Send us a text

The Thought Provoker:
Shawn is up first this week. Annuit coeptus is a motto written on the great seal of the United States. It means God, or Providence prospered our undertaking. The idea is that God put leaders in place to establish a new order and form a specific constitution and create a country of certain laws and not men. Does God still prosper our undertaking? If not, when did it end? What is the difference between then and now?

Next up, Sam.  15.  He’s described as a “teenage computer whiz” and is not only the first millennial, but also widely seen as one whose Sainthood will bring back a younger generation into the Catholic Church  He is being called, “the patron saint of the internet.”   Will this work for the Catholic Church?  Who could the LDS Church “Saint,” to a similar impact?

Finally, Matt. Paris Hilton testified to federal lawmakers Wednesday about the horrifying abuse she says she endured at youth facilities in what's commonly known as the "troubled teen" industry.  At The Provo Canyon School, one of the institutions Hilton attended, "I was force fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement," Hilton said. She highlighted the need to "invest in kinship care," saying that "youth should be with family or adults who know and love them."  Which is the morally superior approach? 

The Big Question: Pet owners are treating their animal charges ever more like humans. But that isn’t good for pets, or for us, many experts argue. Some animal welfare ethicists and veterinary scientists are wondering if, in our efforts to humanize our pets, we’ve gone too far. The more we treat pets like people, they argue, the more constrained and dependent on us our pets’ lives have become, and the more health and behavioral issues our pets develop. We know that we have a moral obligation to take care of needy humans. Is it morally wrong for humans to treat pets like humans?