Some Quick facts about 3 Parent Embryos and Why It is Immoral

A while ago, Rebecca Taylor posted on the Creative Minority Report regarding the general lack of response to the news the that UK has now approved for the creation of 3 parent embryos using two cloning techniques. I, too, passed over the issue because I had thought that it was a routine IVF issue, and also because of the business of medical school.

However, when the Straits Times, the local Singapore paper, decided to hold a discussion on their Facebook page as to how far should ethical Institutions be involved in Scientific and Medical Advancements. The ignorant and impulsive comments on the page prompted me to look deeper into the process of creating these 3 person embryos and I got the shock of my life! One of the procedures involves cloning and the destruction of human life. This has been sold as 'modified IVF techniques'. The entire thing is so evil and disgusting.

Further during my research, it dawned on me how right Ms Taylor was in pointing out the lack of a response. Apart from the usual news articles reporting that the law had been approved, there has been little to no discussion in Catholic circles regarding the procedure and its implications. This is very disturbing. The first Catholic article I found that delved into the issue was two years old.

Hence, I have created this little fact sheet to provide some brief facts on the issue. Now, I am no expert in any of these fields, I am just a stupid medical student, however, I have tried to provide, to the best of my knowledge and ability, a brief summary of the ideas and issues at stake. I have also concentrated on the ethical side of the problem and I haven't delved into the scientific concerns, which are a multitude.

It is my hope that with clearer picture of what is going on, more people will do their part to stop this dreadful evil thing from happening. If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve the fact sheet or would like to help jazz it up and turn it into a poster, please feel free to email me. Unfortunately, because of school, I do not have time to beautify it.

Short Facts about 3 Parent Embryos and Why it is Immoral

History

• Research into cloning, IVF, and mitochrondrial replacement have been going on for nearly 3 decades.
• On 4th Feb 2015, MPs in the House of Commons voted to allow the therapeutic use of two cloning techniques put forth by the British Human Feritilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA) for the treatment of inherited mitochondrial disease.(1)
• On the 24th Feb 2015, the House of Lords also approves this new law.(2)
• The two techniques are Pronuclear Transfer (PNT) and Maternal Spindle Transfer (MST)

Inherited Mitochondrial Disease(3, 4)

• Rare disease part of a larger group of Mitochondrial diseases
• In England, 1 in 15,200 persons are affected
• Involves mutations of the Mitochondria, which are the power plants of the cell.
• They are also involved in a great number of systems, such as hearing, vision, pancreatic function, and neuromascular activity.
• They are also involved in direct development and differentiation of cells.(5)
Mitochondria are the major site of metabolism where energy is produced for the cell to carry out its various tasks. Mutations can cause them to cease functioning, resulting in various defects around the body.
• Mitochondria are mostly inherited from the mother. Thus inheritance is largely maternal in nature.

Fig 1.1 Diagram demonstrating the Pronuclear Transfer Technique.(6)

Pronuclear Transfer(PNT) Technique (see Fig 1.1)(7)

• This involves two embryos, one is a donor embryo, and the other is the embryo with the defective mitochondria. 
• These embryos are created by in vitro fertilisation
• The donor embryo and ‘defective’ embryo are enucleated, that is their nuclei are removed from the cells. This destroys both embryos.
• The donor nucleus is discarded and the nucleus of the ‘defective’ embryo is injected into the cytoplasm of the donor embryo’s cell.
• This new embryo, essentially a clone of the ‘defective’ embryo but with the donor embryo’s mitochondria, is then implanted into the mother’s uterus.

Fig 1.2 Diagram demonstrating the Maternal Spindle Transfer Technique.(6)

Maternal Spindle Transfer(MST) Technique (Fig 1.2)(7)

• Two eggs are harvested, one from the donor, one from the mother with defective mitochondria
• The eggs are placed under birefringent polarised light to visualise the mitotic spindle containing the nucleus of each egg.
• These are then removed, enucleating each egg.
• The donor nucleus is discarded, and the mother’s nucleus is injected into the cytoplasm of the donor’s egg. This is essentially cloning the mother’s egg.
• This new egg is then fertilised and implanted into the mother.

