". . . The Vatican office that lays down the official line for Roman Catholic educational institutions released a new document Monday that dismisses the scientifically accepted idea that gender identity is fluid as “nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants.”. . .
Bearing the title “Male and female he created them” and signed by the Congregation’s leaders, Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi and Archbishop Angelo Zani, the 31-page document was released as LGBTQ people around the world are celebrating pride month. . ."
". . . More than 350 years after the Roman Catholic Church condemned Galileo, Pope John Paul II is poised to rectify one of the Church's most infamous wrongs -- the persecution of the Italian astronomer and physicist for proving the Earth moves around the Sun. . . )
It always amazes me when someone uses the word "all" in reference to a group of people, such as gender, religious, professional, age, race, national origin or anything else. The reason this began to trouble me many years ago was a conversation, of which I was a party, where someone made reference to men, a group to which I belong, and "how they are." In fact, the attribute, characteristic, nature or other aspect of men to which this person referred was clearly not one that I shared and I was, quite honestly, anxious to inform the person of this. All of which, after some additional consideration, led me to the realization that although it comes quickly and frequently to the mind (and to the lips), the word "ALL" should be employed only with the utmost discretion, unless of course you are referring to a smaller, more manageable group than 'men', such as 'the three stooges', 'two of my friends' or maybe even 'a dozen eggs.' Another recent conversation involved me where another man was considering that portion of the population to which I will refer to here as women, in a somewhat dismissive and disparaging way. More specifically, and also unfortunately, he cited as his evidence female members of his own immediate family. My efforts to diplomatically bring to his attention that female members of my family were in fact not so easily categorized, a fact that in utilizing logic, negated his entire premise. At this point, it appeared that he had finally gotten my proverbial 'drift.' But then before parting he smirked and said, 'But you know they're ALL cut from the same cloth.'
(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns)
A gender-neutral pronoun, by contrast, is a pronoun that is not associated with a particular grammatical or social gender and that does not imply, for instance, male or female. Many English pronouns are gender-neutral, including they (which in certain contexts can also refer to a singular antecedent such as everyone, a person, or the patient).
Many of the world's languages do not have gender-specific pronouns. Others, however – particularly those that have a pervasive system of grammatical gender (or have historically had such a system, as with English) – have gender specificity in certain of their pronouns, particularly third-person personal pronouns.
Problems of usage arise in languages such as English, in contexts where a person of unspecified or unknown sex or social gender is being referred to but commonly available pronouns (he or she) are gender-specific. In such cases a gender-specific, usually masculine, pronoun is sometimes used with intended gender-neutral meaning; such use of he was also common in English until the middle of the twentieth century but is now controversial. Use of singular they is another common alternative. By using "he" or "she" the speaker may make assumptions about gender identity. Some people express their identities more ambiguously and appearances can be deceptive. Some attempts have been made, by proponents of gender-neutral language, to introduce invented gender-neutral pronouns.
She/He
OHO duo (Jay Graboski & Ray Jozwiak) live at Johnny's (Ocean City, MD), September 2015
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
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(from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/we-all-speak-valley-girls-now-2D11722245)
We are always asking questions, even when we're not. A new study suggests that "uptalk," phrasing your statements with a rise in pitch at the end, isn't just something young women do: it seems to be expanding to other demographics, including young men.
In Southern California, anyway, young people tend to uptalk no matter their gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, suggests a small new study presented last week at the Acoustical Society of America’s annual meeting.
. . . Uptalk serves several purposes in the speech of SoCal speakers. . . Here's an everyday example: When the barista at Starbucks asks for the customer's name, an uptalker almost sounds like he or she is guessing at the answer (Mike? Isabelle?), "even though we know that this person is not actually questioning his or her name,” the authors write.
Ritchart and Arvanti rounded up 23 UCSD undergrads – 12 women, 11 men, all “native speakers of SoCal English." Their backgrounds varied widely: most self-identified as middle-class, but six said they were upper-class, and four said they were lower-class. Eight of them were bilingual. But despite their differences, they all used uptalk, the authors say.
