5 Amazing Performances From Actors Who Weren't Acting

Here's my favorite, #2. Casablanca: The Marseillaise Scene:

... Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is upstairs chatting with Laszlo, notorious resistance leader and husband to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). Some German patrons begin to annoy the other customers by rudely singing "Die Wacht am Rhein"...To this point, Rick had stayed pretty neutral on the whole "Nazi" issue. But in this pivotal scene, Rick lends a single nod of support Laszlo's way. Laszlo and the other bar patrons find the courage to drown out the Nazis with their own patriotic verse of "La Marseillaise" (loose translation: "The Marseillaise"), and the Nazis, thoroughly out-Glee-ed, leave in a huff.

The patrons celebrate their small victory, some clearly moved to tears. The thing is, nothing in the script actually called for crying. Unlike most of the entries on this list, this one has less to do with a sociopathic director and more to do with the time and place the film was made.

See, this was a World War II movie ... that was being filmed in the middle of World War goddamned II.

It's easy to forget that part, now that hundreds of movies (and seemingly thousands of video games) have been based on the war in the decades since it ended. Casablanca was shot in 1941 during the German occupation of France, at a point where many questioned whether or not the United States would ever step in to help, and when nobody knew how the whole thing was going to turn out.

And the scene included actors who, in real life, had a lot at stake. To shoot Casablanca as a believable port town, producers brought together one of the most ethnically diverse casts in film history, and a lot of these extras turned out to be Europeans who had fled to America to escape the Nazis -- that is, they were basically real-life refugees. They had left homes, friends and families behind, and at this point really didn't know if things could ever return to normal. Which makes us wonder if the director didn't stage the whole war just to get that scene.

Go read it all at Cracked (keeping in mind, of course, that this is Cracked and there is bound to be language that may raise eyebrows).

Pork & Sausage Jambalaya

Fresh from John Besh's cookbook, My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking. Get it while it's hot at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

News You Need to Know: Sherlock returns to U.S. TV

On the upcoming CBS series Elementary, Holmes is a respected criminologist, formerly a consultant for the Yard but now a recovering addict fresh out of rehab. The NYPD hires him as a consultant, but makes him take on a “sober companion” to keep him on the straight and narrow. The one he gets is Dr. Joan Watson, a gifted surgeon who lost an influential patient on the table and her license, in quick succession. So she has to ride herd on him during cases, whether either of them like it or not.

Holmes is played by English actor Jonny Lee Miller, the grandson of actor Bernard Lee (the original M).

Dr. Joan Watson is Lucy Liu.

This is going to be awesome.

No kidding.

Maureen has more at Aliens in This World.

What Do Doctors Do When It Is The End For Them?

It's not something that we like to talk about, but doctors die, too. What's unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared with most Americans, but how little. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care that they could want. But they tend to go serenely and gently.

[...]

Unlike previous eras, when doctors simply did what they thought was best, our system is now based on what patients choose. Physicians really try to honor their patients' wishes, but when patients ask "What would you do?," we often avoid answering. We don't want to impose our views on the vulnerable.

The result is that more people receive futile "lifesaving" care, and fewer people die at home than did, say, 60 years ago. ...

This story from the Wall Street Journal was an eye opener.

It made me grateful that my father didn't try to fight his way back with therapy, an option that seemed unrealistic when it was proffered. It also made us realize that the surgeon who early on advised Tom and his brothers about what he'd do "if it were my mother" was being honest in a way that is rarely seen. (Now, months later, we realize he probably was right. Tom says that in letting themselves be guided against that advice without getting an outside second opinion they should have given his words more weight. However, what's done is done.)

Read the whole thing. This is going to guide me in the future. When I ask "what would you do?" I'm going to insist on a real answer.

(I meant to look for the original article ... here it is at Zocalo Public Square.)

News You Need to Know: Community Returns March 15

Happiness abounds. Thanks to Scott for the tip!

Abed: Jeff, you’ll have to play the part of my dad.
Jeff: I don’t wanna be your father.
Abed: See? You already know your lines.

And You Thought Government Interference Was Bad Now. Reviewing: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always knew that eventually I'd have to read this book. For one thing, I figured that Scott would choose it for the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, because I know he's a fan. Then, of course there is the upcoming movie which looks darned good in the trailer. And the myriad book buddies who are incredulous that I haven't read it.