Why Catholics Cannot Support This

• PNT results in the loss of two human lives. ‘It is gravely immoral to sacrifice a human life for therapeutic ends.’ – Dignitas personae, 2008(8) 
• PNT involves the cloning of a human being, that of the embryo with the mitochondrial defect.
• The Catholic Church is wholly opposed to cloning of Human beings, noting that ‘the manner in which a cloned human being has been brought into the world would mark that person….an instrument of someone else's will rather than an end in himself or herself, a replaceable consumer commodity rather than an unrepeatable event in human history. Thus, disrespect for the dignity of the human person is inherent in cloning.'(9)
• The final step of the process involves using the techniques of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to implant the new embryo into the uterus of the mother. IVF has already been condemned by several Popes. It is a grave sin.
• ‘Artificial insemination as a substitute for the conjugal act is prohibited by reason of the voluntarily achieved dissociation of the two meanings of the conjugal act…"It lacks the sexual relationship called for by the moral order, namely the relationship which realizes 'the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love'’ – Donum Vitae, 1987(10)
• During IVF, it is common for many embryos to be created, and in the process, many are destroyed. 

Other Issues

• These children may grow up without mitochondrial disease, however, there maybe at risk of other problems, such as an increase risk of cancer.(10)
• Recent studies show IVF children are at an increased risks of birth defects compared to normally conceived children.(11)
• Genetically Modified Children created through these two techniques maybe at greater risk of these defects as the cells itself are tampered with.
• Allowing these techniques will fully open the door to the acceptance of human cloning and outright experimentation of human embryos.
• The Child will have three biological parents, one father and two mothers, which may lead to many future psychological issues. This also raises legal and ethical issues as who has the right to raise the child.
• This is unprecedented experimentation on human beings.

For a more complete discussion of the ethic issues regarding 3 parent embryos, please read the Catholic Medical Association (UK)’s article on the procedures here, and Prof. Stuart A. Newman's article, and also Rebecca Taylor's blog on the issue

1.         Gallagher J. MPs say yes to three-person babies: BBC News; 2015 [15th March  2015]. Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31069173.

2.         Knapton S. Three-parent babies: House of Lords approves law despite fears children could be born sterile: The Telegraph; 2015 [15 March 2015]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11432058/Three-parent-babies-House-of-Lords-approves-law-despite-fears-children-could-be-sterile.html.

3.         Genge A, Massie R. Mitochondrial structure, function, and genetics: UpToDate; 2014 [updated 18 November 2013; cited 2015 15 March]. Available from: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/mitochondrial-structure-function-and-genetics.

4.         Genge A, Massie R. Mitochondrial myopathies: Clinical features and diagnosis: UpToDate; 2014 [updated 7 July 2014; cited 2015 16 March]. Available from: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/mitochondrial-myopathies-clinical-features-and-diagnosis?source=see_link.

5.         Kasahara A, Scorrano L. Mitochondria: from cell death executioners to regulators of cell differentiation. Trends in Cell Biology. 2014;24(12):761-70.

6.         U.K. Human Fertility and Embryo Authority. Third scientific review of the safety and

efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial

disease through assisted conception:

2014 update. 2014.

7.         Amato P, Tachibana M, Sparman M, Mitalipov S. Three-parent in vitro fertilization: gene replacement for the prevention of inherited mitochondrial diseases. Fertility and sterility. 2014;101(1):31-5.

8.         Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Biological Questions: Vatican; 2008 [cited 2015 16 March]. Available from: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html.

9.         Document of the Holy See on Human Cloning: Vatican; 2004 [cited 2015 16 March]. Available from: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/2004/documents/rc_seg-st_20040927_cloning_en.html.

10.       Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Donum Vitae: Vatican; 1987 [cited 2015 16 March]. Available from: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html.

