title: Fatima

text: Iranians celebrate Fatima's birth anniversary on 20 Jumada al-Thani as the Mother's Day. On this day, banners reading "Ya Fatima" (O! Fatima) are displayed on government buildings, private buildings, public streets and car windows. The Gregorian date for this changes every year.


title: 2020 United States gubernatorial elections

text: United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2016, except in New Hampshire and Vermont where governors only serve two-year terms and elected their current governors in 2018. Nine state governors ran for reelection and all nine won, while Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana could not run again due to term limits and Republican Gary Herbert of Utah decided to retire at the end of his term.


text: In addition to state gubernatorial elections, the territories of American Samoa and Puerto Rico also held elections for their governors. Puerto Rican governor Wanda Vázquez Garced lost the New Progressive primary to Pedro Pierluisi, while Lolo Matalasi Moliga of American Samoa could not run again due to term limits.


text: The elections took place concurrently with the 2020 presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, and numerous state and local elections. This round of gubernatorial elections marked the first time since West Virginia Governor Jim Justice's party switch in mid-2017 that Republicans flipped any governorships held previously by Democrats, and the first round of gubernatorial elections since 2016 where Republicans made net gains, ending a streak of Democratic net gains that had occurred in prior elections during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump.


text: Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.


text: Montana was considered the most competitive race in this cycle and was rated a tossup by four of six major pundits. Incumbent Democratic governor Steve Bullock was term-limited, but his lieutenant governor, Mike Cooney, a longtime political figure in the state since 1977, was the Democratic nominee. The Republican nominee was Montana at-large congressman Greg Gianforte, who is a controversial figure because he was arrested for body-slamming a reporter the day of a 2017 special election. Gianforte also isn't from Montana. The Bullock administration had an approval rating of 52% and a disapproval of 31%, according to a poll by the Morning Consult, meaning Cooney's election chances were higher in the otherwise solidly Republican state. North Carolina was the next most competitive race, as it is a Republican-leaning swing state with a Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, meaning that Cooper faced a tough reelection. Cooper won his 2016 election by a mere 10,277 votes, or 0.22%. However, most forecasters gave the race a Democratic lean as Cooper had an approval rating of 59%. Cooper had also lead most polls against his Republican challenger, Dan Forest, by an average of a 11-point lead, according to RealClearPolitics.


text: Vermont and New Hampshire are both races that could have become competitive as they are Democratic states with Republican governors in a presidential year. However, Republican incumbents Phil Scott of Vermont and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire are ranked among the most popular governors in the United States, and both races were rated likely to be safe Republican. Both are viewed as centrists who attract Democratic and independent voters. Scott's challenger was David Zuckerman, the state's lieutenant governor, who ran on both the Democratic and Progressive nominations. Zuckerman had been endorsed by Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. Sununu was running against New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes.


text: In Missouri, Republican incumbent Mike Parson assumed office after the resignation of Eric Greitens due to sexual harassment and violations of campaign finance laws, and his lack of name recognition and unpopularity could have made his race against state auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide office holder, competitive, though most forecasters still rated the race as lean Republican due to Missouri's heavy Republican lean. West Virginia’s gubernatorial race was seen as safe for Republicans because the state heavily leans Republican, but some forecasts rated it as likely Republican due to corruption allegations against incumbent Jim Justice that have led to rising unpopularity. Justice faced centrist Democrat Ben Salango, who was endorsed by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin and multiple local unions.


text: The gubernatorial races for John Carney in Delaware and Jay Inslee in Washington were seen as safe for Democrats, while the races for Eric Holcomb in Indiana, Doug Burgum in North Dakota, and Spencer Cox in Utah were seen as safe for Republicans.


text: Red denotes races won by Republicans. Blue denotes races won by Democrats. Dark blue denotes race won by New Progressives.


text: All of the states that held gubernatorial elections in 2020 also held state legislative elections in 2020, although some legislative seats were not up for election in states that stagger legislative elections.


text: One-term incumbent Democrat John Carney ran for re-election to a second term. Primaries took place on September 15. Carney decisively defeated progressive community activist and environmentalist David Lamar Williams, Jr. in the Democratic primary. Multiple candidates ran in the Republican primary, including attorney Julianne Murray, Delaware State Senator from the 16th district Colin Bonini, small business owner David Bosco, local Republican politician David Graham, Delaware State Senator from the 21st district Bryant Richardson, and perennial candidate Scott Walker. Murray narrowly defeated Bonini with a plurality of the vote. Carney won reelection by a large margin.


text: One-term incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb ran for re-election in 2020 alongside his running mate Suzanne Crouch. Holcomb ran against the Democratic nominee, former Health Commissioner of Indiana Woody Myers, and his running mate Linda Lawson, the former Minority Leader of the Indiana House of Representatives. Donald Rainwater, a U.S. Navy veteran, was the Libertarian nominee. Primaries were held on June 2, although both Holcomb and Myers ran uncontested. Holcomb won the election in a landslide, though Libertarian Donald Rainwater's 11% of the vote was the highest percentage of vote for a third-party candidate in any of the 2020 gubernatorial race, and the highest any Libertarian candidate ever received in Indiana in a three-party race (The 2006 United States Senate election in Indiana saw the Libertarian candidate take 12.6% of the vote, but there was no Democratic candidate running).


text: One-term incumbent Republican Mike Parson took office upon Eric Greitens' resignation due to threatening the dissemination of sexual images and campaign finance violations. Parson ran for election to a full term in 2020 and easily won the Republican primary. State auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide office holder, won the Democratic primary, defeating pastor Eric Morrison, and multiple other candidates including Jimmie Matthews, Antoin Johnson, and Robin Quaethem. Primaries took place on August 4. The Libertarian nominee was U.S. Air Force veteran Rik Combs, while Jerome Bauer was the Green Party nominee. Both candidates ran uncontested in their respective primaries. Despite predictions that this election could be close and that Parson could underperform national Republicans in the state, Parson won handily.


text: Two-term incumbent Democrat Steve Bullock was term-limited in 2020, making him the only incumbent governor in the United States (not counting U.S. territories) who was term-limited in this election year. This was therefore an open-seat election, and viewed as the most competitive gubernatorial election in the 2020 cycle. Primaries were held on June 2, with heavy competition in both. Bullock's lieutenant governor, Mike Cooney, a longtime local politician, was the Democratic nominee, defeating businesswoman and daughter of former U.S. representative Pat Williams, Whitney Williams, in the Democratic primary. Cooney's running mate was Minority Leader of the Montana House of Representatives, Casey Schreiner. The Republican nominee was Montana's at-large congressman Greg Gianforte, who defeated Attorney General Tim Fox and State Senator from the 6th district, Albert Olszewski. Gianforte's running mate was Kristen Juras, a businesswoman and attorney. Gianforte was a controversial figure in the state, as he was arrested for body slamming a reporter the day of a 2017 special election. Despite predictions that this election would be close, Gianforte won by 12 points, making this the first time Montana has voted for a Republican for governor since 2000. This was the only gubernatorial seat to change parties in 2020.


text: New Hampshire is one of two states, alongside Vermont, that has two-year terms for their governors instead of four-year terms, meaning they held their gubernatorial latest elections in 2018. In December 2019, two-term incumbent Republican Chris Sununu announced that he would run for a third two-year term in 2020, ending speculation he would choose to run for the U.S. Senate instead. Sununu easily defeated Franklin city counselor Karen Testerman in the Republican primary. In a hotly contested Democratic primary, Majority Leader of the New Hampshire Senate Dan Feltes narrowly defeated Andru Volinsky, a member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire from the 2nd district. The primaries took place on September 8. Despite national Democrats winning by large margins in the state's presidential, senate, and house races, Sununu won by a large margin based on his popularity with voters of both parties.


text: One-term incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper, who won his 2016 election by an extremely slim margin of only 10,281 votes, ran for re-election in 2020. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest was the Republican nominee. Primaries were held on March 3, where Cooper defeated retired U.S. Army captain and perennial candidate Ernest T. Reeves in a landslide in the Democratic primary, and Forest decisively defeated the North Carolina State Representative from the 20th district, Holly Grange, in the Republican primary. Cooper won reelection as pundits predicted, though the margin was close. Cooper outperformed national Democrats in the state, who narrowly lost both the Presidential and Senate races.


text: One-term incumbent Republican Doug Burgum ran for re-election in 2020. Brent Sanford, the incumbent lieutenant governor, remained his running mate. The Democratic nominee was veterinarian and former Killdeer school board member Shelly Lenz, whose running mate was Ben Vig, a former member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 23rd district. Primaries were held on June 9, with Burgum winning by a landslide margin over U.S. Air Force veteran Michael Coachman and Lenz running uncontested. Burgum won reelection in a landslide.


