nature nor of our choosing? Will some be considered not imperfections, but differences of cultural/societal norms? The more ‘advanced’, mature society is, the greater the responsibility it has to understand the individual.
Questions to Consider
How, should we, judge another – based upon the life imposed? Can this be done objectively?
The brain’s complexity, psychology, biology is still beyond comprehensive understanding. Everyone faces mental health challenges, now enhanced by society’s structure and biases. Decisions/choices, seemingly clear and reasonable, can lead to self-destructive actions. Then there’s mental illness. It seems hard to believe, but we are more fortunate than anywhere, anytime. But does that display human progress or human deficiency due to pigheadedness?
It is the ability to choose which makes us human (Madeleine L’Engle).
Growth, maturity, enhance choices. Increasing complexity? How truly can a ‘well-balanced’ individual choose ‘rightfully’? Upon, lay the effects of technology, changing faster than individual generations can adapt, and geometrically increasing the generation gap. Throw into the mix, the difficulties, intricacies of the speed of information and knowledge. Decisions impacted by quantity and quality, in decreasing limited time spans, possibly creating the inability to truly comprehend anything. Thinking has changed. The mind, over-crowded, overwhelmed? Has mental health become a cultural disease? And what of creativity, the imagination? Where, when can reflection occur?
The true-self, can it be seen by mind’s eye?
How do we decide, Spirit’s influence?
And what of mental illness?
When is the mind free?
Will we be judged on one poor decision?
Yet, God Still Loves Us
That alone is amazing!
We do what we can. But this does not exclude us from self-responsibility and the responsibilities we have to others. In our multicultural, but highly flawed, sometimes ignorant society we must, follow the knowledge, experiences of others, the wisdom of the great faiths, whenever possible.
So what is truly sin and its relationship to the choices we make, its after-life consequences? Then Purgatory, as envisioned by the saints, the pains of punishments inflicted, cast fear upon my multitudes of my imperfections. I must remember the joy of God’s love.
We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves (Thomas Merton OCSO).
Maybe there are just times where the most important things to do are watching the birds in the air, feel the breeze on your face, say hi to a stranger, and hold open a door. Those are the most blessed pleasures.
To think too much is a disease (Fyodor Dostoyevsky).
I think it’s time for some chocolate cake.
This article first appeared in The Catholic Stand
Diagnosis: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety and some depression (the new meds eliminated this). Being discharged meant continuation of the same continuous dread, uncertainty. OCD can be a complex behavior, not just commonly referenced with fear of germs and diseases, but continual overthinking, with huge waves a doubts about everything and anything, even creating a lack of trust in those nearest. A blemish, a mark, a mole, cancer? Why is she late from work? The boss needs to see you? A friend hasn’t called? Did I prepare dinner properly? The barbecue, is everything cooked? The gas, is it on, did I lock the door? did I….
The correct diagnosis did not place life on auto-correct, resuming its original path.
My brain needed to be retaught, confidence re-built, accepting the loss path, finding a new road – searching for a purpose, becoming a better husband, father. I had to accept limits, search for new capabilities, abilities, goals. And I prayed, scared of the future, for the future. Looking back, I see the slow daily progress, recovery and pain.
After discharge, the Partial Program, five days a week in an outpatient. And I did sleep. But the fear continued. Home coming isn’t a relief. Discharge brought fear due to prior experiences, on a path, removed from a ‘sanctuary’ facing a world disjointed, noisy, seemingly uncaring. Nights brought fear, insecurity. I slept on the couch, away from wife and son – not knowing what night’s terrors will arise. Days brought daily chores, prayer, clock watching and waiting for the next crash, but also wondering, hoping. A slow return to some normalcy. Home brought what others, too many, do not have – stability, family, church, friends.
The next stage, the Continuing Day Treatment (CDT), a friendly atmosphere, caring professionals, etc. and decision, to avoid the final choice and face the unknown future, a new reality. They succeeded, I succeeded. I remember their names.
With stability through these various therapeutic programs, the body adjusted to new routines. The mind had somewhat adjusted to future’s mystery. My spirit, faith and soul’s confidence returned. A deeper faith was sought, to grow, dig deeper and find the Testament’s hidden treasures. Months passed, fears were accepted, lessened, slowly, stubbornly.. Confidence grew. Sounds simples. It wasn’t, still isn’t. Slips occurred, but trust grew. The old adage “Time will tell” proved as correct as the diagnosis. A painful passage of time. The pain of therapy. A passage of healing never complete.
Healing isn’t a cure in the general sense. The brain, the mind are not similar, but both fragile, complex, influenced in a myriad of prompts, emotions. Each step, a “mental boot camp” of challenges, pain, sometimes agony – changing, ‘reprograming’ the self. And the brain, creation’s most complex gift, is far from understood.
None of this was my, fault. It was just what it was. I had to accept.
(I wonder if hospitals, anyone, maintain data on discharge statistics, such as rate of medicinal adjustments, rate of readmissions, diagnosis, diagnostic changes, etc.? I doubt it.)
Trauma exposed.
After CDT, individual out-patient therapy discovered conditions relating to Attention Deficit hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – layers like an onion, slowly uncomfortably peeled, away. A different type of pain. Has the center been reached? Is there a center besides the soul?
The causes – genetic (family history with drinking and suicide), trauma and social upbringing. I had, have all three – like so many. There’s no one to blame. It’s there, it happened. Move on, slowly, with difficulty and pain, working through distress.
I am lucky.
Through hell stood my wife, family, beloved friends and my priest. No one gave a damn about the stigma. Everyone gave a damn about my well-being and fighting the system.
I am in the minority.
My PTSD, from a medical procedure when in kindergarten. Trauma, affecting me through life in too many aspects. A switch is turned, volts of electricity spark through the brain. It’s like standing on the Great Plains in the middle of a lightning storm with no place to hide.