11.       Knapton S. Three-parent babies could be at greater risk of cancer, warn scientists: The Telegraph; 2015 [cited 2015 16 March]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11385370/Three-parent-babies-could-be-at-greater-risk-of-cancer-warn-scientists.html.

12.       Hansen M, Kurinczuk JJ, Milne E, de Klerk N, Bower C. Assisted reproductive technology and birth defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Reproduction Update. 2013;19(4):330-53.

Some reposts for lent

OKAY. SO I FAILED AT THE 7 POST THING. I'm sorry! To make up for it, some lenten reposts.

A reflection on Bl. Dom Marmion's reflection on obedience in lent.
http://derelictlife.blogspot.ie/2013/02/obedience-and-lent.html

and a follow up post on suffering for salvation (and in lent).
http://derelictlife.blogspot.ie/2013/03/on-suffering-and-lent.html

7 Quick Takes Friday

Today, is a cop out post. I haven't really got anything worth reflecting on. I figured I might write a post about how illiterate people are today, after reading many unthoughtful responses to Doug Mainwaring's essay on Public Discourse about being Gay and not supporting same-sex marriage. Perhaps, for another day. Anyway, a glimpse into my very boring life.

--- 1 ---

Today is start of the unofficial start of our second ever 'Reading Week' in RCSI. A new idea to have a short break in between semester to allow us to study and revise whatever we've learnt over term with our back to back lectures. Read: for those who are ahead, or not, to go on a short holiday. As Medics, we have lectures every day, ranging anywhere from 9 to 5 school days, to having 3hrs of classes. Thankfully, in the current cycle of my curriculum, we get Fridays off, but Fridays are consolidation days, or days to catch up on whatever you weren't paying attention days.

I didn't do very much work today, having decided to skip Latin Mass in the morning and catch up on much sleep. I did however, manage to consolidate my plans for the upcoming week and how to finish notarising all my lectures by then. I should be fairly successful, I hope. We have a test on the Monday back. In any case, I shall just drudge on.

--- 2 ---

I restarted my Cantonese lessons today! Very happy with the new teacher. My previous teacher, who was also brilliant, decided not to return to Dublin for the remainder of her work holiday. Thankfully, she referred me to this other person. Hopefully, I will actually get somewhere this year.

For those wondering, I am actually Cantonese in ethnicity. My grandfather is from China, and my grandmother is cantonese also, and she grew up learning to read and write in cantonese in Ipoh, Malaysia. However, they decided it would be very complicated for us, the grandchildren, to learn three languages, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, simultaneously, as we were growing up, so they never spoke to us in the Mandarin or Cantonese. That was most unfortunate. We only speak English at home, and I just happened to go to the one school in Singapore notorious for educating students with appalling Mandarin (it is compulsory in Singapore to learn one's 'mother tongue', which for me is Mandarin).

Well, to be fair, I also hated it as a child. Now, I realise how much I love languages and am desperately trying to reverse my monolingual tendencies.

--- 3 ---

During my last match, I think I must have hurt my hip joint. I think I have a contusion or a bruise right over the joint. In any case, running 1.5 miles yesterday aggravated quite a bit, and for the last 24hrs,  I have been walking around like an elderly man. There is another match tomorrow, the last before Paris, and I am desperately hoping to get in on that Match, both for fitness and for the win.

--- 4 ---

Rugby Paris trip in TWO WEEKS. I am very excited. I have never been to Paris in my life, and I am trying to arrange an earlier flight to roam around without the team--- because they'll probably only want to get drunk. I intend to get to Lisieux to visit a dear friend of mine as well as to look at all the gorgeous art in the Lourve. Not to mention, I hope to walk briefly the streets that my dear friend, St Ignatius, limped as he studied for his licentiate. St Ignatius should be a patron Saint of desperate students, as he himself noted that he detested books in his youth, yet went on to obtain a licentiate in Sacred Theology. That is about a thousand times harder in his day than it is in ours. Anyway, I also get a break from my diet and I shall indulge myself with beautiful french croissants, eclairs, and other lovely food. I do not understand why the French don't like their croissants warmed up though. I'm told it is a very Asian thing. Oh yes, and we'll beat the frogs again, and celebrate.

