At Risk

An alarming report was released by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Suicide rates in the U.S. have risen 0.7% since 1999, driven by the most unlikely of demographics: middle-aged white women between the ages of 40-64. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081021/us_nm/us_suicide_usa/print) The rate of suicide among middle-aged women rose 3.9% between 1999-2005, and according to Susan Baker, a professor in injury prevention with a special expertise in suicide, “’The biggest increase that we have seen . . . was the increase in poisoning suicide in women -- that went up by 57 percent.’”’ The suicide numbers were obtained from death certificates provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers are at a loss to explain the rise, since those historically at highest-risk for suicide are “teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men.”

What could account for the change?

· Is this an unintended consequence of the rising divorce rate? Are we witnessing greater numbers of women suffering from depression because they are without a spouse or a companion? Perhaps the increased responsibilities single mothers are burdened with are taking their toll.

· Or maybe the rising suicide rate is a consequence of more women entering the workplace. Working a full-time job and then coming home to a family and the pressures of motherhood might be too much of a strain. After all it is like working two full-time jobs. Some women have no choice but to work because of financial considerations. Other women work because they want a career while they raise a family. Regardless of the reason for working, perhaps the stress is too much.

Let’s hope more research is done to find answers. Women aged 40-64 are the bedrock of our society. I’d hate to see what this world would look like without them.

Donald Tremblay

P.T. Barnum

P.T. Barnum was right: there is a sucker born every minute. And this past weekend many of them could be found at the Newlife Expo in the New Yorker Hotel. New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly described some of the “services” offered to attendees:
“The expo is a veritable convention of charlatans, including numerous purveyors of healing stones and anti-aging elixirs, as well as an ‘aura photographer,’ a celebrity pet psychic, and a ‘light doctor’ selling instant transportation to an all-healing ‘lightship.’ (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/columnists/daly/index.html)

This is an ideal time to ply a pagan trade since a growing number of Americans are embracing New Age religions. Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca claims that “Wicca is America’s fastest growing religion. By the year 2012, it’s projected to be the third largest religion in the United States.” (http://www.zimbio.com/Wicca/articles/36/America+fastest+growing+religion+Wicca+Welcome)

But what is it about these occultic practices that attract people?

Secret knowledge.

What we are witnessing is the return of Gnosticism—a general term used to explain the centuries-old heresy committed by numerous sects that emphasized “secret and pseudo-mystical knowledge.” (The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition - Mike Aquilina, Our Sunday Visitor, 2006, p 42) It is this “secret knowledge” that NewLife Expo demonstrators and New Age religions like Wicca claim to possess. Want holistic health? Use these healing stones or allow someone to massage your aura. Want to live forever? Talk to the reps at People Unlimited whose literature states, “’Physical immortality now! Fee $150.’" (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/columnists/daly/index.html).

Gnosticism has existed since biblical times. In fact, according to The Fathers of the Church (cited above), 1 Tim 6: 20-21 is a warning “against emerging Christian Gnosticism” (p 25). St. Paul Instructs Timothy to “keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called. Which some promising, have erred concerning the faith.”

There is no secret knowledge. Christ is God made Man, and thus the ultimate revelation: “No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day . . . Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father.” (John 6: 44, 46)
So do yourself a favor. If someone offers you secret knowledge about God, imitate Lot by walking away and not looking back.

Donald Tremblay

Me, Me, Me

The Entertainment & Culture section of today’s Wall Street Journal features an article from columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz entitled, “The Other Letterman Show”. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122420423963143201.html) The topic of the piece is talk-show arrogance . . . which there is no shortage of in today’s mass media.

The majority of the article focuses on David Letterman’s vindictive response to John McCain’s last-minute cancelation of his scheduled Sept 24 appearance on “The Late Show”. Apparently Letterman’s ire was further stoked when he discovered that, conversely, McCain honored a scheduled appearance for that same day with Katie Couric. Here’s a snippet of Rabinowitz’s commentary:

“In the course of his complaints, Mr. Letterman lurched from fury to fervent wonder at John McCain's wartime heroism, to jibes that somebody had been putting something in the candidate's Metamucil -- a joke consistent with the Letterman show's now standard brand of comedy. It was impossible, needless to say, to mistake any of this for joking -- nothing in Mr. Letterman's tireless emissions on the subject spoke for anything but his rage.”

Arrogance is virtually a prerequisite in Hollywood, so Letterman’s response was typical. Rabinowitz relates how Arthur Godfrey attempted to bury young singer Julius LaRosa in the early 1950s because LaRosa—a regular on Godfrey’s popular variety show—had the audacity to hire his own agent: “Godfrey informed the audience that they had just heard LaRosa's swan song. In response to the tide of public hostility that followed, Godfrey announced that the problem was that the singer had ‘lost his humility.’”

Don Imus is also mentioned in the piece. Prior to his eating crow for calling the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hoes”, Imus had a reputation for personally attacking anyone who disagreed with him: “Over a decade ago, one of the most legendary names in broadcasting told me of the dangers of making any public criticism of Imus. ‘He'll never stop,’ he warned. ‘He'll go on and on, to attack every day. He won't care what he says.’”