text: Two and a half-term incumbent Republican Gary Herbert was eligible for re-election in 2020, as Utah does not have gubernatorial term limits. However, he announced shortly after being re-elected in 2016 that he would not run for a third full term. Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox defeated multiple other high-profile Republicans in the competitive Republican primary on June 30 including former governor Jon Huntsman Jr., Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives Greg Hughes, and former Chairman of the Utah Republican Party Thomas Wright. Cox's running mate for Lieutenant Governor was Utah Senator from the 7th district, Deidre Henderson. Meanwhile, University of Utah law professor Christopher Peterson won an overwhelming majority of delegates at the Utah Democratic Convention, immediately awarding him with the Democratic nomination alongside his running mate, community organizer Karina Brown. During the general election campaign, an advertisement featuring Cox and Peterson together calling for unity went viral. Cox won in a landslide, outperforming national Republicans in the state.


text: Two-term incumbent Republican Phil Scott confirmed he was seeking a third term in 2020. However, he did not campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the handling of which awarded Scott with a 75% approval rating in the summer. Scott was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2018. Scott is a heavy critic of President Donald Trump, who holds a net negative 39% disapproval rating in the Green Mountain State. He is one of the last remaining liberal Republican politicians with center-left political leanings, and remains an outlier in the otherwise staunchly Democratic state. Primary elections were held on August 11. Scott defeated multiple challengers in the Republican primary, the most prominent of which was lawyer and pastor John Klar. Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman defeated former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe in the Democratic primary. He also defeated Cris Ericson and Boots Wardinski in the Vermont Progressive Party primary, despite only being recognized as a write-in candidate. Zuckerman was endorsed by U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders, the most popular senator amongst his constituents in the country. Zuckerman chose to run under the Progressive Party ballot line in the general election, listing the Democratic Party as a secondary nomination, utilizing Vermont's electoral fusion system. Despite Vermont being one of the most heavily Democratic states in the nation with a partisan voting index of D+15, Scott won reelection in a landslide because of his widespread popularity and focus on local issues. Scott has also been praised for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zuckerman had also made past comments perceived as being anti-vaccination.


text: Two-term incumbent Democrat Jay Inslee was eligible to run for re-election in 2020, as Washington does not have gubernatorial term limits. Inslee ran for re-election to a third term after dropping out of the Democratic presidential primaries on August 21, 2019. He faced police chief of the city of Republic, Washington, Loren Culp. A top-two, jungle primary took place on August 4, meaning that all candidates appeared on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation and the top two (Inslee and Culp) advanced to the general election in November. Washington is one of two states in the country, alongside California and Louisiana (and Nebraska for statewide offices), that holds jungle primaries rather than conventional ones. Inslee won both the primary and general elections in a landslide, becoming the first governor of Washington in decades to be elected to a third term. Culp refused to concede, citing false claims of election fraud.


text: One-term incumbent Republican Jim Justice ran for re-election in 2020. Justice was elected as a Democrat, but later switched to the Republican Party, making him the first Republican governor since Cecil H. Underwood, elected from 1997 until 2001. Justice faced centrist Democrat Ben Salango, who was endorsed by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. Primaries were held on June 9, with Justice defeating former West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Woody Thrasher and former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 63rd district, Mike Folk, by a large margin. Meanwhile, Salango won by a slim margin in a hotly contested Democratic primary between Salango and community organizer Stephen Smith, businessman Jody Murphy, and Douglas Hughes.


text: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, retired Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, and Secretary of State Mac Warner were mentioned as potential general election challengers, prior to Justice's decision to re-join the Republican Party.


text: Two-term incumbent Governor Lolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga was term-limited in 2020. Running to replace him were Lieutenant Governor Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga, American Samoa Senate President Gaoteote Palaie Tofau, territorial Senator Nua Sao, and executive director of the American Samoa Government Employees' Retirement Fund Iaulualo Faafetai Talia. Although individuals can and do affiliate with political parties, elections are held on a non-partisan basis with candidates running without party labels and no party primaries. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on a shared ticket. The Mauga–Ale ticket won the election with more than 60% of the vote.


text: Incumbent governor Wanda Vázquez Garced of the New Progressive Party and the Republican Party, who became governor after Pedro Pierluisi's succession of Ricardo Rosselló was declared unconstitutional, was defeated in the New Progressive primary by Pierluisi in her bid to win a full term. He faced Isabela mayor Carlos Delgado Altieri, who won the Popular Democratic Party primary, as well as Senator Juan Dalmau of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, Alexandra Lúgaro of Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, César Vázquez of Proyecto Dignidad, and independent candidate Eliezer Molina. Pierluisi won the election by a very slim margin.


title: Planet Waves

text: Planet Waves is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 17, 1974, by Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It is also one of only two Dylan albums not originally released on Columbia Records, but he was allowed to take its release rights back to his former label when he resigned with it and remained ever since.


title: Planet Waves

text: Dylan is supported on the album by longtime collaborators The Band, with whom he embarked on a major reunion tour (documented on the live album "Before the Flood") following its release. With a successful tour and a host of publicity, "Planet Waves" was a hit, enjoying a brief stay at on the U.S. Billboard charts—a first for the artist—and in the UK. Critics were not as negative as they had been with some then-recent Bob Dylan albums (namely "Self Portrait" and "Dylan"), but still not enthusiastic for the album's brand of laid-back roots rock.


title: Planet Waves

text: The album was originally set to be titled "Ceremonies of the Horsemen", a reference to the song "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", from the 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home"; the release was delayed two weeks when Dylan decided to change the title at the last minute. Another, earlier, working title was "Wedding Song".


title: Planet Waves

text: The cover art is drawn by Dylan himself. Written on the right side of the cover image is the phrase "Cast-iron songs & torch ballads", apparently signaling Dylan's own conception of the album. On the left side is written "Moonglow", which is sometimes interpreted as a subtitle. The original back artwork for the album is handwritten, with a long, rambling essay on the left-hand side. In the center, the performers' names are listed, though Richard Manuel's surname is misspelled "Manual". The initial release also included an insert, which reportedly set out excerpts from Dylan's personal journals.


title: Planet Waves

text: In the summer of 1973, Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist of the Band, relocated to Malibu, California, not far from Dylan's residence. According to Robertson, the idea of collaborating with Dylan evolved from a conversation that took place sometime after July 28, when the Band played to hundreds of thousands of people at Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. After much discussion about that experience, the idea of touring again "seemed to really make sense," says Robertson. "It was a good idea, a kind of step into the past...The other guys in the Band came out [to Malibu] and we went right to work."


title: Planet Waves

text: Dylan had not toured since 1966, when the Band accompanied him as The Hawks. In the interim, he had played with the Band on a number of occasions, most recently a New Year's concert in 1971/1972 that was received warmly by the audience. When Dylan joined the Band for a test run at Robertson's home in September 1973, he was satisfied with the results, enough to proceed with touring plans.


title: Planet Waves

text: "We sat down and played for four hours and ran over an incredible number of tunes", recalls Robertson. "Bob would ask us to play certain tunes of ours, and then we would do the same, then we'd think of some that we would particularly like to do."


title: Planet Waves

text: Dylan left for New York in October to compose new material for album sessions scheduled in November. He already had three songs ("Forever Young", "Nobody 'Cept You" and "Never Say Goodbye") which he had demoed in June, and when he returned to Malibu after twenty days in New York, he had six more.


title: Planet Waves

text: On Friday, November 2, Dylan and the Band held a session at Village Recorder Studio A in Los Angeles, California. Engineer Rob Fraboni recalls the proceedings as fairly relaxed and informal, an opportunity "to get set up and to get a feel for the studio." Drummer Levon Helm was not even present, as he was still in transit, on his way to Los Angeles from the East Coast. Nevertheless, the session was devoted to all three songs demoed in June, and Dylan and the Band succeeded in recording complete takes of "Forever Young" and "Nobody 'Cept You" as well as the master take for "Never Say Goodbye".


title: Planet Waves

text: When Dylan and the Band reconvened at Village Recorder the following Monday, November 5, with Levon Helm now present, they made another attempt at "Nobody 'Cept You". Robertson abandoned the wah-wah pedal used during the November 2 session, and a satisfactory take was completed and marked for possible inclusion. Master takes for "You Angel You" and "Going, Going, Gone" were also completed.


title: Planet Waves

text: "Forever Young" occupied a portion of the Monday session, but the results were not to Dylan's satisfaction. He returned to it for three more sessions, as it proved to be the most difficult song to record.