--- 5 ---

Tomorrow will be day 20 of my diet. Only a 100 more days to go or 13 weeks, which ever is faster. I cannot wait for it to end. For those curious, I started the diet because I was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome from the beginning of term. I thought it was hypothyroidism, but the GP suggested obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The only way to definitively diagnose that is a sleep study. However, this is Ireland, it takes a few months to get a public appointment, and 6-8 weeks for a private one. I might as well go home and do it. In the end, I decided to lose weight to rule out OSA. If I have OSA, then sleep will improve, and maybe I shall pass the year. If I don't, I'll beg for another blood test. The fatigue is now gone! So maybe it was OSA, or maybe it was something else. BUT, my insomnia is back, and now I can't get to sleep! And that is perpetuating some of the tiredness. I wish I could stop my brain from thinking.

Incidentally, the only things on my mind nowadays are all the lovely carbs that I am missing, and even worse, it's all this delicious local cuisine that cannot be found in Dublin. Gosh, how I want some laksa or nasi lemak or even just some chicken rice!

--- 6 ---

Speaking of local food, as it is reading week, I tried to pull a fast one on my mother and request for a trip home. However, she saw right through my last minute ploy, and I shall not escape the cold Dublin streets for the week. On the bright side, I won't be breaking my diet.

O, how I miss those sunny, humid streets.

--- 7 ---

I have been trying to watch the classic film, Dead Poet's Society. However, after reading Prof. Kevin Dettmar's scathing review of the film and commentary on the disappearance of Humanities in university; which I found myself nodding quite a bit too, I can no longer enjoy the film. Sadly, it now seems to be filled with lots of antics and silly behaviour. That isn't what literature is about!

In any case, it makes me grateful to my teachers in Junior College who spurred my interest in literature, especially Mrs C, and Mr Tanu. I am so grateful to them for opening up that brilliant world to me, which has become a brilliant respite from the dry world of science. Speaking of JC, it is Founder's Day tomorrow. It will be 128 years since the founding of Anglo-Chinese School by Bishop Oldham, a Methodist Mission in Singapore. The school has provided for 13 years of my formation and education, and lovely memories.

I was never a popular kid in school, nor did I find many friends, or have many great days, but still made some great friends, and had wonderful memories, and the most lovely of teachers.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Suicide.

It is two months short of the death anniversary of a friend of mine. She committed suicide. Having been depressed for a number of years, the disease finally overwhelmed her and she lost sight of her options. I remember hearing about it from my friend, and the shock hung around me for days. Death is no stranger to me in my short life, I lost a schoolmate to a horrific road traffic accident when I was 11. We used to take the bus the bus to school. We must have attended each other's birthday parties. When I was 17, my choir mistress passed away while giving birth. It was her first child. Two years later, I watched as multiple myeloma robbed my grandfather of his last breath. Over time, the saintly Irish Jesuits who ran my parish in Singapore, all succumbed to their age. I watched another uncle pass away just before I left for college, and then a dear and holy priest from lung cancer. A friend lost her father in junior college, and later on, a very young friend, barely out of junior college, succumbed to a brain tumour. To add to that, I am a medical student. The business of medicine, in a sense, is death. From day one, we are in the anatomy lab, dissecting our cadavers, our first patients, albeit deceased. Long before we meet live patients, we learn pathology, a subject that deals a lot with discovering how disease killed a patient. Yet, suicide is a different matter.

I have friends who have had friends or relatives who committed suicide, but this is my first one. Yet, I know every suicide will always hit hard. Perhaps, it is having sat on the ledge myself. Perhaps, it is the Catholic understanding, as St Thomas Aquinas notes, that suicide is always a mortal sin, the unforgivable sin, the complete and abject lost of hope in God's mercy. The paradox to God's infinite mercy. There is never a sin that God will not forgive, for His love is that boundless, yet, to be forgiven, one must seek it. 

