Word: humaner
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...still be attending Easter Mass this weekend precisely because I follow Catholicism and not the Catholic Church - because Easter's redemptive message resides not in my church but in my religion. Not even our bishops, try as they have, can shame us away from the Eucharist and the human elevation we derive from it. Our church's disrepute, in fact, compels us to consider our religion's virtues more seriously. For starters, it might prod more Catholics to question, say, how Christian it is to heap Vatican-style condemnation on gays and lesbians and yet insist that pedophile priests need...
...than that of society in general. Those arguments - We're no worse than the rest of you! - effectively surrender claims to moral superiority, let alone divine direction. As a Catholic, I believe in the workings of divine grace, that in the end light defeats darkness; but as a reasoning human being, I know that no mortal institution has direct access to it. If the Holy Spirit guides cardinals when they choose a Pope, where is it when bishops are moving ordained rapists from parish to parish...
...ponder our religion sans church, to define our faith not via hoary doctrine but via our own reason, which is how Catholicism is supposed to be practiced anyway. (Yes, despite the Vatican's warnings, it's safe to try theology at home!) Because Catholicism so richly contemplates Jesus' human as well as divine nature - Michelangelo didn't sculpt the Pieta in a theological vacuum - real Catholicism promotes human reason as a door to moral understanding and spiritual redemption. The Church can be a valuable guide to that understanding, one that jerks like me can benefit from...
...showed that an enriched environment made drug use less likely. I think from human research we can say clearly that enriched environments reduce all kinds of addictions, not just to drugs or alcohol," says Alexander, author of The Globalization of Addiction and designer of Rat Park...
...also wonders whether the bill would be compatible with the Belgian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Indeed, legal concerns led France's Council of State to warn this week that a similar proposal working its way through France's legislative system could be unconstitutional. French politicians are still mulling their options. The leader of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement party has said that while he respects the council's conclusions, the parliament is not bound by them. (Read an argument against the veil by Azadeh Moaveni...