The Collapse of Gender Sanity
by Rachel Lu
Men were built for fighting. Women were built for childbearing. It’s interesting to note how stubbornly true—even obvious—these statements remain, despite aggressive efforts to bury them.
Modern people have a penchant for denying obvious things. Dysfunctional politics and political correctness have brought us to the point of potentially approving women’s inclusion in a military draft. The Senate Armed Services Committee recently entertained arguments in favor of requiring women to register for the selective service, and three candidates endorsed the plan in New Hampshire’s Republican debate. The trickle is turning into a stampede. Suddenly political correctness requires that we all agree that girls can fight just as well as boys.
The problem is that it’s just not true. We need to return to some basic Aristotelian principles in order to explain why drafting women would be both imprudent and unjust.
Playing Politics
From a political standpoint, it’s easy to understand why Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie were all prepared to agree that women should register for the selective service. (Senator Mike Lee is pushing legislation to block the drafting of women, which has won support from Rubio and from Ted Cruz.) Somewhat farcically, all three candidates treated selective service registration as a wonderful new “opportunity” for women. That’s silly; the system exists to enable conscription in a time of extreme need. Women already have the opportunity to enlist in the military if they meet the relevant requirements.
Rubio specified that most likely a draft would apply only to women who met the physical requirements. But this would be a foolish policy in an emergency scenario. If you desperately need a large number of soldiers in a hurry, is it sensible to start screening populations of people that will mostly be unfit for the job? Should children and retirees also be included, in case a few turn out to be suitable for active service? This is nonsense. Every society in history has built its armies primarily of young men, for an excellent reason: They are overwhelmingly the most fit for the job.
If the Republican candidates were thinking clearly, they would be racing to specify that they support drafting women only to non-combat roles. This is a more sane position, modeled on the example of other nations (such as Israel) that use female conscripts primarily in supporting roles (as medics, logistical support, etc.). Considering that a draft would only be implemented in a time of extreme need, asking unattached young women to serve their country in these capacities could be reasonable. Demanding that they serve as infantry would not be.
The Collapse of Gender Sanity
It’s disconcerting to see even Republicans sanctioning this kind of foolishness, but there may be a silver lining here. There is value to discussing this issue at a moment when we desperately need a starting point for a more reasonable conversation about sex and gender. Sending thousands of young women to die in battle would be morally monstrous, but luckily, we are not currently threatened with a draft. Instead we are facing a near-total collapse of gender sanity.
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Narcissism is increasing. So you’re not so special
by Arthur C. Brooks
My teenage son recently informed me that there is an Internet quiz to test oneself for narcissism. His friend had just taken it. “How did it turn out?” I asked. “He says he did great!” my son responded. “He got the maximum score!”
When I was a child, no one outside the mental health profession talked about narcissism; people were more concerned with inadequate self-esteem, which at the time was believed to lurk behind nearly every difficulty. Like so many excesses of the 1970s, the self-love cult spun out of control and is now rampaging through our culture like Godzilla through Tokyo.
A 2010 study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that the percentage of college students exhibiting narcissistic personality traits, based on their scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a widely used diagnostic test, has increased by more than half since the early 1980s, to 30 percent. In their book “Narcissism Epidemic,” the psychology professors Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell show that narcissism has increased as quickly as obesity has since the 1980s. Even our egos are getting fat.
It has even infected our political debate. Donald Trump? “Remarkably narcissistic,” the developmental psychologist Howard Gardner told Vanity Fair magazine. I can’t say whether Mr. Trump is or isn’t a narcissist. But I do dispute the assertion that if he is, it is somehow remarkable.
This is a costly problem. While full-blown narcissists often report high levels of personal satisfaction, they create havoc and misery around them. There is overwhelming evidence linking narcissism with lower honesty and raised aggression. It’s notable for Valentine’s Day that narcissists struggle to stay committed to romantic partners, in no small part because they consider themselves superior.
The full-blown narcissist might reply, “So what?” But narcissism isn’t an either-or characteristic. It’s more of a set of progressive symptoms (like alcoholism) than an identifiable state (like diabetes). Millions of Americans exhibit symptoms, but still have a conscience and a hunger for moral improvement. At the very least, they really don’t want to be terrible people.
To solve the problem, we have to understand it. Philosophy helps us do so every bit as well as psychology. The 18th-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote about “amour-propre,” a kind of self-love based on the opinions of others. He considered it unnatural and unhealthy, and believed that arbitrary social comparison led to people wasting their lives trying to look and sound attractive to others.
This would seem to describe our current epidemic. Indeed, in the Greek myth, Narcissus falls in love not with himself, but with his reflection. In the modern version, Narcissus would fall in love with his own Instagram feed, and starve himself to death while compulsively counting his followers.