To die in mortal sin is to kill the soul, to completely remove oneself from the sanctifying grace of God and His loving embrace. A mortal sin is a grave sin always performed with knowledge and full consent. It is the immediate passport to hell and eternal damnation. Christ is gracious to us till the very end, always attempting to guide us back to Him, into His loving arms, yet at the end, He still respects the choices we have made, and in His infinite justice, gives us what we deserve. [NB: I am have not argued for the morality of suicide here. It is clearly evil, and there are others who have done and will do a far better job than I on the subject. I recommend the reader to look at these lovely posts on St Peter's List, here, here, and here, for 22 arguments against Euthanasia, which when voluntary is suicide, and when sanctioned without consent, is murder.] 

It is no wonder that in the past, The Church denied funerals to individuals who had chosen to imitate Judas. The stance has now softened with the recognition that the majority of suicides are done out of sheer desperation brought about by depression. These poor people were certainly non compos mentis, and that may remove the consent, and lessen their culpability.  However, I cannot even begin to imagine the horror such acts bring to family members. I was not close to this friend, yet, I wondered constantly, what went through her mind? Did she repent at the last moment? All this wondering was vain speculation. I shall never know, perhaps, until I meet Our Lord. The sheer paralysing helplessness that someone I cared about may be now enduring the eternal fires of hell.

Yet, again that too is speculation. The Church, while She declares that there are many in hell, does not wish to speculate as to whom is in hell; the only one we know, through tradition, is the betrayer who kissed our Lord. After all, it is not within the power of the Church to pass such Judgment. That alone is Christ's.  

And, as my confessor consoled me, it is in Christ's infinite mercy that one must hold onto in such times. St Augustine taught that God's goodness is such that he 'brings good even out of evil', and in that thought, one finds again the comfort of hope. For here, the poor tormented soul is completely and utterly at the mercy of God. And, it is there, that in His infinite mercy, should the soul be willing at the last second, He may accept her contrition. This is the beauty of God's goodness, for He even took the Thief with Him, at the last moment, into paradise.

Lest, we fall into the heresy of Balthazar, one must remember that God is still just, and that the cooperation of the soul, her search for forgiveness is still necessary. Yet, it is in this Hope, and the knowledge of the God's justice and mercy, in the abandonment to His Divine Providence, that we can still pray for these souls. Lent is upon us. Each Friday in great season of Lent permits one to seek a plenary indulgence. Perhaps, my dear reader, you may, in a spiritual act of mercy, seek an indulgence for these souls, and those Holy Souls in purgatory.

In te Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternam. In Thee, O Lord, I have Hoped, never let me be confounded. - Ps XXX.ii

Apologies!

I cannot find time for a post today. I will try and make it over the week. Sorry!

For those who said a prayer for me, thank you very much! I passed the OSCE.

An Exercise in Free Will Pt 2

A while back, I was in a microbiology lecture pursuing the online magazine, Aeon.co in order to stay conscious. I came across this article written by Michael Ruse, director of History and Philosophy of Science in the University of Florida, entitled, 'The God Decision'. The long 3,000 word article, of which the good author spends only about ~300 words actually actually arguing his thesis and the remainder bashing the Catholic Church (did I mention he's one of them new atheists?) asks the pertinent question about whether is it is moral to raise one's children to believe in God. The article is very sloppily written for a philosopher; hey, it has to be, if you have a medical student pointing out the non sequiturs, and runs through a few ideas, before he drops morality altogether and runs on his opinions. However, I can't be bothered to deal with new atheists, many of whom are rather illiterate; it is the original question that he poses that interests me tonight. Is it moral to raise one's children to believe in God?