title: Planet Waves

text: On the next day, November 6, Dylan and the Band recorded master takes for three more songs: "Hazel", "Something There Is About You" and "Tough Mama".


title: Planet Waves

text: They reconvened two days later, on November 8, performing three takes of "Going, Going, Gone" before recording "On A Night Like This". Attempts at the former would not replace the master take from the 5th, but a master take of the latter was successfully recorded. The session would then end with "Forever Young".


title: Planet Waves

text: After several false starts, Dylan and the Band executed what would ultimately be one of two master takes for "Forever Young". However, Dylan nearly rejected the performance after hearing some disparaging criticism from one particular visitor.


title: Planet Waves

text: "We only did one [complete] take of the slow version of 'Forever Young,'" recalls Fraboni. "This take was so riveting, it was so powerful, so immediate, I couldn't get over it. When everyone came in nobody really said anything. I rewound the tape and played it back and everybody listened to it from beginning to end and then when it was over everybody sort of just wandered out of the room. There was no outward discussion. Everybody just left. There was just [a friend] and I sitting there. I was so overwhelmed I said, 'Let's go for a walk.' We went for a walk and came back and I said, 'Let's go listen to that again.' We were like one minute or two into it, I was so mesmerized by it again I didn't even notice that Bob had come into the room...So when we were assembling the master reel I was getting ready to put that [take] on the master reel. I didn't even ask. And Bob said, 'What're you doing with that? We're not gonna use that.' And I jumped up and said, 'What do you mean you're not gonna use that? You're crazy! Why?' Well...during the recording...[Dylan's childhood friend] Lou Kemp and this girl came by and she had made a crack to him: 'C'mon, Bob. What! Are you getting mushy in your old age?' It was based on her comment that he wanted to leave [that version] off the record."


title: Planet Waves

text: Fraboni would defend the recording, and when he refused to relent, Dylan reconsidered and allowed him to include it on the album. Fraboni also convinced Dylan to do his first vocal overdubs for the album. (Although the Band had three regular vocalists—Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, and Helm—none of them sing on the album.)


title: Planet Waves

text: On November 9, Dylan held what he intended to be the final session for the album. From Fraboni's perspective, Dylan already had a perfect take of "Forever Young" from the previous day, but Dylan still attempted a different, acoustic arrangement, which was ultimately rejected. Dylan would tell Fraboni that afternoon, "I been carrying this song around in my head for five years and I never wrote it down and now I come to record it I just can't decide how to do it."


title: Planet Waves

text: The last song recorded on the 9th was a new composition titled "Wedding Song", which Dylan had completed over the course of the sessions. "Nobody 'Cept You" was originally planned as the album's closing number, but without a satisfactory performance, it would be omitted and replaced by "Wedding Song" (The November 2 recording of "Nobody 'Cept You" was eventually released in 1991 on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991").


title: Planet Waves

text: Though there was enough material to fill an album, Dylan decided to hold one more session. On the 14th, the Band was called back to record two songs. The first was another arrangement of "Forever Young", this time with Helm on mandolin and Danko on fiddle. This new version of "Forever Young" would create the second of two master takes for the song, and both of them would be included on the album.


title: Planet Waves

text: The second song recorded on the 14th was "Dirge" (or "Dirge For Martha" as it was marked on the tape box). "Bob went out and played the piano while we were mixing [the album]. All of a sudden, he came in and said, 'I'd like to try 'Dirge' on the piano.'...We put up a tape and he said to Robbie, 'Maybe you could play guitar on this.' They did it once, Bob playing piano and singing, and Robbie playing acoustic guitar. The second time was the take."


title: Planet Waves

text: Critic Bill Wyman described "Planet Waves" via Salon.com as "a spare but twisted collection of songs". As a whole, they deal with domestic themes with a few tracks seeming like straightforward love songs, particularly the opener "On A Night Like This" and "You Angel You" (which Dylan dismissed in 1985 as having "dummy lyrics"). However, as music critic Tim Riley notes, many of the songs take on darker overtones, with lyrics suggesting "death ('Dirge'), suicide ('Going, Going, Gone,' a song that doesn't toy around with the idea), and the brick wall that love collides with when possessiveness curdles into obsession (the overstated contradictions of 'Wedding Song')." Unlike the "settled-in homilies" of "Nashville Skyline" and "New Morning", "Planet Waves" is "rounded out with more than one shade of romance: subterfuge, suspicion, self-hate ('Dirge,' 'Tough Mama'), and memory ('Something There Is About You') counter lighthearted celebration ('On A Night Like This')."


title: Planet Waves

text: Many critics gave the performances on "Planet Waves" plenty of attention, perhaps more than the songs themselves. Dylan and the Band had performed on numerous occasions, most notably on tour in 1966 and during the "Basement Tapes" sessions of 1967, but at the time of "Planet Waves"s release, very few of these performances were officially released.


title: Planet Waves

text: "The Band's windup pitch to 'Going, Going, Gone' is a wonder of pinpoint ensemble playing", writes Riley. "Robertson makes his guitar entrance choke as if a noose had suddenly tightened around its neck, and you get the feeling these guys could shadow Dylan in their sleep." Riley also writes that "'Tough Mama' is the track that exemplifies the best playing on "Planet Waves", and a pitch of writing that shows Dylan can still challenge himself." Clinton Heylin also singled out Dylan's performances, noting that "Tough Mama" featured "one of his raunchiest vocals".


title: Planet Waves

text: "Cash Box" said of "Something About You" that it is "strong on the lyric with fine backing from the Band and Bob’s usual unique vocal performance."


title: Planet Waves

text: Arguably the most celebrated song on "Planet Waves", "Forever Young", was originally written for his children, and a demo recording from June 1973 (released on "Biograph" in 1985) explicitly shows this. As described by Heylin, the song is "an attempt to write something hymnal and heartfelt that spoke of the father in him." Though two different versions were released on the album, most critics and listeners defer to the "beautiful slow waltz of a performance" recorded on November 8 as the primary recording. It is not a waltz, it is in 4/4 time. Formally this song is a passacaglia, just as "Something There Is About You".


title: Planet Waves

text: "Dirge", "his most twisted song since the accident", writes Heylin, "represents a quite astonishing catharsis on Dylan's part. As the narrator expresses an underlying hatred for 'the need that was expressed' by her presence, he encapsulates all the ambivalence this popular artist felt for both muse and audience." Critics also singled out Dylan's piano playing in praising the recording.


title: Planet Waves

text: The closing number on "Planet Waves" is "Wedding Song", and over the years, a number of critics have called it autobiographical. "It begins with the narrator attempting to convince his lady love that he loves her 'more than life itself,'" writes Heylin. "However, the focus begins to turn when he informs her, ""we can't regain what went down in the flood."" Dylan would, five months later in June 1974, release his first live album and call it Before the Flood, evidently referring to the concert reprises from his 60's material. By the sixth verse we have come to the crux of the song—the singer's protestation that it's never been his duty ""to remake the world at large"", nor is it his intention ""to sound a battle charge"" because he loves her 'more than all of that.'" Many critics have dismissed such claims of autobiographical content, making "Wedding Song" one of the more debated numbers on "Planet Waves".


title: Planet Waves

text: "Planet Waves" was Dylan's first 'proper' album in three and a half years. With a planned tour to follow (his first since 1966 and backed by the same band that supported him on that legendary tour), the media coverage was enormous. Asylum Records had planned to release "Planet Waves" on the same day the tour began, but an album title change (from "Ceremonies of the Horsemen") and a last-minute substitution in liner notes (also written by Dylan) pushed the release date back two weeks.


title: Planet Waves

text: "Planet Waves" would ship gold, topping "Billboard"s album charts on the basis of advance orders, but by the end of 1974, it had sold a modest 600,000 copies, selling only 100,000 units after those initial orders were made. The figures were a surprise, considering the enormous success of the tour; it is estimated that $92 million worth of checks and money orders were sent in from roughly ten million ticket applicants.


title: Planet Waves

text: The critical reception was generally positive, if a bit muted. The consensus was ultimately strong enough to secure "Planet Waves" at #18 on "The Village Voice"s Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1974. "In a time when all the most prestigious music, even what passes for funk, is coated with silicone grease, Dylan is telling us to take that grease and jam it", wrote critic Robert Christgau. "Sure he's domestic, but his version of conjugal love is anything but smug, and this comes through in both the lyrics and the sound of the record itself. Blissful, sometimes, but sometimes it sounds like stray cat music—scrawny, cocky, and yowling up the stairs."


title: Planet Waves

text: Ellen Willis of "The New Yorker" wrote, ""Planet Waves" is unlike all other Dylan albums: it is openly personal...I think the subject of "Planet Waves" is what it appears to be—Dylan's aesthetic and practical dilemma, and his immense emotional debt to Sara."


