Re: Off topic: PC and DSL

["Patricia M. Godfrey" pmgodfrey@xxxxxxxx]

Personally, I don't think much of political correctness; I prefer
civility and charity. But if we're to be politically correct, why should
tired old jibes like Mencken's still be bandied about? Or is it still
true (as I-forget-who said) that anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of
the intellectuals?
	First of all, whatever may have been the case in Mencken's day, Catholic
women and their physicians can use chemistry (and pretty sophisticated
chemistry, I understand) to determine when they are fertile; what they
cannot do is use chemistry to frustrate what the Church believes is the
God-intended purpose of a physical act. Obviously, people who don't
accept the Church's premise won't accept that conclusion. But would it
not be more interesting to argue over the basic premise--that the
material universe and material acts have a divinely given meaning,
independent of the intentions of created minds--than to take cheap
potshots at conclusions that flow from it? Particularly when
goddess-worphippers insist that Christianity doesn't take matter
seriously enough?
	Not to be a total curmudgeon, I have just gone through the harrowing
experience of installing DSL, and would be happy to send some notes of
warning and advice to anyone else who's thinking of doing likewise. Send
me a not off list, and I'll send the notes as ASCII (I don't have XyW on
this machine right now).
Patricia M. Godfrey
P and Q Editorial Services