Who knew that it would be fellow small group facilitators at RCIA who would make the final push? We were whispering together in the back of the church while the catechumens (nonbaptized who are converting) and their sponsors were practicing for last weekend's Rite of Call (or something like that) where they are presented to our church at Mass this week. (Let's not get into the fact that I am now going to have to add Les Miserables to my "to read" list and my movie list. Yes, these guys are into great stories.)

Anyway, that made me wonder if it were available to borrow for my Kindle since I'm a Prime Member. Sure enough, I was able to begin reading after the click of a button.

We all know what this is about, right? In a dystopian future, Panem is the Capitol of the land, surrounded by 12 outlying districts. Life is severe and difficult in the districts and, making matters worse, a harsh tribute is exacted as punishment for a failed rebellion. A boy and a girl from each district must travel to the Capitol and participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. This is rightly regarded as a death sentence, so when her little sister is chosen, 16-year-old Katniss steps forward in her place.

I was surprised at how interesting I found this book, to the point of staying up much too late to finish it at break-neck speed. It is a formula with the usual elements of a girlie adventure book adhered to with somewhat depressing predictability (she's prettier than she knows, just saying what she thinks and being her own awkward self engages the crowd, etc.). However, the competition and her relationship with Peeta raises this above the usual fare, especially since we know she will survive the games. Heck, she's telling the story for one thing.

Although I've heard the other two books of the trilogy are less solid I know that eventually Katniss is gonna have to take out those bahstids at Capitol (foreshadowing was heavy on that) and I am curious to see what happens. I'll have to wait a bit though since I can't check out another Amazon book until March 1 and the library has 117 people waiting in line before me for an available copy. So I will rejoin the tale in a couple of weeks.

Get Religion: Media shirk debate on religious liberty

... you wouldn’t know it from media coverage but the Obama Administration has issued a strict mandate that deeply concerns many religious liberty observers. Because that mandate requires everyone to pay for abortifacients, sterilization and contraception for their employees — even if they have religious objections to it — the media have decided to adopt the framework that this is a battle over “women” and a battle over “belief” in “birth control.” That’s not even close to an accurate description of what concerns the religious liberty activists, but it doesn’t matter. And it’s a sexist dismissal of all the women, such as myself, who care deeply and passionately about religious liberty. But it doesn’t matter. It’s the way many in the media have decided to frame the issue and they don’t care how many Jews, Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics and Zoroastrians (female or male!) say otherwise, it’s going to be about birth control. And there’s nothing you can do about it.

GetReligion, how I love it. They never let the media off the hook on how they cover religion. Go. Read. And enjoy.

in which Scott finally admits to Julie that he's a digient. Julie knew it all along.

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang - at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

“Religious liberty does not depend on the benevolence of who is regulating us.”

Much remains to be done. We cannot rest when faced with so grave a threat to the religious liberty for which our parents and grandparents fought. In this moment in history we must work diligently to preserve religious liberty and to remove all threats to the practice of our faith in the public square. This is our heritage as Americans. President Obama should rescind the mandate, or at the very least, provide full and effective measures to protect religious liberty and conscience.

The broad reaching implications of this impasse finally struck home to me (closing hospitals, schools and the like if the administration doesn't back down) ... and so I've been praying a lot for our bishops to have the courage of their convictions. It's no wonder I am pleased to see this recent statement from Cardinal Timothy Dolan to his fellow bishops.

Via The Curt Jester, whose comments are spot on. He also has some good news from the courts about conscience protection, so go read about it.

Cooking the Books: Weber's Big Book of Grilling

I've been meaning for some time to tell y'all about my personal 2012 Cooking Challenge. I have quite a few cookbooks and yet I cook from them so rarely. Many of them I have read numerous times but still have never been impelled to do more than cook the same two or three recipes that interested me originally.

This year I thought I'd make two-three dishes from a particular cookbook each week. If all goes well, I'll have provided much more variety to my usual round of "go to" default meals.

Find out more at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

About that which is none of your business, shut up.

(Language alert for those who care.)

The herd will not have it. The herd hates outliers. It’s nothing personal; it’s just for protection. If you stray from the herd, you get eaten. It’s as simple as that. It’s natural selection. So stick together.

But nobody’s trying to eat us, so why can’t we get over our herd mentality? Why can’t we relax and let people be? Why do we even care?