title: Planet Waves

text: Only "Tough Mama", "Something There is About You", "Forever Young" and "Wedding Song" were played on the tour (as well as a solo, acoustic rendition of the outtake, "Nobody 'Cept You"), and as the tour progressed, songs from the album were removed from the setlist. By the end of the tour, only "Forever Young" was left. In the meantime, Dylan and the Band professionally recorded many of the shows as they planned their next release. None of the "Planet Waves" songs were included on the subsequent live album ("Before the Flood"), and only "Forever Young", "Hazel", and "Tough Mama" have been performed in recent years.


title: Planet Waves

text: This album is referenced in Part 6 of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Stone Ocean, with a character possessing a power called "Planet Waves".


title: Psychedelic experience

text: A psychedelic experience (known colloquially as a trip) is a temporary altered state of consciousness induced by the consumption of a psychedelic substance (most commonly LSD, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, or DMT). For example, an acid trip is a psychedelic experience brought on by the use of LSD, while a mushroom trip is a psychedelic experience brought on by the use of psilocybin. Psychedelic experiences feature alterations in normal perception such as visual distortions and a subjective loss of self-identity, sometimes interpreted as mystical experiences. Psychedelic experiences lack predictability, as they can range from being highly pleasurable (known as a good trip) to frightening (known as a bad trip). The outcome of a psychedelic experience is heavily influenced by the person's mood, personality, expectations, and environment (also known as set and setting).


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Researchers have interpreted psychedelic experiences in light of a range of scientific theories, including model psychosis theory, filtration theory, psychoanalytic theory, entropic brain theory, integrated information theory, and predictive processing. Psychedelic experiences are also induced and interpreted in religious and spiritual contexts.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: The term "psychedelic" was coined by the psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond during written correspondence with author Aldous Huxley and presented to the New York Academy of Sciences by Osmond in 1957. It is derived from the Greek words and thus meaning "mind manifesting," the implication being that psychedelics can develop unused potentials of the human mind. The term "trip" was first coined by US Army scientists during the 1950s when they were experimenting with LSD.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Despite several attempts that have been made, starting in the 19th and 20th centuries, to define common phenomenological structures of the effects produced by classic psychedelics, a universally accepted taxonomy does not yet exist.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: A prominent element of psychedelic experiences is visual alteration. Psychedelic visual alteration often includes spontaneous formation of complex flowing geometric visual patterning in the visual field. When the eyes are open, the visual alteration is overlaid onto the objects and spaces in the physical environment; when the eyes are closed the visual alteration is seen in the "inner world" behind the eyelids. These visual effects increase in complexity with higher dosages, and also when the eyes are closed. The visual alteration does not normally constitute hallucinations, because the person undergoing the experience can still distinguish between real and imagined visual phenomena, though in some cases, true hallucinations are present. More rarely, psychedelic experiences can include complex hallucinations of objects, animals, people, or even whole landscapes. Visual alterations also include other effects such as afterimages, shifting of color hues, and pareidolia.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: A number of studies by Roland R. Griffiths and other researchers have concluded that high doses of psilocybin and other classic psychedelics trigger mystical experiences in most research participants. Mystical experiences have been measured by a number of psychometric scales, including the Hood Mysticism Scale, the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. The revised version of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire, for example, asks participants about four dimensions of their experience, namely the "mystical" quality, positive mood such as the experience of amazement, the loss of the usual sense of time and space, and the sense that the experience cannot be adequately conveyed through words. The questions on the "mystical" quality in turn probe multiple aspects: the sense of "pure" being, the sense of unity with one's surroundings, the sense that what one experienced was real, and the sense of sacredness. Some researchers have questioned the interpretation of the results from these studies and whether the framework and terminology of mysticism are appropriate in a scientific context, while other researchers have responded to those criticisms and argued that descriptions of mystical experiences are compatible with a scientific worldview.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: A group of researchers concluded in a 2011 study that psilocybin "occasions personally and spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict long-term changes in behaviors, attitudes and values".


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Some research has found similarities between psychedelic experiences and non-ordinary forms of consciousness experienced in meditation and near-death experiences. The phenomenon of ego dissolution is often described as a key feature of the psychedelic experience.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Individuals who have psychedelic experiences often describe what they experienced as "more real" than ordinary experience. For example, the psychologist Benny Shanon, after observing ayahuasca trips, referred to "the assessment, very common with ayahuasca, that what is seen and thought during the course of intoxication defines the real, whereas the world that is ordinarily perceived is actually an illusion." Similarly, the psychiatrist Stanislav Grof described the LSD experience as "complex revelatory insights into the nature of existence… typically accompanied by a sense of certainty that this knowledge is ultimately more relevant and 'real' than the perceptions and beliefs we share in everyday life."


title: Psychedelic experience

text: A "bad trip" is a highly unpleasant psychedelic experience. A bad trip on psilocybin, for instance, often features intense anxiety, confusion, and agitation, or even psychotic episodes. Bad trips can be connected to the anxious ego-dissolution (AED) dimension of the APZ questionnaire used in research on psychedelic experiences. As of 2011, exact data on the frequency of bad trips are not available. Some research suggests that the risk of a bad trip on psilocybin is higher when multiple drugs are used, when the user has a history of certain mental illnesses, and when the user is not supervised by a sober person.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: In clinical research settings, precautions including the screening and preparation of participants, the training of the session monitors who will be present during the experience, and the selection of appropriate physical setting can minimize the likelihood of psychological distress. Researchers have suggested that the presence of professional "trip sitters" (i.e., session monitors) may significantly reduce the negative experiences associated with a bad trip. In most cases in which anxiety arises during a supervised psychedelic experience, reassurance from the session monitor is adequate to resolve it; however, if distress becomes intense it can be treated pharmacologically, for example with the benzodiazepine diazepam.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: The psychiatrist Stanislav Grof wrote that unpleasant psychedelic experiences are not necessarily unhealthy or undesirable, arguing that they may have potential for psychological healing and lead to breakthrough and resolution of unresolved psychic issues. Drawing on narrative theory, the authors of a 2021 study of 50 users of psychedelics found that many described bad trips as having been sources of insight or even turning points in life.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Link R. Swanson divides scientific frameworks for understanding psychedelic experiences into two waves. In the first wave, encompassing nineteenth- and twentieth-century frameworks, he includes model psychosis theory (the psychotomimetic paradigm), filtration theory, and psychoanalytic theory. In the second wave of theories, encompassing twenty-first-century frameworks, Swanson includes entropic brain theory, integrated information theory, and predictive processing.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Researchers studying mescaline in the early twentieth century and LSD in the mid-twentieth century took interest in these drugs as producing a temporary "model psychosis" that could assist researchers and medical students in understanding the experiences of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Aldous Huxley and Humphrey Osmond applied the pre-existing ideas of filtration theory, which held that the brain filters what enters into consciousness, to explain psychedelic experiences (and it is from this paradigm that the term "psychedelic" is derived). Huxley believed that the brain was filtering reality itself and that psychedelics granted conscious access to "Mind at Large," whereas Osmond believed that the brain was filtering aspects of the mind out of consciousness. Swanson writes that Osmond's view seems "less radical, more compatible with materialist science, and less epistemically and ontologically committed" than Huxley's.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Psychoanalytic theory was the predominant interpretive framework in mid-twentieth-century psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. For instance, Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof characterised psychedelic experiencing as "non-specific amplification of unconscious mental processes", and he analysed the phenomenology of the LSD experience (particularly the experience of what he termed psychospiritual death and rebirth) in terms of Otto Rank's theory of the unresolved memory of the primal birth trauma.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Entropic brain theory is a theory of consciousness proposed in 2014 by neuroscientist Robin Carhart-Harris and colleagues that was inspired by research on psychedelic drugs.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Integrated information theory is a theory of consciousness proposing to explain all forms of consciousness, and has been applied specifically to psychedelic experiences by Andrew Gallimore.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Sarit Pink-Hashkes and colleagues have applied the predictive processing paradigm in neuroscience to psychedelic experiences in order to formalize the idea of the entropic brain.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Alan Watts likened psychedelic experiencing to the transformations of consciousness that are undertaken in Taoism and Zen, which he says is, "more like the correction of faulty perception or the curing of a disease… not an acquisitive process of learning more and more facts or greater and greater skills, but rather an unlearning of wrong habits and opinions." Watts further described the LSD experience as, "revelations of the secret workings of the brain, of the associative and patterning processes, the ordering systems which carry out all our sensing and thinking."