It’s easy to dismiss uptalk as the airhead’s language quirk, but it can be a useful way of speaking: Ritchart and Arvanti identified an interesting way uptalk is used – to “hold the floor,” or to let the listener know they’re not done talking. The uptalk sort of acts as a verbal comma, explains Arvanti, who notes that their study is not the first to find this usage. For example, in the map experiment, the speaker might say something like, “OK, so, go toward Warren?” before continuing on with his instructions (“And then do you see Valley Mall?”). Ritchart and Arvanti found that 45 percent of “floor holding” instances used uptalk, and 16 percent of simple statements did, too.
(from The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who
lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net)
". . . Joel Stein, a writer for Time Magazine, has recently written a lengthy article about the Millennials. As I read it, I realized he was talking about my grandkids’ generation. To the descriptions I just shared about my grandkids, Stein adds additional notable qualities of Millennials. Race, sexual orientation, and gender do not matter much. Some observers see Millennials as self-centered, selfish and narcissistic. Their voting record (turnout) is disappointing. They seem to be too busy with “me.” They are able to live with a high level of chaos and are not motivated to “straighten things out.”
I confess my German heritage pushes me to make things orderly. I am clearly out of step with my grandkids, but I am pleased they accept me without hesitation.
In Stein’s article he did not burden the reader with a lot of statistics. He simply states “I have the facts.” Gallop, the Pew Foundation, universities, and news bureaus are getting the same numbers. Millennials are not challenging our culture. They are creating a new one and have not asked permission from anyone over 30.
Prior to the Stein article in Time, the Barna Group, a research organization that specializes in religious subjects, published the results of a massive study of Millennials with church backgrounds. The phenomenon of the cultural changes fostered by the Millennials is hitting churches big time.
Researchers have verified the “rise of the Nones.” The Pew Foundation research found that one in every five American is religiously unaffiliated. The Barna Group wanted to know specifically who made up the swelling tide of nones. Over one-third of all Millennials are nones. The Barna research became even more specific. Among Millennials who were raised in a church tradition over 50 percent are now nones.
The Barna studies show Millennials to be socially mobile, intellectually adventuresome, detached from institutions, and frustrated with churches. Many Millennials are still interested in religion and want a personal faith. Christian churches and institutions do not fit in the picture.
In the Barna Group research, they introduced new categories for understanding those leaving churches. They identified sub-groups they called “nomads,” “prodigals,” and “exiles.” I noted that the categories all indicate significant movement. With Millennials there is no “status quo.” They are on the move.
What is behind all this? Just now few are venturing a guess. However, Joel Stein is correct. We have the facts. The numbers are not lying. The patterns that are being described are reality.
Are Millennials a case of arrested maturation? Has mobility produced a new kind of rootless generation? Is this a product of the flat world dominated by computers that do not need human contacts? Has Facebook replaced family and primary social groupings? How does this relate to the emergence churches?
I do not know how to explain the emerging patterns. I do know that my grandkids are great young people. I do not believe the Millennials will let us down. However, I observe the chaos and get a bit nervous. I am tempted to join Maxwell Smart and fight the evil of chaos. Then I am reminded of the first law of chaos. Chaos increases the possibilities. Millennials may be the best hope for the future of humankind. . ."
She: So now we can get the day started. You go girl!
He: Did that look like a girl getting dressed with you for work this morning?
She: No, it did not. But if we can use term 'guy' in a generic sense to encompass all genders, I believe that it is not a stretch to likewise utilize the word 'girl' to capture the spirit of oneness of all humanity. See where I'm going here?
He: That's the longest text I've ever seen.
She: Respond to the merits and not the size although, size does matter.
He: I see your point but 'guys' is infused with culturally acceptable unisexuality while 'girls' is used unisexually by only drill sergeants and drag queens.
She: And Oprah. Good retort.
He: She doesn't use it unisexually 'cause no men are watching.
She: Don't you mean she does use it unisexually?
He: No. She's only talking to real girls.
She: This is getting a little too deep for me now. I was only being cute and you're being too technical. My girly brain can't take all this.
He: I probably should have said omni, not uni- sexually.
What do YOU think?
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