2011 July archive at Being Frank

Archive for July, 2011

Jul

“Vio-ma-lin? Tuba-ma-ba? Oboe-mo-boe?”

Categories: Being Frank...

Well I’m back after a week’s absence. Did anyone notice? Probably not right? I think the Friday posts are kind of like white noise, it’s a little annoying at the start, but after awhile you get used to it and tune it out. After that, you start to not really notice it, and don’t even realise when it stops. Ah the joys of being appreciated.

I was reading Inkling’s post about the man and his violin on the Metro. It’s a niec wee story but I can’t help but think that the reality might be a little different. Especially on the Underground. If the man actually managed to get on the train and find room to unleash his violin – that would be an achievement in itself. After that, I’m not sure how many people would actually take kindly to having any sort of interruption to their morning routine of reading the newspaper / book, refusing eye contact, and blocking out the outside world. Some would probably figure him to be some sort of music playing gypsy out for some cash (I hear the non-PC alert going off) and try even harder to stare a hole into their morning newspaper.

But let’s not be cynical here as it was a lovely tale. And music at Mass is important. Myself, I like to listen to the full pipe organ blasting out tunes whilst the congregation tries to contemplate.

Jul

Should I care about New Feminism?

By Opthomistic Closed

Categories: Being Frank...

Like most men (and many women) I am at a bit of a loss to explain how I view feminism. Many feminists question whether Christianity is even compatible with feminism, let alone whether it has anything useful to say. In a similar way, some Christians also question whether feminism can be compatible, constructive or reconciled with Christianity.

I think there are four main streams of secular feminism (Liberal, Marxist, Radical and Socialist). The problem is that each of them is in turn built upon their respective ideologies and has absorbed their assumptions and generalisations. Each of those ideologies is seriously false and not even feminism is able to fix them. The result is that none of the streams of secular feminism (in isolation or combined) have been sufficient to bring to attention or resolution what women really experience of oppression and sexism in society.

Furthermore, different streams and waves of feminism can seem incompatible with each other. It is hardly surprising that in the present day, many young men and women, Christians and secularists have an attitude of ambivalence, confusion or suspicion towards feminism and what it means today.

Following the departure of Filia Day, I was somewhat sad that we wouldn’t be hearing more about the “new feminism”. After all, I had no interest in it personally. That was until I heard a pair of new feminists (Jo Grainger and Anna Krohn) speak about faith, freedom and feminism.

Building on the wonderful work of Edith Stein and John Paul the Second, new feminists are providing the world with an insight to how important the “feminine genius” is to society and how crucial a Christian anthropology is as a starting point for feminists and how society relates to women.

John Paul the Second agreed that women have long been disadvantaged, and helpfully points out that it has been in two main ways. Firstly women have been made overly visible as a symbol of lust. Secondly women have been made overly invisible as less important than men or even unimportant altogether. The problem with the secular feminisms is that they fail to overcome both of these (and sometimes don’t overcome either). By emphasising power and individuality, secular feminism has simultaneously silenced and exposed women (and men).

We can see the result in men’s (and pro-life women’s) views on abortion being dismissed as irrelevant. We can see the result in a 400% increase in young women getting labiaplasties to conform to what they or men see in pornography. We see it in cosmetic surgery, highly immodest dress, stripping, pole dancing and sexualisation of women in advertisements, movies and music videos. We see it in the frantic cry for women to be given unlimited “reproductive rights”, while in some parts of the world girls are killed in gender selective abortion at a ratio of five to one. We see it in “get back in the kitchen”ism and domestic abuse. And in the growing divide between Western feminist perspectives and Developing World feminist perspectives.

The New Feminism provides a path that can address traditional and contemporary injustices against women (and thus against all humankind) while not further perpetuating the injustices in different guises. I would strongly recommend re-reading some of Filia’s past posts for some of this genius femineity! (here, here, here and hear!) And it would pay for those of you who are guys to think about what it means to dress and act modestly!