title: Psychedelic experience

text: According to Luis Luna, psychedelic experiences have a distinctly gnosis-like quality; it is a learning experience that elevates consciousness and makes a profound contribution to personal development. For this reason, the plant sources of some psychedelic drugs such as ayahuasca and mescaline-containing cacti are sometimes referred to as "plant teachers" by those using those drugs.


title: Psychedelic experience

text: Furthermore, psychedelic drugs have a history of religious use across the world that extends back for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. They are often called entheogens because of the kinds of experiences they can induce. Some small contemporary religious movements base their religious activities and beliefs around psychedelic experiences, such as Santo Daime and the Native American Church.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Ten Commandments are series of religious and moral imperatives that are recognized as a moral foundation in several of the Abrahamic religions, including the Catholic Church. As described in the Old Testament books Exodus and Deuteronomy, the Commandments form part of a covenant offered by God to the Israelites to free them from the spiritual slavery of sin. According to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church"—the official exposition of the Catholic Church's Christian beliefs—the Commandments are considered essential for spiritual good health and growth, and serve as the basis for Catholic social teaching. A review of the Commandments is one of the most common types of examination of conscience used by Catholics before receiving the sacrament of Penance.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Commandments appear in the earliest Church writings; the "Catechism" states that they have "occupied a predominant place" in teaching the faith since the time of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). The Church had no official standards for religious instruction until the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215; evidence suggests the Commandments were used in Christian education in the early Church and throughout the Middle Ages. The perceived lack of instruction in them by some dioceses was the basis of one of the criticisms launched against the Church by Protestant reformers. Afterward, the first Church-wide catechism in 1566 provided "thorough discussions of each commandment", but gave greater emphasis to the seven sacraments. The most recent "Catechism" devotes a large section to interpret each of the commandments.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Church teaching of the Commandments is largely based on the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers. In the New Testament, Jesus acknowledged their validity and instructed his disciples to go further, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Summarized by Jesus into two "Great Commandments" that teach "love of God" and "love of neighbor", they instruct individuals on their relationships with both. The first three commandments require reverence and respect for God's name, observation of the Lord's Day and prohibit the worship of other gods. The others deal with the relationships between individuals, such as that between parent and child; they include prohibitions against lying, stealing, murdering, adultery and covetousness.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Old Testament refers to ten individual commandments, even though there are more than ten imperative sentences in the two relevant texts: Exodus 20:1–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. The Old Testament does not make clear how the texts should be divided to arrive at ten commandments. The division traditionally used by the Catholic and Lutheran churches was first derived by the Latin Church Father Augustine of Hippo (354–430) who modified the original order in his book "Questions on Exodus". Other Christian communities, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and many Protestant churches, use the formulation standardized by the Greek Fathers of the Christian East. The two forms have slightly different numbering, but maintain exactly the same substance despite some Protestant claims to the contrary. Rabbinic Jewish numbering is more closely aligned with the Eastern Church tradition, considering the text against covetousness as a single proscription, but differs from Christian denominations in that it considers what many Christians call a prologue to be the entire first commandment.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Ten Commandments are recognized as a moral foundation by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They first appear in the Book of Exodus, according to which Moses, acting under the orders of God, freed the Israelites from physical slavery in Egypt. According to Church teaching, God offered a covenant—which included the Ten Commandments—to also free them from the "spiritual slavery" of sin. Some historians have described this as "the central event in the history of ancient Israel".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The coming of Jesus is seen by the Catholic Church as the fulfillment of the old testament and Jews, who were chosen, according to Peter Kreeft, to "show the true God to the world". Jesus acknowledged the Commandments and instructed his followers to go further, requiring, in Kreeft's words, "more, not less: a 'righteousness (which) exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Explaining Church teaching, Kreeft states, "The Commandments are to the moral order what the creation story in Genesis 1 is to the natural order. They are God's order conquering chaos. They are not man's ideas about God, but God's ideas about man." The Church teaches that Jesus freed people from keeping "the burdensome Jewish law (Torah or Mosaic Law) with its 613 distinct regulations [but] not from the obligation to keep the Ten Commandments", because the Ten "were written 'with the finger of God', unlike [those] written by Moses". This teaching was reaffirmed at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and at the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Although it is uncertain what role the Ten Commandments played in early Christian worship, evidence suggests they were recited during some services and used in Christian education. For example, the Commandments are included in one of the earliest Christian writings, known as the "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" or the "Didache". Scholars contend that the Commandments were highly regarded by the early Church as a summary of God's law. The Protestant scholar Klaus Bockmuehl believes that the Church replaced the Commandments with lists of virtues and vices, such as the seven deadly sins, from 400 to 1200. Other scholars contend that throughout Church history the Commandments have been used as an examination of conscience and that many theologians have written about them. While evidence exists that the Commandments were part of catechesis in monasteries and other venues, there was no official Church position to promote specific methods of religious instruction during the Middle Ages. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) was the first attempt to remedy this problem. Surviving evidence reveals that some bishops' efforts to implement the council's resolutions included special emphasis on teaching the Commandments in their respective dioceses. Centuries later, the lack of instruction in them by some dioceses formed the basis of one of the criticisms launched against the Church by Protestant reformers.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Catechisms produced in specific dioceses from the mid-fourteenth century emphasized the Commandments and laid the foundation for the first official Church-wide catechism, the 1566 "Roman Catechism". Commissioned by the Council of Trent, it provided "thorough discussions of each commandment" but gave greater emphasis to the seven sacraments to emphasize the Catholic belief that Christian life was dependent upon the grace solely obtained through the sacramental life provided by the Catholic Church. This emphasis conflicted with Protestant beliefs, which held the Commandments as the source of divine grace. While more recent papal encyclicals offer interpretations of Church teaching on individual commandments, throughout history official Church teachings on the Commandments are based on their mentions in the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers Origen, Irenaeus and Augustine. Later, theologians Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure offered notable commentaries on the Commandments. Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church, considered them to be the "primary precepts of justice and all law, and natural reason gives immediate assent to them as being plainly evident principles.". Aquinas also underlined the disposition into two synoptic tables, where: "Three of these Commandments that were written on the first tablet referred to the love of God; and the seven Commandments written on the other tablet related to the love of our neighbor". In the same way, the Lord gave the twofold Great Commandment, for God and for the neighbour, by virtue of the four reasons of charity.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The most recent "Catechism of the Catholic Church"—the official summary of Church beliefs—devotes a large section to the Commandments, which serve as the basis for Catholic social teaching. According to the "Catechism", the Church has given them a predominant place in teaching the faith since the fifth century. Kreeft explains that the Church regards them as "a path of life", and a "path to freedom" just as a schoolyard fence protects children from "life-threatening dangers".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The first commandment, according to Church teaching, "means that [followers] must worship and adore God alone because God "is" alone." The "Catechism" explains that this prohibits idolatry, providing examples of forbidden practices such as the worship of any creature, and of demons ... power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state [and] money. Augustine interpreted this commandment as "Love God and then do what you will". Explaining this sentiment, Kreeft states that all sin "serves some other god, obeys another commander: the world or the flesh or the devil", if God truly be loved then one will do what God wills.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" associates this commandment with the three theological virtues. The first virtue, faith, instructs Catholics to believe in God and avoid heresy, apostasy, and schism. The second virtue, hope, cautions Catholics against despair and presumption. According to the "Catechism", the last virtue, charity, can be met only if Catholics refrain from indifference or ingratitude toward God, and avoid spiritual laziness and a hatred of God stemming from pride. The "Catechism" enumerates specific violations of this commandment, including superstition, polytheism, sacrilege, atheism, and all practices of magic and sorcery. It further prohibits astrology, palm reading, and consulting horoscopes or mediums. The "Catechism" attributes the latter actions to a "desire for power over time, history, and in the last analysis, other human beings as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: While Catholics are sometimes accused of worshiping images, in violation of the first commandment, the Church says this is a misunderstanding. In the Church's opinion, "the honor paid to sacred images is a 'respectful veneration', not the adoration due to God alone". In the 8th century, heated arguments arose over whether religious icons (in this context paintings) were prohibited by the first commandment. The dispute was almost entirely restricted to the Eastern church; the iconoclasts wished to prohibit icons, while the iconodules supported their veneration, a position consistently backed by the Western Church. At the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, the ecumenical council determined that the veneration of icons and statues was not in violation of the commandment and stated "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." At around the time of the controversy over Iconoclasm, the Western church began to use monumental sculpture, which by the Romanesque period became a major feature of Western Christian art, that has remained part of the Catholic tradition, in contrast to Eastern Christianity, which avoids large religious sculpture. The "Catechism", using very traditional arguments, posits that God gave permission for images that symbolize Christian salvation by leaving symbols such as the bronze serpent, and the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. It states that "by becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new economy of images".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explain the "Catechism" in their book entitled "United States Catechism for Adults", published in 2006. Regarding graven images, they expound that this command addresses idolatry that in ancient times expressed itself in the worship of such things as the "sun, moon, stars, trees, bulls, eagles, and serpents" as well as "emperors and kings". They explain that today, idolatry expresses itself in the worship of other things, and list some as "power, money, materialism and sports."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The second commandment prohibits the use of God's name in vain. Many ancient cultures believed that names were sacred; some had prohibitions on when a person's name could be spoken. The Gospel of John relates an incident where a group of Jews attempted to stone Jesus after he used a sacred name of God to refer to himself. They interpreted his statement as a claim of divinity. Since they did not believe that he was God, they considered this blasphemy, which under Mosaic law carries a death penalty. Kreeft writes that all of the names by which God is known are holy, and thus all of those names are protected by the second commandment. The "Catechism" states, "Respect for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole sacred reality it evokes." The "Catechism" also requires respect for the names of people out of respect for the dignity of that person.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The sentiment behind this commandment is further codified in the Lord's Prayer, which begins, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name". According to Pope Benedict XVI, when God revealed his name to Moses he established a relationship with mankind; Benedict states that the Incarnation was the culmination of a process that "had begun with the giving of the divine name." Benedict elaborates that this means the divine name could be misused and that Jesus' inclusion of "hallowed be thy name" is a plea for the sanctification of God's name, to "protect the wonderful mystery of his accessibility to us, and constantly assert his true identity as opposed to our distortion of it".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to Catholic teaching, this commandment does not preclude the use of God's name in taking solemn oaths administered by legitimate authority. However, lying under oath, invoking God's name for magical purposes, or voicing words of hatred or defiance against God are considered sins of blasphemy.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Quoting the Jewish rabbi and scholar Jacob Neusner, Pope Benedict XVI explains that to Israel, keeping this commandment was more than ritual; it was a way to imitate God, who rested on the seventh day after the creation. It also constituted the core of the social order.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Although a few Christian denominations follow the Judaic practice of observing the Sabbath on Saturday, most Christian denominations, including the liturgical branches (Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox and the Churches of the East), observe Sunday as the special day for rest and worship, which they call the "Lord's Day". This practice dates to the first century, arising from their belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. The Didache calls on Christians to come together on the Lord's Day to break bread and give thanks. Tertullian is the first to mention Sunday rest:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: "We, however (just as tradition has taught us), on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude, deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil" ("De orat.", xxiii; cf. "Ad nation.", I, xiii; "Apolog.", xvi).


