Liberty, an Election, and a Rock on Mars

I'd be concerned if folks stopped trying to move to America. I think America benefits each time someone with new ideas and fresh enthusiasm comes to my native land.

I'll admit to a bias. My ancestors, not too many generations back, were 'foreigners' who decided that life would be better here. Their motives were a mix of hopes for a better standard of living, and a desire for the freedom to practice their faith without interference from the state.

The freedom to act as if religious beliefs matter is one of the big issues in the November election. I think religious freedom is a good idea: but again I'm biased. I think being allowed to act as if God matters is okay.

I also think that "freedom" doesn't mean "free to be like me." As a practicing Catholic, I must believe that:

• Religious freedom is vital
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109)
  • For everybody
    (Catechism, 2106)

Meanwhile, a robot is still exploring Mars: and that's another topic.

1. Immigrants and a 'Foreign' Religion?
   • Out of the Frying Pan - - -
   • A Tradition We Can Do Without
2. A Little Martian Pyramid Named Jake
   • Martian Prospecting
   • A Healthy Interest in God's Creation

---

1. Immigrants and a 'Foreign' Religion?

"Voter scorecard informs Latinos about religious freedom threats"
Michelle Bauman, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (October 25, 2012)

"A group that works to offer a Catholic voice in the public square has released a new guide to inform Spanish-speaking voters of religious liberty concerns in the presidential election.

" 'Our Christianity - our religious fervor - is a huge part of our lives,' said Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, director of Hispanic Outreach for the Catholic Association.

"She told CNA on Oct. 24 that Hispanic voters need to realize that the current administration 'has been aggressive' towards religion, conscience and the Church.

"Religion is 'intrinsically' part of the Hispanic way of life, she said, and 'it's too central to our culture to give that up.'..."

I could be wrong about this, but I suspect that some of the fury over immigrants from Latin America is rooted in a fear that America will lose the "P" in WASP.

America hasn't been most 'Anglo-Saxon' for several generations: but at least newcomers looked 'Anglo.' Many were Protestant, safely secular, or willing to keep quiet about their 'foreign' beliefs.

Folks who look like me or my ancestors could, in principle, learn to speak with an American accent, wear suitably drab clothing, and pass for 'regular Americans.' Many of today's immigrants don't have that option. Maybe it's time for America to get over trying to be 'British,' and that's not quite another topic.

Out of the Frying Pan - - -

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire" means: "If you get out of one problem, but find yourself in a worse situation, you are out of the frying pan, into the fire." (UsingEnglish.com)

If Americans decide that religious freedom isn't as important as giving the current administration four more years, folks who came here seeking that freedom may feel that they'd have been better off 'back where they came from.'

Which reminds me of a few decades back, when [whatever we're supposed to say when referring to Apache, Cheyenne, Lakota, and the other folks who'd been living in North America for 20,000 years or so] finally got America's government to recognize treaties signed in the 19th century. Whew! That's a monster of a sentence, but I think you get the idea. Moving along.

This 'regular American' supposedly said 'if those Indians don't like it here, why don't they go back where they came from?

It was funny, sort of, at the time.

Back to an issue today's immigrants, and many others, should take very seriously:

"...President Obama is given a failing grade for his policies, including the federal mandate that requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and abortion drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences. Romney is given an 'A+' for his actions and pledges to uphold religious freedom.

"Growing up largely in Mexico with parents from Cuba, Christie said that most Hispanics in the U.S. 'have left their countries because of a lack of freedom' in the economic, political or religious realms...."
(Michelle Bauman, CNA)

I think Americans have gotten used to the idea that an American doesn't have to be pale.

A Tradition We Can Do Without

On the other hand, I still run into folks who seem to think that "American" and "melanin-deficient" mean the same thing. I also run into the same old antipathy for Catholics and Catholicism from time to time.


(Chick Publications, via FoxNews.com, used w/o permission)


(Pillar of Fire Church, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission)
"From ''Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty'', 1926. Published by the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, NJ...."


(From Thomas Nast Portfolio, Ohio State University, used w/o permission.)
"The American River Ganges, a cartoon by Thomas Nast showing bishops attacking public schools, with connivance of Boss Tweed. Harper's Weekly, September 30, 1871." (Wikipedia)

In a way, anti-Catholicism is an old American tradition. Which is why I don't think that old ideas are necessarily good ideas: and that's yet another topic. Topics.

