Primum Non Nocere

HOW WILL YOU SERVE?

BONO

BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) and (Red), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004:

The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.

The truly great Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly, said, "If you want to serve the age, betray it."

What does that mean, "to betray the age"? Well, to me, it means exposing its conceits, it's foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.

Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was-- ungodly and inhuman. Segregation was another one. America sees this now, but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age.

Fast forward 50 years. What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your life trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it.

How might you, or might you not, "betray your age"? Is that a good idea? A bad idea? Both? Poverty in the "developing world"? Some other "betrayal" of "our age"? Explore these ideas in this blogsite posting. Use this opportunity to speak to what makes you passionate!

This blogsite posting will come due on Wednesday morning March 9, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!

"It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe
that every human life has equal worth."

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?

WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first? Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? What do you think of the health care reform measures put forth by Governor Schwarzenegger or the Democratic candidates for president? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

• "Who Would Jesus Deny?" (38 mb)

This blogsite posting will come due on Wednesday morning February 22nd, 2012 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

Frankie Dunn: It wasn't your fault. I was wrong to say that.

Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris: You damn right. I found you a fighter. You made her the best fighter she could be.

Frankie Dunn: I killed her.

Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris: Don't say that. Maggie walked through that door with nothing buts guts. No chance in the world of being what she needed to be. It was because of you that she was fighting the championship of the world. You did that. People die everyday, Frankie - mopping floors, washing dishes and you know what their last thought is? I never got my shot. Because of you Maggie got her shot. If she dies today you know what her last thought would be? I think I did all right... I know I could rest with that.

("Million Dollar Baby")

As we have seen, the film "Million Dollar Baby" ends on a controversial act of high drama. Was what Frankie did in acceding to Maggie's final wish, in fact, wrong? Legally speaking, this act of active euthanasia was first degree murder. The film, on the other hand, suggests it might have been the right move, considering the circumstances. What do you think? Why? Explain!

This blog posting, with special guest blogger Wesley J. Smith, will come due on Friday morning November 18, 2011.

a moral dilemma

TO TAKE ONE'S OWN LIFE - RIGHT OR WRONG?

TO BE? OR NOT TO BE?
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."
Albert Camus

History is replete with examples of societies where suicide is both revered and execrated. The Kamikazes in Japan and the Roman philosophers of antiquity respected highly the much considered and planned suicide, but the monotheistic religions have always held to be one of the worst things a person could conceivably do. The Catholic Church would not let suicides be buried in its cemeteries, for example. On the other hand, many would agree with Edward Abbey who claimed "there are circumstances in which suicide presents a viable option; a workable alternative; the only sensible solution." Others see it as an individual question on which others have no right to opine, that we humans can either do it or not as we choose. But it has a ripple effect on others besides the individual to their families and the rest of society. "We can never go back. This 'thing' we deal with after suicide...it doesn't get better. It just changes with time. We will be affected profoundly by this for years to come. It is not something that can be forgotten, explains Peter Greene, "As anyone who has been close to someone that has committed suicide knows, there is no other pain like that felt after the incident."

SUICIDE AS REFRACTED BY THE ARTS:

• The femme fatale hires a hitman in Sin City (19.5 mb)
• Romen and Juliet finale (8.81 mb)

It is the same for the young and the old? The healthy and the sick? What is your opinion about the complex topic of suicide? What are your personal opinions about the right of the individual to take his or her own life? Should it be permissible? Impermissible? Why? EXPLAIN!

This blogsite will come due on Friday morning October 7th, 2011.


"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
Phil Donahue