Jul

The Man on the Metro

By Inkling 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

A man stepped onto the metro. It was peak hour, and the train was mostly full; all the passengers weary from the day, avoiding eye contact with everyone else, and each no doubt believing their problems were worse than everybody else’s.

The man wheeled a small box into the middle of the carriage and set it down. From somewhere within his cloak, he produced a tattered case, which he opened to reveal a beautiful old violin. One or two people looked up.

The man bent over and twiddled a knob or two on the little box – which turned out to be a miniature amp – and after a few short notes to check his strings were in tune, he suddenly launched into Tchaikovsky’s Theme from Swan Lake.

A few bars into the piece, the carriage was suddenly a different place. Another world had suddenly opened up in that small section of the underground train. Hard frowns faded into almost wistful expressions, and the man played with such feeling that despite the tinny little amplifier and the terrible acoustics of the train, each person in that carriage flew over the silent moonlit lake in the middle of that dark forest, led on by the violinist, and for a little while forgot their cares, and, I’m sure, resurfaced at their stop with a lighter load to carry.

True beauty, like truth, brings a person out of themselves and leads them to contemplate higher things, said Pope Benedict XVI. I was reminded of this story of the man on the metro at Mass last weekend, which was led by a choir who sang hymns with a real depth of meaning in the words and a power of beauty in the melodies. It enabled reflection on the Gospel message, on the solemnity of the Mass, and I left Mass feeling uplifted and refreshed, not as if I’d just had my brain pummelled by hyped-up feel-good music as is normally the case. (Have you listened to some of the lyrics in some of the ‘contemporary’ hymns we sing?!)

The music in Mass is not meant to make the Mass-goer feel good about themselves, it’s there to lift them out of themselves, and invite them to deeper contemplation of the mysteries. I think we should do more to make sure that the music we use in our Masses does just that.

Jul

The Contraceptive Mentality

By Marty Rethul 13 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Last night I saw an article on Close Up about the serious problems being experienced in Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty. In the midst of these problems is a group of dissaffected youth – school age but not at school, directionless, probably feeling unloved or generally not cared for. Intimidation in the central area of town, stealing of cars, organised fights (in which some parents look on), gang affiliations, an example of a 14 year old girl selling herself for drugs…it didn’t make for a pleasant story. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg; there are many places in New Zealand suffering similar problems.

Most disturbing was the level of violence which many of these young people have suffered as children. We all know that NZ has a problem in this regard; we seem not to know how to treat our children. And the contraceptive mentality is at the root of this problem. We Catholics need to be more staunch in our support for life – and it doesn’t simply begin and end with the fight against violence in the womb.

Child abuse is gravely immoral, but contraception does not help; contraception only serves to promote the root cause of such immorality, which is the devaluing of life: ‘Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily’ – Mother Theresa of Culcutta. This is manifested at a societal scale:

Contraception accompanies failure of true love.
Abortion accompanies failure of contraception.
Child abuse is the fruit of this desolate tree.

To be pro-life is to promote that living love of human persons made in the image of God, and respect for whole of the procreative and life-giving process.

Contraception is at the root of this problem, or more precisely: the contraceptive mentality is at the root of this problem. When a culture embraces the contraceptive mentality – like NZ has – it embraces the lie that children are a curse or a hindrance that must be medicated against by means of contraception. When contraception fails – because it always fails sooner or later – many people resort to the ultimate way of ridding themselves of the responsibility of the new life they have created – they use abortion to end the life of unborn babies.

Is it any wonder that in such a culture, people treat the children to whom they do end up giving birth in such a disgraceful and abusive manner? This, of course, perpetuates the cycle, which is what we are seeing in Kawerau.

We need a paradigm shift that starts with the way we view sexuality. Then – and only then – will we start to address the root cause of child abuse in this country.

Jul

Should Catholics oppose civil unions?

By Kereopa 14 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

This really does follow on from Inkling’s post last week which discussed gay marriage.

A bit of fuss in some quarters that an unpublished (and unverified) poll has the majority of respondents supporting gay marriage.

According to the results, 60% of respondents were in favour and 34% opposed, with 4% don’t knows and 2% saying unprompted that they saw no difference between marriage and a civil union.

