Word Choices

A religious organization to which I belong publishes a quarterly magazine dealing with a variety of religious issues. One of the articles is always about JPIC - Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation. 

The latest issue's JPIC article contains a paragraph that begins, "When our neighbors hear themselves demeaned as 'illegals,' and are unjustly detained and separated from family, ...." 

I have some concerns about the wording.

I completely agree that we should not demean people as "illegals." All people should be treated with respect, including in the language we use.

But in current discussions of the immigration issue other people are all too often subjected to demeaning language: Members of law enforcement and ICE. They are frequently labeled "Nazis," "storm troopers," "thugs," and so on. Even when this aspect is not directly mentioned, the implication is still there that they are acting like such people, and that they lack compassion and care when dealing with the people they are arresting. And these legal authorities have increasingly been physically attacked, and they and their families subjected to threats. 

The majority of the people who are being arrested by immigration authorities did break our immigration laws - they committed a criminal act. In a number of cases, they allegedly committed other criminal acts in their home countries or in the United States. Thus, while we might debate our immigration laws, technically these people did break the law and have been justly detained. 

The phrase "separated from families" is emotionally loaded. Yes, they are being separated from their families, as are all people who are arrested, but this is not done because the legal authorities are acting maliciously, as this wording suggests. The separation is due to choices the arrested individuals made; it is a consequence of their actions.

We need to accompany these arrested individuals and show them the love of God. But we also need to be careful with our language when we are discussing the immigration issue.

Pax et bonum

A Prayer

Dear Lord,
every morning I pray,
"Thank You, Lord, for this day.
I offer up my aches and pains
for the souls in Purgatory."
But lately
there seem to be
so many more
aches and pains.
I accept them.
I offer them up.
But I wouldn't complain, Lord,
if You removed a few.
Thy will be done
Amen.

Pax et bonum

More G. K. Chesterton Quotations

“Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.”

“Men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back.”

“This is the age in which thin and theoretic minorities can cover and conquer unconscious and untheoretic majorities.”

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

“The only defensible war is a war of defense.”

“There are some desires that are not desirable.”

“Modern broad-mindedness benefits the rich; and benefits nobody else.”

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

“When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.”

“Men are ruled, at this minute by the clock, by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern.”

“For fear of the newspapers politicians are dull, and at last they are too dull even for the newspapers.”

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”

“There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions.”

“Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable.”

“The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.”

“When a politician is in opposition he is an expert on the means to some end; and when he is in office he is an expert on the obstacles to it.”

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”

“I think the oddest thing about the advanced people is that, while they are always talking about things as problems, they have hardly any notion of what a real problem is.”

Pax et bonum

Chesterton Quotations

"If there were no God, there would be no atheists."

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

“Tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything.”

“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.”

“Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural.”

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”

“Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”

“Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.”

“The unpardonable sin is being bored.”

“These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.”

“You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion.”

Pax et bonum

Reading Romances - Male Authors

As I continue my research into Christian Romance Novels with the thought of trying my hand at one, I checked my local library to see if it carried any of the books by a Christians Romance Novelist who happens to be a member of my parish, Ruth Logan Herne. The name, by the way is her pen name.

I had actually read ac couple of her books before. She had given away free copies at our parish, and my wife had taken some.

The library had only two books by her - even though she has written some 45 books.

I took the two out. They were for a series about a ranch. There are only two books in the series - and I don't know if she planned to write more. As far as I can tell, she stopped publishing back in 2022. I need to ask her if she has stopped writing romances.

Anyway, I read the first book, Back in the Saddle.

I don't mean this as an insult, but it is a typical romance novel. It is set on a ranch. A young man returns home from his corporate job in the big city and gradually rediscovers family and faith. On the ranch there is a young woman who made a mistake in her past, but has found faith, and fled her big city job for the small-town life. There are all sorts of complications; the ranch and the small town are threatened. She is tempted to return to her city life, he is tempted to return to his big city life - both have offers to do so - but, of course, they choose to remain with each other. 

Given that the book is a romance, I won't review it as if it is great literature. 

