Matt Palmer is the former social media coordinator of Catholic Review Media.

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I think you have a bit of an overreaction. The thing is, the author wants to make a statement about this universe they have created. It is an oppressive regime that takes away the innocence of a child, or at worst a life, that keep the masses in fear. The more food they borrow, the more likely they will be picked. It is about coming from the poor and showing the upper class who's boss. (Especially in the end scene with Peeta and Katniss. "They don't have to have a winner.") As a society outside of the book, we don't condone these things by showing them on our screens and reading about them. You almost have to desensitize yourself in order to learn the message the series is trying to teach. You can't compare your morals regarding children death matches to this series because we didn't grow up where the Hunger Games looms annually. Instead, we have to look at it objectively and hopefully: better ourselves. Look at your nieces. There are two or more ways to interpret every story: Face value, where it is children in a death match for entertainment of the crowd. Or, with an analytical mind: a story of rags showing the upper class whose boss, and creating a revolution. A satire on how media in our world makes contestants in a dog-eat-dog world or for people to put themselves in danger for cheap media entertainment. (And many more ideas)

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I found this video difficult to watch malniy because the people were so confused and affluent. Giving more money to someone will not guarantee that they will live out what God has planned for them. I felt sorry for them and would have liked to suggest to them that they give me some of their money and let me show them what to do with it. Seriously, I did not hear any of them speak about doing something for others or their moral beliefs.Interestingly, one of the interviewees mentioned how they went to a Christian school and was beaten up. I guess in that case his introduction to Christ was not a positive one. Some of the things that make the rich nervous also make poor nervous. The rich children worried about how to hold on to their money and the poor worry about how to get it. The rich are worried about someone knocking on their door saying you did not do something right, so now I am disowning you. The poor worry about someone knocking on their door saying your time is up and now you have to get out or bill collectors hounding them. There will always be worries that can overcome us when we live in a hollow life such as what was viewed.True freedom is knowing that God is in control and no matter what we see, these things are all temporal and we have a job to do. Seek the kingdom! All the other things will be added if we do the first step.These are just my thoughts..

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Popular bloggers contemplate if Internet brings Catholics together

 

I've been reflecting on some of the things Rocco Palmo, who runs the incredibly well-read Whispers in the Loggia, said during the bloggers panel at the Catholic Media Conference June 22 in Indianapolis.

Palmo, and later Deacon Greg Kandra of the very popular The Deacon's Bench, talks about some of the potholes of the new media and blogging in the 21st century. Palmo said that current tensions "are unlike anything I've seen this last eight years. I don't know if it's election year, I don't know if it's politics, I don't know if it's that people are tired and cranky. It could be any one of those things. I've seen people who I've been around for a long time, in a way that I've never seem them, almost primed to explode at the drop of a hat "

Palmo pondered if new media is bringing people together. It's kind of shocking concept: the Catholic blogosphere's most influential voices pondering if the body of Christ is being built up through their work.

Listen to Rocco Palmo talk about the concerns: 

 

Deacon Greg Kandra said he entered the blogosphere because there weren't many deacon blogs and he didn't recognize the Catholic Church  on the web. He said there was partisanship, bias and agendas.

"One of the things I to wanted to impart is that it's a big church," he said. "And the body of Christ is huge. As I like to tell people, it's everybody from Mother Angelica to Madonna and everybody in-between. I wanted somehow to reflect that."

Two weeks ago, Deacon Greg suspended comments on his blog, possibly to the end of the summer, maybe forever. He said the comments were personal and sometimes racist.

"It became exhausting dealing with it," Deacon Greg said.

The Internet is know for having warring factions, particularly politically, but Deacon Greg wasn't expecting a Catholic audience to have venom toward one another.

Perhaps most tellingly, he said: "Here it's all Catholics sort of devouring each other. It's a very sobering thing to watch and to puzzle over and wonder how to handle. As much as you want people to debate and discuss, you don't want them to kill each other either."

I want to step out of the way and let you listen to him explain his thought process in two audio files. When you're done, I'm wondering if you'd comment on your own view of the Catholic blogosphere and the commenters inside of it. Are Catholics coming together on the Internet or are we following American political lines and going our separate ways?

Where do you go online to feel the Catholic Church united? 

Listen to Deacon Greg Kandra's thoughts on blog comments: 



6/25/2012 4:42:30 PM
By Matt Palmer