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How Russia controls American policy
by Frederick W. Kagan,Kimberly Kagan
We’ve seen this movie—now playing in Syria– before.
The Russians have developed a way of getting the US formally to permit offensive Russian military operations against American partners on the ground, all the while calling it a ceasefire.
What the Russians are proposing in Syria—a “cessation of hostilities” on terms they get to define– is exactly what they have been doing in Eastern Ukraine for more than a year.
The Minsk II accords, signed in February 2015 between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, with the US in support, supposedly established a “cessation of hostilities” across all of Ukraine. But Russian proxies on the ground, with active Russian support, have continued to attack Ukrainian positions while loudly blaming the Ukrainians for violating the ceasefire.
Then as now, humanitarian concerns were a prime motive. The West thought the Ukraine ceasefire would keep pro-Russian forces from seizing the town of Debal’tseve, then under siege. But Russian proxies took Debal’tseve three days after the ceasefire came into effect.
Putin will use exactly the same techniques in Syria to achieve a similar objective—the weakening or destruction of opposition forces the US has been supporting.
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Read more: www.aei.org
Speech by Dmitry Medvedev at MSC 2016
by Dmitry Medvedev
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished colleague Mr Valls, distinguished Mr Ischinger, my speech will be of a more general nature, but I hope it will be useful.
The first cold war ended 25 years ago. This is not long in terms of history, but it is a considerable period for individual people and even for generations. And it is certainly sufficient for assessing our common victories and losses, setting new goals and, of course, avoiding a repetition of past mistakes.
The Munich Security Conference has been known as a venue for heated and frank discussion. This is my first time here. Today I’d like to tell you about Russia’s assessment of the current European security situation and possible solutions to our common problems, which have been aggravated by the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West.
Before coming to this conference, I met with President Putin. We talked about his speech at the Munich conference in 2007. He said then that ideological stereotypes, double standards and unilateral actions do not ease but only fan tensions in international relations, reducing the international community’s opportunities for adopting meaningful political decisions.
Did we overstate this? Were our assessments of the situation too pessimistic? Unfortunately, I have to say that the situation is now even worse than we feared. Developments have taken a much more dramatic turn since 2007. The concept of Greater Europe has not materialised. Economic growth has been very weak. Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa have increased in scale. The migration crisis is pushing Europe towards collapse. Relations between Europe and Russia have soured. A civil war is raging in Ukraine.
In this context, we need to launch an intensive dialogue on the future architecture of Euro-Atlantic security, global stability and regional threats more than ever before. I consider it unacceptable that this dialogue has almost ceased in many spheres. The problem of miscommunication has been widely recognised both in Western Europe and in Russia. The mechanisms that allowed us to promptly settle mutual concerns have been cut off. Moreover, we’ve lost our grasp of the culture of mutual arms control, which we used for a long time as the basis for strengthening mutual trust. Partnership initiatives, which took much time and effort to launch, are expiring one by one. The proposed European security treaty has been put on hold. The idea of a Russia-EU Committee on Foreign Policy and Security, which I discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Meseberg, has not materialised. We believe that NATO’s policy towards Russia remains unfriendly and generally obdurate.
Speaking bluntly, we are rapidly rolling into a period of a new cold war. Russia has been presented as well-nigh the biggest threat to NATO, or to Europe, America and other countries (and Mr Stoltenberg has just demonstrated that). They show frightening films about Russians starting a nuclear war. I am sometimes confused: is this 2016 or 1962?
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Read more: www.voltairenet.org
Margaret Sanger’s Eugenics Heyday in the Federal Government
by Susan T. Muskett
Margaret Sanger’s dream of controlling the fertility of the poor is coming to fruition, thanks to the federal government.
Margaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood and a population control activist. She advocated that the “unfit”—the poor and the disabled—should have their fertility controlled. In her view, “hap-hazard, uncontrolled parentage leads directly and inevitably to poverty, overcrowding, delinquency, defectiveness, child labor, [and] infant mortality.”
Sanger emphasized the financial burden that the marginalized classes impose on the broader society, asserting that “if they are not able to support and care for themselves, they should certainly not be allowed to bring offspring into this world for others to look after.” In other words, to wipe out poverty, society should wipe out the poor—by wiping out the ability of poor people to have children.
These same cost-saving arguments are being used by the federal government to justify targeting low-income women for contraception, especially long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).
LARCs are Margaret Sanger’s dream solution. LARCs, such as IUDs and implants, have a 99 percent effectiveness rate. In effect, they chemically sterilize young women for years. For IUDs, the sterilization lasts as much as five to ten years; for implants, it’s up to three years. Unlike other contraception, which a woman can discontinue using whenever she likes, if a woman wants to stop using a LARC, she must return to a healthcare professional to have it removed.