But I had problems in that it is clearly written from a female point-of-view. I can see that it would appeal to women, but as a guy, I found it difficult. Oh, I finished it and could appreciate it as a decent example of light literature, with romantic and Christian underpinnings, but I didn't feel compelled to read the second book.

At that point I wondered if there are any men who write Christians Romance Novels. I was curious to find out if I would find them easier to read as they write from a male perspective. Hopefully they would not be like the Jack Nicholson character in As Good As It Gets. 

(Receptionist: How do you write women so well?
Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.)

I discovered there were several. They tended to write historical novels with romantic elements. I checked our local library; it carries the books of only one of them, Gilbert Morris.

I went to the library and found a whole shelf of his books, many of them part of a series about "The House of Winslow", tracing the Winslow family through the centuries. I took out three of the books set in the Civil War, - Books 8-10. The Civil War is a period that interests me. Two of my plays are set during the war, and one of them, The Beau Ideal, I had performed as a one-man-show, and was later performed by our local professional theater. And I was thinking of setting a book during the war - perhaps as a mystery, or maybe as a romance.

I am not done with the first book, The Last Confederate, but I am enjoying it. The male perspective is easier for me to relate to, and the historical elements appeal to me as a Civil War buff and former history teacher.

I'll finish the book and likely go on to the second. For pleasure - and for research for my own writing.

Pax et bonum

A Follow-up to the Romance Movies

I've been enjoying the Christian romance movies - especially the Christmas ones. They are light, fluff, but with an underlying moral and positive message. 

Which got me to wondering about Christian romance books.

The modern ones are a little too contemporary for me, but there is a whole subgenre of Christian historical romances. I might check some of them out. And there are some male authors who tend to specialize in historical Christian novels and romance novels. I need to check them out as well.

Might I try my hand at writing come? Hmmm. We have a Christian romance novelist at our parish. I just might have a chat with her at some point.

Meanwhile, I did a little work on my Santa book. 

Pax et bonum

Great American Christmas: Small Town Values

In my previous post I talked about the Great American Family Channel's Christmas Romance movies.

One aspect of those movies is that they are almost always set in small towns. These movies - and some other romances I've read (one of our parishioners writes Christian romance books) - celebrate small-town values, often putting them in direct contrast with big-city values (or lack thereof).

In the movies, the central character is either from a small town and returns there or never left, or is sent to a small town for some reason.  

Among the typical plot elements: The family farm/inn/business/store is in trouble, or someone dies, and the main character is struggling to keep it going, or eventually decides to keep it going; or the main character is sent to the small town to help buy up/shut down the involved venue to make way for development, such as building condos or a resort.

That's where the small-town values come into play.

The people know each other. They rally to help each other. They are concerned with family and faith, not profits or supposed progress. Community and church are important. They cherish small, family-owned businesses/operations/farms, etc. The natural world is respected.

In contrast, the big-city values focus on profits, development, merchandising, large-scale operations, and so on. Family and faith are downplayed, even mocked. Nature is to be exploited.

Although it is not a Great American movie, John Denver's The Christmas Gift, provides an example.

Denver plays an architect working for a corporation. He is a widower with a small daughter. He is ordered at Christmas time to visit a small mountain community to scope it out for development.

The town features a quirky cabbie who loves Christmas, a young postmistress (the romantic interest), a struggling family farm, and a day dedicated to mailing letters to Santa. Indeed, one of the initial conflicts is when Denver wants to mail a letter to his boss, but because it is Santa letter day the postmistress refuses.

After they arrive, the daughter becomes involved in a Christmas pageant at the church and befriends the son of the farmer who is in danger of losing his farm to Denver's boss, who, of course wants to build a big development on it, promising jobs and profits for the community.

Meanwhile, in getting to know the people of the town, Denver begins to have doubts about his boss's plans, and finally openly opposes them. He is fired. But the town rallies around the farm family, the pageant is a success, and Denver finds love and a new home in the town.

The movie would be perfect for the Great American Family channel!

Small-town values are appealing. And being a Chestertonian, I find they fit in with Chesterton's ideas. Small, family-owned businesses. Faith. A sense of community. People supporting each other. 

We need more of this.

Pax et bonum