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: In the sixth century, Caesarius of Arles taught that the whole glory of the Jewish Sabbath had been transferred to Sunday and that Christians must keep Sunday in the same way as the Jews were commanded to keep the Sabbath. The Council of Orléans in 538 reprobated this tendency, to apply the law of the Jewish Sabbath to the observance of the Christian Sunday, as Jewish and non-Christian.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Church leaders of later centuries inscribed Sunday rest into official teachings, and Christian governments have attempted to enforce the Sunday rest throughout history. For Catholics, Jesus' teaching that "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" means that good works "when the needs of others demand it" can be part of the day of rest. The "Catechism" offers guidelines on how to observe the Lord's Day, which include attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. On these days, Catholics may not work or do activities that "hinder the worship due to God", but "performance of the works of mercy, and appropriate relaxation in a spirit of joy" are permitted.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to the USCCB, this commandment "has been concretized for Catholics" as one of the Church precepts. The organization cites the papal encyclical "Dies Domini":


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Because the faithful are obliged to attend Mass unless there is a grave impediment, pastors have the corresponding duty to offer everyone the real possibility of fulfilling the precept. ... Yet more than a precept, the observance should be seen as a need rising from the depths of Christian life. It is crucially important that all the faithful should be convinced that they cannot live their faith or share fully in the life of the Christian community unless they take part regularly in the Sunday Eucharistic assembly.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Pope Benedict XVI states that Rabbi Neusner "rightly sees this commandment as anchoring the heart of the social order". It strengthens generational relationships, makes explicit the connection between family order and societal stability, and reveals that the family is "both willed and protected by God." Because parents' unconditional love for their children mirrors God's love, and because they have a duty to pass the faith on to their children, the "Catechism" calls the family "a domestic church", "a privileged community" and the "original cell of social life".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Keeping this commandment, according to the "Catechism", also requires duties of parents to children which include:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Gospel of Matthew relates that when told his mother and brothers were waiting to see him, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" Stretching his hand over his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and my sister, and mother." Pope Benedict XVI stated that this dictum of Jesus brought the fourth commandment to a new and higher level. By doing God's will, any person can become part of the universal family of Jesus. Thus, the fourth commandment's responsibilities extend to the greater society and requires respect for "legitimate social authorities". The "Catechism" specifies "duties of citizens and nations", which Kreeft summarizes as:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: This commandment demands respect for human life and is more accurately translated as "thou shalt not murder." Indeed, killing may, under limited circumstances, be justified within Catholicism. Jesus expanded it to prohibit unjust anger, hatred and vengeance, and to require Christians to love their enemies. The basis of all Catholic teaching about the fifth commandment is the sanctity of life ethic, which Kreeft argues is philosophically opposed to the quality of life ethic, a philosophy which he characterizes as introduced by a book entitled "Die Freigabe der Vernichtung des Lebensunwerten Lebens" ("The Permission to Destroy Life Unworthy of Life") (see Life unworthy of life) and which he asserts was the "first to win public acceptance ... by German doctors before World War II—the basis and beginning of Nazi medical practices." This interpretation is supported by modern medical journals that discuss the dilemma posed by these opposing philosophies to physicians who must make life or death decisions. Some bioethicists characterize the use of the "Nazi analogy" as inappropriate when applied to quality of life decisions; Arthur Caplan called this rhetoric "odiously wrong". The Church is actively involved in the public debates over abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia, and encourages believers to support legislation and politicians it describes as pro-life.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" states: "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. ... no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." Direct and intentional killing of an innocent human is considered a mortal sin. Considered by the Church to be of an even greater gravity is the murder of family members, including "infanticide, fratricide, parricide, the murder of a spouse and procured abortion."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" states that the embryo "must be treated from conception as a person". The Latin original of "as" is "tamquam", meaning "like" or "just as". That a human individual's existence begins at fertilization is the accepted position of the Roman Catholic Church, whose Pontifical Academy for Life declared: "The moment that marks the beginning of the existence of a new 'human being' is constituted by the penetration of sperm into the oocyte. Fertilization promotes a series of linked events and transforms the egg cell into a 'zygote'."; respect for life at all stages, even potential life, is generally the context of church documents.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: "Formal cooperation" in abortion incurs the penalty of excommunication "by the very commission of the offense" (Lat. "latae sententiae", "sentence [already, i.e. automatically] passed"). The "Catechism" emphasizes that this penalty is not meant to restrict mercy, but that it makes clear the gravity of the crime and the irreparable harm done to the child, its parents and society. "Formal cooperation" in abortion extends not just to the mother who freely submits, but also to the doctor, nurses and anyone who directly aids in the act. The Church has ministries of reconciliation, such as Project Rachel, for those who sincerely repent of their sin of formal cooperation in abortion.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Official Church teaching allows for medical procedures and treatments intended to protect or restore the mother's health if she would be in mortal danger without them, even when such procedures carry some risk of death to the fetus. Examples include the removal of a fallopian tube in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, removal of a pregnant cancerous uterus, or an appendectomy.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "United States Catechism for Adults" devotes a section to in vitro fertilization, stem-cell research and cloning in its explanation of the fifth commandment, because these often involve the destruction of human embryos, considered to be a gravely sinful form of murder. Embryonic stem cell research is called "an immoral means to a good end" and "morally unacceptable." Citing the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's "Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation", the US Bishops quote: "No objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human beings, or to society, can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos or fetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside the mother's body." The Bishops note that adult stem cell research, using cells obtained with informed consent, is a promising field of research that is morally acceptable.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The fifth commandment forbids suicide and the mercy killing of those who are dying, even to eliminate suffering. The ordinary care of those facing an imminent death may not morally be withheld, according to the Church. "Ordinary care" refers to food, water and pain relief, and does not include "extraordinary care", which refers to the use of respirators or feeding tubes that are considered discretionary. Allowing a terminally ill person to die, using painkillers that may shorten their life, or refusing extraordinary treatment to the terminally ill such as chemotherapy or radiation, are considered morally acceptable and not a violation of the fifth commandment, in accordance with the principle of double effect.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: For the first two hundred years, Christians "refused to kill in the military, in self-defense, or in the judicial system", but there was no official Church position on the death penalty. When the Church was first officially recognized as a public institution in 313, its attitude toward capital punishment became one of toleration but not outright acceptance. The death penalty had support from early Catholic theologians, though some of them such as Saint Ambrose encouraged members of the clergy not to pronounce or carry out capital punishment. Saint Augustine answered objections to capital punishment rooted in the first commandment in "The City of God". Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus argued that civil authority to carry out capital punishment was supported by scripture. Pope Innocent III required Peter Waldo and the Waldensians to accept that "secular power can, without mortal sin, exercise judgement of blood, provided that it punishes with justice, not out of hatred, with prudence, not precipitation" as a prerequisite for reconciliation with the church. Paul Suris states that official Church teachings have neither absolutely condemned nor promoted capital punishment, but toleration of it has fluctuated throughout the ages. The Inquisitions provide the most memorable instance of Church support for capital punishment, although some historians considered these more lenient than the secular courts of the period.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: On August 2, 2018, the church adopted the view that capital punishment is "inadmissible" as it violates the dignity of mankind. The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" proclaims that "in the light of the Gospel" the death penalty is "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person". Pope Francis has also proclaimed that life imprisonment is a form of torture and "a hidden [form of the] death penalty".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to Church teaching, respect for human life requires respect for one's own body, precluding unhealthy behavior, the abuse of food, alcohol, medicines, illegal drugs, tattoos and piercings. The Church also warns against the opposite behavior of "excessive preoccupation with the health and welfare of the body that 'idolizes' physical perfection, fitness, and success at sports."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Kidnapping, terrorism, and torture are forbidden, as well as sterilizations, amputations and mutilations that are not for therapeutic medical reasons. According to the "Catechism", societies have a moral obligation to strive to provide healthy living conditions for all people.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Church belief in the resurrection of the body led to a prohibition against cremation that was pastorally modified at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s under limited circumstances, but those conditions have been largely ignored even by the clergy. According to the "Catechism", burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy that must treat the body with respect and love (e.g. scattering of cremated remains, burial in an unmarked grave, etc. are forbidden in the Catholic Church). Organ donation after death and organ transplants under certain terms, also autopsies for legal and scientific reasons are permitted.