Thursday, May 20, 2010

In the Torchlight for May 16, 2010

Better late than never, I hope...

Torchlight Post:

One of the things we tell our children is that there is more to being pro-life than being anti-abortion. While there was a great deal of buzz created by the reference to “death panels” being a provision of Obamacare, the determining factor in elder care may not be political, but cultural. Whether considered a nuisance to care for by the younger generations, or squandering resources better used elsewhere for the younger generations, the idea is out there that some people have lived long enough; it will be time for them to move on when they become chronically ill. Keep in mind that in this case there are no questions regarding the definitions of human life and personhood to hide behind. It will likely be easier to get a pork chop from a pit bull than trying to get materialists and so-called progressives to let go of the notion that an arbitrary “quality of life” assessment ought not to be decided by someone other than the living, breathing, thinking person at the center of the question.

Recent Items from the News Digest:
  • Greece’s solvency problems certainly expose the sustainability of the modern welfare state. Whether Greece represents the West’s first welfare state domino of many to fall remains to be seen, of course; much less whether it portends America’s fate.
  • A new book and accompanying film dig into what makes today’s American soldier tick, showing us that he is a different kind of man.
  • Americans have a love/hate relationship with stereotyping, or generalizing about, people. Recognizing patterns and making generalizations is a (if not THE) hallmark process of 1.) being human, and 2.) enabling wisdom. But as Americans, such generalizations seem anathema to the notion of the individual that is (still) part of our cultural DNA. If nothing else, this conflict is on full display in the ideological clash over Arizona’s immigration law.
  • Colorado’s transformation from being a Republican stronghold to going solidly Democratic in 2008 is a case study in not only the limits of political conventional wisdom, but also the folly of anyone thinking McCain-Feingold could “take the money of special interests” out of politics.
  • In addition to threatening the structure of the welfare state, the move to bailout Greece challenges directly the notion that a second Great Depression has been diverted, regardless whether its insolvency actually represents the seeds of destruction for the global economy.
You can find links to these stories and more here.

"In the Torchlight" is a weekly post that is part of Sunday Snippets. Sunday Snippets is a Catholic carnival that is hosted each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing. This week's carnival includes, from Mystical Rose Design, a reminder how honoring Mary is explicitly pro-life.

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