Biblical thoughts from a former feminist

When I have to do something manual around the house that doesn't require my brain, I often like to listen to things that I can think about, like a sermon or a talk. Today I ran across these talks given by Carolyn McCulley at a conference at Northridge Baptist Church. I've popped over to her blog a couple times and enjoyed what I read. Also I'm really looking forward to reading her book soon as well (Radical Womanhood). She talks about the home as not simply a place with four walls, going beyond that to being about the relationships and spirit of hospitality fostered there rather than the idea of simply making a house pretty. She challenges the philosophy of feminism and identifies ways it has sublty snuck into our thinking, even as Christians.

I loved her talk on "The Mommy Wars," and totally identified with what she was talking about in regards to people looking at the stay-at-home-mom as "someone who used to be a fully functional adult." That seems to be the look I get when people realize I used to be a doctor. So many people (including us homemakers) look at the repetitive tasks like the diapers and the laundry as drudery and then misinterpret the task we have in building our homes as menial, mindless, and dull. But every job has it's repetitive parts. When I was a working in the hospital, it took the form of writing note after note after note, not to mention the repeated rectal exams and pap smears on clinic patients. And you think diapers and burp cloths are gross?

I highly recommend Carolyn's talks and look forward to getting a copy of her book in my hands.

Warm November Days

Our weekend was full of fresh roma tomatoes from our backyard (check out my windowseal), a beautiful six-layer caramel cake I whipped up (tutorial to follow later this week) for my mom's birthday, and a trip down the coast to the island where my parents live to deliver said cake and stay for a visit! The drive back took us on a detour through the beautiful town of Beaufort, SC, where we poked around in antique shops, gauked at some historic homes, gazed out over the golden bay, and satisfied our sweet tooth at the Chocolate Tree.

Other than that, if you happened by my page this weekend you may have seen any one of a number of new templates I tried out for my blog here. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, as you've probably figured out, and hunted everywhere online for a great, three column format I could use. I finally found this simple, three column minina which I've adopted, and quickly set in one of my favorite shades of blue. It's close to the Tiffany's blue, but maybe a little more muted. But I guess it could look different on your monitor. Our master bedroom is painted in a similar shade, which oozes serenity and calm. It reminds me of when I look out over the Cooper River from Waterfront park in downtown Charleston on a cool spring day like the one when my husband proposed so many years ago!

Later this week at Homemaker, MD, I'll be posting the above mentioned caramel cake tutorial (this is the real deal people), write a little bit about a questionable procedure called "palliative sedation" and the ethics surrounding it, do a little show and tell involving some of my home decor, and explain why on earth a homemaker like me is so interested in thinking through Christian bioethics--and why I actually think it is part of building up my home and family. I'll also be tweaking my site a little bit here and there, playing with fonts and stuff. I don't know code and don't really want to learn, but I do want to spruce things up a little. Let me know what you think and if you have any advice for me in this area!

Book Review: "Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity" by Leon R. Kass, MD

This was a heavy and rich work. I found Dr. Kass to have a profoundly well-thought out explanation of his philosophical perspectives in many areas of bioethics. One complaint I had overall, however, was the tedious nature of his writing, and sometimes I wished he had more specific examples or practical applications for the points he was making. Granted, I agree with him that the defense of dignity is a hard thing, seeing as it is a value he describes as a “soft”, even “symbolic” (p15).

One strength of his writing for the Christian bioethicist is that the defense that he makes for human dignity is frequently made through moral reasoning rather than from Biblical sources, which makes for usefulness in conversation with those who have no belief in divine inspiration of Scripture. Also I appreciated the challenge he makes to Christian bioethicists who becomes “just like everybody else” in their discussion of the issues. (p61)

From his discussion in “The Meaning of Life-in the Laboratory,” I appreciated his pointing out the new beginning that occurs in fertilization, which is entirely different from the separate sperm and egg, that there is a new individual after fertilization is complete. I found his comparison of the in vitro blastocyst with the aborted fetuses (p89), to be painfully obvious—of course a live blastocyst is more viable than a dead fetus! Also I would have liked more elaboration on his mention that the thin-edge-of-the-wedge argument as being faulty or weak (p104). I also liked his approach in regard to legislation, that “not every folly can or should be legislated against.” It seems like there are areas of biotechnology that shouldn’t be funded by taxpayers but also can’t be legislated against (for instance because some would be impossible to regulate), though certainly experimentation on human embryos and human cloning are not among those areas. He provided very clear reasons to object to federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, in response to each of the major arguments in favor of it. He made the excellent point that funding should first go to preventing the causes of infertility (i.e. blocked oviducts from STDs) rather than to expensive high-tech/low-yeild treatments (IVF) (pg 111). Also I believe this is the only place I’ve read that stated that actual cost of funding all these IVF treatments if the government were to pick up the tab, and it is sobering. He ends this chapter with a candid summary of how difficult this discussion has been to him, and I appreciated and felt his honesty.

