IVF

IVF is a controversial issue in the Catholic Church, and it is very difficult to discover the right decision morally with this process. A positive factor of IVF includes: it is the best chance for many couples struggling with infertility to have biological children. Also, another pro is that it enables people to choose an embryo that does not have an inherited condition. Negative factors include that it costs a massive amount of money, it can be very dangerous for the mother, and it can result in spare eggs that can be destroyed if they aren't donated. I agree with the church when they state that the killing of these embryos is the unnatural ending of human life. Although, I believe the process of IVF is procreation of human life so I am unsure why the Church does not support it for that aspect. I do think that the financial cost of IVF affects my opinion on the morality of the practice because the creation of a child should be a process that does not involve money. Overall, I believe that IVF is a good option along with adoption if a couple is struggling with infertility, but I am not completely for or against IVF.

Abortion: Why isn't this a national outrage?

My reactions to the actions of Kermit Gosnell are shocked and horrified. Kermit Gosnell taking the lives of seven babies is just horrific. Having an untrained staff perform abortions for some of the patients is absurd. I can not believe Kermit Gosnell let his untrained assistant perform abortions on the patients of other races while he took care of the white patients. I had only heard about this case in Catholic Social Teaching prior to our class discussions. Besides that, I would not have heard of the case because it has basically been hidden from the news. I think that this has not been a large, national story because abortion is such a touchy subject in today's society. Today, everyone has different opinions on abortion and it can be difficult for someone to voice their own opinion without getting condemned. I think because these horrible events occurred in the city, it was less vocal compared to if something like this occurred on the Main Line. It is sad to say, but I think events like this are more likely to occur in the city and are less recognized. If these events occurred on the Main Line, someone would report it immediately and it would be on the news because it would be something that does not commonly occur there.

The Changing Face of Marriage

My experience of the "domestic church" has been fully active in mine and my family's life. My brother and I have attended Catholic schools all of our lives. Our family always attends mass every Sunday together no matter how busy our schedule is. My parents were both raised Catholic so they have made sure to teach my brother and I to follow important Catholic teachings such as the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. My parents also believe in sharing quality time together such as family dinners or family vacations. This shows that our family exhibits a strong sense of closeness and happiness even outside of the church.
There are pros and cons of the changing structure and composition of marriage and family. Television shows that marriage is taken lightly and that it is more common to get divorced, which society has started to mimic lately. This is definitely a con of the changing structure of marriage because marriage should be taken more seriously in our society. A pro of the changing structure and composition of marriage is that some wives are starting to have greater income salary compared to their husbands. This shows women's ability to play an important authoritative role in marriages today.
I believe that I will someday establish the domestic church in my future home because of how successful it has turned out for my family and other families in my community.

Dating: What's the Point?

I do not agree with dating being practice for divorce. Dating is essential because it teaches you to commit yourself fully to another person. Dating helps you fully understand another person on a personal and intimate level. I think the college life promotes the "hook-up" culture among most students. Just hooking-up prevents college students from getting into a committed relationship. College students think that just hooking-up is a quicker approach than actually going out on a date with someone else and getting to know who they really are. The college hook-up lifestyle can cause relationship and marriage problems in the future because you are not use to settling down with just one person. I think that in order to have a successful marriage, people should do less "hooking-up" and more dating on a reasonable level so that they understand what it means to get to know someone else without hooking-up with them first. I think this will create more long-lasting, successful marriages.