Waiting, picking up, absorbing family’s fear, dread, anxieties. A child’s mind, sitting in a waiting room, in fear of what awaits. None of this would have happened, affecting everything. Was it days, hours? I should have hid all that blood better. I have no recall, how I got there, the passage of time, – just sitting in the waiting room. How long was it? What will happen, behind the door? He says, pull down your… This won’t hurt. It did, I screamed.
I hope to reach, “The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the flesh and spirit is life and piece.” Romans 8, 6
For an issue that may have gone away on its own.
How can one wait? Days of thoughts compounded by mind’s other defects. Awaiting the results, day after day. Making the appointment, waiting for the day. Sitting in the waiting room. The unknown, behind then door. Then specialist after specialist, appointment after appointment, probing, the next visit, the next doctor, next test, invasive or not, it doesn’t matter. There also have been too many tests, too many false positives. The last suggestion of a non-invasive exam was more than the mind could handle. I was one phone call away from the final choice. Doesn’t anyone understand mind’s limits? I feel it in others who don’t suffer. I see it many, the ones I love. I’m torn apart. How does one live? Can I let go, Let God? What can the mind withstand?
So I live in the moment’s freedom and uncertainty, like all too some extent, along with the emotional pain I cause in others.
However, with a deeper faith. Letting go, with trust, daily, seeing what others may not see, the value of a day, a friend the limits of life, the greatness of gratitude, of faith, of what is promised by The “I Am.” I try.
Can’t wait till I finish this article, so I can escape from this inner-self and enjoy moments of life.
Group therapy, coinciding with individual therapy worked, learning skills, learning especially what worked for another would not work for me. I learned, skills for OCD may not be applicable for PTSD. ADHD, anxiety. And trying when to use a particular skill for which issue, problem.
Every therapist has different styles, methods, techniques. With two very good therapists one proceeding the other, they focused different methods for growth. Success has been difficult, learning to switch. I have learned from both. But…when, not if, this current therapist leaves.
The ADHD, the mind distracted, more creative, seeing what others don’t, more misunderstandings, difficulty reading, not learning like others, inability to slow down. There’s my hurried speech pattern, moments of teeth grinding and jaw clenching. The inability to focus as well as others, on others and understanding what others discern so well. To be still and know, the mind fighting itself. Even in Church, through the Gospel, homily, the Consecration.
I mustn’t leave the kitchen when cooking. I forget my tea sitting, getting cold. Its midnight, the mind is finally silent of all internal noises. Its 1:00am, already? Finally at peace and need go frustratingly, needing to bed. Projects started, not completed, thoughts the same, except when I am writing, doing jigsaw puzzles. Websites, their graphics, the formats, the overwhelming colors, understood with great difficulty.
Only on the pain of the trauma, does the mind focus.
My cross. I long for fleeting times of enjoyment of doing, when I finish this article.
ADHD, anxiety, trauma, OCD compounds life, feeding off each. Even in sleep. The dreams, clear, vivid, sometimes uncomfortable. Images of being attacked, fighting off the past, swinging nearly hitting my wife, and twice did. Fortunately rare, but still… At least, in my teenage years, fear created by my OCD kept me away from alcohol and drugs. The self-medication, so prevalent, for millions, so misunderstood. There’s the internal, the questioning, the secondary thoughts, the doubts of what to do, say, think. Every moment, awake. Every action questioned. And the pain I cause others, those closest. So I live, trying to help, be more than what I lost.
Obstacles from society.
The stigma, insurance coverage, drug costs, lack of parity – so much to be done. We are still here – despite what roadblocks are thrown in our way. Social Security disability, SSI for others, programs, for many, what many ignorantly call welfare. Some tell you, why you can’t change, just change. We should tell them, try writing, and do everything, with your other hand.
I am lucky. An education and a prior career, (former accountant, an MBA in Management). This illness bringing an end to old dreams, careers, brought something greater. Now, a new purpose. An MFA in Creative Writing and working at the second psychiatric hospital serving, contributing. Resulting from love, kindness and skills of many. I’m the minority. Too many suffering from a disease that is NOT of their making.
“All We Have to Decide is What To Do With the Time That is Given Us” Lord of the Rings. Tolkien
What was the meaning? Did I create my own meaning through faith? The Lord brought me through dark times. Future’s path still scary, at times.
We all have our own horror stories.
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” Lord of the Rings. Tolkien
Diagnosis: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety and some depression (the new meds eliminated this). Being discharged meant continuation of the same continuous dread, uncertainty. OCD can be a complex behavior, not just commonly referenced with fear of germs and diseases, but continual overthinking, with huge waves a doubts about everything and anything, even creating a lack of trust in those nearest. A blemish, a mark, a mole, cancer? Why is she late from work? The boss needs to see you? A friend hasn’t called? Did I prepare dinner properly? The barbecue, is everything cooked? The gas, is it on, did I lock the door? did I….
The correct diagnosis did not place life on auto-correct, resuming its original path.
My brain needed to be retaught, confidence re-built, accepting the loss path, finding a new road – searching for a purpose, becoming a better husband, father. I had to accept limits, search for new capabilities, abilities, goals. And I prayed, scared of the future, for the future. Looking back, I see the slow daily progress, recovery and pain.
After discharge, the Partial Program, five days a week in an outpatient. And I did sleep. But the fear continued. Home coming isn’t a relief. Discharge brought fear due to prior experiences, on a path, removed from a ‘sanctuary’ facing a world disjointed, noisy, seemingly uncaring. Nights brought fear, insecurity. I slept on the couch, away from wife and son – not knowing what night’s terrors will arise. Days brought daily chores, prayer, clock watching and waiting for the next crash, but also wondering, hoping. A slow return to some normalcy. Home brought what others, too many, do not have – stability, family, church, friends.