In his section on genetic technology, he discussed the concerns of having too much knowledge of our own genome and genetic disposition, and it’s dangers. I hadn’t considered this aspect of the matter, but rather had thought only of privacy issues. But the idea of people living life with the knowledge of their genetic future (dementia, etc.) is concerning.

While reading the chapter on cloning, it struck me several times how much has developed even in the seven years since Kass wrote this volume. This was in my opinion one of his best chapters, and the basis of his arguments against cloning was strong. Toward the end of the chapter he pointed out that scientists whose names we don’t know and in places we don’t know are currently working behind closed doors and in secrecy to clone humans. This is a chilling but certainly valid concern. Equally chilling was the discussion on the next chapter on maintain perfusion and respiration mechanically in the newly dead in order to maintain an organ supply.

One of the strengths of Kass’ writing is the candid way in which he admits his personal difficulty with some of the arguments he makes, yet his honestly only serves to strengthen his perspective. For instance, on page 210, he points out his “weakening on the subject of euthanasia is precisely this: I would confess a strong temptation to remove myself from life to spare my children the anguish of years of attending my demented self and the horrible likelihood that they will come, hatefully to themselves, to resent my continued existence.” He notes these reasons might lead him to think he might have a duty to die, but argues against this thought in that “What principle of family life am I enacting and endorsing with my ‘altruistic suicide’?” and also points to another article for further discussion of this concern (210). Later he has a very balanced view as he states he “defends the practice of allowing to die while opposing the practice of deliberately killing.” (p227)

One argument that did appear weak which he used in regard to several issues was that deep within us we find the idea of certain things (i.e. cloning) repugnant, and that this feeling should be taken into consideration and even have possible moral value. This seems a stretch; since there are a lot of things which we may find repugnant but certainly have no moral opposition to.

Overall this is a book I will frequently refer to as I work through these issues, and the insight and candor with which Dr. Kass examined the issues is a rich resource to any who would read it.

On the fear of death and the failure of technology

From Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, by Leon Kass, MD:

The greater our medical successes, the more unacceptable is failure and the more intolerable and fightening is death. True, many causes of death have been vanquished, but the fear of death has not abated, and may, indeed, have gotten worse. Nor as we have saved ourselves from the rapidly fatal illnesses, we now die slowly, painfully and in degradation--with cancer, AIDS or Alzheimer's disease. In our effort to control and rationalize death and dying, we have medicalized and institutionalized so much of the end of life as to produce what amounts to living death for thousands of people. Moreover, for these reasons we now face growing pressures for the legalization of euthanasia, which will complete the irony by casting the doctor, preserver of life, into the role of dispenser of death. We seem to be in the biomedical equivalent of a spiraling arms race with ourselves, creating technologies that heal only to cripple or crush, requiring us to respond either by seeking more technologies that heal or by electing a technological escape from life altogether.

Tylenol and Vaccines

It seems like a lot of moms I know routinely give their kids tylenol either before or after their childhood vaccine shots, to make the experience a little less painful and keep fevers down. I've even heard of some pediatricians that in the past have told moms to give it. (Though my pediatrician never recommended it, I never heard any reasons not to use it). We'd been giving it to our daughter around shot time.

Well, recently a couple studies came out that reveal that tylenol decreases the response of vaccines by decreasing the antibody response, and the antibodies are why you want the vaccines--they are the how you end up being protected from viruses. After seeing what these studies show, I won't be using tylenol for my daughter's shots again! Here are the details, printed in the Lancet, arriving in my email from my journal watch service:

Prophylactic Acetaminophen Reduces Immunogenicity of Childhood Vaccines

        Children given acetaminophen with vaccinations have lower rates of fever in response, but the vaccinations produce a lower immunogenicity, reports a Lancet study.
Researchers, including some from the sponsoring vaccine manufacturer, followed over 400 infants receiving primary and booster immunizations. Half received acetaminophen via suppository in three doses over the first 24 hours after vaccination, and half received no prophylaxis.
        The percentage of children with a temperature of 38 degrees C or higher was significantly lower in the acetaminophen group by some 40% to 50% both at primary and booster immunizations. However, vaccine immunogenicity was lower in the acetaminophen group — significantly so for some antigens, e.g., all 10 pneumococcal serotypes after the primary immunization. The authors hypothesize that the effect could result from acetaminophen's preventing inflammation.
         Over 95% of all children had seroprotective antibody levels, but researchers argue that antipyretics "should ... no longer be routinely recommended" with vaccination. Editorialists agree, calling the case "compelling."

