Journey

I have learned a lot of the past 8 weeks of my life, but in VHS specifically I also learned a lot. Some concrete examples, we learned about how the Pope was chosen, that was some information I did not know before this class. We learned about what the church says about cohabitation, contraceptives, and people using a 3rd party to get pregnant. Some abstract examples, this class taught me I had my own opinions on things I never really thought about before. Like cohabitation, I never thought about cohabitation enough to develop my own opinion, but our class discussions about it showed me I do have an opinion. Moving forward from this class, I will take the opinions I have developed with me for the rest of my life.

IVF

PROS: gives the ability to have children to infertile couples. CONS: cost, internal struggle (if religious). The church teaches IVF is immoral because it involves a third party. I completely disagree with the church because: If God made everyone. Therefore God made some people infertile. And the purpose of marriage is to procreate. Should the infertile people that God made not get married because they can not procreate? God put someone on this earth that came up with a way for infertile couples to procreate. What's wrong with it? Granted, it is VERY expensive. But if you want children but cant have them, I say go for it. You would be spending your money wisely.

Abortion

I have heard about the case on the radio for a split seconds before our class discussion. My opinion on the trial with Dr. Gosnell is frankly disgusting. And it blows my mind that he is trying to plead innocent. I certainly think the factors of race and economic class as deciding whether or not you get the main story. For example, if the women attending the clinic were white, upper class women, this story would be heard around the world. Im not sure why, but thats how it works.

The Changing Face of Marriage

I grew up in a Catholic family going to church every sunday and attending catholic school my entire life. It has been a pretty normal, stereotypical life.I am personally indifferent about the changing life of marriage and family in the church. Granted, there are pros and cons like with anything. People with college degrees are less likely to get divorced. I guess this means I have less of a chance to get divorced because of my degree. Although, I am pretty agreeable to begin with. I plan to baptize my kids and go to church every once in a while. But I also want them to develop their own opinions like I did.

Papal Conclave

- The next pope should address: same sex marriage, abortions, and contraceptives - The church needs to take a more modern stance. With the changes in society and the social norms the church needs and update. But the new pope might face serious opposition from the old conservative Catholics. - Im not a woman in the church, i am physically there but thats all. Women should be allowed to be priests. especially due to the lack of priests in this day in age. - The church should change how they view sex because of modern society. They need to face the facts and change their views based on those facts because frankly their views are outdated and nearly impossible to follow due to all the contradictions. - I think there is totally room for democracy in the Church, then again i think there is room for democracy everywhere. Some how the holy spirit finds its way, I'm not sure how it just does.

Dating: What's the Point

The hook up culture makes it nearly impossible to get to know someone. It is fast paced and there is no effort being made to get to know someone. When people actually have a stable relationship with someone in this culture, others are genuinely surprised you are making an effort to get to know someone and maintain a relationship. Also, the title of boyfriend has changed to the underlying meaning of someone you are hooking up with regularly, same thing with the title girlfriend. The title doesn't represent an exclusive relationship its more like a this is my hook up buddy, but there are relationships out there where the title still means what it used to. The hook up culture is terrible and I think we all need to go back to basics with relationships and dating.