On both the state and federal level, the provision of LARCs to low-income women and teens is increasingly being pushed as a means to reduce the birthrate of the poor. In my last Public Discourse article, “Attention, Low-Income Women of Oregon: Your Reproduction is Now the Government’s Business,” I raised the alarm about a contraceptive metric being implemented by the state of Oregon. In today’s article, I address troubling but increasingly popular efforts to enact national contraceptive standards for all Medicaid providers, Title X-funded clinics, and federally funded home visiting programs.
Medicaid “Quality” Measure on Contraception
Efforts are underway within the federal government to enact a contraception “quality” measure within Medicaid that would have a widespread impact on the fertility of America’s low-income women.
In August 2015, an advisory body to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended that HHS adopt a Medicaid quality measure for adults that would measure use of the “most effective” or “moderately effective” contraception by women between the ages of twenty-one and forty-four who are “at risk of unintended pregnancy.” This contraception measure was the advisory body’s top priority for inclusion in the Medicaid performance measures for adults.
Only contraception deemed “highly effective” (e.g., LARCs) or “moderately effective” (e.g., injections) would be included within the measurement. Healthcare providers with a low percentage of female patients of childbearing age using such contraception would be rated as giving lower- quality care. A similar contraception quality measure, including a separate sub-measure of the use of LARCs, was recommended for teenagers as young as fifteen.
If enacted, these standards would put heavy pressure on Medicaid providers to increase their patients’ use of “effective” contraception, especially LARCs, in order to meet quality standards.
It gets worse. The advisory body recommended that HHS adopt a Medicaid quality measure that would measure the percentage of women using “highly effective” or “moderately effective” contraception within ninety-nine days after giving birth. In its report, the advisory body mentioned approvingly that “11 states have made specific policy changes to encourage placement of long-acting reversible contraception immediately postpartum, with the potential for others to follow.”
It is not clear when HHS will act on the recommended Medicaid contraception quality measures, but the agency seems to be taking steps in that direction. In September 2015, HHS awarded grants to thirteen states and one US territory for the collection and reporting of data to the federal government on the use of effective contraception and LARCs by women on Medicaid. The government is also working with an outside entity to standardize contraception data within Electronic Health Records, which could further facilitate the collection of this data.
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It’s horrific. A “notorious abortionist” invited to Providence College to speak to students about politics, while two Georgetown University professorsare openly advocating for abortion and contraception in response to the Zika virus spreading across South America. And at least eight Catholic colleges are sponsoring performances of the immoral and lewd play “The Vagina Monologues.” (See reports below.)
Why is it that scandals seem to happen each year in Lent? Nevertheless, we’re keeping focus on the Lenten season, and on “National Marriage Week,” as the U.S. bishops have dedicated it.
We have inspiring reports on Lenten devotions and pro-marriage efforts at faithful Catholic colleges recommended in our Newman Guide, and on the defense of marriage and rejection of the “hook-up” culture among Notre Dame students — even while La Salle University’s students support “gender neutral” housing to allow men and women to live together. (See below.)
And don’t miss our exclusive interview with Congressman Lipinksi on America’s state-sanctioned prejudice against Catholic schools, and our statement on widely reported controversies at Mount St. Mary’s University (with a significant breakthrough today)!
Please join us this Lent in praying that more young people will come to know the Truth and defend it. May God bless you!
In Christ,
Adam Cassandra
Editor, Catholic Education Daily
Latest News from Catholic Education Daily:
- Statement on Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md. As recently as last year, The Cardinal Newman Society enthusiastically recommended Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md. (“the Mount”), in our Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College for its strong Catholic identity. We have repeatedly, and very recently, reported on outstanding teaching and practices at the Mount. Nevertheless, we are carefully observing the developments described in recent media reports, and we find these to be disappointing and even disturbing. Certain facts seem clear, while other troubling claims are unsubstantiated but repeated by several individuals. We invite Catholics to pray for a good outcome.
- Immoral V-Monologue Performances Continue at Catholic Colleges For at least eight Catholic colleges and universities, the beginning of this year’s Lenten season coincides with annual performances of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” a lewd play that glorifies immorality and has been denounced by bishops for its disturbing and degrading depictions of human sexuality.
- Catholic Schools Richly Benefit From Faithful Witness of Priests and Religious on Staff Priests and religious who work in Catholic schools play an integral role in Catholic education by witnessing to students the fullness of lives dedicated to Christ, and several religious educators told The Cardinal Newman Society that although fewer schools today are able to hire priests and religious, their vocational witness is crucial to the future of the Church.
