Notes: Tuesday, September 6-Wednesday, September 14, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. A couple of recent posts from Mr. Muehlenberg:

1.1 On the latest initiative for propagating multiculturalism

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/05/force-fed-multiculturalism/

Labels: education, multiculturalism

1.2 On his new book, on the challenge of homosexuality

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/04/strained-relations/

Labels: G.L.B.T.

2. The latest evidence for a link between abortion and mental health problems

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38771

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/study-links-abortion-to-mental-health-problems/story-e6freuy9-1226127657384

Originally I wasn't going to bother logging that AQ post, since anyone who opposes abortion--myself and, presumably, my readers among them--would regard the findings as unsurprising, but then I saw the print-edition version of the article to whose on-line version I link above here taking up about a quarter of page twenty-five of the Sydney Daily Telegraph of Friday, September 2, 2011, and so I thought that I'd better log it, since it's so rare for one of the mainstream media to highlight the adverse consequences of abortion (needless to say, the mainstream media tend not to regard the death of an unborn baby as a necessarily adverse consequence) that the findings must be important. Here are the key excerpts from that Tele article:

The research by American academic Priscilla Coleman, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, said abortion was linked with a 34 per cent greater chance of anxiety disorders and a 37 per cent higher possibility of depression.

This was more than double the risk of alcohol abuse, three times greater risk of cannabis use at 220 per cent and 155 per cent greater risk of attempted suicide.

[...] "Overall, the results revealed that women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 per cent increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10 per cent of the incidence of mental health problems were shown to be directly attributable to abortion."

The study was based on an analysis of 22 separate projects, which together analysed the experiences of 877,000 women, of whom 163,831 had had an abortion.

Labels: abortion, mental health

3. Dr. Sammut on, among other things, "the disturbing significance of the controversial [recent] NSW birth certificate decision"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/womens-rights-push-dads-aside/story-e6frgd0x-1226128389989

Worth reading in full, but the final paragraph is what I want to log here:

This is the disturbing significance of the controversial NSW birth certificate decision. That no gay spokesperson has expressed concern for the father and child stolen from each other speaks volumes about their priorities. Traditionalists have long argued in defence of marriage that the institution is fundamentally about the rights of children and that advocates of gay marriage just don't get this. Based on the "sperm donor dad" case, they appear to have a point.

Labels: birth certificates, child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, parenthood, youngsters

4. "THE well-being of Australia's children and young adults has declined sharply in the past decade - and sliding marriage rates are partly to blame"; "marriage makes a difference, not just the characteristics of a child's parents, because of the commitment involved"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/falling-marriage-rates-hurting-children-report-20110905-1jubf.html?skin=text-only

Labels: child-rearing, families, marriage, parenthood, youngsters

5. "A member of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1315540178.html

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38865

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/uk-mp-pushes-to-force-church-to-have-contrary-to-nature-marriages-or-no-marriages-at-all/

Apparently, such a ban would involve adopting the system, which is used in some Continental countries, in which prospective spouses who intend to wed in a religious ceremony have to get a 'civil marriage' as well.

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, U.K.

6. "Irish government backs down on confessional bill"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38855

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland, sexual abuse

7. "Lesbian foster couple put six year old boy in girl's clothes and post photos on Facebook"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lesbian-foster-couple-put-six-year-old-boy-in-girls-clothes-and-post-photos-on-facebook/story-e6freuzr-1226134422557

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/12/more-outrages-from-the-rainbow-warriors/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/same-sex-parents-should-foster-not-play-politics/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135313446

I wonder whether there has been any scholarly research into the phenomenon of one of the members of a same-sex couple undergoing a 'sex change'?

Labels: child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

8. "MEN'S bodies hardwire them to become caring fathers by dropping their testosterone levels after a child is born, a landmark investigation has found"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/fathers-give-up-mojo-after-children/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135425389

Labels: families, medicine, parenthood

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, A.D. 2011

Notes: Saturday-Monday, December 11-13, 2010

1. "Israeli rabbis back ban on renting property to Arabs"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/israeli-rabbis-back-ban-on-renting-property-to-arabs-20101208-18pwx.html?skin=text-only

See also this AQ thread:
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35074

2. Mr. Muehlenberg on how legalisation of so-called gay marriage affects (adversely) people other than the gay 'husbands' and their respective 'wives'

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/10/same-sex-marriage-who-says-nothing-will-change/

3. A few interesting books reviewed/mentioned over the weekend

3.1 "In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction
"By David Perrett Palgrave
"Macmillan, 305pp, $42"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/for-the-footy-fans/story-e6frg8nf-1225966843570

