Another month brings another batch of sad news of violence, from the extremist terrorism in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka to yet another gunman shooting up a school in North Carolina. Now, as much as ever, is a time when the world needs the prophetic social teachings of the Church on the dignity of life, the earnest effort by people of faith to be good companions in person and in solidarity, and the worldwide network of relief and development work that the Church sustains. Modern society is often more and more adept at working across cultural and religious lines to collaborate in support of human need, and we need to continue building those partnerships and strive to preempt future tragedy.
Plenty of good stuff to get to reading this week...
"The Infinity Gauntlet Holds a Dead Saint’s Hand IRL" by Josh Noem via Grotto Network
Previously, I had seen some Catholic folks point out the stark similarities (pun intended) between the Infinity Gauntlet from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the relic of St. Teresa of Avila's hand. Here, this article offers a deeper dive into the potential connections between the comic illustrator who originally drew the item and the historical and contemporary events, including the distribution of Teresa's relics and the rise and fall of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Long story short, there's lots of overlap if not a conclusive connection!
This is a neat interview with a wonderfully intelligent and articulate Catholic in public life. Prof. Schneck has some great perspective on the potential dissonance and tension of Catholic social teaching and traditionally Democratic values. He helps unpack the centrality of prioritizing the poor, keeping solidarity and subsidiarity front of mind, and social justice a higher priority than any libertarian individualism streaks.
This is a great op-ed on health-care. Frequently these articles take on a political bent, arguing about how American or un-American things like socialized systems, universal mandates, and reduced free market choice might be. Instead, this article analyzes the going rates for employer-based premiums and frames them as a percentage withholding from total pay relative to the average wage. His article (and these additional charts via Twitter embedded below) shows how considering one's health-care premium contribution in the same bucket as taxes, social security, etc. demonstrates that the existing system places heavier burden on poor and working-class people while disproportionately benefitting rich people. It's a different but substantial way to engage the costs citizens carry to support their health-care and provides a fresher footing for considering the health-care debate.
"How Trump is able to exploit the abortion issue, and why that’s bad for everyone" by Sam Sawyer, SJ via America MagazineHere is the US compared to other countries on this front. Average and below fare better in all of these countries and far way better in some. This comparison includes child tax benefits/credits. The US CTC and EITC is completely negated by giant family premium. pic.twitter.com/BVYS30rmFH— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) April 29, 2019
The abortion debate is gearing up to be as divisive and wedged as ever. States are passing laws -- some that go to the extreme to uphold abortion and some that strive to further restrict abortion -- that are meant to spur court cases and pursue a Supreme Court hearing. To help keep a solid sense of the issues, grounded, deliberate articles that offer an honest brokerage and a humble perspective can help us make sense of things well are huge. This article offers some admissions of shortcomings on the side of pro-lifers, reasonable criticisms of the approach of those who advocate for choice, and incisive discussion of how Trump does more harm than good with his lies and brutish approach.
Sen. Donnelly was a casualty of the 2018 midterms. While Democrats won new seats all over the House, the Senate was a different story. Red states booted their blue Senators by a decent margin, and the homogenization of the parties continued with folks like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as some of the last exceptions. To try to help Democrats avoid defeats like this in the future, two of these ousted Senators are trying to use leftover campaign funds to help fellow politicians learn how to connect with rural voters and run a more inclusive campaign. Personally, I find people who run against the common lean of their party help create diversity of opinion and foster discussion around tough issues, so it'd be great to see a resurgence in moderate Senators from both parties, or even folks who ideologically lean opposite to much of their caucus.
Let me tell you -- when pregnancy comes, so does a ton of unsolicited advice, unfounded advice, and pop culture advice. We fell victim to the "we'll buy the What to Expect When You're Expecting" book as a knee-jerk reaction; it's not bad, but it's written in a cheeky sort of way that doesn't feel totally sound. Luckily, a health-care provider recommended the Mayo Clinic books to us, and their installments on pregnancy and baby's first year were our go-to resources. Needless to say, the quantity of resources is crazy. This article/clip is an interview with an author who has sought to comb through all these studies and ideas out there and try to provide a curated set of advice that simplifies the stress.
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