The next stage, the Continuing Day Treatment (CDT), a friendly atmosphere, caring professionals, etc. and decision, to avoid the final choice and face the unknown future, a new reality. They succeeded, I succeeded. I remember their names.
With stability through these various therapeutic programs, the body adjusted to new routines. The mind had somewhat adjusted to future’s mystery. My spirit, faith and soul’s confidence returned. A deeper faith was sought, to grow, dig deeper and find the Testament’s hidden treasures. Months passed, fears were accepted, lessened, slowly, stubbornly.. Confidence grew. Sounds simples. It wasn’t, still isn’t. Slips occurred, but trust grew. The old adage “Time will tell” proved as correct as the diagnosis. A painful passage of time. The pain of therapy. A passage of healing never complete.
Healing isn’t a cure in the general sense. The brain, the mind are not similar, but both fragile, complex, influenced in a myriad of prompts, emotions. Each step, a “mental boot camp” of challenges, pain, sometimes agony – changing, ‘reprograming’ the self. And the brain, creation’s most complex gift, is far from understood.
None of this was my, fault. It was just what it was. I had to accept.
(I wonder if hospitals, anyone, maintain data on discharge statistics, such as rate of medicinal adjustments, rate of readmissions, diagnosis, diagnostic changes, etc.? I doubt it.)
Trauma exposed.
After CDT, individual out-patient therapy discovered conditions relating to Attention Deficit hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – layers like an onion, slowly uncomfortably peeled, away. A different type of pain. Has the center been reached? Is there a center besides the soul?
The causes – genetic (family history with drinking and suicide), trauma and social upbringing. I had, have all three – like so many. There’s no one to blame. It’s there, it happened. Move on, slowly, with difficulty and pain, working through distress.
I am lucky.
Through hell stood my wife, family, beloved friends and my priest. No one gave a damn about the stigma. Everyone gave a damn about my well-being and fighting the system.
I am in the minority.
My PTSD, from a medical procedure when in kindergarten. Trauma, affecting me through life in too many aspects. A switch is turned, volts of electricity spark through the brain. It’s like standing on the Great Plains in the middle of a lightning storm with no place to hide.
Waiting, picking up, absorbing family’s fear, dread, anxieties. A child’s mind, sitting in a waiting room, in fear of what awaits. None of this would have happened, affecting everything. Was it days, hours? I should have hid all that blood better. I have no recall, how I got there, the passage of time, – just sitting in the waiting room. How long was it? What will happen, behind the door? He says, pull down your… This won’t hurt. It did, I screamed.
I hope to reach, “The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the flesh and spirit is life and piece.” Romans 8, 6
For an issue that may have gone away on its own.
How can one wait? Days of thoughts compounded by mind’s other defects. Awaiting the results, day after day. Making the appointment, waiting for the day. Sitting in the waiting room. The unknown, behind then door. Then specialist after specialist, appointment after appointment, probing, the next visit, the next doctor, next test, invasive or not, it doesn’t matter. There also have been too many tests, too many false positives. The last suggestion of a non-invasive exam was more than the mind could handle. I was one phone call away from the final choice. Doesn’t anyone understand mind’s limits? I feel it in others who don’t suffer. I see it many, the ones I love. I’m torn apart. How does one live? Can I let go, Let God? What can the mind withstand?
So I live in the moment’s freedom and uncertainty, like all too some extent, along with the emotional pain I cause in others.
However, with a deeper faith. Letting go, with trust, daily, seeing what others may not see, the value of a day, a friend the limits of life, the greatness of gratitude, of faith, of what is promised by The “I Am.” I try.
Can’t wait till I finish this article, so I can escape from this inner-self and enjoy moments of life.
Group therapy, coinciding with individual therapy worked, learning skills, learning especially what worked for another would not work for me. I learned, skills for OCD may not be applicable for PTSD. ADHD, anxiety. And trying when to use a particular skill for which issue, problem.
Every therapist has different styles, methods, techniques. With two very good therapists one proceeding the other, they focused different methods for growth. Success has been difficult, learning to switch. I have learned from both. But…when, not if, this current therapist leaves.
The ADHD, the mind distracted, more creative, seeing what others don’t, more misunderstandings, difficulty reading, not learning like others, inability to slow down. There’s my hurried speech pattern, moments of teeth grinding and jaw clenching. The inability to focus as well as others, on others and understanding what others discern so well. To be still and know, the mind fighting itself. Even in Church, through the Gospel, homily, the Consecration.
I mustn’t leave the kitchen when cooking. I forget my tea sitting, getting cold. Its midnight, the mind is finally silent of all internal noises. Its 1:00am, already? Finally at peace and need go frustratingly, needing to bed. Projects started, not completed, thoughts the same, except when I am writing, doing jigsaw puzzles. Websites, their graphics, the formats, the overwhelming colors, understood with great difficulty.
Only on the pain of the trauma, does the mind focus.
My cross. I long for fleeting times of enjoyment of doing, when I finish this article.
ADHD, anxiety, trauma, OCD compounds life, feeding off each. Even in sleep. The dreams, clear, vivid, sometimes uncomfortable. Images of being attacked, fighting off the past, swinging nearly hitting my wife, and twice did. Fortunately rare, but still… At least, in my teenage years, fear created by my OCD kept me away from alcohol and drugs. The self-medication, so prevalent, for millions, so misunderstood. There’s the internal, the questioning, the secondary thoughts, the doubts of what to do, say, think. Every moment, awake. Every action questioned. And the pain I cause others, those closest. So I live, trying to help, be more than what I lost.
Obstacles from society.
The stigma, insurance coverage, drug costs, lack of parity – so much to be done. We are still here – despite what roadblocks are thrown in our way. Social Security disability, SSI for others, programs, for many, what many ignorantly call welfare. Some tell you, why you can’t change, just change. We should tell them, try writing, and do everything, with your other hand.
