What I Believe, Where I Stand

This blog's description is "following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: One man's experience."

I thought I'd be writing more about my everyday experiences, back in September of 2008. Instead, I found myself writing posts that were more like

• Position papers
• Discussions of something I read in the news
• Reports of something I'd learned

Which are, I suppose, my "everyday experiences." I'm a convert to Catholicism, and - according to one of my kids - a nerd. She's probably right about that. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (April 15, 2011)) I'm fascinated by what the Church has learned over the last two millennia, and love sharing what I find.

Hope, Home Schooling, Astrobiology, and Politics

This quartet of posts gives a pretty good idea of what being Catholic is like for me. Your experience may vary.

• "Christianity: A Religion of Hope"
  (May 5, 2011)
  • Gloominess is Not
    • Next to Godliness
    • The same as solemnity
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  (March 6, 2010)
  • All Christians are not dolts
• Astrobiology, the Vatican, and the Meaning of Our Existence"
  (November 12, 2009)
  • "Everybody Knows" What Those Christians are Like
    • Not
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)
  

There's more to it than that, of course.

Citizenship, Freedom, and Being Catholic

The last post, from November of 2008, "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic" doesn't mean that 'I take no interest in politics.' As a practicing Catholic, I have to take an active part in public life, if possible. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915)

Catholics are supposed to "contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom." (Catechism, 2239)

That doesn't mean that we're supposed to force others to say they agree with us. Religious freedom is important. (Catechism, 2104-2109) Religious freedom for everybody
(Catechism, 2106)

Where I Stand, What the Catholic Church Says

I updated a list of posts that show where I stand on some issues and topics. And, more to the point, what the Catholic Church says about what's so.

Selected posts, by topic:

• Annulment
  
  • "Annulment: Divorce, Catholic Style - NOT!"
    (March 27, 2009)
• Authority
  
  • "Authority: My Wife's Right"
    (March 30, 2011)
  • "Why Don't I Cite 'Pastor Bob' as My Authority?"
    (May 27, 2010)
  • "A Young Man With 'Old' Ideas, Vatican II, and the AmChurch"
    (April 25, 2010)
  • "The Catholic Church: Authoritarian, Which Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing"
    (October 2, 2008)
• Capital Punishment
  
  • "Capital Punishment: Killing Those Who Deserve to Die"
    (October 2, 2008)
• Citizenship
  • "America's Economy Isn't Doomed?!"
    (August 10, 2011)
  • "It's 'Patriot Dream,' Not 'Patriot Delusion' "
    (July 4, 2011)
  • "Citizenship, being Catholic, and the Rules of Polite Society"
    (March 22, 2011)
  • Living in America and Living a Catholic Life"
    (April 29, 2010)
  • "Elections and Citizenship, Catholic Style"
    (September 24, 2008)
• Clockwork universe
  • " 'Cafeteria Catholics' and a Diverse Church"
    (June 8, 2009)
    Particularly
    • The Nature of the Universe: Also a Big Deal
• Communicating
  • "Social Media Guidelines from American Bishops"
    (July 21, 2010)
  • "Compromise, No: Communicate, Yes"
    (June 16, 2010)
  • Blog Comments, by Matthew Warner
    • "Matthew Warner on Blog Comments: Part 3 of 2"
      (June 11, 2010)
    • "Blog Comments Categorized: Encouragers to Aliens II - The Response"
      Apathetic Lemming of the North (June 4, 2010)
    • "Blog Comments Categorized: Encouragers to Aliens"
      Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 28, 2010)
  • "Those Heretics May Not Like being Called Heretics"
    (May 16, 2010)
• Cultural differences
  • " 'Americans are Loud,' 'Japanese are Stoic,' 'Germans are Organized:' Stereotypes and Me"
    (March 20, 2011)
  • "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
    (August 26, 2010)
  • "Nigeria, the 'Envelope System,' and being a Parishioner"
    (July 5, 2010)
  • "Accommodating Indigenous Cultures: Including Ours"
    (January 10, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Dance? In Church?!
• Emotions
  • "Giving: From the Heart, and Other Vital Organs"
    (March 17, 2011)
  • "You think You had a Bad Day? Elijah, Jezebel, and a Reality Check"
    (January 16, 2011)
  • "Hating People? Not an Option"
    (December 9, 2010)
  • "Really Spiritual Experiences: Those are Okay"
    April 22, 2010)
  • "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
    Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
• Evolution
  • "Evolution, Space Aliens, and Two Millennia of Dealing With People"
    (July 5, 2011)
  • "Copernicus, Galileo, Science and a Reality Check"
    (October 26, 2009)
    Particularly
    • Heliocentrism, Evolution, and Here We Go Again
  • "Dinosaurs, Mutant Chickens, Evolution, and Faith in God"
    (June 29, 2009)
• Faith and Reason (also see science, below)
  • "Living in the Real World"
    (August 22, 2010)
  • "Saint Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict XVI, Faith and Reason"
    (June 24, 2010)
  • "It's Faith and Reason"
    (June 19, 2010)
  • "Reason, Faith and 'What Folks Know,
    that Just Ain't So' "
    (June 4, 2010)
  • "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
    (March 20, 2009)
• Medical ethics
  • "Courtney Nash, Organ Transplants, and Bingo"
    (August 15, 2011)
  • "Remember: 'Clinically Dead' isn't 'Dead' "
    (October 22, 2010)
  • "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
    (April 28, 2010)
  • "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
    (February 3, 2009)
  • "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
    (February 2, 2009)
• Politics
  • "Separation of Church and State, Assumptions, and Fear"
    (September 2, 2011)
  • " Politics, Headlines, Bachmann, and 'Those Catholics' "
    (July 17, 2011)
  • "'I Take No Interest in Politics' isn't an Option"
    (March 29, 2010)
  • "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
    (November 3, 2008)
• Religion
  • "Christianity: A Religion of Hope"
    (May 5, 2011)
  • "Uncertainty, 'Being Religious,' and This Catholic"
    (February 12, 2011)
  • "Religion isn't For Blind Sheep?"
    (December 10, 2010)
  • "Assumptions About Religion, and American Rules of Etiquette"
    (April 14, 2010)
  • "Relgion isn't Bad?"
    (April 12, 2010)
• Sex
  • "New York State Senate Okays Same-Sex Marriage: My Take"
    (June 25, 2011)
  • "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
    (April 26, 2011)
  • "Sex, the Practicing Catholic, and Vatican Roulette"
    (June 5, 2010)
  • "Pedophile Priests, Those 'Confused' Catholics, and the 'Tolerant' Press"
    (April 1, 2010)
    Also see
    • "Pedophile Priests, Ephebophilia, and Facing Facts"
      Link page
  • "The Catholic Church and Homosexuals: Harsh and Soft, Judgmental and Understanding"(March 13, 2009)
• Science (also see Faith and reason, above)
  • "When to Call Tech Support, When to Read the Bible"
    (January 14, 2011)
  • "God's Creation: He Seems to Think Big"
    (September 23, 2010)
  • "Physics and God, Hammers and Architects"
    (September 7, 2010)
  • "Science vs. Religion: the Same Tired Old Line"
    (June 5, 2010)
  • "Astrobiology, the Vatican, and the Meaning of Our Existence"
    (November 12, 2009)

Link list:

• "What do I Really Feel About [___]"