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill" and then adds to it the proscriptions against anger, hatred and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to love their enemies. The "Catechism" asserts that "it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life." Kreeft says, "self-defense is legitimate for the same reason suicide is not: because one's own life is a gift from God, a treasure we are responsible for preserving and defending." The "Catechism" teaches that "someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow." Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Church requires all to pray and work to prevent unjust wars, but allows for just wars if certain conditions are met:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" classifies scandal under the fifth commandment and defines it as "an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil". In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus stated, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." The Church considers it a serious crime to cause another's faith, hope and love to be weakened, especially if it is done to young people and the perpetrator is a person of authority such as a parent, teacher or priest.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to the Church, humans are sexual beings whose sexual identity should be accepted in the unity of body and soul. The sexes are meant by divine design to be different and complementary, each having equal dignity and made in the image of God. Sexual acts are sacred within the context of the marital relationship that reflects a "complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman." Sexual sins thus violate not just the body but the person's whole being. In his 1995 book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope", John Paul II reflected on this concept:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: After all, young people are always searching for the beauty in love. They want their love to be beautiful. If they give in to weakness, following the models of behavior that can rightly be considered a 'scandal in the contemporary world' (and these are, unfortunately, widely diffused models), in the depths of their hearts they still desire a beautiful and pure love. This is as true of boys as it is of girls. Ultimately, they know that only God can give them this love. As a result, they are willing to follow Christ, without caring about the sacrifices this may entail.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Like Orthodox Judaism and Islam, the Catholic Church considers all sexual acts outside of marriage to be grave sins. The gravity of the sin excludes one from sacramental communion' until repented of and forgiven in sacramental confession."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Church teaching on the sixth commandment includes a discussion on chastity. The "Catechism" describes chastity as a "moral virtue ... a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort." The Church sees sex as more than a physical act; it also affects body and soul, so the Church teaches that chastity is a virtue all people are called to acquire. It is defined as the inner unity of a person's "bodily and spiritual being" that successfully integrates a person's sexuality with his or her "entire human nature." To acquire this virtue, followers are encouraged to enter into the "long and exacting work" of self-mastery that is helped by friendships, God's grace, maturity and education "that respects the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life." The "Catechism" categorizes violations of the sixth commandment into two categories: "offenses against chastity" and "offenses against the dignity of marriage".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" lists the following "offenses against chastity", in increasing order of gravity according to Kreeft:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" devotes a separate section to homosexuality within its explanation of the sixth commandment. Like heterosexual acts outside of marriage, homosexual acts are considered sins. The Church distinguishes between homosexual attractions, which are not considered sinful, and homosexual acts, which are. The "Catechism" states that they "violate natural law, cannot bring forth life, and do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved." The Church teaches that a homosexual inclination is "objectively disordered" and can be a great trial for the person, who the Church teaches must be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity ... unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Homosexuals are, according to the Church, "called to chastity". They are instructed to practice the virtues of "self-mastery" that teaches "inner freedom" using the support of friends, prayer and grace found in the sacraments of the Church. These tools are meant to help homosexuals "gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection", which is a state to which all Christians are called.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to Church teaching, spousal love is intended to form an unbroken, two-fold end: the union of husband and wife and the transmission of life. The unitive aspect includes the transference of each partner's being "so that they are no longer two but one flesh." The sacrament of matrimony is viewed as God's sealing the consent which binds the partners together. Church teaching on the marital state requires spousal acceptance of each other's failures and faults, and the recognition that the "call to holiness in marriage" is one that requires a process of spiritual growth and conversion that can last throughout life.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Church position on sexual activity can be summarized as: "sexual activity belongs only in marriage as an expression of total self-giving and union, and always open to the possibility of new life." Sexual acts in marriage are considered "noble and honorable" and are meant to be enjoyed with "joy and gratitude." Sexuality is to be reserved to marriage: "by its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement 'until further notice.' The "intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between them." "(Gaudium et spes)".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Artificial birth control predates Christianity; the Catholic Church has condemned these methods throughout its history. In response to the Church of England accepting the practice of artificial contraception in 1930, the Catholic Church issued the papal encyclical "Casti connubii" on 31 December 1930. The 1968 papal encyclical "Humanae vitae" is a reaffirmation of the Catholic Church's traditional view of marriage and marital relations, and a continued condemnation of artificial birth control.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Church sees "large families" as a sign of God's blessing. "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory." "(Gaudium et spes)"


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves. (...) true married love and the whole structure of family life which results from it, without diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich his family from day to day. ("Gaudium et spes")." It recognizes that responsible parenthood sometimes calls for reasonable spacing or limiting of births and considers natural family planning as morally acceptable, but rejects all methods of artificial contraception. The Church rejects all forms of artificial insemination and fertilization because the techniques divorce the sexual act from the creation of a child. The "Catechism" states, "A child is not something "owed" to one, but is a "gift" ... 'the supreme gift of marriage.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Roderick Hindery, a teacher of moral theology, voiced disagreement on the Church's support for natural family planning, and contends that it contributes to overpopulation and poverty. Celia W. Dugger of the "New York Times" criticizes the Church's rejection of condom use, in particular with regard to countries where the incidence of AIDS and HIV has reached epidemic proportions. Brenda Wilson of NPR says that Catholics cite countries such as Kenya and Uganda, where behavioral changes are encouraged instead of condom use, and where greater progress in controlling the disease has been made than in countries that promote condom use alone.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to the Church, adultery and divorce are considered offenses against the dignity of marriage and are defined as follows:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Compendium of the Catechism" 502 lists other offenses against the dignity of marriage: "polygamy, incest, "free unions" (cohabitation, concubinage), and sexual acts before or outside of marriage".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" explains that this commandment regulates worldly goods, and forbids unjustly taking, using or damaging those that belong to someone else. It places requirements upon those who possess worldly goods to use them responsibly, taking into consideration the good of society. The "Catechism" addresses the concept of human stewardship of God's creation in its explanation of the seventh commandment and forbids abuse of animals and the environment.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to the Church, people have a right to private property. However, ownership makes that person "a steward" who is expected to make it "fruitful" or profitable in a way that benefits others after that person has first taken care of their family. Private property and the common good are seen as complementary elements that exist for the purpose of strengthening society. The taking of another's private property "in obvious and urgent necessity" as "the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing)" is not considered by the Church to be stealing. The concept of slavery as private property is condemned by the Church, which classifies it as the stealing of a person's human rights.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: According to the "Catechism", theft or stealing means "usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner" though exclusion exists for someone in great need to survive. "Unjustly taking and keeping the property of others" considered as theft, even if the act is outside the scope of civil law. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn gave example from the story of Saint Augustine, written in his "Confessions", who took pears from neighbor's garden when he was young. Schönborn says that Augustine still has "pangs of conscience over a childish theft" even when he became grown person, indicating that human conscience is very aware of theft though the act perhaps not an offense against civil law.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Following acts are also considered as violation of the seventh commandment: price manipulation to get advantage on the harm of others, corruption, appropriation of the public goods for personal interests, work poorly carried out, tax avoidance, counterfeiting of checks or any means of payment, any forms of copyright infringement and piracy, and extravagance.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The papal encyclical "Rerum novarum" discusses the relationships and mutual duties between labor and capital, as well as government and its citizens. Of primary concern was the need for some amelioration for "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class". The encyclical supported the right to form unions, rejected socialism, communism and unrestricted capitalism, and affirmed the right to private property.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Church interpretation of the seventh commandment teaches that business owners should balance a desire for profits that will ensure the future of the business with a responsibility toward the "good of persons". Business owners are required to pay their workers a reasonable wage, honor contracts, and abstain from dishonest activity, including bribery of government officials. Workers are required to do their jobs conscientiously, as they have been hired to do them, and to avoid dishonesty in the workplace, such as using office goods for personal use without permission (embezzlement).


