Dating: What's the Point?

In today's world, dating is a very loose term.  Dating has a different meaning for nearly everyone; some consider dating casual (hooking up) and others consider dating to be serious, as if marriage is the next step.  Neither opinion is incorrect; I believe that the difference in opinions is because dating has changed throughout the generations.  People my parents' age would consider dating to be a more serious thing, because that is how they were raised.  However, teenagers are exposed to all different kinds of social media that portray dating as a very sexual thing.  Nearly every TV show shows casual hook-ups between characters that barely know each other.  However, this leads to another question, which is what is considered a hook up?  In this society, hooking up is another vague term; for some it means kissing and for others it means sex.  Many people do consider hook-ups as drunken sex.  Like dating, I think the definition of a hook-up depends on the age of the person defining it.  For example, I know that my mom uses the term "hook-up" to mean "meeting-up."  After a night out with my friends, she will always ask me who I've hooked up with.  I think that for teenagers, hooking-up is less sexual (making-out) but once one advances into college, hooking-up turns into sex.  In the end, I believe that dating and hooking-up are both very vague terms that depend on each individual generation.

Looking Forward in the Church

Although I am not extremely educated in the Pope's affairs, I believe that the upcoming Pope will need to address many new topics in the Church and in the world.  Many things have occurred in the Catholic Church recently, a prime example being the sex abuse scandal.  I think that many people are concerned and that the Pope will need to resolve this issue in order to renew people's faith.

As previously stated, I imagine that the future of the church needs to instill faith in the entire community again.  I think that for some people the Catholic beliefs and morals were slowly starting to decay and the sex abuse scandal quickened the decay for many.  There are also many other future, controversial challenges that the Pope may face in the Church.  Some examples are the economy and idea of giving roles to women.  Personally, being a woman in the Church does not positively or negatively affect me.  However, I still think that the Church should allow women to have vital roles, such as becoming a priest.  Women have been striving for equality and there is no reason that they should not be equal to men in the Church.

If I could change one thing in the Church, I would change their views on abortion and gay marriage.  I think that, like many teenagers, that everyone should be in control of his or her own life.  I think that the strict rules of abortion should be loosened; I feel that if someone wants to have an abortion because of extreme circumstances, such as rape, she should be able to have an abortion without going against her religion.  I also believe that if two people love each other, they should be allowed to be married in the Church.  I believe that whether one is homosexual or heterosexual, everyone is equal and sexual orientation should not matter.