- Athletic Directors: Catholic School Sports, Students Harmed by Policies Embracing Gender Ideology Catholic high school sports programs are not simply intended to allow students to achieve success on the field, they are an important part of the mission of Catholic schools to form students in the faith, according to athletic directors at faithful Catholic high schools, and compromising these programs by embracing gender ideology policies that are contrary to Church teaching will bring harm to both Catholic school sports and to students.
- La Salle Univ. Students Approve of Gender-Neutral Housing in Online Ballot Over 79 percent of the students at La Salle University in Philadelphia who voted in a student government ballot initiative want the University to enact a gender-neutral housing policy for campus townhouses according to the referendum results published by the La Salle Students’ Government Association on Monday.
- Faithful Catholic Colleges Find New Ways to Tackle Marriage Crisis Striving to help their students prepare for healthy and strong marriages, faithful Catholic colleges are making a concerted effort to find ways in which they can integrate Church teaching on marriage and family into the lives of their students, representatives from several Newman Guide-recommended colleges told The Cardinal Newman Society during National Marriage Week.
- Students at Faithful Catholic Colleges Encouraged to Participate in Lenten Devotions The liturgical season of Lent began this week on February 10, and recognizing the opportunity to help form students in the faith and grow closer to Jesus, colleges and universities recommended in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College have taken an active role in urging their students and communities to engage in the Lenten season by providing opportunities for spiritual reading, retreats, prayer and devotion.
- Notre Dame Students Seek to Reclaim Marriage Debate in Face of Cultural Challenges University of Notre Dame students who attended and spoke at last week’s Edith Stein Project conference told The Cardinal Newman Society that they are equipping themselves to defend the Church’s teaching on marriage and human sexuality, an area particularly critical in a culture that has forgotten the true blessings of marriage in favor of a casual “hook-up” mentality.
- Rep. Lipinski: Get Rid of Anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments Catholic schools advocate and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) recently introduced a House resolution honoring the outstanding work of Catholic schools across the country, and told The Cardinal Newman Society that he supports getting rid of the discriminatory Blaine Amendments found in many state constitutions that keep families from using public funds to choose a Catholic education.
- Georgetown Professors Push Abortion and Contraception as Response to Zika Two Georgetown University law professors posted an article on a University website recently calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend birth control and abortion as means of responding to the Zika virus outbreak in South America in order to “truly respect the dignity and health of women of childbearing age.”
Latest News from Around the Web:
The Theological Foundation of Catholic Education (Crisis Magazine)
Dating Has Died at College — This Campaign Hopes to Revive It (NC Register)
Christendom College and Arlington Diocese Support New Campus Ministry at Shenandoah Univ. (Arlington Catholic Herald)
College students spread abstinence message during True Love Week (Catholic News Service)
Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Have Arrived at Catholic Colleges (NC Register)
The Bishop Who Wants to Bring Great Books to the Midwest (Aleteia)
Hope Rises for Philly Catholic Schools as Enrollment Soars (NC Register)
Catholic Schools: A Complete Education (Catholic Stand)
Las películas «católicas» de un católico que no va a misa: Joel Edgerton prueba la moral del western
por Carmelo López-Arias / ReL
¿Venganza o justicia? ¿Dónde está el límite? Es uno de los dilemas a los que se enfrenta el personaje de Joel Edgerton en su última película.
El viernes 29 se estrenó en Estados Unidos Jane got a gun [Jane cogió un arma], una película que demuestra la perennidad del western y su intrínseca proyección moral. Dirigida por Gavin O´Connor, presenta la odisea de Jane (Natalie Portman) en su lucha contra una banda de forajidos. Para defender de ellos a su familia pedirá la ayuda de su antiguo novio (Joel Edgerton), quien, aunque odia a su marido, no la abandonará ante sus enemigos.
Tenemos, pues, todos los elementos de una trama clásica del Oeste, en cuyo guión ha participado el mismo Edgerton, un actor, productor y director australiano de 41 años cuya carrera está tomando velocidad de crucero y parece muy a gusto profundizando en dilemas que obligan a sus personajes a elegir entre el bien y el mal y a enfrentarse a sus responsabilidades y a sus culpas.
Una visión católica de la culpa
Edgerton fue educado católicamente y, aunque dejó de ir a misa, la fe recibida sigue dejando su huella.
Siempre que le preguntan por la presencia de las cuestiones morales en sus películasresponde lo mismo: "Crecí como un joven católico. Recuerdo unos fuertes sentimientos de culpa cuando era niño, a veces respecto a cosas mínimas, y me pregunto si no hay algo de eso que aún actúa en mí".
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Leer más aquí: www.religionenlibertad.com