I am lucky. An education and a prior career, (former accountant, an MBA in Management). This illness bringing an end to old dreams, careers, brought something greater. Now, a new purpose. An MFA in Creative Writing and working at the second psychiatric hospital serving, contributing. Resulting from love, kindness and skills of many. I’m the minority. Too many suffering from a disease that is NOT of their making.
“All We Have to Decide is What To Do With the Time That is Given Us” Lord of the Rings. Tolkien
What was the meaning? Did I create my own meaning through faith? The Lord brought me through dark times. Future’s path still scary, at times.
We all have our own horror stories.
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” Lord of the Rings. Tolkien
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
In 1961, Pope John XXIII issued Mater et Magistra (On Christianity and Social Progress), stating the church must concern “herself too with the exigencies of man’s daily life, with his livelihood and education, and his general, temporal welfare and prosperity”. This is a complex commission because everyone does not want or need the same kind of support to live a better daily life.
To understand how to support those who come from a different race, culture, or gender, we must appreciate their history, their perspective, beliefs, ideas and learn about them on a societal level. At my hospital, for example, we are taught how the decision-making processes of a family toward treatment and care are reflected by cultural upbringing.
Even the apostles and disciples, from various backgrounds, needed an understanding of each other, accepting differences between a despised tax collector, a fisherman, and a zealot. They were far from a homogenous group and had to learn that:
the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
Cultural Formations
Culture is influenced and structured by the world one inhabits, from weather, foods, language, history, as well as family internal dynamics and relationships. Ones’ culture is reflected in the individual, the family, selected group, either consciously or subconsciously.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a disinterest to learn about other people’s cultural experiences resulting in confusion, disagreements, unintended discrimination, pain, and hate. Ignorance can even kill.
Cultural Misunderstanding
A British unit during the Korean war was tasked with holding a hill to prevent Chinese forces from the river crossing. Soon, surrounded on all sides, outnumbered eight to one, circumstances were obviously desperate. The unit commander reported to his American commander, “Things are a bit sticky, sir”, meaning a situation desperate. Due to cultural misinterpretation, this American thought the condition, desperate but manageable, ordering the British to hold. Four days later, the British position was overrun. Five hundred of the six hundred soldiers were taken prisoner, the rest died or managed to escape.
Medical Examples of Physical Bias
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).
The University of Michigan used a pulse oximeter which uses light transmitted through skin and tissue to measure the oxygen in the blood and discovered that it is three times more likely to miss low oxygen levels in Black patients than in white.
One in five women feels a health care provider has ignored or dismissed their symptoms.
Most medical science is based on the belief male and female physiology differ only in terms of sex and reproductive organs, therefore “most research has been conducted on male animals and male cells.” Emily Paulsen.
Based on the above, eight of the ten drugs removed from the US market between1997-2000 were withdrawn because of unintended side effects occurring mainly or exclusively in women. Between 2004-2013, US women suffered more than 2 million drug-related adverse events, compared with 1.3 million for men. Finally, in 2016, women accounted for roughly half of the participants in some clinical trials funded by the US National Institutes of Health. Funding for women’s health remains an issue. From the UK, less than 2.5% of publicly-funded research was dedicated to reproductive health. Yet 1 in 3 women will suffer from reproductive or gynecological health issues (The Conversation).
Misunderstanding the Other
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18 ).
How often do we misunderstand the cultural, social traditions of another? If we do not try, how can relationships, co-existence endure and of our great multicultural nation’s future? Differences must be recognized, understood, taught. I saw these misconceptions in my old neighborhood between the Italians from southern Italy and those from the north, misperceptions between the Irish and Italians. Even among my Jewish neighbors, we needed to be aware, understand, accept differences between various degrees of their religiosity. As Christians, we have this obligation to learn.
A personal experience where knowledge was appreciated of cultural differences was vital when I was invited to a wedding by a friend. She asked me, “Have you ever been to a Chinese wedding Reception”. We weren’t dating, she had a boyfriend. I replied, “No, what about your boyfriend?” “No, I can’t attend because he’s Japanese, and my family’s from the mainland and barely survived the occupation.” It was lucky that I knew my history. If not, I would have been lost in ignorance of historical animosity.
God Is Sensitive to Cultural Differences
When the Virgin Mary appeared, leaving us The Tilma with Her image as the Virgin of Guadalupe, she appeared as an Aztec woman, in their cultural garments filled with cultural symbolism. This was a message to the ruling Spaniards. They must understand that the Indigenous are loved, are God’s children, and end their cruelty by creating a new cultural awareness, acceptance, and understanding. After all, Christians from all nations are not required to change their culture to meet some uniform standard.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”(Revelation 7:9-10 ).
Misunderstanding Based on Environment
A quote from Frank Herbert’s book Dune illustrates cross-cultural misunderstanding through the interaction between allies, which nearly ends in tragedy:
One moment, please,” Duke Leto said, and the very mildness of his voice held them. He addressed himself to the Fremen: “Sir, I honour and respect the personal dignity of any man who respects my dignity. I am indeed indebted to you. And I always pay my debts.
The Fremen stared at the Duke…. Deliberately he bent over the end of the table, spat on its polished surface….as tensions rose to confrontation… the Duke’s officer said: “We thank you, for the gift of your body’s moisture. We accept it in the spirit with which it is given.” And spat on the table in front of the Duke, saying to him, “Remember how precious water is here, Sire. That was a token of respect.
To one party, who was born in a water-rich world where water has little value, spitting on the table is a gesture of extreme contempt. To the other who was born in a world so arid that they wore suits that recycled water from sweat and human waste and even reclaimed water from the dead, spitting was a deliberate sacrifice of a much-valued resource to show respect.
