Pope Francis does the bare minimum
By: Seshini Jayakody
In a shabby attempt to stay relevant, Pope Francis officially stated that gay couples deserve legal protections under civil union laws. “They are children of God and have a right to a family,” said the pontiff — but apparently they’re not important enough to deserve marital rights. Although the comments are better made than not considering the Venezuelan president’s plan to legalise same-sex marriage as a result, it is nothing worthy of praise.
The Catholic Church has been nothing but apathetic toward gay people. A notable example being its position on condoms during the AIDS crisis in Africa, where it essentially said that condoms are bad even despite AIDS, which ended up killing millions of people. Catholics have long claimed that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural because it contradicts with scripture, which is to misunderstand biology. It is becoming more and more apparent how antiquated religion is, so it isn’t surprising how scripture that is claimed to be eternal is reinterpreted every few years to keep the religion from being obsolete.
Leftovers are awesome
By: Nicholas Ashenhurst-Toews
I’m not the most hardcore foodie you’ll ever meet. I enjoy good food and I enjoy the process of preparing food, but I could just as easily eat canned soup every day for lunch and not complain about it. But there is one thing about food that I am extremely passionate about that not everyone I’ve talked to is: leftovers.
I adore leftover food. Whether I’ve gotten too large a portion from a restaurant (when I used to go to restaurants, that is) or have an excess of homemade soup, pasta, or shepherd’s pie, I get excited for lunch for the next few days. There is something so comforting about leftovers; not only do I not have to worry about making something new, but often the food has gained flavour from its overnight stay in the fridge — not to mention it cuts down on the amount of food waste coming from my house.
Let’s normalize vasectomies
By: Andrea Sadowski
Is it just me that thinks it’s crazy that the only readily available birth control for men is condoms? And then they have the audacity to complain about using them? Well, excuse me Brad, I don’t want your gonorrhea or your baby, so put on that rubber, ‘cause I sure as hell am not going to remember to take a pill every single day or pay $500 for a doctor to insert a piece of metal or copper in my uterus. Let’s normalize vasectomies. They are a fairly simple procedure, unlike the invasive tubal ligation, and once you get one, you have disposable income for the rest of your life! Or you can get it reversed later on. Doesn’t that sound amazing? If you’re a man reading this, and you’re all like, “You can’t tell me what to do with my body,” how do you think we feel?
And if you do want kids, let’s also normalize not having our own biological children. I have always known that I have absolutely no interest in pushing a baby out of my vagina, but I would not be opposed to fostering or adopting a couple of the thousands of children currently in foster care in Canada.
They’re perfect but…
By: Carissa Wiens
When the night is dying down and the beers are making us a little sleepy, my girlfriends and I play a game called “They’re perfect but…” It’s pretty much what it sounds like. We think about our ideal life partner and say, for example, “They’re perfect, but they put ketchup on everything.” Then, everyone has to say if that’s a deal-breaker for the relationship or not. Make sense?
The last time we did this someone proposed, “They’re perfect, but they don’t vote.” It was unanimously a dealbreaker.
But I wonder if I would really call it quits if I found myself in that situation.
Hypothetically, I could be with someone for a decent amount of time and get somewhat serious with them before elections or voting can come up in conversation. Then dumping the perfect partner just because they don’t vote? Really? It seems quite drastic to me. But if they were not perfect, I would be more than happy to leave them.
Thank goodness I found myself with a partner who voted over the weekend and is maybe, almost, mostly perfect.
(Rain Neeposh/The Cascade)
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
