What People Are Commenting
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Dialogue Mass, Bill Barr & Diamond Rings
Attorney General Warns Governors
Thank you for covering the protests that are rising up around our country against the nonsensical measures imposed by State governors.
I was also pleased to read that A.T. Bill Barr took a position warning governors that if they are sued by plaintiffs over the latter’s financial losses, the Department of Justice will back the people’s claims.
It is a good warning to the Police Departments as well, because if a police officer arrests a man for exercising a right guaranteed by the Constitution, the man can sue the officer or police department, which probably will end by having to pay a fine. This is one reason why many police officers are reluctant to enforce the draconian measures imposed by State governors. Another reason is that many of them think these measures are senseless also.
You may read the news report here.
P.M.
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Switzerland to Reopen Schools
Good news coming from Switzerland. After due scientific study their government decided to reopen the schools.
I wish a bit of that good sense will come to our governors…
Keep up the good work.
P.H.
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What Gates Did in India
Re: Gates Digital Certificate
After what pro death Gates did in India it's hard to believe that anybody would have anything to do with this evil man let alone take any immune system sabotaging vaccine, he should be in prison. Read what he did in India.
A.M.
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Communion ‘Kits’
Re: Communion Kits in Germany
I’m really surprised they didn’t call them “happy meals," in imitation of the fast-food giant’s motto. Perhaps it isn’t worded the same in Germany, or perhaps it’s a trademark issue.
R.J.
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Diamond Rings
If they can afford them, should Catholics give and receive diamond engagement rings? Or is that a "worldly" tradition?
Thanks,
S.F.
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TIA responds:
S.F.,
That there should be an engagement ring is a long Catholic tradition. That the engagement ring be a diamond is not at all necessary. In fact, before the 20th century it usually was not.
In many European countries, the engagement rings were a family heirloom set with gemstones such as rubies, emeralds or sapphires or a simple gold or silver band. In some families, it was the custom for a man's mother to give her eldest son the ring that was her engagement ring to present to his fiancée when he would decide to marry. The stone, either a gem or more rarely a diamond, was sometimes reset, sometimes not. Regardless of her personal taste in jewels or the value of the gem in question, the bride-to-be would prefer a ring rich in family traditions to a newly purchased one.
In some countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, the fiancé and fiancée wore plain bands as engagement rings on their right hands, and upon saying their vows, they switched their rings to the left hand.
Indeed, the ring could represent the status of the future couple, but there never used to be a frenzy for middle class or peasant couples to have an expensive or showy ring. Even more than a sign of the enduring love of the future couple, the ring was an external sign of the serious commitment made in the betrothal ceremony, an assurance that the agreement to marry was made public ahead of the actual wedding ceremony.
Diamonds have not been forever
"The diamond is forever" was a marketing slogan introduced in 1947 by the international De Beers diamond corporation that aimed to make it an "American tradition" for every woman to receive a diamond engagement ring. The campaign had one end: to increase the sale of its diamonds. The campaign gave diamonds to celebrities and movie stars, and, as if by orders from some unknown power, the media began to stress diamonds as synonymous with romance, love, commitment and status.
The end result: a new generation of American women who believed that engagement rings had to be diamonds. You can see how successful the stratagem was by the statistics: In the 1940’s fewer than 10% of brides-to-be received a diamond engagement ring; In the 1990s, more than 80% received one.
De Beers also took upon itself to instruct men how much they should spend on the engagement ring in order to be a worthy husband. This was also a revolutionary novelty. At first, in the 1930s they affirmed the man should spend the equivalent of one month's income on the engagement ring. By the 1980s the dictate was two and a half months income. By 2012 the average cost of an engagement ring in the U.S. as reported by the industry was $4,000.
Thus, to keep up appearances and prove his true love for his future spouse, the man was obliged not only to purchase a diamond but to spend what could indeed be more than he could afford on the engagement ring.
This notion is not in keeping with the principles of a Catholic organic society, where each one should spend what is within his means, even in the important matter of an engagement ring. It is not a good way to begin a serious married life by purchasing an engagement ring on a credit card, paying interest to the bank for months or even years just for the sake of making a good appearance before family, friends and acquaintances.
We hope you will find an appropriate ring for your fiancée, one whose cost lies within your means. It does not necessarily have to be a diamond ring, although the symbolism of the diamond as enduring and unbreakable is certainly beautiful to honor the marriage bond.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted April 23, 2020
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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Dr. Byrne rearranged the subject matter of the articles that we had the privilege to publish for the first time on our TIA website. The content of this volume is roughly equivalent to one-third of her articles to date. Thus we await the next volumes with keen anticipation.
The book was enriched with a Preface, an Introduction and a Conclusion, as well as a Bibliography and a Word Index.
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