Case In Point: Unemployed Need Not Apply

Follow this link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Outofwork-job-applicants-told-cnnm-3498252371.html?x=0. It is exactly the opposite of the Social Justice teachings that I posted before.

Seven Major Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

(This is particularly for my Catholic friends who might find this surprising!):

1) Life and Dignity of the Human Person - human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.

2) Family, Community, and the Common Good - Being social beings, the ways in which we organize ourselves - economically politically, etc - affects not only isolated individuals but all of those in the network of human life. Participation in society is both a right and a duty. Seek the common good, especially for the poor and vulnerable.

3) Rights and Responsibilities - Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Therefore, certain duties and responsibilities are held collectively by the community, and should promote human dignity and flourishing.

4) Option for the Poor and Vulnerable - here things might get surprising! We are to put, as a society, the needs of the poor and vulnerable first (Mt 25:31-46). How many of us put ourselves first, saying that people are poor because they deserve it, and therefore I shouldn't have to bail them out?

5) Solidarity - All human beings are linked in a web of life that is more fundamental than national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are to pursue justice and peace based on our essential similarity as beings created in the Image of God.

6) Work and Participation - all people have the right to participate in the economic, political and cultural life of society. Human dignity requires that all people be assured a minimal level of participation in society. When we work, we don't just work; it is a form of continuing participate in God's creation. The dignity of such work requires that a person has a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization of joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.

7) Care for God's Creation - we do not really own God's creation; we are stewards of it. The goods of the Earth are intended for the benefit of all.

Congressman Assaults Student on Washington Sidewalk

Could BP have plugged the oil gusher sooner?

This is the second attempt by BP to cap the oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The first attempt to put a cap on it didn't work because ice crystals formed in the line that was going to collect the oil and take it up to a tanker on the surface. The ice crystals clogged the line, so no oil could get up to the tanker, so it was a failure.

Is it just me, or does it seem like BP is only interested in collecting oil from that well? I mean, if ice crystals formed and plugged up the drain, that would have stopped the oil, wouldn't it? If so, and if your aim was to stop the oil, then it would have worked! But they couldn't transport the oil up into their ship, so it was a failure.

If someone knows more about this than I do, please feel free to correct me here.

I am finding myself a little reluctant to blog lately. I am trying to find work, to create music, and to build an audience. Saying the wrong thing on my weblog could alienate me from someone, close a door that I need open. I think this is why so many people do not talk about politics, religion, or anything controversial.

But I started this blog to stir things up, to get you thinking, to shake you up a bit. When that happens, your first response may be to proclaim strongly your own basic beliefs which the stated opinion contradicts, if not outright ignores. But then, as you hear yourself speak your beliefs out loud to someone else, you might get the sense that you haven't thought out your presumptions well enough. You may redefine and correct yourself, or maybe abandon your old presuppositions for newer ones that make better sense.

The Loyola Institute for Ministry taught Thomas Groome's critical reflection method, which is basically what I'm writing about here. I guess that this is my calling, to try to engage you in a reflection of what we hold dear, and it would be great to make a living doing that. Critical reflection is too important in our lives to neglect. We need to check ourselves once in a while to make sure we are going in the right direction, or to check whether or not we need to take a detour.

How to Clean Up the Oil Spill? Y'all tell me what you think of this.

This just might work. http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/

A disturbing set of images of the Gulf of Mexico from Mashable.com:
http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/oil-spill-pictures/