Racial Ignorance of the Majority Leads to Misunderstanding
The goal – “observe the natural history of untreated syphilis” in black populations, but the subjects (600 African-American men) were completely unaware and were instead told they were receiving treatment for bad blood when in fact, they received no treatment at all. Starting in 1932, The “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male,” was conducted by the United States Public Health Service and involved blood tests, x-rays, spinal taps and autopsies of the subjects. Even after penicillin was discovered, the majority of men didn’t receive it (Ada McVean B.Sc.).
Generational Abuse
Family trauma such as abuse, alcoholism, marital infidelities, etc., can be passed on. In The Shack, a son could no longer tolerate his alcoholic father’s abuse which leads to murder. The son finally understands his father after seeing, through the power of God, his father being abused by his grandfather, thus creating a new bond of love.
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you(Luke 6:37-38).
Our Faith’s Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching is a central and essential element of our faith. It is a teaching founded on the life & words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . & who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45).
Catholic social teaching emerges from the truth of what God has revealed to us about Himself. Therefore, we who are made in God’s image share this communal, social nature. We are called to reach out & to build relationships of love and justice. The Church’s social teaching
is based on & inseparable from our understanding of human life & human dignity. Every human being is created in the image of God & redeemed by Jesus Christ & therefore is invaluable & worthy of respect as a member of the human family. Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has inherent dignity & a right to life consistent with that dignity. Human dignity comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment (Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges & Directions).
We as individuals cannot live unaware and ignorant of the life experiences of others.
Men blaspheme what they do not know ( Blaise Pascal).
Basic Principles of Understanding
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-36 ).
This article first appeared on The Catholic Stand.
The abortion crisis is fragmenting our Church and our nation. However, simply making abortion illegal will not solve this act of violence. Abortion is a worldwide, historical crisis involving social and economic issues. A plethoria of surveys and media headlines seem to confuse this complex problem but some interesting surveys can help clarify the issues facing the Pro-Life movement. Catholics can be better equipped to come up with real-life solutions for pregnant women if they review and understand the collected data surrounding abortion.
Christians and more specifically the Catholic Church should research reasons for abortion. Improving education or prayers in schools are fine ideas, unfortunately, they alone will not solve the motives for choosing to have an abortion. In my opinion, solutions to solve the abortion crisis involve ideas based on national economic and social reforms, because churches and other institutions cannot resolve this alone.
What are your ideas? Can we together, develop ideas to combat this scourge?
Is Anyone Asking Why?
Research is limited on the specific question of why women choose to terminate. Many institutions neither asked nor researched this question. I contacted Gallup and could not find any research. I also reached out to the USCCB, The Archdiocese of New York, and searched data on the internet where some information was located.
Legality and the Numbers
Many Catholics believe if the States simply pass laws making abortions either illegal or restrict access, the rate of terminations will decrease. However, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an American reproductive health non-profit:
the abortion rate is 37 per 1,000 people in countries that prohibit abortion altogether or allow it only in instances to save a woman’s life, and 34 per 1,000 people in countries that broadly allow for abortion, a difference that is not statistically significant (Amnesty International).
Terminology and Education
One of the problems is an institutional failure to communicate the importance of and the mystery of a life, of a soul. There are interesting insights from the McGrath Institute for Church Life, “How Americans Understand Abortion” :
Research found mutually exclusive labels like “pro-choice” and “pro-life” paint an incomplete, potentially misleading, picture. When you really ask people what form their beliefs on abortion, they point to personal experience and relationships, not political policies, rhetoric.
Most Americans a.) do not actually discuss abortion. b.) do not fit within binary position labels, c.) have significant knowledge gaps on the topic d.) do not regard abortion as a societal good.
Many admit lacking basic knowledge about gestational development, moral framework, their state law and the costs (financial, physical, mental) of abortion.
The Divisions
By recognizing the divisions within our society, we might discover what is separating us, leading toward a possible way of unifying our views.
A poll reveals, those 47% stating abortion is acceptable, is 2% points higher than recorded in two decades (Megan Brenan):
47%: abortion is morally acceptable; 46%, morally wrong.
Americans split between “pro-choice” (49%) and “pro-life” (47%)
48% want legalization with limits, 32% completely legal, 19% illegal
Collecting Accurate Information
There’s an incomplete approach to data collection. Information is maintained by the states, with some choosing not to collect data. Figures for 2018, were not expected until mid-2021. New Abortion Trends in the United States: A First Look (Tessa Longbons).
Abortion Data
Approximately 18% of pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion, (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). We must ask why and create solutions preventing termination. So what does the data reflect of whom receives abortions and their reasons? For 2018, 619,591 abortions were reported from 49 reporting areas (CDC Abortion Surveillance-U.S.). Numbers and statistics can be very confusing, however, if we do not try to understand them, we cannot resolve the problem and hence the reasons of those obtaining an abortion.
The Research, Reasons for termination are multiple, bringing the tally above 100%, from 2008-2010:
40% Not financially prepared.
36% Not ready, unplanned.
31% Poor partner relationships,
29% Must focus on other children.
20% Pregnancy interferes with educational and vocational plans while 19% of reasons stated they were not emotionally or mentally prepared.
12% Health-related issues and for reasons desiring a better life for the baby than could be provided.
Other reasons were: mothers considered themselves not independent nor mature enough; were influenced by family/friends; or they didn’t want a baby nor place the child for adaption.
Other Issues and Explanations:
Over half of those having abortions were already mothers and they already faced economic hardships: 51% of them lived below federal poverty level; three-fourths had insufficient funds for housing, transportation, food.
Note, for unplanned pregnancies, 42% of children are aborted (Ireland, MD.).
For those reporting themselves as Catholics, 67% believed: Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. (www.pewresearch.org).
International findings from 14 countries, U.S. included: little variation exists by sociodemographic characteristics. Abortions occur for a variety of reasons ( Elsevier Inc. Guttmacher Institute):
Failure of social support for assistance.
