The New York Times > Books > New Salvo Is Fired in Mommy Wars
....by Mary Eberstadt called Home-Alone America. I'm with NRO's The Corner on this one. It really will be worth reading if the article by the NYT wasn't able to completely rip it to shreds!
Why do we not hear more about Herbert Ratner, Conrad Barrs, Father Virtue, Maria Montessori? If we, who have been 'given much' don't "get it" how can we expect anyone else to???
And over at Heart Mind and Strength's archives...
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Fr. William Virtue, a professor at the JPII Institute on Marriage and Family Studies, in his dissertation, Mother and Infant: The Moral Theology of Motherhood observes that this nuturing, responsive mother/child couplet serves as the basis for all morality. Allow me to explain.
The brain is continuing to develop through childhood. Neurological and neuroradiological studies are now able to demonstrate (through functional imaging technologies like fPET and fMRI) that the part of the brain that is known as the "seat of the conscience" (the orbitofrontal cortex) is actually wired by affection. The more affection a person is given, the more developed this part of the brain becomes. Likewise, the more developed the orbitofrontal cortex becomes, the more capable the person is of empathy--the ability to understand on a visceral level, how my actions effect another person. Finally, the more developed my sense of empathy the more acute my sense of morality will be (for example, sociopaths lack any sense of empathy).
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IF you are interested in more info on Virtue's work...
Father Virtue on Mother-Infant Bonding.
http://www.canticlemagazine.com/pastissues/issue04_interview.html
I haven't had anything to say but this topic just may get me to post!!! I stuggle with the knowing/being all da do da day.
Is Fr. William's book / thesis in print? Who published it? Is there an ISBN NUMBER? I would love to read it and give it to some others. thank you. Kathy DeWine, Knoxville, TN