You would think there would be strength—and comfort—in numbers. You would think that if 95% of the women you know are wearing Fashion X this year, they wouldn’t need to tease or sneer at the 5% who wear something different. You would think that if 95% of the men you know prefer drinking beer and watching football to drinking wine and watching opera, they wouldn’t feel the need to call the 5% fags. Who cares what the other 5% do, or like, or wear, or think?

But we do care. We’re a herd. And we care a lot. We can’t be “us” unless we’re all us. One weirdo makes us question our us-ness, our whole group. And we don’t like that. So we’d better bring the outliers back into line. It doesn’t have to be through violence or coercion—it can just be gentle mockery. We’re teasing. Don’t take everything so seriously. Don’t take it all to heart. Just take it.

If you’re lucky, as an adult, you find a place or make a place where this kind of nonsense doesn’t occur, where people are genuinely tolerant of difference—or, better, indifferent about it. Indifferent about difference. I don’t want you to tolerate what I am; I want you to not give a shit, one way or the other. I want you to accept the fact that who I am is none of your goddamned business, and live accordingly.

Ah, how much of American political discourse would vanish overnight if we could just apply this one, simple rule: About that which is none of your business, shut up.

Of course, in far too many places, people think that everything is their business. In far too many places, the message is clear: it’s not that we want you to be exactly like us; we need you to be exactly like us. We can have no bell curve here; the outliers must be brought into the fold. We must be one flat line, stretching across the horizon forever. It is an absolutist, totalitarian impulse buried deep in our heart of darkness, and the insecurity and fear it reveals is troubling.

And surprising. I mean, who knew a head cheerleader’s sense of self could be so precarious?

The way I feel right now, this resonates. Andrew Ordover goes on to look at the specific example that spurred him to write, that of his son. Which also resonates. We've all either been there or seen that done.

I still remember the Japanese intern for our Catholic school's third grade class, Maya. She stayed with us for a year and it was a lot of fun. But one of the things that she thought was most wonderful about America was how we were free to be ourselves, to be different.

She told me, "We have a saying, 'The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.' To see how the children treat each other in school, how they pick on each other. It can be terrible. Here in America it is so much better."

Maybe it is wishful thinking to say that it used to be so much better. There has always been a "herd" to bully those who aren't just the same, especially among children. Adults aren't always better.

It is what makes it so important to stand up for the little guy when he's being hammered down. Kudos to Andrew Ordover for articulating it so well.

Lenten Reading Ideas - Updated

WHAT I'M READING
I am already reading two books that are really hitting me where I live. How handy! I can just keep going with them through Lent.

Night of the Confessor by Tomas Halik
Night of the Confessor is rich and deep, with somehow simple ideas. Just when the author says something that I have a knee-jerk reaction of "that's not how faith works" he goes further and deeper so that I understand the reasons behind the surface statement ... and usually agree. This is thoughtful and thought provoking writing which I am letting sink in. And it is enriching my internal life. A fuller review is here with a lengthy excerpt.

Gospel of Mark, The (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healy
This is a really great commentary. Healy combines a lot of the information that I have in a variety of other commentaries (both Catholic and Protestant), but then pulls it all together with additional observations that make it very accessible while still being scholarly. She follows up many sections with items for reflection.

Sometimes I am enlightened by the factual information which gives me new insights into the text. Sometimes it is from the material for reflection. However, it is a rare day that I fail coming away with an insight that I ponder the rest of the day. Highest recommendation and I will be getting another in the series after I am done with this book.

OTHER GREAT BOOKS
Here are some other books that I either have read for Lent or would gladly read. Some may be familiar because I just can't stop pushing them (or rereading them).

To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed
Sheed looks at Jesus' life by weaving together all four Gospels. He also takes into consideration the times in which Jesus lived, how the people then would have interpreted Christ's teachings and witness, links to the Old Testament, teachings of the Chruch Fathers, archaeology, and more. The goal of all this is to give us a richer, deeper understanding of Jesus since to know the Father you must know the Son ... and there is nowhere better to meet him than through the Gospels.

The School of Prayer: An Introduction to the Divine Office for All Christians by John Brook
Interestingly Brook partially presents this introduction to promote ecumenism for he points out that praying from the Psalms makes Protestants feel right at home in the practice. This book not only tells about the divine office, but has an explication of the psalms commonly prayed so that we more easily find Christ in them.

Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom
This book is written with complete simplicity but yet somehow contains depths that one thinks of for some time afterward. Let's just begin with this ... "If you look at the relationship (us and God) in terms of mutual relationship, you would see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does make Himself present to us for a few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer 'I am busy..."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry is an incredible Christ-figure as I discovered when I reread the series recently. Of course, this only works for those who have read the series before. For more depth and as accompanying materials, readers may want to listen to Episode 26 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast where Scott Danielson and I discuss the book and the entire series from a Catholic point of view.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa
He was the preacher to the papal household for Pope John Paul II and continued in that capacity for Pope Benedict XVI, at least for a while. I always have found his writing and homilies to be both easy to understand and inspirational. This book to be the same sort as The Interior Castle in that reading a few paragraphs a day lets the message sink in each day. I read this during Lent a few years ago and it was wonderful.

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
This extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community. That's the official description but it doesn't begin to cover the richly woven tapestry Godden weaves with nuanced personalities, mysteries to solve so that the order may continue, Philippa's internal struggles, and much more.

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden
Another Godden book about a completely different order of nuns. This is an inspiring tale of conversion and redemption told in flashback sequence. We meet Lise when she is being released from prison where she has served her term for murder. She is going to join an order that ministers to those on the fringes of society. Through Lise's thoughts, we watch her go from being a young WWII staffer in Paris, become seduced by a man who has a brothel and eventually turns her into a prostitute where later on she becomes the manager. The reasons behind the murder become clear as the threads come together again in the people around Lise in current time. My full review is here.

Paul Among the People by Sarah Ruden
Sarah Ruden goes to great pains to put St. Paul's writings in the context of Paul's "modern times" of Greek and Roman culture so we can see just what cultural forces he was referring to when he wrote his letters. By juxtaposing her knowledge of those cultures (which were considerably cruder and more hostile to Christian religious concepts than we would think) and writings of the people (not high-brow philosophers) with Paul's writings and concepts, a new picture emerges of just what was being battled and why Christian concepts would be so welcome and revolutionary. My full review is here.

The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell
Of course, I'm still pushing this book. It is rare, to find a book about the zombie apocalypse that addresses the larger themes that one finds in science fiction apocalyptic literature. The Reapers Are the Angels is just such a rarity. Author Alden Bell looks beyond the popular appeal of zombies to the depths of the human soul. The column I wrote for last Lent about this book is at Patheos.

IF THOSE DON'T HIT THE SPOT
Here are last year's recommendations, both nonfiction and fiction.

UPDATE
I have been reminded that there are two other books that make excellent Lenten reading:

Happy Catholic - my book! In either softcover or Kindle / Nook format.

Lord, Open My Heart (this is properly a booklet, but is I wrote it specifically for Lenten meditation)

2011 Nebula Nominees Audio

The 2011 Nebula Nominees have been announced. Tamahome at SFFaudio gives us links to all the available free audio versions. He also gives us the SFsignal link to available online written versions available.

Lest the White House Think Prohibiting the Free Exercise of Religion is Going Unnoticed ...

In one of the boldest, most audacious moves ever made by a President of the United States, President Barack Obama is on the brink of successfully rendering moot the very first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (emphasis added). If he forces the Catholic Church to comply with the Health and Human Services ruling to provide its employees with insurance that covers activities the Church has long held sinful — abortion via the morning after pill, sterilization and contraceptives — then the precedent is clear: when religious beliefs conflict with government decrees, religion must yield.

A very clear article from Forbes magazine shows exactly how the White House is trampling religious freedom and why they picked the Catholic Church to be the first victim. Go read it all.

This is not just a cause for Catholics or even those who agree that the HHS's chosen issue for forcing the fight (contraception) is wrong. It is for all Americans.

I am not a Catholic, nor do I believe in the Church’s opposition to contraception. But I pray that the leadership of the Catholic Church will have the faith and courage to stand for its core beliefs and use all of its moral power and political influence to defeat the President’s edict. I pray they will reach out across the political spectrum to people of all faiths, agnostics and atheists in the name of religious freedom and individual liberty. By so doing, they, and the institution of the Catholic Church, will have my love and respect for the rest of my life.

I urge you to contact your legislators again on this issue, beginning with President Obama. Here is the USCCB's page with links and more information.

Blogging Around: Bookish Things

The Psalms of David
Reviewed by Joseph at Zombie Parent's Guide.