Fear of poverty.
Women denied abortions had a.) Higher odds of poverty 6 months after birth, than women receiving abortions, b.) Were less likely to be employed full-time, c.) More likely to receive public assistance, and d) more likely to be in poverty 4 years later (Socioeconomic Outcomes of Women Who Receive and Women Who Are Denied Wanted Abortions in the United States).
Do you have ideas for moving forward, possible solutions, or resolutions to the problems facing pregnant women? Information can enlighten, reduce fears, and save lives.
This article first appeared on The Catholic Stand
Above all, in our path and role in life, we must be truthful to God’s purpose, as well as to our own soul. Discerning and fulfilling our purpose is determined by the success or failure of inner struggle.
Since the creation, people have been in a constant psychological struggle between their inner good and evil, between their demons and their angels, and between doing right and wrong. Good and evil are present inside each person, and it’s up to each one to choose what to follow (Nadine Sadaka Boulos).
The Struggle
This “inner” moral evil, results from human incompleteness, original sin, “the fallen state of human nature” distancing ourselves from each other, God, and His intentions. They distract us from being truly whole, human.
Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world (CCC 311).
Imperfections, “sin”, ingrained in our needs, desires, necessities, for survival – affects whatever is within reach and whatever our magnificent, unique imagination can conjure. Those who believe they are free, live an illusion.
Man, enticed by the Evil One, abused his freedom at the very beginning of history.” He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He still desires the good, but his nature bears the wound of original sin. He is now inclined to evil and subject to error: Man is divided in himself. As a result, the whole life of men, both individual and social, shows itself to be a struggle, and a dramatic one, between good and evil, between light and darkness (CCC 1707).
Searching, discovering our individual truth, purpose, responsibility is part of the human struggle. What stops us from performing, obtaining our goodness: desires, fears, anxieties, selfishness, doubt, ego, hard addictions, soft addictions. We must be aware, mindful, day to day, moment to moment, of the disturbances and commotions around us.
We, with mental health issues, are more fully aware of internal and external conflicts. We experience(d) these continuous battles of lies, voices, false images, darkness, failure, success, pain, and joy. Even with medication, support, therapy, one’s freedom, successes may not be long-lived. We sometimes find a deeper faith, letting go, letting God. We are not our illnesses. Your struggles are not your identity.
Our Weapons
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing (Abraham Lincoln).
Feeding the good, starving evil begins with recognition and acceptance. We can choose our skills(weapons). Some are difficult to employ, even distressing. The soul’s internal battle toward enlightenment is waged with faith, the mind, hope.
The more you fight the darkness, the more real it becomes to you, and the more you exhaust yourself. But when you turn on the light of awareness, it melts (Father Anthony DeMello).
Lessons Learned
I’ve learned several important lessons from the pain of this ongoing war:
I grow, slowly, by helping others grow.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves (St. Paul).
Growth
I grow, slowly, taking small, difficult painful steps. Minor victories begin by the sounding of my alarm clock and placing both feet on the floor (even our dreams, we can be confronted). There’s a great joy of having survived another day and night. Today, there can be victory or fear.
What my vision cannot see, what the mind cannot absorb, is inadequate, narrow, restrained. Imagine the colors beyond our eye’s spectrum, only the angels can view. Imagine what surrounds us.
Relentlessly practice. These few words are just a prologue into lifestyles enhancing our existence. Focusing on God, on The good, on others’ goodness, on faith, its gifts, living in the Gospels, prevent evil’s dominance. Avoid self-pity, resentment, anger, regret over the life that could have been. Dwelling nourishes evil. I will not dwell on what I could have been without my illness. The present is too important for such.
And it is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God (Brother Lawrence).
We live in a culture of ego dominance. Success is ‘success’ of the self only. Some members of our mental health community are imperfect in man’s greatest gift, the efficacy of the mind. We know our faults.
The central inner conflict is one between the constructive forces of the real self and the obstructive forces of the pride system, between healthy growth and the drive to prove in actuality the perfection of the idealized self.” ― Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Towards Self-Realization
We know man’s smallness in This universe. We know our uniqueness, we know we are loved by God, always. We see more clearly. It’s in of our humanity of faith, we succeed and achieve, one small step at a time, building healthier relationships with God, and others, creating anew.
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross).
Pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, including, piety, charity, counsel, fear of the Lord. The Sacraments also strengthen us for the struggle.
The story of the two wolves illustrates how to win the battle between good and evil within us:
One evening an elderly Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.”
“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.” (I’ll add on fear, insecurity, doubting, etc.)
And
“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “which wolf wins?’
The old Cherokee simply replies, “The one you feed.”
This article first appeared on The Catholic Stand
Joy and happiness are all too fleeting and many children of God are unable to enjoy either. Daily struggles affected/created by human frailties, illness, poverty, the absence of love, human anguish pain remains constant, overpowering true fulfillment toward the above. Even though our world is filled with injustice, pain, and horror, can true joy slice through the horrors and pain of life?
Happiness, that pleasurable feeling, belief life is going well – for the moment. A response, reaction to circumstances. It’s temporary, resulting through various sensations, your favorite team wins, a good meal, a book, luck, prosperity for yourself, someone you love, care for, even a stranger. It is contentment. It’s limited. It’s an emotion. Is its opposite sadness, melancholy or boredom, emptiness?
Joy
Joy is powerful, penetrating, passionate, delving deep into body and soul. It’s a state, of mind, of soul’s growth. Its intensity confirms wisdom, “Sofia”, an, acceptance of life’s events, good and bad – a recognition of something beyond circumstances, wonderful or horrific. Saint Maximilian Kolbe is a shining example that joy is not dependant on circumstances. Auschwitz inmate who voluntarily took the place of another prisoner and with ten others, taken to an underground cell and starved to death. St. Kolbe survived without food or water for two weeks. He was the last to die, then executed by lethal injection.
