Recently at a discussion of Goddess and God in the World, Judith Plaskow and I were asked if the dialogue across religious difference we embody and advocate in our book is a “liberal thing.” Can it, the questioner wondered, occur… Read More ›
Abuse of Power
It’s About More Than Just The Ariana Grande Concert by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Manchester. It’s not just about this one act of violence. It is horrific, there is no doubt, and I am in no way belittling this act of terror, but, I am always perplexed when these things happen, and how it… Read More ›
Becoming Myself by Katie M. Deaver
Last weekend was a special one for me. After many years of study and dedication I graduated with my Ph.D. and am now, officially, Dr. Katie Deaver. The weekend was filled with celebrations to mark the completion of a milestone… Read More ›
Leadership in the Kali Yuga by Lache S.
Since the U.S. has elected a reality TV show billionaire to represent our nation, we should be no longer be able to shy away from the ignorance, violence, and frivolity that is within us. Happiness and peace in humanity… Read More ›
“He Owes Us Nothing”: A Very Bad and Very Sad Theology by Carol P. Christ
While waiting to get off a plane last week, I overheard a serious young woman explaining a recent theological insight to her half-asleep and equally young husband. “You see,” she began, “what I just learned is that though He owes… Read More ›
Omnipotence: The Ultimate Homage to Male Dominance as Control by Carol P. Christ
The concept of divine omnipotence is the ultimate expression of male dominance as control. Divine omnipotence is the view that everything that happens in the world happens according to the will of a divinity, who is in control of everything… Read More ›
Trump’s Misogyny – A Case for the Contempt-Oriented Personality by Stephanie Arel
In the quotes below, you will briefly encounter the words of Donald Trump throughout the years as he has commented on women. You might have read or heard many of these, as I have. Reading them still brings a chill… Read More ›
Radical Grace: Is it Possible? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Trigger Warning: Domestic violence accounts This Lenten season I am focusing on grace. And gosh, is it difficult. Have you ever tried to practice grace in everything you do? And I mean, everything. Almost impossible, right? Triggers everywhere, right? I… Read More ›
Springing Forward with the Wicked Witch by Barbara Ardinger
El Presidente was enlarging his war against his citizens. This meant the roads were more crowded than before with refugees fleeing the capital city for safety among the farmers on the plains and up in the hills. Some of these… Read More ›
Authoritarian Followers: What’s Feminism and Religion Got to Do with It? by Carol P. Christ
There are two types of authoritarians: those who jump out in front and say “follow me, only I can solve the problem”; the far greater number of authoritarian personalities are those who want to be told how to think, what… Read More ›
Is Evil Winning? by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
If you are like me, today (and most days lately) it is difficult to be positive in a world that seems so full of hate. In fact, I struggled with a topic to write about because, in all honesty, it… Read More ›
Deadly in Love: No Flowers, Dignity and Rights by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Vanessa Vazquez Laba, a scholar feminist and researcher in gender studies in Argentina, with whom I share a first name, activism, and intellectual interests, hits me on Valentine’s Day with the following message: There have been 57 femicides in the… Read More ›
Trump: Shock, Awe, and Response by Stephanie Arel
In the frenzied wave of responses to Trump’s most recent, and horrifying, decisions – reinstating the Mexico City Policy and the newly instated Immigration Ban – I have experienced surges of anger, frustration, despair, concern, and hopelessness. My adrenaline has… Read More ›
Do You Know Why We Are Marching? by Marcia Mount Shoop
When we got into the car to go, I asked my twelve-year-old daughter, “Do you know why we are marching today?” “To protest Donald Trump?” she replied. I explained that some people may be going for that reason, but that… Read More ›
Outraged? Yes, I Am! by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Readers, please note: this post includes accounts of rape and violence agianst women and quotes distrubing statements of assault made by Donald Trump. These are easily identifiable by the use of italics or as indented, quoted text. Of course I’m… Read More ›
Confronting the White Christian Vote for Trump by Gina Messina
This week a politician from Connecticut reached between a woman’s legs and pinched her genitals saying that he loves this new world where he doesn’t have to be politically correct. Sadly, this is just another act of violence among many perpetrated… Read More ›
A Time of Reckoning: The SCE and John Howard Yoder By Grace Yia-Hei Kao
How does a professional society—a Christian one, no less—come to terms with the sexual abuse perpetrated over decades by one of its most vaunted members? At the recently concluded annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics, this question was at… Read More ›
A Letter to Those I’ve Lost by John Erickson
Out of all of these things, the one thing that has kept coming to my mind is G-d. What is he (or she) thinking? I feel like I’m back in one of my Old Testament classes discussing the harsh and cruel G-d that thrust so many horrible things onto their believers. Maybe, the worst part about the election isn’t Donald Trump, but it is the realization that G-d may be dead after all.
The Divided States of America – Will We, as a Nation, Continue to Stand? by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
If you are like me, you are still reeling from the election results in the United States – trying to make sense of it, while at the same time going through the steps of mourning. As I write this, it… Read More ›
Mother Demdike, Ancestor of My Heart, Part 3 by Mary Sharratt
Continued from Part 1 and Part 2 When Bess was in her fifties, walking past the quarry at sunset—called daylight gate in her dialect—a beautiful young man emerged from the stone pit, his hair golden and shining, his coat half… Read More ›
Keepin’ On Keepin’ On by Carol P. Christ
It is now Monday morning, five days after the new President was elected, despite losing the popular vote. For many of us, and for me too, losing this election feels like losing everything we have worked to achieve during our… Read More ›
Mother Demdike, Ancestor of My Heart, Part 2 by Mary Sharratt
Continued from Part 1. As I sought to uncover the bones of the cunning woman Mother Demdike’s story, I was drawn into a new world of mystery and magic. It was as though Pendle Hill had opened up like an… Read More ›
The Real World Series by Natalie Weaver
I live in Cleveland, and I am writing at the end of the World Series. I don’t know how it will conclude, but like most of the people in my city, I’m holding my breath. As I write, I literally… Read More ›
Latin Identities and Muslim Malinches by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente and Sumayah Soler
The myth says that Malinche, an Aztec princess, betrayed her people, her culture and faith, for the love and the desire to be loved and accepted by the foreign Spanish conquer, colonialist and exploiter. Her name, said with contempt, is… Read More ›
Killing Us Slowly by Judith Shaw
Killing us slowly with your rules. Killing us slowly with your technology. Killing us slowly with your bureaucracy. Killing us slowly…….
I’m Stumped by Karen Leslie Hernandez
I’m stumped. We’ve all seen and heard what Donald Trump has said in the public sphere… “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, I’d be dating her.” “… a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” “When Mexico sends… Read More ›
I’ll Go With You: On Bathrooms and Theocracy by Christy Croft
Last month, I took a dear friend on a trip to the North Carolina mountains. Throughout the trip we were sharply aware that we were no longer in the progressive enclave where we both lived – the tiny area whose… Read More ›
Religion, Politics, and the RNC: Separation of Church and State Anyone? by Marie Cartier
When you read this Feminism and Religion community, we will have just finished the televised portion of the Republican National Convention (RNC), which as I write this Wednesday, July 20 has announced that Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee for… Read More ›
“All Children Are Our Children” by Carol P. Christ
“All children are our children.” As I was posting my recent blog about the shooting of black men by the police, these words came into my mind with the force of revelation. At the time I was looking at a… Read More ›
Dealing with Despair by Carol P. Christ
In a state of shock after the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, I turned to my Facebook feed, looking for community in my grief and hoping to make sense of what had happened. The statement, “He would… Read More ›
