Dating: What's the Point?

To me, “Hooking up” means making out or kissing at a party, much like the younger people surveyed for the Busted Halo article. Older generations, like my mom’s generation, seems to think “hooking up” means having sex, which also mirrors the results of older generations in the Busted Halo article.

One of the points in Professor Cronin's speech that stood out to me the most was when she said that in today's "dating" scene going out for coffee is a big deal, yet you can hookup with someone at a party and have it not mean anything. In our culture, kissing at a party is much more prevalent than going out on a coffee date. In fact, most high schoolers I know kiss a guy a few times before they actually go on a date with them.

The dating sequence in the high school and college culture right now seems to be: hookup at a party, then have a texting conversation, then possibly hookup more times and continue your texting conversation, then be asked out on a date (over text) which is then followed with hooking up after the date. Professor Cronin’s dating idea is so novel, yet makes so much more sense because you actually get to know someone by dating them before you hookup with them. Having a one hour dinner date can definitely bring you closer to someone than a one hour hookup.

However, the anti-daters claim that our current way of dating is just a practice for divorce seems a little extreme. Fr. Rick Malloy’s claim that “hooking up” may not work in forming relationships also seems a bit too radical. We need to revamp our dating mindsets, like Professor Cronin suggested, but even our dating practices now still form legitimate relationships that won’t necessarily lead to divorce.

The Next Pope

The next Pope faces a variety of world issues to discuss.

As the Catholic Church abuse scandal trials/coverage continues, he will need to find a way to deal with the media. Media stories of abuse have made people shy away from the Catholic Church. He needs to find a way to convince wavering Catholics to return to their faith.

As the law cases are pulling from Catholic Church funds, the next pope also needs some financial skill to figure out how the Catholic Church can financially remain afloat. He needs to address issues such as the sharp decline in Catholic school attendance not just in the US but worldwide.

The next pope needs to be ready to discuss controversial Church topics of he modern day world, such as birth control or women in the church. He needs to consider the role women have played in the Church and consider allowing women to move up to higher level positions. He needs to consider women as priests or pastors of Catholic parishes. Women in today’s world have moved up to high level positions in businesses, in hospitals, and in politics, so why is the Catholic Church still belittling them?

The one thing I would change about the Church would be its extremely conservative viewpoints on topics. The Church, especially from a young teenage perspective, can be hard to respect and relate to when they typically only hold conservative, outdated views. If the Church could update itself, I feel we could look at it more as a realistic moral compass in our lives.

I do believe there is some room for democracy in the Church and its current condition. The Church needs a strict leader right now to keep order, but the Catholic Church must listen to the voices of its followers. I believe the Holy Spirit acts right now as one of those followers guiding the Pope and Cardinals to make good, wised decisions. Now the Church must also listen to the needs of its people.