New Zealand Conservative has an interesting take on it where Lucia might have also said yes – due to the ambiguity of the question.

That 60% of Kiwis support gay marriage is not at all surprising – particularly given the fact that the Civil Union Act 2005 and the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 pretty much provide that in law. Well, without the explicit mention of ‘marriage’ per se. I think this is more a victory for confusion over the law, rather than for gay marriage.

But the difference between marriage and a civil union is explicit.

I don’t agree with gay marriage. I’m soundly in agreement with the Catholic catechism on this – in that marriage is a gift from God and it’s between a man and a woman.

A civil union, in my opinion, is just an official recognition in law of one’s relationship and provides similar legal parameters in terms of succession laws, division of assets etc.

But I’m going to go out on a limb and state that I’m really not bothered whether a gay couple get a civil union or not. Why should I be bothered?

As a Catholic, I’m proud of the Church’s record on homosexuality as it’s both consistent and compassionate. I never face down an opportunity to explain the Catholic view of homosexuality. But I also accept that not everyone is Catholic. Therefore, is it up to the state to decide who gets to formally recognise their relationship in law?

St John Francis Regis, pray for us.

Jul

Does God have favourites?

By Joan of Arc Closed

Categories: Being Frank...

Just a short post this week since my ‘things to do before I leave’ list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter the closer I get to my departure date!

The other day I caught up with the other New Zealander entering the Sisters of Life in September. We were sharing our experiences of visiting the Sisters in New York. I caught myself saying about one or two of the Sisters “she’s one of my favourites”. Is it ok to have favourites?

During the week some piece of the scriptures (which I can’t remember right at this moment) also sparked me thinking about ‘favourites’. Does God have favourites among his followers? We talk about people being favoured by God, and Israel as being the chosen people (does that mean ‘favourite people’?). We also talk about Saints such as St Philomena – ‘powerful with God’. Does that mean that she’s one of His favourites?

Jul

Chinese concerns

By Voice in the wilderness Closed

Categories: Being Frank...

For a while, our family has been thinking about moving overseas. Travelling and then perhaps living for a year or two in another country. Being a teacher, there seems to be a lot of opportunities all over the world. We have looked at jobs in places as exotic as Ghana, Africa to places as ‘local’ as Australia.

In each place we look and apply, my first instinct is to ‘check out’ the local Catholic Church/diocese. Some places have been interesting, some surprising. For example, there are a few jobs in Qatar, which is wedged in between the famous tourist destinations: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Afganistan. My mother was less than impressed when I showed her the map (sorry mum!). However, the Catholic community in Qatar seems to be thriving!

China, is also another place which we have looked at. However, the Catholic scene in China is a bit concerning. Here is part of an article which highlights some of the most recent controversies…

Four Catholic bishops in China have been abducted this past week, forcibly taken to unknown locations by the Chinese regime.

Bishop Joseph Junqi of Guangzhou has been missing for days and also presumed abducted. Priests have gathered in the house of Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning, both praying with him and serving as a bodyguard, hoping to prevent him from being seized.

Why are the Chinese Communists kidnapping bishops? They are forcing them to participate in the ordination, scheduled for today in Shantou, of Father Huang Bingzhang as a bishop – an ordination for which the necessary papal approval has not be granted.

The Chinese government, as part of its persecution of Catholics, long ago set up its own parallel, government-run church. Catholics are “free” to worship as long as they pay obeisance to the People’s Republic rather than maintain loyalty to the Pope.

The Holy See, convinced that Chinese totalitarianism will be cast upon the ash heap of history sooner rather than later, has patiently sought to minimize divisions between the official church run by Beijing and the underground Church loyal to Rome. To that end, the Holy See has, on occasion, given approval to candidates for bishops proposed by the Chinese regime. There was tacit agreement, if not formalized, that no bishops – whether official or underground – would be consecrated without approval from Rome. In this way, the Holy See hoped to anticipate the day when official and underground Catholics will worship openly, united in freedom.