Well, the short answer is, yes. (But Ruse believes otherwise)

Of course, if one doesn't believe in God, then one has no moral obligations to teach one children such. This is the case, wherein one can claim invincible ignorance over not knowing God, or being properly convinced that there is one. After all, one cannot pass on faith if one doesn't have it. This is what Ruse argues, and that's alright so far. It is necessary to have a belief in a truth, whether true or not, in order to anchor our exploration of the truth. If one is truly open to the truth, as St Augustine was in his philosophical tour through Manichaeism, then God will surely bless him with the truth.

However, such openness to ideas is hardly seen nowadays and there is a certain abject intellectual laziness that permits most people. I have entered arguments with many people over issues like abortion, euthanasia, and other subjects that the world has decided to go to war with the Catholic Church about. Sadly, most of the time, the same poor arguments are thrust in my direction, and the same straw men erected to be burnt. Their weapons, having been obtained from such illustrious Journals of Philosophy as the New York Times, or The Daily Mail, or The Irish Times, are easily disarmed, but they are none wiser to it. If they would just spend more time actually examining the stand of the Church, to take the time to invest in reading, it would probably make a significant difference to their perception of reality.

Rant aside, there is another point that Ruse was trying to argue. That it is immoral to teach one's children about God even if one believed in him. He puts this forward in the usual relativistic way, that it is okay if the belief is harmless, but when it comes from a bastion of moral truth, then it is wrong. Taken at its face value, his argument is absurd enough to not require comment. Why would anyone deny their children the gift of salvation? The chance to know Christ, the God who created them, who gifted them to their parents, who is a person who wants to love them? It would absurd to think that such a thing could even come across a believer's mind!

However, with a slight twist to the context, there are the foolish, who out of some misconceived idea of how children work and what reality is, think it is alright to allow children the leeway to choose for themselves, of course when the time is right, which is usually the arbitrary legal age of 18. It is, after all, a matter of exercising free will. Children have this free will too, right? Therefore, we cannot impose our belief system on their will. It's wrong.

Now, of course, if one's parents are invincibly ignorant and agnostic, then as with the case above, it would be fair to raise one's children to make their own decisions regarding religion. (Btw, Dr Ruse, atheism is belief system as well) They have free will after all. However, in the case of those have beliefs, then the question becomes one of grave matter, and of course of stupidity. Children do not come to parents preprogrammed with twelve years of catechism and training in critical thinking, they come to parents essentially in the state of tabula rasa. They long to learn what is true and what is false, and how to differentiate the two, and whom do they learn from? Their parents. Thus, it would an offense against free will to deny them that anchor of apparent truth that comes from having a belief. And, it is from this anchor that they will be able to turn when facing difficult questions, and seek answers from it, and along the way to discover what is really true.

However, in denying them that state, instead allowing them to raise themselves, with their unformed cognitive centres, parents are denying them the ability to truly use their free will to affirm what is true. It's just silly. It also speaks volumes about the parents' own religious convictions. I promise you that you will never hear any parents say, 'well, Jim, ya know what. I'm gonna let little Timmy here decide whether the sky is blue on his own. If he asks me about it, I'm gonna tell that that's just my opinion, and he has to come to his own conclusion.'

Obviously, children do not work that way, and they will end up learning what their parents believe in anyway, through the means of observation, be it atheism, agnosticism, or theism. However, how well the child will be able to make use of their free will will certainly depend on how honest and sincere their parents are in addressing contradictory beliefs.

PS: I wish I could work this over again; I wanted to develop it a bit more philosophically instead of rant, but I have an OSCE (practical) tomorrow which needs revision. Prayers appreciated!

An Exercise In Free Will

An atheist friend of mine was recounting to me his short stint in a protestant church. It was a pentecostal church and he didn't have too good an experience there. The leaders of the church had been to controlling and interfering with his life, attempting to dictate what he could do and what he couldn't. It's not an unfamiliar tale, having many other friends from these 'church of bob' places recount such an experience to me too. I couldn't help but think that I'd have never ever had such a problem in Catholicism.