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousand truths which come about us like birds seeking inlet, but we are shut up to them and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away (Henry Ward Beecher).
Joy is more than mere happiness. It is something to be obtained, sought, and aspired through discipline, faith, spirituality, education, and a mentor. The further along the individual is in procuring the above, the deeper and more lasting the joy.
Take a saint, and put him into any condition, and he knows how to rejoice in the Lord (Walter Cradock).
Joy is an illumination (Adam Potkay, The Story of Joy From the Bible to Late Romanticism).
Are emptiness and depression the opposite of joy? Can the individual recognize Joy’s absence over the world’s mass of distractions, illusions, pain, disease, and trauma? Is it possible, the absence of Joy, can bring upon a search, in a world focused on physical pleasures? Is the individual capable on their own ability to develop the true joy of the soul?
Joy humanistically arises from kinship; it is a harmony between our actions and values. It is caring, kind, and compassionate. Joy is a mandatory obligation, I believe, for those with joy to share with everyone. Charity if not shared is a sin of omission and a sin of neglect. A joyous person sees love, God in All. It is in our Holy Scriptures and the Holy Scriptures of other Faiths. Faith brings Joy, and Joy must be shared. Is joy a moral imperative, an obligation for each individual?
Joy is Mudita, (Buddhism) a sympathetic or unselfish joy, joy in the good fortune of others. Has no counterpart in English (it should) of the Four Immeasurables (Brahma-vihara).
Joy- Faith, Hope, Love
Joy is Faith, hope, love: The response of the soul to a great and wonderful discovery. From the smallest to the greatest, a bird, a child, a newborn, the first flower of spring. Fulfillment, sense of completeness. Nothing in life is needed except basic necessities. A deep spirituality: this world is a shadowland: despite life’s difficulties, frailties and incompleteness. Mystery’s inclusiveness, wholeness await. You are part of the Greater.
The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works (CCC 1829).
Can Christians maintain a life of joy? Consider Randy Hain’s suggestions in Six Practical Steps to Catholic Joy:
The above suggestions are an excellent path to guide us about how to live joyfully. However, the key is trust in God. Maybe one day, soon, I will trust God is in control:
Paul and James both say that we should rejoice in our trials because of their beneficial results. It is not the adversity considered in itself that is to be the ground of our joy. Rather, it is the expectation of the results, the development of our character that should cause us to rejoice in adversity. God does not ask us to rejoice because we have lost our job, or a loved one has been stricken with cancer, or a child has been born with an incurable birth defect. But He does tell us to rejoice because we believe He is in control of those circumstances and is at work through them for our ultimate good (Jerry Bridges).
This Article first appeared on The Catholic Stand
America, the wealthiest nation on earth, contains what I call a triangle of despair. Mental Illness, incarceration, and poor quality of life creating a vicious cycle for too many, occurring all too frequently. A national disgrace.
How should Catholics respond to our mental health crises? Many questions Christians must ask, to themselves, to their Churches and communities. Does this cycle begin with mental illness, something beyond the individual’s control? Is mental illness also created by one’s environment? I contend the mental health crisis in our country is exasperated by the imbalance of our inequitable economic systems and various faults of the Justice System.
Mental Illness
(One in Five Suffer)
Mental illness, a disease not of one’s own making, but an illness of genetics and/or created, intensified by outside stress on the fragile mind. Mental illness affects the mind, body, soul, those we love, those who love us, the entire community. The Church is clear that everyone, including the incarcerated, those with mental illness, etc., deserves respect and social justice:
Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims (CCC1930).
Our society is short-sighted, seeking short-term solutions, thereby increasing current problems and costs, consequently forwarding them to the next generation. (What our responsibilities to them?) We avoid these unseen costs of economics, of jobs lost, families separated, lives ruined from lack of proper treatment. (But why?) A society refusing to accept long-term solutions, involving assorted long-term treatments, medications, therapies, and education for those who suffer, from any illness, commits expensive self-inflicted generational wounds. Why do we see the faults in others and not “remove the beam in our eyes”?
Financial Inequalities, Scarcity, and Resource Distribution
How can the world’s “richest” nation have and maintain such an expensive, unbalanced healthcare system?
The USA’s health system rating is 37th in WHO rating. We have neither a single-payer healthcare system where the government nor the private sector pays fully nor a multi-payer system where there’s insurance for people earning less than a certain minimum. Private one for those who earn more www.healthsystemtracker.org.
Charity: the theological virtue by . which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God (CCC 1822).
In our States, millions are without proper or any healthcare coverage. There are fewer psychiatric beds, hospitals, and treatment centers. What if, cancer centers closed? What if you were in medical distress with nowhere to turn? What if prisons offered more beds for your illness than hospitals?
Without access to hospital care, acutely ill individuals deteriorate, families and caregivers buckle under stress, ERs fill with severely ill patients waiting for an open bed, while police and fire responders find themselves increasingly diverted to mental health calls. By 2014, 10 times more people with serious mental illness were in prisons and jails than in state mental hospitals, a circumstance widely attributed to the shortage of beds providing timely treatment(Psychiatric Bed Shortages).
Why? How? One medical bill, a decrease in employment, an unexpected expense – all leading to catastrophe? Pay for food, rent, medication for yourself, spouse, or children? Ideas/programs based on ideals of the New Testament are denounced as ‘socialism’.
Lives destroyed.
The Federal Reserve reports 39% of Americans, currently don’t have enough money on hand to cover a $400 emergency…(The Motley Fool).
The U.S. has a retirement savings deficit of $4.3 trillion.
Imprisoning Those with Mental Illness
There is a direct correlation between the shortage of other mental health resources and incarceration.
Note the dates of the supplied data. The lack of current information displays another system failure.