---

2. A Little Martian Pyramid Named Jake

"Curiosity Rover's Pet Mars Rock 'Jake' Unlike Any Seen on Red Planet
Clara Moskowitz, Space.com (October 11, 2012)

"A rock on Mars being studied by NASA's Curiosity rover is unlike any Martian stone ever seen, and is surprisingly similar to an unusual, but well-known, kind of rock on Earth.

"This type of rock is the first of its kind encountered on Mars and is helping broaden scientists' understanding of how igneous rocks form, scientists said today (Oct. 11). The rock, named 'Jake Matijevic' in honor of a Curiosity mission team member who died in August, is a 16-inch-tall (40-centimeter) pyramid-shape specimen that Curiosity encountered at its landing spot in Mars' Gale Crater...."

A rock that's not quite knee-high for many folks isn't, by itself, newsworthy. What makes 'Jake' special is that it's on Mars, and the first of its kind found on that planet.

Martian Prospecting

Curiosity's work on Mars includes scooping up bits of Martian soil, shaking them, and sending back videos of the process:

• "Assessing Drop-Off to Mars Rover's Observation Tray"
  Mission News, Mars Science Laboratory, NASA (October 25, 2012)

Silly as it may sound, that's a pretty good way of seeing what the soil is like.

Back to 'Jake:'

"...'The spectrum that we're seeing was not what I expected,' said APXS principal investigator Ralf Gellert of Canada's University of Guelph. 'It seems to be a new type of rock that we've discovered on Mars' that wasn't seen by NASA's previous Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

"Jake appears to have higher concentrations of elements such as sodium, aluminum and potassium, and lower concentrations of magnesium, iron and nickel, than other igneous rocks studied on Mars.

"... While previously unknown on Mars, this type of chemical composition is seen in a rare but well-studied class of rocks on Earth. On Earth, such specimens are found on oceanic islands such as Hawaii and in other places. They are thought to form when interior rocks melt to form magma, which then rises toward the surface. As it rises, it cools, and parts of the material crystalize, preferentially selecting some elements while leaving a remainder of liquid magma that is enriched with the left-behind chemicals.

"However, the researchers said it's too soon to know whether the Jake rock formed this same way.

" 'This is based on one rock and one has to be careful not to extrapolate,' said Edward Stolper, provost of Caltech and co-investigator on Curiosity's science team. 'You have to wait and see if we find others and if relationships among them give us clues into the processes.'..."
(Clara Moskowitz, Space.com)

If this was science fiction movie from the 'good old days,' we'd probably have seen a Martian princess and/or hideous monster by now.

But this isn't "Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" (1965). It's real. And, I think, at least as exciting.

A Healthy Interest in God's Creation

As for how I can be interested in science and be a Catholic, I've been over that before. Fairly often.

Basically, I think God is smarter than I am, more powerful, and apparently has no problem with big numbers. Besides, I don't see a point in giving us curiosity, if we're not supposed to be curious.

The way I see it, not showing an interest in this marvel-filled creation would be a strange way of showing respect for God.

Besides:

"...the things of the world

and the things of faith

derive from the same God..."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159)

Related posts:

• Freedom
  • "Treating Human Beings Like People, and an Impending Election"
    (October 5, 2012)
  • "Freedom: A Privilege for 'Us,' and not 'Them?' "
    (August 20, 2012)
  • "The Establishment Clause; Religious Freedom; and Getting a Grip"
    (October 5, 2011)
  • "Separation of Church and State, Assumptions, and Fear"
    (September 2, 2011)
  • "Religious Freedom, Niemöller, and Muslims in America"
    (April 7, 2011)
• Tolerance
  • "Loving Neighbors: No Matter What"
    (May 10, 2011)
  • "Hating People? Not an Option"
    (December 9, 2010)
  • "World Refugee Day 2011, the Pope, and 'He Doesn't Have Family...' "
    (June 20, 2011)
  • "Why I'm With the Holy See on Quran Burning Position"
    (September 8, 2010)
  • "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
    (August 26, 2010)
• Science
  • "Alpha Centauri, Freedom, and Me"
    (October 19, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Alpha Centauri, Planets, and Life
  • "An Ancient Brain, Politics, and Searching for Life on Mars"
    (October 12, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Simple Critter with a Complex Brain, a Half-Billion Years Ago
    • A Scoopful of Mars
  • "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time"
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "Beauty, Science, and a Crazy Idea"
    (March 14, 2012)
  • "Clay, Elementary Particles, Photons, and God"
    (January 25, 2012)