This particular edition of the Psalms is the King James Version with illustrations by James Freemantle. Freemantle was a British soldier who traveled all over the Middle East. During his second marriage, he began to transcribe the Psalms and illustrate the book for his wife Clara. He included much of the flora and fauna of the Middle East, practically on every page of the book. It took over thirty years to complete and he died the year he finished it. His son decided many years later to publish his father's work in facsimile edition.

Joseph includes some scanned pages and I now am fascinated by this book. Must. find. copy.

The Spirit of Catholicism
Reviewed by Jeff Miller at The Curt Jester.

It was one of those books I was tempted to highlight every page. If I hadn’t read the ebook version I could have saved myself time by just dipping the book in highlighter yellow.

Been there. Wished I could have done that.

The January Dancer
Reviewed by Will Duquette at The View From The Foothills.

There are a number of authors best known for writing fiction whose non-fiction I generally prefer. Mark Twain is first among them; I’m afraid I’d much rather read Life on the Missippi than Huckleberry Finn. And as it happens, Mike Flynn is another. In the Country of the Blind left me cold; there’s much to like about Eifelheim, but I don’t love it the way many people seem to; but what I really enjoy are his blog posts, which are intelligent, witty, and informative. In fact, I enjoy his blog so much that I truly feel a little bad about not enjoying his books more. It’s like admiring Richard Feynman for his bongo playing.

Luckily, he does enjoy this book quite a lot.

The Kindle Meme
Memes used to be all the rage but now they are few and far between. So it was nice to see The Curt Jester had one posted and even nicer to be called a fellow book addict and tagged.

So, here are the rules. You post the rules and a link back to the person who tagged you. You also tell them that they’ve been tagged on their own blog, rather than just hoping they’ll discover it for themselves. Then you decide what three books are essential reading for anyone with a Kindle. Reasons would be good, but not essential. Then you tag five people.

My problem is that I am finding myself more and more using the Kindle for reading samples from Amazon to be sure I am interested in troubling the library staff to send it to my branch, or reading review books that publishers won't provide in physical form, new book giveaways, or very old books from Project Gutenberg that I can't get any other way although you can often find these books provided free via Amazon.

I find I really prefer actual books. However, I have discovered many old, forgotten books which I truly love but never would have found if not for browsing Amazon via my Kindle during lazy weekend afternoons. I do truly love the Kindle for that purpose.

Therefore, you can see that my "essential" books are going to be old but not necessarily thought of as classics, since that is what Gutenberg is populated with.

1. Jack O' Judgment by Edgar Wallace: a rip-roaring thriller with masked vigilante Jack O' Judgment as the nemesis of the notorious Boundary Gang. I was kept guessing until the end as to Jack's identity by the simple means of misleading me very effectively so that I thought I knew who it was all along. Twists and turns and delightful over-the-top villains who one longs to see Jack bring down in sensational style.
2. Through the Wall by Cleveland Moffett: A noted detective is getting ready to go to Brazil for an important job. He drops by Notre Dame where a young woman he never met says a few sentences to him that leave him pale and canceling his trip. A young woman, deeply in love, spurns her lover's marriage proposal because she loves him too much. A international celebrity is found mysteriously killed in a variation of the locked room mystery. All these events are connected and are set in 1909 Paris, where the atmosphere is romantic and mysterious and the art of detective investigation is very much to the fore in the story.  It is a locked room mystery, which I normally do not like, but the way the author slowly uncovers layers truth behind the mysterious situations is already very apparent. It has the effect of a book of one cliff-hanger after another and a splendid plot.
3. The Essential Works of Norbert Davis which I actually spent .99 on in order to get all the Doan and Carstairs mysteries. These are a great combination of hard-boiled and humorous, which may be typified by the fact that Doan is the toughest private detective around but is short, round, and mild-looking while Carstairs is his Great Dane who is a character in his own right (but without talking or any other goofy attributes ... and he's hard-boiled in his own way).

Bonus books (which Hannah has found for free on her Kindle):

• The Count's Millions by Emile Gaboriau
• Baron Trigault's Vengeance (the second part of The Count's Millions)

I am not sure who else I know who has a Kindle, other than Scott Danielson who just informed me he is so into digital books that he's discarding his actual copies as fast as he can. So I'll tag Scott.

Anyone else? Just jump on this one.

Funny Stuff: Kerning

From the brilliant mind of xkcd. I know kerning's made my life a living hell more than once.

So I'm Reading Jen Fitz's Lenten Reading List ...

... thinking, "I really need to get a list like that together. Maybe I can post one on Monday."