Our Catholic Church insists that:
Society insures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and vocation. Social justice is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority (CCC 1928).
So, how should Catholics respond to our Nation’s mental health tragedy?
A Gospel Approach to Mental Illness
Catholics must strive to fufill tenets of the New Testament to love our neighbor as ourselves in regards to the least fortunate, including the mentally ill. Ignorance is destroying lives.
Poverty From an Abundance of Grief
Man-made
from
Ignoring God’s Commandments.
Pain
by
Ignoring the Laws of The Holy Spirit.
to
Profusion of loss
of
Hope, Soul, and Spirit.
for
what could have been.
or
What could They could have been?
The church has a role to play, addressing this ignorance, this stigma. Deacon Tom Lambert, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, is an example of what one man can do. His daughter suffers from mental illness. In response to the lack of Church resources, he helped start the Chicago Archdiocesan Commission on Mental Illness and the National Catholic Partnership on Disability’s Council on Mental Illness. Twenty-five years later he continues working at the intersection of Catholicism and mental health. He understands the church’s vital role in teaching Catholics about mental illness and reaching out with compassion to those suffering.
Three things: awareness, acceptance, accompaniment. It starts with awareness: educating people about what mental illness is to destigmatize it. I call it “building ramps for the mind.” We build ramps for the physically handicapped, now it’s time to start building ramps that let people feel safe and able to talk about mental health so they know that the church is a place that understands.
The Church’s Role
Deacon Lambert understands our Church can/must play a vital role in helping people suffering from mental illness:
The church isn’t trying to provide services itself, but instead to support the people searching for these services. From a justice standpoint, part of this means putting more pressure on legislators to fund programs that support those suffering from mental illness to make sure that everyone has equal access to these resources.
The church has two roles to play. One is supporting people who are dealing with mental health issues, as I’ve said. The second is a justice issue. People are not getting the care to which we all have a right (Catholics Must Accompany People with Mental Illness).
Catholics have a responsibility to respond to this lack of mental health resources in our country by demanding justice from legislators and reaching out with compassion to the mentally ill.
This article first appeared on The Catholic Stand
Americans have the right to freedom of faith, speech, and religion but we should keep in mind that we do not have the freedom to exercise these rights beyond certain boundaries. Freedom should be expressed with restraint, control, responsibility, and respect.
The Exercise of Freedom Does Not Imply a Right to Say or Do Everything (CCC 1740).
The Four Freedoms According to Franklin D. Roosevelt
I have freedom of speech but does that mean I can say whatever I feel like at the moment without consideration for others? For example, does one have the right to yell fire when there is none? Or to call someone’s home at any hour? Or the right to intrude on another’s privacy electronically with unwanted messages?
Freedom makes man responsible for his acts (1734 CCC).
Modern Communication
Since technology is continually transforming the platforms available to exercise our freedom of speech, new, complex problems keep popping up.
As Christians, we have a moral obligation to communicate the truth. We have a moral obligation to admit, speak, distribute truth – to inform, expose falsities, lies, and incomplete information. We have the moral obligation to demand, expect the complete truth, for incomplete information is as useless as fake news. Nor can we accept entertainment as news, as the truth, as fact.
The unprofessional use of modern communication in these last years, by the most powerful office, has forced us to reexamine free speech.
Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees, between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in keeping with the dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity (2213 CCC).
Those who govern guarantee our rights and freedoms when they treat us with dignity by informing us of the facts, not by manipulating us with half-truths simply to further their own agenda.
Disagreements in a Democracy
In a healthy democracy, there will be disagreements on the wavering line of what freedom entails as we discuss its various forms and limitations, etc. This ability to debate reflects the maturity, dignity, and a sense of responsibility of our culture.
Opinions should be labeled as such, continuously with caveats stating such, that other information is not being presented which may give the listener a different perspective. And silence is also an aspect of freedom – like action or inaction, maintains the same responsible Christian values, obligations.
An individual must have access to various sources of information. Each citizen has a moral obligation to listen, understand, critique the various news available and demand more. Too many have died to enhance and preserve it.
Obligations of the Media
And what of the obligations of corporations and corporate media and the FCC fairness doctrine controversy? How should they be regulated? What is the role of the free-market? Is it fair? Is it free? What is the obligation of the government to make sure its citizens are informed and not lied to by news outlets? The public has the right to true facts and information.
An abbreviation of the FCC Broadcast Ownership Rules and Oversight of Broadcast Freedom:
The Federal Communications Commission sets limits on the number of broadcast stations – radio and TV – an entity can own. An entity is permitted to own up to two television stations in the same Designated Market Area (DMA) if either:
In 2017, the Commission eliminated its rule that had previously prohibited common ownership of a full-power broadcast station and a daily newspaper if the station’s contour (defined separately by type of station) completely encompassed the newspaper’s city of publication and the station and newspaper were in the same relevant Nielsen market. At the same time, the Commission also eliminated the radio-television cross-ownership rule, which had restricted the common ownership of broadcast radio and television stations located in the same market.
Based on surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, the percentage of adults citing local broadcast television as a news source declined from 65% in 1996 to 37% in 2016. As broadcast stations face competition for viewers’ attention from other media outlets, and thereby financial pressures, some station owners have sought to strengthen their positions by consolidating.
The effect of these changes in how we learn about events means most people find it difficult to fulfill their moral obligation to listen, understand, and critique the news from a variety of viewpoints.
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect (Eleanor Roosevelt).
Yes, Catholics do have freedom of faith and speech but this freedom comes with responsibilities. Our speech and opinions must be rooted in truth, based on access to unbiased facts and information from a variety of news sources.
Spiritual freedom is the root of political liberty…As the union between spiritual freedom and political liberty seems nearly inseparable, it is our duty to defend both (Thomas Paine).
This article first appeared in The Catholic Stand