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Church teaches that a balance should exist between government regulation and the laws of the marketplace. It deems that sole reliance on the marketplace (pure capitalism) insufficiently addresses many human needs, while sole reliance on government regulation (pure socialism) "perverts the basis of social bonds". The Church warns about the danger of either capitalism or socialism, as these systems tend to use excessive extremes that result in injustice to persons.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Wealthier nations, like wealthier individuals, have a moral obligation to help poorer nations and individuals, and work to reform financial institutions and economic factors to benefit all.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The "Catechism" explains that bearing false witness or "speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving" encompasses all violations of truth. These violations have degrees of gravity depending on the "intentions of the one who lies and the harms suffered by its victims." Listed as follows, these are:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The Church requires those who have damaged the reputation of another to "make reparation for the untruth they have communicated." However, it does not require a person to reveal a truth to someone who does not have a right to know, and teaches respect for a right to privacy. Priests are prohibited from violating the seal of confession no matter how grave the sin or its impact on society.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Included in the Church teachings of this commandment is the requirement for Christians to bear witness to their faith "without equivocation" in situations that require it. The use of modern media in spreading untruths, by individuals, businesses or governments, is condemned.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: The ninth and tenth commandments deal with coveting, which is an interior disposition not a physical act. The "Catechism" distinguishes between covetousness of the flesh (improper sexual desire) and covetousness for another's worldly goods. The ninth commandment deals with the former and the tenth the latter.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Jesus emphasized the need for pure thoughts as well as actions, and stated, "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). The "Catechism" states that, with the help of God's grace, men and women are required to overcome lust and bodily desires "for sinful relationships with another person's spouse." In "Theology of the Body", a series of lectures given by Pope John Paul II, Jesus' statement in Matthew 5:28 is interpreted that one can commit adultery in the heart not only with another's spouse, but also with his/her own spouse if one looks at him/her lustfully or treats him/her "only as an object to satisfy instinct".


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Purity of heart is suggested as the necessary quality needed to accomplish this task; common Catholic prayers and hymns include a request for this virtue.


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Jesus stated, "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." This purity of heart, which the ninth commandment introduces, is the "precondition of the vision of God" and allows the person to see situations and people as God sees. The "Catechism" teaches that "there is a connection between purity of heart, of body and of faith."


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Detachment from riches is the goal of the tenth commandment and the first Beatitude ("blessed are the poor in spirit") because, according to the "Catechism", this precept is necessary for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. Covetousness is prohibited by the tenth commandment because it is considered to be the first step toward commission of theft, robbery and fraud; these lead to violence and injustice. The Church defines covetousness as a "disordered desire" that can take different forms:


title: Ten Commandments in Catholic theology

text: Explaining Church teaching of this commandment, Kreeft cites Saint Thomas Aquinas, who wrote, "An evil desire can only be overcome by a stronger good desire." The US Bishops suggest that this can be achieved through cultivation of goodwill, humility and gratitude for one's own and others' blessings, while trusting in God's grace. Kreeft explains that Saint Paul the Apostle illustrated the concept in his letter to the Philippians when he listed his worldly credentials as a respected Jew and stated, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." As Jesus stated, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own Church teaching on the tenth commandment is directed toward this same attitude toward worldly goods, termed "poverty of spirit".


title: Bioterrorism

text: Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.


title: Bioterrorism

text: Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins or other harmful agents to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents are typically found in nature, but could be mutated or altered to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Biological agents can be spread through the air, water, or in food. Biological agents are attractive to terrorists because they are extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents, like the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to person and some, like anthrax, cannot. Bioterrorism may be favored because biological agents are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain, can be easily disseminated, and can cause widespread fear and panic beyond the actual physical damage. Military leaders, however, have learned that, as a military asset, bioterrorism has some important limitations; it is difficult to use a bioweapon in a way that only affects the enemy and not friendly forces. A biological weapon is useful to terrorists mainly as a method of creating mass panic and disruption to a state or a country. However, technologists such as Bill Joy have warned of the potential power which genetic engineering might place in the hands of future bio-terrorists.


title: Bioterrorism

text: The use of agents that do not cause harm to humans, but disrupt the economy, have also been discussed. One such pathogen is the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus, which is capable of causing widespread economic damage and public concern (as witnessed in the 2001 and 2007 FMD outbreaks in the UK), while having almost no capacity to infect humans.


title: Bioterrorism

text: By the time World War I began, attempts to use anthrax were directed at animal populations. This generally proved to be ineffective.


title: Bioterrorism

text: Shortly after the start of World War I, Germany launched a biological sabotage campaign in the United States, Russia, Romania, and France. At that time, Anton Dilger lived in Germany, but in 1915 he was sent to the United States carrying cultures of glanders, a virulent disease of horses and mules. Dilger set up a laboratory in his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He used stevedores working the docks in Baltimore to infect horses with glanders while they were waiting to be shipped to Britain. Dilger was under suspicion as being a German agent, but was never arrested. Dilger eventually fled to Madrid, Spain, where he died during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. In 1916, the Russians arrested a German agent with similar intentions. Germany and its allies infected French cavalry horses and many of Russia's mules and horses on the Eastern Front. These actions hindered artillery and troop movements, as well as supply convoys.


title: Bioterrorism

text: In 1972, police in Chicago arrested two college students, Allen Schwander and Stephen Pera, who had planned to poison the city's water supply with typhoid and other bacteria. Schwander had founded a terrorist group, "R.I.S.E.", while Pera collected and grew cultures from the hospital where he worked. The two men fled to Cuba after being released on bail. Schwander died of natural causes in 1974, while Pera returned to the U.S. in 1975 and was put on probation.


title: Bioterrorism

text: In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the eradication of smallpox, a highly contagious and incurable disease. Although the disease has been eliminated in the wild, frozen stocks of smallpox virus are still maintained by the governments of the United States and Russia. Disastrous consequences are feared if rogue politicians or terrorists were to get hold of the smallpox strains. Since vaccination programs are now terminated, the world population is more susceptible to smallpox than ever before.


title: Bioterrorism

text: In Oregon in 1984, followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh attempted to control a local election by incapacitating the local population. They infected salad bars in 11 restaurants, produce in grocery stores, doorknobs, and other public domains with "Salmonella typhimurium" bacteria in the city of The Dalles, Oregon. The attack infected 751 people with severe food poisoning. There were no fatalities. This incident was the first known bioterrorist attack in the United States in the 20th century. It was also the single largest bioterrorism attack on U.S. soil.


title: Bioterrorism

text: In June 1993, the religious group Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax in Tokyo. Eyewitnesses reported a foul odor. The attack was a failure, because it did not infect a single person. The reason for this is due to the fact that the group used the vaccine strain of the bacterium. The spores which were recovered from the site of the attack showed that they were identical to an anthrax vaccine strain that was given to animals at the time. These vaccine strains are missing the genes that cause a symptomatic response.


title: Bioterrorism

text: In September and October 2001, several cases of anthrax broke out in the United States, apparently deliberately caused. Letters laced with infectious anthrax were concurrently delivered to news media offices and the U.S Congress, alongside an ambiguously related case in Chile. The letters killed five people.