#664- Peace & Life: June is PTSD Awareness Month - June 2, 2023
June is PTSD Awareness Month
One of the strongest themes that connects all the issues is that of trauma. It’s felt keenly by those who survive the violence that killed others, of course, but it’s also suffered by those who inflicted the killing. See:
Perpetration Trauma: a basic explanation
Personal Stories from those who’ve killed in socially-approved ways, covering most of our issues
Classic Literature shows the cross-cultural observations of keen observers of the human condition
They Left Out a Crucial Point
A very consistent quote about the true meaning of pro-life by our endorser Sr. Joan Chittister, of our member group- Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, has gone viral after being promoted by supermodel Gigi Hadid on Instagram.
We note that the viral meme doesn't include the critical first sentence of the clip from Sr. Joan's interview with Bill Moyers: "I'm opposed to abortion."
In other words, this isn’t an attack on abortion opposition, but a plea to make it more effective, and for more widespread application of its underlying principles.
A Comment on Comments
As with most blogs, we encourage readers to consider comments to add to our posts – the more thoughtfulness that goes in, the better.
If you post one, it won’t show up right away because we have them moderated. There have been comments that were clearly spam, and one that was so long that we just made it the following week’s post instead. But rest assured, we approve everything that follows the normal guidelines (no clear falsehoods or obscenities), and your comment should show up shortly.
Our Latest Blog Post
Josephine Garnem offers her reflections on the need to oppose violence across the board in Common Sense Is Not So Common.
Quotation of the Week
Mark Brumley
Catholic Magazine, August 24, 2021
Sometimes people distinguish between “life issues” and “justice issues” – between matters such as abortion, euthanasia, and other forms of unjustifiable killing on the one hand and matters such as homelessness, health care, human-trafficking, and racial discrimination on the other. The distinction can be helpful as far as it goes. But you’ll notice that some social issues (such as marriage and family life or environmental concerns) don’t easily fit into either category, whereas others (health care and criminal justice, for example) arguably belong in both. An over-reliance on this distinction, then, can leave out important social issues or overlook how life issues also involve matters of justice – rights – and how justice issues also depend on the right to life and flow from it. The right to life, though not the only right, is foundational for the exercise of all other rights. At the same time, the right to life – being a right and therefore involving justice – is a “justice issue.”