Next class meeting: Sunday Oct 7.
Last time:
It was great to see so many yesterday for our first class meeting. At that class:
- I made the claim that we live in a sick -- even insane -- culture, and we discussed many examples of the craziness, including self-contradictory and conflicting beliefs. I trust I made that point sufficiently, but we will continue to discuss these issues as they touch on future class topics.
- I also made the claim that the Catholic Faith is True, sane, balanced, makes sense of life, has integrity and coherence, and makes a life of freedom possible.
Updates / clarifications:
- In class, I shared an article from the Onion, a website that features satires of news. My point was that our post-modern culture has moved into the realm of self-parody because last year's Onion article is this year's newspaper headline. Actual colleges really are stifling free speech (and providing "safe spaces") as so hilariously described by the Onion.
- I got side-tracked and didn't finish the stories of either Aaron and Melissa Klein (of "Sweet Cakes by Melissa") or Memories Pizza (owned by the O'Connors).
- BOLI commissioner Brad Avakian went well beyond prosecuting the Kleins to persecuting them; many have speculated that his resulting unpopularity contributed to his being the only Democrat to lose a statewide race in Oregon in the next election. An Oregon appeals court failed to uphold the Kleins' rights; however, after the Masterpiece Cake Shop decision, they hope that the Supreme Court will vindicate them.
- The Memories Pizza story has a happy ending. After their story got around, folks at Dana Loesch's BlazeTV show set up a Go Fund Me page for them, which received a huge outpouring of support for them, raising almost $850,000 in just 2 days! (One of the positive outcomes was "gay" couples who donated.) The O'Connors kept some of that money to pay for losses when their business was forced to close. They were able then to reopen their business. They also donated a large amount of the remainder to a number of good causes, including Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman.
- BTW, New York City's "big soda ban" eventually got thrown out by the state supreme court.
Next week, we will begin to explore true answers to the big questions, and a reasonable and meaningful alternative to the insanity and emptiness around us.
Important request:
If you haven't yet done so, please register officially for the class. It's really helpful to me to have an accurate count for class resources.
Class schedule:
I've posted the Class Calendar for 2018-19 on the class blog. It includes class meeting dates and a tentative topic outline. Class notes and updates will also be posted at the blog as I have them ready. I will also post schedule updates and last-minute changes there as well as attempting to reach you by email or phone if possible.
Questions? Please speak to me before or after class, or contact me at the above email address.