Acetaminophen After Vaccination Reduces Antibody Response

      Prophylactic doses of acetaminophen given after vaccination reduce fever but blunt antibody response to multiple antigens.
      Fever is common after vaccination, leading some to recommend prophylactic antipyretics. But do such agents affect vaccine immune response? In an industry-supported study, investigators randomized healthy infants in the Czech Republic to receive vaccines alone or followed by three doses of acetaminophen (suppositories) over 24 hours. They assessed febrile response and antibody response to vaccine antigens after primary and booster doses.
      The infants received 10-valent pneumococcal nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae conjugate vaccine coadministered with diphtheria–tetanus–acellular pertussis, hepatitis B, H. influenzae type B, oral rotavirus, and inactivated poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3 vaccines. Primary vaccine doses were administered at ages 3–5 months; booster doses at ages 12–15 months. Infants remained in the same group for primary and booster doses; however, based on initial results, the study was amended before completion, and not all acetaminophen-group infants received acetaminophen after booster immunization.
Fever >39.5°C was uncommon after primary vaccination in both groups (3/233 [1%] with no acetaminophen; 1/226 [<1%] with prophylactic acetaminophen). However, fever 38°C was significantly more common in the no-acetaminophen group than in the acetaminophen group (66% vs. 42%). Acetaminophen recipients showed significantly reduced antibody response to 10 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine serotypes and multiple other antigens. Children with and without fever in the acetaminophen group showed similar diminution of antibody response.
      Comment: The authors conclude that acetaminophen should not be given prophylactically as a routine practice with vaccination. Whether the same effect would occur with other commonly used agents, such as ibuprofen, is unknown but should be studied. The authors postulate that acetaminophen may interfere with interactions among dendritic, B, and T cells by reducing the local inflammatory response. Editorialists note the need to also assess whether antipyretics increase the proportion of vaccine nonresponders and reduce population protection.

No more prophylactic tylenol for our baby! At a later date I'll post about why we are not concerned about vaccinations and autism, and why kids should get vaccinated.

The Cranberry Challenge, Part 2

This is my second post in a series of cranberry recipes, which I've embarked upon after aquiring a three pound bag of the sour little red berries. This time I used a cookie recipe for the cranberries. The only downside to it was that I had to cut all the cranberries I used in half, which was a long and tedious procedure. I guess I could have thrown them in the food processor, but even the briefest little swirl in there would have left something too mushy. Later, when the chopping was almost done, I remembered seeing someone on the cooking channel illustrate how to cut a bunch of grapes in half. They used two round plastic lids that are about the same size, putting a layer of grapes in one round lid up to the edges, then placing the other lid on top, and then just running a big knife between the two lids while holding the grapes steady between them. I really wish i'd remembered that beforehand, because it would have been much faster...

Anyway, the recipe was for Cranberry Pumpkin Cookies, which felt very appropriate to the season, and the recipe was here. I changed it up a little (as always), by using pecans instead of walnuts (this is the south), and also added mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. Actually I made a few before adding in the nuts or chocolate (so the baby could try them--she can't eat nuts quite yet), and then a few with nuts but no chocolate, and then the rest with chocolate. I'll just say that hands down, everyone most loved the ones with all the stuff in them. I tripled the batch, so have a ton in the freezer. It's a good recipe I'd use again, making a not overly sweet cookie that is quite moist!

A side note: I did use one of my cans of pumpkin filling, which I'm now grateful I stockpiled last year, given this year's shortage! Usually I have it for the family pumpkin bread recipe, passed down from my Mamaw. I'll share that recipe sometime soon, too, if I can find some more pumpkin...

As far as the cranberries, looking at my bag of them it looks like I still have a pound and a half left!

The Cranberry Challenge, Part 1

It's well into fall now, and I live in a part of the country where we are still wearing flip-flops and even shorts. The magnolias, live oaks and palmettos don't change color with the seasons, so I've got to find other ways to feel like it's really fall, which is one of my favorite seasons. October is maybe my favorite month of the year, and it is the month of cranberries! (And also the month I got married four wonderful years ago and also had my beautiful daughter one year ago!) SO, there is always celebrating to do in October. Now that November is here I really need to get on with feeling fall-ish, and in that spirit aquired a THREE pound bag of fresh cranberries. (I live practically across the street from Costco, what can I say?) Sure, I could freeze some. But right now they are fresh, and apparently can last for 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Plus its so special to have fresh cranberries--the checkout lady at Costco told me they sell out very quickly every year.

So I decided to challenge myself to cook them all in various ways over the next couple of weeks. So here goes....

Tonight's dinner recipe was Spiced Pork Tenderloin With Fresh Cranberry and Orange Glaze, which I found here. I changed things up in the recipe a bit. I am a notorious pot-saver when it comes to cooking (which stinks when I try Julia Child's techniques), so I just threw all the stuff the recipe calls to be cooked separately on the stovetop into the same pot as the pork, and it came out great! I loved it--the tang of the cranberries and the moistness of the pork. My husband loved it too, though he mentioned he's not a huge fan of cranberries...