Feminism and Religion

Monthly Highlight: Dolores Huerta: Si Se Puede

Dolores Huerta is a woman who has made history and was honored for doing so by the National Women’s History Museum on October 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. As as a social justice activist and labor leader, Dolores has dedicated her life to ending discrimination. She has focused on improving economic and social conditions for those working in agriculture and is responsible for creating the Agricultural Workers Association and co-founding the United Farm Workers movement.

Dolores coined the slogan “Si Se Puede” for the United Farm Workers to rally support for the movement. Since it has become widely used by other labor and civil rights movements and was translated into English and used as the Slogan for President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. Continue reading “Monthly Highlight: Dolores Huerta: Si Se Puede”

IN THE NEWS: Fr. Roy Bourgeois to Speak at CGU

This week on November 1st and 2nd Fr. Roy Bourgeois will be at Claremont Graduate University to offer discussions on the topics of women’s ordination and the School of Americas Watch.

Fr. Roy is a Maryknoll priest, social justice activist, and founder of the School of Americas Watch. Here on FAR we have had many discussions and posts about women’s ordination. However we have had far less about the destruction caused by the School of Americas (SOA) now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

Renamed in 2001, this institution is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers located in Fort Benning, Georgia and has been dubbed “School of Assassins.” Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: Fr. Roy Bourgeois to Speak at CGU”

IN THE NEWS: A Feminism Survey in the U.K.

Over the course of a 24 hour period, a popular parenting website in the U.K., Netmums, recently conducted a survey with 1300 of their users to “find out what feminism means to both girls and women living in the UK in 2012.” The report of their findings has inspired another wave of “feminism is dead” declarations. Nothing new there of course, it resonates with the same old hackneyed stereotypes of what it means to be a feminist. Nonetheless, it reminds us of the continually needed conversation about how to make feminist activism and goals accessible and communicable to more people lest Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard’s statement go uncontested: “The study starkly shows modern women feel traditional Feminism is no longer working for them, as it’s aggressive, divisive and doesn’t take into account their personal circumstances.” Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: A Feminism Survey in the U.K.”

IN THE NEWS: Women’s Ordination in the Catholic Church

On October 6th, the first Catholic women’s ordination in Los Angeles was performed when two women were welcomed as priests into Roman Catholic Women Priests. There are now 143 women ordained worldwide in a movement that has refused to wait for the Vatican to acknowledge women as leaders in the Church.

There has been a great deal of dialogue around the issue of women’s ordination in the Catholic Church. Organizations like Women’s Ordination Conference are focused on the mission of ordaining women in the Catholic Church and argue that women in leadership roles will lead to change in policies that are oppressive to women. However, other movements argue that ordaining women simply continues the hierarchical culture of the Church. Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: Women’s Ordination in the Catholic Church”

IN THE NEWS: To Have Eyes to See

Recently at a symposium on interreligious dialogue one of the Muslim feminist scholars present said, “Just once I would like to be able to have a conversation about Islamic Feminism without automatically having to be put on the defensive.”

When someone is a member of a targeted group it is very hard to have the space to critically reflect on one’s tradition, much less be willing to do so with others. From the get go the person is put in the position of having to defend and speak for the whole. And as feminists, the amount of criticism received for participating in a tradition that others have judged to be irredeemably patriarchal and oppressive, can be downright exhausting, making dialogue all the more difficult. Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: To Have Eyes to See”

Monthly Highlight: Mary E. Hunt

As a Catholic feminist theologian, activist, teacher, and writer Mary Hunt has made a massive impact in the field of feminism and religion. Following the completion of her graduate education (MA, Harvard Divinity School, M.Div., Jesuit School of Theology, Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union), Mary recognized a strong need for theological, liturgical, and ethical development by and for women and responded by co-founding WATER (The Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Water) in 1983. Over the last 3+ decades, she has been instrumental in addressing social injustice and creating change in religion and community. Continue reading “Monthly Highlight: Mary E. Hunt”

IN THE NEWS: Health Care, Contraception, and Religion

A case brought forth by a mining company challenging the required coverage of contraception without a copay by employer health care plans was dismissed Friday in a Missouri court. The mining company argued that the requirement was conflicting with its owners religious beliefs. Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: Health Care, Contraception, and Religion”

IN THE NEWS: Wives – Silent, Hidden, and Unnamed

“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…'”

It is now public news that there is a fragment of ancient text in which Jesus makes reference to a wife. Based on testing of the papyrus fragment the text is calculated to have been from 150 years after Jesus died, a time when Jesus followers are still discerning how they should live and what practices they will keep. Though scholars all agree that this does not prove Jesus actually had a wife, it does reflect the liveliness of the debate nonetheless: Karen King explains, “This fragment suggests that some early Christians had a tradition that Jesus was married…There was, we already know, a controversy in the second century over whether Jesus was married, caught up with a debate about whether Christians should marry and have sex.”

The fragment also makes reference to a female disciple. Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: Wives – Silent, Hidden, and Unnamed”

IN THE NEWS: An All Women’s City in Saudi Arabia – Liberating or Continuing the Cycle?

It was recently reported that Saudi Arabia will develop a women’s only city in order to allow career oriented women to pursue work while abiding by the countries Islamic laws. While work for women is not outlawed by Sharia Law, currently only 15% of the workforce is made up of women in Saudi Arabia. This new municipality will produce women run firms and production lines and will create a total of 5000 new jobs. Continue reading “IN THE NEWS: An All Women’s City in Saudi Arabia – Liberating or Continuing the Cycle?”

Catholic/Mormon Dialogue on Women’s Ordination

The Catholic/Mormon Dialogue on Women’s Ordination at Claremont Graduate University will take place Wednesday, September 19, 2012. It is an incredibly relevant topic today and particularly interesting with a Mormon/Catholic presidential ticket before us.

It makes sense to bring Catholics and Mormons together to dialogue about this issue. Women’s ordination in both Churches is considered a taboo topic and one that if discussed in public can lead to excommunication. Certainly the women who will stand publicly to address this issue and share their passion and conviction for the need to ordain women are courageous and committed to the recognition of the full humanity of every woman and every man. Continue reading “Catholic/Mormon Dialogue on Women’s Ordination”