And I'm liking her categories, specifically the first one, "Pure Lenten Fiction Poke-n-the-soul" and am thinking, "Hey, I can do categories!"

Which just makes it that much more fun, right?

(If you like lists, then you know what I mean.)

And then I get to #4, the "Proof that some people can watch TV without rotting their brains" category and just about fall out of my chair.

Now, that was a pleasant surprise!

I never, ever thought I might be someone's Lenten reading.

(Well, except for Lord, Open My Heart but that was designed as Lenten reading so it's different. Somehow.)

Thank you, Jen!

Beware of Dog

From the brilliant Doug Savage.

Blogging Around: Character Building Edition

Gaining the World and Losing Your Soul On "Once Upon a Time" 
Tony Rossi writes about one of my favorite shows.

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The B-Movie Catechism Movie of the Week: Night Breed
Skillfully written as always, this piece takes us from monsters to lepers to how our sin affects our community as well as ourselves.

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The 4 Qualities of a True Statesman
The Art of Manliness has yet another of their trademark pieces on classic qualities, in this case those of a true statesman. Be sure to read it, but here's where they begin:

• A bedrock of principles
• A moral compass
• A vision
• The ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision

This makes a vivid contrast with Deacon Greg's quote of the day from yesterday.

I confess I no longer understand Obama. He did not go to the mat to end the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich. He did not go to the mat for comprehensive immigration reform. He did not go to the mat to close Guantanamo Bay. He did not go to the mat for Card Check. He did not go to the mat for a public option in the health care reform. But, he went to the mat over the principle that a Catholic college or charity or hospital is not really religious.

The quote is from Sean Michael Winters who is sorely disillusioned but still writes with hopefulness and evenhandedness toward all sides. Read his piece here.

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Eating the Frog-With a Side of Soul Food
Betty Beguiles melds two methods to overcome procrastination, making life simpler, and having a joyful life.

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Brandywine Books
It's been too long since I've mentioned Brandywine Books, a blog I depend on for book reviews filtered through a lens of sane Christianity. They lean toward mystery and thrillers, which I like anyway, but are not averse to including other genres. Plus, they throw in links to interesting articles about writing and books. And Lars Walker is an author so there's that.

Lies, Damned Lies and 98 Percent of Catholic Women

Guttmacher did say in its summary that “Among all women who have had sex, 99% have ever used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning. This figure is virtually the same, 98%, among sexually experienced Catholic women.”

But that’s not in any way an accurate statement of what its own survey found.

On the very same page, it explains that its survey was restricted to women aged 15-44, so that cuts out all women who were older than 44 at the time of the survey. And a footnote explains that a rather significant chunk of women were excluded from this figure of “all women” — namely, women who are pregnant, post-partum or trying to get pregnant.” A later footnote says that the only women who had sex in the last three months were included in this group. Finally, included in this 98 percent figure of current contraceptive users are the 11 percent who report no method.

So I guess we could say that among women aged 15-44 who had sex in the last three months but aren’t pregnant, post-partum or trying to get pregnant, 87 percent of women who identify as Catholic used contraception. It’s worth pondering just who is left out of this 87 percent, other than, you know, everyone who doesn’t use contraception. Great stat, team journalist! I mean, the study was designed to find only women who would be most likely to use contraception. And it did.

Tom and I were talking about the "numbers game" as the government's justification for HHS mandate just last night over dinner (yes, riveting conversation goes on at our house).

You can see why this story from GetReligion, Lies, Damned Lies and 98 Percent of Catholic Women, resonated with me. Go read the whole thing to see them examine how the media and the White House have been using these flawed numbers. Go read it to get an eyeful about just how painstaking a lot of these journalists are about what they report.

As Tom pointed out, even if that number were actually true it doesn't make the Church's teachings any less true. It certainly doesn't change our responsibility to try to live by those teachings. And it doesn't mean that our religious freedom can be overrun by the government because they have decided our teachings aren't really being followed. That's not their job.

It just means the Church is full of sinners. So, nothing new there, right? Because we're all human and, therefore, flawed.

Which is something I take comfort in, actually, since it means that I'm among friends who all know just how much we need our Mother the Church. Friends and the Church who help me get back up after I've fallen short, and then try again to follow in Christ's steps.

New Petition
By the way, the White House closed the previous petition against the HHS mandate when Obama came up with his noncompromise. Now there's a new one. Go here to sign it.