That might sound strange to many a modernist ear! After all, the Church is full of rules, has its own codex of law and lawyers, on top countless documents which provide instructions on many a situation. Many things are clearly spelled out as grave sins, some even excommunicable. Yet, I have never even heard of such strategies of coercion before. Politics, yes. Scandal, yes. But, to be coerced into following rules, no.

Okay, to be fair, there is a lot of gripe from those who have fallen away from Church or those who live in a constant state of mortal sin. Many of this groups are fronts for political agendas and want to change the truth that Christ gave His bride to guard jealously; mostly because they want to continue living in sin. That aside, one certainly doesn't hear stories of priests giving ultimatums to people to stop cohabitating or they have to stop coming for Mass. Rather, there is generally a gentle and loving encouragement to continue coming for Mass, and to stop offending our Lord, and seek his reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance.

This is all do to with the gift of free will. It is through this great gift that God has given Man the power and potential to love, and at the same time made Himself powerless to Man in this aspect. God cannot force Man to love Him, though God loves Man unconditionally. No, He has given Man the ability to be his own agent, and to make that choice. And, that transfers into the Church which He established as well.

The Eternal Father, ever the perfect parent, knows our fallen our human natures are, and how foolish, hence He allows us to choose Him, or to continue making mistakes and offending Him. Yet, ever the loving Father, He has been there always, waiting to receive us back. He knows that to learn all these on our own would probably be fatal, knowing how silly we are, and how addictive the evil one has made the temptation of worldly things, hence He has given us Holy Mother Church so that She will provide us with the guidelines to Eternal Life. Even then, He is constantly giving us undeserved graces, and cajoling us at every moment, hoping that we will abandon our sinful ways, and return to His merciful embrace. However, we must choose to do so, and to then submit to His perfect ways.

Well, God, who is perfect, understands free will and human nature better than anyone. However, original sin has made us stupid, disordered our appetites, and weakened the resolve of our wills. Hence, I can understand why church of Bob has attempted to do what it does, as will anyone trying to parent rebellious adolescents. Pastor Bob sees the soul in trouble, and attempts to stem the damage. I know this all too well, for I have been guilty of it. Being an ENTJ, I naturally have (some) foresight, many plans, and many high expectations. I have forced the people that have come to me for help to conform to those expectations, sometimes overestimating their abilities. By the grace of God, and through many mistakes, I have come to accept that gift of free will which God has given all His children, and more importantly, to have a greater faith in Him, to be patient, to trust in His providence, and to pray more for those I wish to help. After all, it is God who will help them and not I.

In another sense, it is that of authority. Pastor Bob is trying to be a good father, and authority that he doesn't necessarily have, in the sense he isn't actually the father of those people in the way real fathers have authority through natural law, and also without Holy Orders and hence without divine authority. On the other hand, the Church, and her priests, being granted authority by God, do, and She chooses to use it in the way of the prudent parent, to bring her children to an understanding of responsibility and virtue. Hence, Hers is always the gentle, but firm approach. Rarely, does she perform a slap on the face, but only so that her child will recognise the hysteria of sin that she has been in. On the hand, I am similar to Pastor Bob, and I can only play the physician, to provide advice where possible, but it is ultimately up to the patient to choose to comply or not.

7 Post Week

Jennifer Fulwiler, one my favourite Catholic bloggers, has started a 7 post week thing. On impulse, I signed up. On my perfect vision hindsight, that was probably a baaaaad idea. Medics typically don't talk about anything much apart from school, and apart from school, we hardly have any time. However, I will try to write a post a day, probably the night before, within half an hour, before bed. I hope that they will be somewhat substantial, God willing. Otherwise, I beg your forgiveness for meaningless and superficial updates about my extremely boring life. eg. Today, I fell asleep in class, and I tried to memorise microbio. I hate bugs. There are so many of them. I wish I could kill them all...kill them...with fire!

However, for new visitors, you're most welcome to peruse the previous posts!