Godly Sex

On a lark, I looked up celibacy as it pertains to Roman Catholic priests.  OK, not on a lark.  I am a recovering Catholic, 35 years in remission.  But back to my story.  I had heard that many priests are actually married.  I wanted to know more.  Here’s what about.com has to say:

You aren’t likely to hear a great deal about married Roman Catholic priests, but they do exist. First there are the priests who are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern Rite, who can be found in places like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, and other nations along the border between Western and Eastern Christianity. These churches are under the jurisdiction of the Vatican and they recognize the authority of the pope; however, their practices and traditions are much closer to those of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and one of those traditions is allowing priests to marry.

They are Roman Catholic priests and many are married – so many, in fact, that some estimates place their number at around 20% of all Roman Catholic priests in the world. This would mean that 20% of all Roman Catholic priests are officially and legally married, even though celibacy continues to be a requirement. But marriage is not limited to priests who are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches – we can also find about 100 Catholic priests in America who are married and who are part of the Western Catholicism that comes

…

Continue ReadingGodly Sex

McCaskill now leading Talent for Missouri Senate Race

According to today's new poll, a hotly contested Missouri U.S. Senate Seat May 'Flip' from Republican to Democrat.  Democrat Claire McCaskill's site reports today's poll results: In an election for United States Senator from Missouri today, 10/12/06, Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill leads Republican incumbent Jim Talent 51% to 42%, according to a…

Continue ReadingMcCaskill now leading Talent for Missouri Senate Race

The price of Iraqi “freedom” is much higher than advertised. The U.S. suppresses stats on dead Iraqis and maimed Americans

Here are two disturbing pieces from DemocracyNow.org: The Co-Author of a Medical Study is estimating that 650,000 people have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion. The study was conducted by American and Iraqi researchers and published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet. This link goes to an…

Continue ReadingThe price of Iraqi “freedom” is much higher than advertised. The U.S. suppresses stats on dead Iraqis and maimed Americans

How to have good ideas

Having good ideas is a quest with which all writers struggle.  And all non-writers too.

How does one develop good ideas?  Have them, recognize them and hone them, it would seem.  But only the first of these three tasks (having raw ideas pop into one’s head) is easy.  For the most part, good ideas are developed (not found) and this requires hard work.  Developing good ideas is rarely like it is portrayed on television, where fully formed ideas drop down from the sky with little effort.

I am not suggesting (by writing this post) that I have more original ideas than the average person.  I plainly admit that almost every worthy idea I’ve ever expressed was not original to me.  In fact, I’d be surprised if I had more than a couple dozen original, substantial and worthy ideas in my entire life.  I assume that most of my ideas have been plagiarized (though usually not intentionally) or that they were simply a modified versions of someone elses’ ideas (modified by stretching them, inverting them or combining them with other borrowed ideas).

How does one have good new ideas?  When Linus Pauling was asked how he was able to make so many discoveries, he replied: “You must have lots of ideas and just throw away the bad ones.”

Those who don’t have many ideas of their own (for instance, those who watch lots of mind-numbing television) don’t have many good ideas of their own.  For most of my life, I have …

Continue ReadingHow to have good ideas