Tuesday Ramble
Good morning, my lovelies. I am back in the saddle, ready to bore you with what is likley to be a prolonged ramble. So, here goes nothing.Well, the Illini couldn't get it done. It is a shame really, but there is always next year, I guess. At least they proved that they deserved to be there. Those refs sucked, by the way.
Yes, I realize the pope has died. I just don't have anything to say about it, really. I'm not Catholic and I've never felt like some old guy in Rome has much bearing on my life. I appreciate that the man did some good things, including being the older, kinder, and gentler force against communism that ran counter to Reagan's seemingly younger, less-kind, and more in-your-face force against communism. I get that. I do. I just have issues with the Catholic church that are hard for me to see past. Was the man a good guy? I don't know. I didn't know the man. Even so, his passing is probably a mercy as he appeared to be in some pain.
You can skip this next part if you like. I am not Catholic, and the following diatribe is not meant to sling mud at any member of that religion specifically, more it is a statement of the things I don't understand about the religion. For example, I could never be Catholic because in the eyes of the church I am a bastard. My parents divorced, so I am a bastard. It has nothing to do with the fact that my parents were legally married prior to my conception, and everything to do with the dissolution of that marriage. Now, the church is willing to look the other way on naming children bastards as a product of divorce...but only if you send money to the Vatican. Isn't this extortion? Extortion, even if committed by a party claiming the moral ground, is still extortion.
But this isn't the only case of moral contradiction. The church puts life at the fore of most arguments, but makes no room for a woman to leave her wife-beating husband. To me, this states that either a woman is less than a man in the eyes of the church (a pretty negative message) or that the woman isn't important to the church until she is dead and her life has been taken by the man (a worse message, though I thought it impossible, for the woman's life only gains value by being lost). To me, the church should be more absolute in its moral measurements. If divorce really is a sin, then it should be the sinners who are labeled, not the children. And, if it really is bad...then no sum of money paid to the right party should make it acceptable. I don't think you should be able to buy God's approval. And, if the sanctity of life is so all-important, why then is it okay for a man to beat his wife to death, but not okay for her to seek to save her own life by exiting the marriage?
So, I'm afraid I'll never be catholic. I just can't get over these contradictions. My apologies to those of you who are catholic if I may have offended.
Rambling on...the weather here is absolutely beautiful today. It is supposed to get to 73 degrees! Oh, and today is election day here in Wisconsin. Get out and vote.