Amusingly, it’s not uncommon to have a clash of egos among co-hosts themselves. Chris Matthews and former ESPN Sportscenter anchor Keith Olbermann—perhaps the king of blowhards—were both bumped from their MSNBC presidential election anchor chairs because of their rabid anti-conservative views and their personal animosity toward each other. So ridiculous had their spats become that former MSNBC anchor Connie Chung slammed both in the Wall Street Journal stating, “My reaction to that is: 'Grow up!' They have to just grow up." (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121989105850778775.html?mod=blog) In a laughable example of delusional self-importance, Olbermann allegedly demanded that the network provide him with bodyguards since he feared his life was in danger. Sorry, Keith, but the only protection you need is protection from yourself.

Lest anyone think talk-show arrogance and clashes of egos are solely a male phenomenon, let’s not ignore The View: a talk show dominated by four self-absorbed women who argue amongst themselves daily and who “view” the program as their personal soapbox from which to pontificate. It’s no wonder the show has replaced its hosts as often as the New York Yankees replaced managers in the 1980s.

Truthfully, it doesn’t matter who the host is or the genre of the talk show. Once a personality starts believing his/her own press clippings—watch out. Magically it becomes their world and the rest of humanity is merely permitted to live in it.

Donald Tremblay

What Makes a Saint?

What Makes a Saint?

At the age of three Audrey Santo nearly drowned. Although saved she would spend the next 20 years of her life “kept alive by machines and unable to speak or move”. (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/10/13/bid_to_canonize_girl_draws_mixed_reaction/) Since her death in April 2007, Audrey’s supporters have lobbied Rome to consider her for sainthood. The request has touched off a debate as to what makes a saint.

Generally, in order for a candidate to be canonized or beatified, he/she must have lived a life “marked by the exercise of heroic virtue, and only after this has been proved by common repute for sanctity and by conclusive arguments.” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm) As explained by Monsignor F. Stephen Pedone in the above-mentioned Boston Globe column, the problem with Audrey’s case is that there are no examples of this heroic virtue: “They might be hard pressed to prove that she had this will to embrace Christian virtues and to live them . . . She probably didn't even know what they were."

Yet, one could argue that ultimately a saint is one who draws others to Christ and His Church. If that’s the case, then Audrey’s supporters believe she is more-than-deserving:

“Over the next 14 years [after her near-drowning], the bed-ridden girl, Audrey, became an object of intense devotion for thousands who came to peer through a window cut into her bedroom and pray. Time and again, they reported seeing miracles in her presence: hosts bled, oil formed in a priest's cup, the sick were healed. In 1998, 10,000 people celebrated Mass in a stadium in Worcester with Audrey, who was brought there by ambulance.”

Audrey’s mother believes her daughter was a victim soul—“someone chosen by God to accept the suffering of others”. Perhaps that is true, but even this assessment is problematic because in Catholic literature victim souls choose to suffer for others, such as Sister Josefa Menendez does in The Way of Divine Love. There is no proof that Audrey viewed her sufferings as a sacrifice for others.

Tough call.

Donald Tremblay

Adaptation and Desensitization – Two Sides of the Same Coin

Mankind’s ability to adapt is one of its greatest gifts. Put people into the most difficult situations and somehow they manage to survive—and in some cases even thrive. Yet, the very characteristic that enables us to endure as a species is also the characteristic most responsible for the disintegration of our societal mores and values.

The problem with adaptation is that too often it leads to desensitization, as is the case with the incessant images of violence and sex that bombard our minds daily. Our minds adapt by hardening against the increasingly disturbing images, creating a shield over our sensitivity to moral outrage. Without this shield people would be unable to satisfy their innumerable daily responsibilities in this hectic world. The shield is a defense mechanism, a survival method—one that is best summarized by the expression, “I have my own problems to worry about.” Hence, over time the same images that would have offended us barely register on our inner moral radar. The state of video games is a prime example, as indicated in a New York Daily News article today:

“The over-the-top Saints Row 2 encourages players to butcher cops with chain saws, smoke drugs, annihilate rival gangsters and run prostitution rings. . . . Players earn money or street credibility in a host of criminal and despicable ways, like mutilating cops and enslaving women.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/10/13/2008-10-13_letting_game_players_kill_cops_and_smoke.html)

Nice, huh?

NYPD union boss Patrick Lynch appropriately argues that “these horrible and violent video games desensitize young people to violence while encouraging depravity, immorality while glorifying criminal behavior." Saints Row 2-designer THQ is clearly trying to out-deprave the granddaddy of all tasteless video games, Grand Theft Auto. GTA is now in its fourth version, and its latest “has sold more than 6 million copies since April.”

There will be no uproar about Saints Row 2. People will argue that it is just a game. And months from now when THQ has earned several million dollars in sales from this trash, we will once again wonder why children are committing violent crimes at ever younger ages and why these same youngsters refer to women as “bitches and hos”.

Don’t blame the children. They are just adapting to their circumstances.

Donald Tremblay