Relationships and Going Places

Julia Sneden wrote: I once had the father of a 5-year-old ask me: "On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my daughter?" When I protested that I wasn't in the business of rating kindergarten children, he persisted: "But if you were? Where would you put her?" "As compared to what or whom?" I asked. "As compared to her academic potential? Her social skills? Her satisfactoriness as a daughter? Her athletic ability?" "You know what I mean," he said. "Compared to the rest of your class, 1-10, where does she stand?" There seemed to be no point in giving a serious answer to something like that, and I gave him what he wanted to hear. "She's a 10, of course," I said cheerfully. And mentally I added: "And you, sir, are a minus 3." more »

Religious intermarriage appears to be on the rise: Among Americans who have gotten married since 2010, nearly four-in-ten (39%) report that they are in religiously mixed marriages, compared with 19% among those who got married before 1960. Nearly 1-in-5 people surveyed who got married since 2010 are either religiously unaffiliated respondents who married a Christian spouse or Christians who married an unaffiliated spouse. Just 5% of people who got married before 1960 fit this profile. more »

Nancy Scheper-Hughes gave two presentations at a human-trafficking plenary in Rome and says her primary contributions came in proposals relating to organ trafficking. One would prohibit "the buying, selling, brokering and implanting of organs and tissues from trafficking persons in all countries." Another would ask the world’s religions to encourage voluntary and altruistic organ sharing. "In the end, clothes did not make either the man or the woman. Gender still remained highly marked, and many clerics at Santa Marta [the Pope's residence] were uncomfortable sharing a communal table with a woman, let alone talking to her." more »

From a NYT's Editorial: The libraries are where poor children learn to read and love literature, where immigrants learn English, where job-seekers hone résumés and cover letters, and where those who lack ready access to the Internet can cross the digital divide. They are havens for thinking, dreaming, studying, striving and — for many children and the elderly — simply for staying safe, and out of the heat. more »