3.2 "Peter Leithart, Defending Constantine. IVP, 2010"
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/12/recommended-reading-for-the-christmas-break/

3.3 "Edward Feser, Aquinas: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneway Publications, 2009)"
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/13/historical-theology-a-bibliographic-essay/
(also metioned in comments at the web-page linked in 3.2)

4. "AUSTRALIA'S culture of long work hours is putting at risk children's early learning opportunities"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/long-work-hours-leave-little-time-for-childs-play-20101210-18swv.html?skin=text-only

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, November 13-15, 2010

1. Figures on Catholic religious in Australia today

http://www.smh.com.au/national/down-but-not-out-catholic-orders-shrink-by-half-but-energy-unchanged-20101112-17r78.html?skin=text-only

Main points from the article (which CathNews featured):

• There were 8422 "religious personnel" (including retired religious) in Australia in 2009, down from 17029 in 1976.
• "The median age is 73, and only 8.2 per cent are aged under 50, whereas 26.6 per cent are aged 80 or more."
• "Three-quarters of all religious came from Australia and the rest came from 75 different nations, with Ireland, New Zealand and Vietnam the greatest source countries."
• "[T]he tradition of being taught by a nun or a brother in a Catholic school belongs mostly to previous generations. While 48 per cent of the religious worked in education in 1976, that cohort has shrunk to 12 per cent, as lay-people have taken over Catholic education."
• Despite the decline in membership, "40 congregations out of 109 said they were ''not contemplating change''".

2. Figures on whether a sample of Australians agreed or disagreed with the following statements: "Homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt children", "I believe homosexuality is immoral", "I consider myself a homosexual"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/country-divided-as-support-for-gay-marriage-varies-wildly-20101114-17sq4.html?skin=text-only
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/the-tricky-political-topography-of-samesex-marriage-20101115-17t6y.html?skin=text-only

Neither the descriptive report nor its analysis focus on the figure which I regard as the most remarkable: Only 3% of Australians identify as homosexual. (Terra has more on this.)

3. Mr. Rowney on the philosphical distinction between intended consequences and merely foreseen ones

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24169

I was surprised to see Mr. Rowney write that

Even utilitarians need to decide where they stand on this one. Do they side with Hume and Mill on the Aristotelian side or with Sidgwick, Adams, Singer and the Consequentialists on the other?

since I thought that utilitarianism was an inherently consequentialist moral philosophy.

4. Dr. Jones (responding to Msgr. Williamson) on the teachings of Vatican II

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34678

I disagree with Dr. Jones's conclusions, but I was interested to read the following:

John Courtney [sic] Murray ... was working for Henry Luce’s Time/Life empire, which had intimate connections with the CIA. [That story] will appear in the pages of Culture Wars and a forthcoming book by David Wemhoff.

5. Another benefit of which male same-sex couples deprive their respective children

From a letter by Mrs. Babette Francis in The Australian today:

... the significance of breastfeeding in early education should not be overlooked.

During breastfeeding, an infant's eyes focus on its mother's face and it learns from her "baby-talk" and conversation, whereas bottle-fed babies look away from the mother towards the bottle, and are sometimes propped up with pillows with no adult holding the bottle. ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/breast-versus-bottle/comments-fn558imw-1225953455135]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Albert the Great, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, October 9-11, 2010

"Attitudes harden towards the lot of a working mother"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/attitudes-harden-towards-the-lot-of-a-working-mother-20101010-16e39.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/takes-two-to-bake-and-make-the-bread-20101010-16e3s.html?skin=text-only

"Russian Orthodox patriarch lauds Putin’s leadership" and "Moscow Patriarchate thanks Catholics for support to Orthodox abroad"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34137

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=382540&sid=f93e38554ba45bb2dc83ab52c5fef176

Mr. Muehlenberg with some statistics on Australian doctors and euthanasia

The situation in Australia appears to be no better. In South Australia, for example, where voluntary euthanasia is illegal, a recent survey of doctors who had taken active steps to end a patient’s life found that 49 per cent of them had never received a request from the patient to do so.

And a more recent survey of nearly 1000 Australian surgeons found that more than one third had intentionally hastened the death of a patient by administering more medication than was necessary to treat the patient’s symptoms. Of this group, more than half said they did so without an explicit request from the patient.

