This site is dedicated to the publication and promotion of books and media that best portray all the wondrous dimensions of the true 
Catholic imagination with its faithful perception and contemplation of all visible and invisible reality made new by the living presence 
of the Word Incarnate.  May this array of exemplary books and blogs extol and instill a gladsome and playful experience of the Catholic 
sacrificial mindset and sacramental worldview.  May traipsing  through these pages whet your wits and brighten your witness to the 
beauty of truth at the Heart of the World , in the Face of the Word.
 Goodbooks Media
  • Home
  • Still Catholic
  • Books We Publish
    • How to Remain Sane in a World That Is Going Mad
    • Toward a 21st Century Catholic World-View
    • LAST CALL
    • PRAYER
    • PARADISE COMMANDER >
      • Interviews
      • Articles & Essays
    • 12 for Christmas
    • Christmas Is Forever
    • NUZZLE & FRITZAPAW
  • Blogs
    • RondaView >
      • Transformative Catholic Philosophy
      • Toward a 21st Century Catholic World View
    • Catacombs Post Office
    • Catholic Imagination
  • Book Salon
  • Audios
  • Get in Touch

Am I opinionated?

1/31/2014

2 Comments

 
Am I opinionated?   Generally I would say I am not. Opinionated means thinking that ones own opinions of things are absolutes without reference to the actual truth of a matter or without openness to the views of others that could modify my own opinions. For example, I would never say that I am right about healthy eating choices since I know few facts in that area, even though I have my own opinions.   

However, there is another brand of being opinionated that surfaced that I do fall into. This is generalizing from my own experience or my own knowledge of others, making that into a sentence that says “Most people in this category are like this.”

Picture
It came up in an interesting context last week. I was chatting about how cradle Catholics can’t even imagine how cradle atheists, like myself, were brought up to think.  We were so totally materialistic as to think that a human being is just a grain of sand on the beach with an id attached.
Picture
Being a twin with no younger child in the house and never seeing babies except in prams on the street, I actually thought of a baby as a mound of matter with ooze coming out of both ends. 
Picture
An amused listener to these outrageous confessions pointed out that most atheists are more humanistic than I was.  They certainly would think of the human being as highly valuable with some rights if not all the rights that a theist would insist on.

Generalizing from this discussion, I realize that I, myself, and many others are opinionated when we leap from our own experience to huge generalizations as in “my family was of this ethnic background. All, say, Italians, were so proud of being of that ancestry. “All”? Why not “many” or “probably most.”

I am trying to catch myself in the interests of truth being higher than freedom of bias!

I am teaching a distance learning class out of Holy Apostles on the Novel. I am doing themes in the novels and my co-teacher the literary criticism aspects. We are reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Romantic love, its joys and pitfalls, is, of course a theme.
Picture
I put up this post on our discussion board:












My take as a widow is this: For some, romantic love starts by making an idol of the beloved. 

     Then, if they marry, seeing the spouse as a fallen idol. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture


With forgiveness of the real flaws of the other, not the flaw of just not being perfect which was an illusion, comes seeing the other as a funny little creature and laughing at the same things we used to hate each other for. 

It is easier to like to be a funny little creature vs. an idol, if we give our hearts, first and foremost, to God and love each other in God.  Then we don't expect, and fail to find, our happiness totally in the spouse's love for us. With the horizon of infinite perfect love of God for us in heaven as a possibility, our co-dependence on the spouse and anger at his/her flaws diminishes greatly.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments
tinder for pc link
1/6/2016 02:10:19 pm

from my own experience or my own knowledge of others, making that into a sentence that says “Most people in this category are like this.”

Reply
uk essay service link
9/15/2017 12:00:47 pm

I have to agree with you on how you see things according to your perspective. Actually, you are not opinionated. You always think of two sides before expressing your opinion. Just like in this very sensitive topic that you have posted. Though you already have your personal side on this issue, you were still successful to present information for both sides. You're being fair to both parties, which is truly a good thing!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Ronda Chervin received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University and an MA in Religious Studies from Notre Dame Apostolic Institute. She is a dedicated widow, mother, and grandmother.
    Ronda converted to the Catholic Faith from a Jewish, though atheistic, background and has been a Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola Marymount University, the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is an international speaker and author of some fifty books about Catholic thought, practice and spirituality. One of her latest is LAST CALL, published by Goodbooks Media.
    Dr. Ronda is currently retired and living in Corpus Christi, Texas after her years of teaching philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
    You can contact her via e-mail by clicking here or by emailing [email protected] directly.

    Visit her websites:
    here and here.

    Archives

    April 2021
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    Bishop Flaget
    Body Language
    Comfort Zone
    Fr. Longenecker
    Healing For Insecurity
    Loud Voice
    Old People And Tech Transition
    Prayer Of Suffering
    Problems And Graces
    Richard And Ruth Ballard
    Soft Talk
    What Saints Said

    RSS Feed

    Check Out Religion Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Bob Olson on BlogTalkRadio
Web Hosting by FatCow