Another survey of 683 general surgeons, conducted a year later by the University of Newcastle, found similar results: over a third had sped up the death of terminally ill patients, and over half of the patients had not explicitly asked for a lethal dose of drugs. Only a few of the patients had clearly asked for euthanasia.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/10/09/euthanasia-%e2%80%9csafeguards%e2%80%9d-and-the-slippery-slope/]

Mr. Coyne on "the "essential message" of Jesus"

http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=57547

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, September 4-7, 2010

Mr. Slattery on Shakespeare's plays

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/to-know-the-bard/story-e6frg6zo-1225912730308

Mrs. Shanahan on the lack of Catholic military chaplains with Australian forces in Afghanistan

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/catholic-padres-frozen-out-in-afghanistan/story-e6frg6zo-1225913630026

Dr. Biddulph on parenting

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/father-lode/story-e6frg8h6-1225912838609

Interesting to read that interview with the N.S.W. same-sex adoption Bill in mind. Here are some excerpts:

By almost every social indicator – self-esteem, educational achievement, law abidance – children seem to do better when a father is present. Why is this the case?
Fathers show boys how to be good men. They share the workload. They are fun. They make mothers feel more secure and relaxed. A good man is a huge benefit. Of course, a bad man is worse than none at all. But if a man is safe and reliable, and willing to learn and try, he will almost always be a plus for his son.
Fathers matter hugely in the development of girls as well, because they give a girl confidence around males. It’s the simple things that achieve this, such as walking the dog together, playing a ball game, helping with homework. He sends a powerful message to his daughter that she is interesting and worthwhile. Girls who are close to their dads get involved with boys later, and show better judgement when choosing partners. They are generally more confident and do better at school and work.

In The New Manhood you write that whenever a boy seems unmotivated, at home or at school, look to a lack of male role models as the cause. Why do boys become so easily unstuck without good role models?
Because they don’t see any adult that they want to emulate. A well-raised young person is like a collection of all the great people they have spent time with. Peer groups often only really pass on their own emptiness. We need to see people like us, but further along. You can’t become a good man unless you have spent time around good men. You can’t learn patience, kindness, courage or even love, unless you have seen it and known it in someone else.
Fathers need to join other fathers, especially when their sons are in their mid-teens, and go camping, fishing, and to the beach. By getting away for a few nights with the kids they will have the opportunity to meet other men who are doing great things in the world like building, healing and teaching. Teenagers can then talk to other fathers and develop ideas about manhood. [...]

A loving and focused mother can get a boy “almost to wholeness”, you write in The New Manhood. But the one thing she cannot teach is “how to be a man”. What does “being a man” amount to in a 17 or 18-year-old male?
By this age a young man should have been initiated into manhood. In The New Manhood we look at schools and communities that are actively doing this. It isn’t just the ritual or mystery that helps, but the message that is crucial: a man looks out for others. A man knows life is sometimes hard and he works withothers to protect life. Boys rise to the heroism of that, instead of the dumb heroism of drink-drivingor gang involvement. The energies are the same, but are redirected for good. [...]

So what can we do [about the problems affecting young women today]?
Well, don’t buy fashion magazines for your ten-year-old – or yourself. And don’t leave the TV running all the time; just watch programs you have chosen. But the big thing is that women have disappeared from the lives of girls. Girls get only a quarter of the mothering, and “auntying” from other women, that they used to. It is older women who help girls to gain a perspective on boys and realise that their ideas and actions matter more than their hairstyle. Parents with a strong relationship with their child are in a better position to give them good self-esteem and belief in themselves beyond looks or fashion. [...]
[bold type and italics in the original, my square-bracketed
interpolations]

Interesting books reviewed/mentioned in the weekend papers:

Just one this week:

Learning to be a Minister: Heroic Expectations, Practical Realities
By Anne Tiernan and Patrick Weller
Melbourne University Publishing, 351pp, $39.99
WITH a new government in office this book is already out of date, despite some of its research being barely a year old. But this does not matter because, while the names have changed, the functions described stay the same. And what fascinating functions they are. This is a field guide to what occurs in the corridors of power, where ministers and mandarins intersect, where the way we are governed is decided. This is a must for anybody interested in where the real work of politics occurs. Perhaps the egotism and exhaustion of the minister and staff, and the suspicion they share of public servants, could be clearer but the authors are experts on the Australian system of ministerial government, and it shows.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/field-guide-to-the-corridors-of-power/story-e6frg8nf-1225912909446]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
7.IX.2010

How to set your child up for a life of degradation

Step 1: name her after a ‘porn star’:

Confused about what to name her daughter, Lauren McIntyre left the name up to her husband, Jamie, when they had their girl Holly in April. "There was a television show we watched all the time Girls in the Playboy Mansion and he named her after one of them," Mrs McIntyre, of Cowra, said.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24203550-5001021,00.html

Still, the article wasn’t all bad news:

It can now be revealed that the names John and Mary have been the most popular names for newborns in NSW since the first birth more than 230 years ago.

Reginaldvs Canvar