On Monday, the picture was on my Facebook feed again: The picture of a girl lying face down in the grass under a police officer pressing his knee in her back. It was from the video of an African-American teenager… Read More ›
abuse
The Religiosity of Silence by John Erickson
In a repetitive culture of abuse and silence, is it really shocking to find out that an individual who preached such hate and discontent for others actually perpetuated other forms of heinous abuse against others?
Traumatic Narrative on the Screen: Is there a Grey Area? by Stephanie Arel
On May 8, Fifty Shades of Grey became available in DVD format. Marking its release, this post reflects on the mass consumer consumption of this provocative film and the abuse inherent in its script previously discussed here by Michele Stopera… Read More ›
Bodies of More and Less Value by Oxana Poberejnaia
There is a story in the collection called Avadanasataka (One Hundred Legends) of the Sarvastivadin school, one of the schools of early Indian Buddhism that did not survive to present day, relating one episode from the Buddha’s previous lives. The… Read More ›
Abuse Does Not Have “Fifty Shades of Grey” by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
WARNING: This article or pages it links to contain information about domestic abuse and sexual violence which may be triggering to survivors. No matter what you call it abuse is abuse. This is highlighted in the popular book and now movie Fifty… Read More ›
Painting Women from Judges – Part 1: Jephthah’s Reflective Daughter by Melinda Bielas
The story of Jephthah’s daughter – found in the Hebrew Bible, Judges 11:29-40 – is a difficult story to read. The first time I read it, I was in my Christian high school Bible class and I could not understand… Read More ›
Safety and Vulnerability in a Dangerous and Fertile World: A Meditation on Incarnation
Feeling safe again is often the healing and elusive aspiration of a person like me. I have been living with the deep and cellular residuum of sexual trauma for most of my life—over thirty of my going-on forty-six years. For… Read More ›
Operating out of the Good: Interpersonal Interactions and Oppression by Ivy Helman
How humans treat one another matters. Oppression is not only systematic; it is also personal because humans reproduce societal forms of oppression in interpersonal relationships. Take sexism for example. Sexism, at its worst, manifests itself in intimate relationships through physical… Read More ›
Let’s Begin With Compassion by Esther Nelson
Every year, several churches in my area set aside a Sunday morning service to celebrate “The Blessing of the Animals.” Parishioners bring animals (mostly dogs) with them to church. The service centers around St. Francis, a Catholic friar and preacher… Read More ›
Halfway… by Sara Frykenberg
The title of this post is meant to reflect where I am in the semester, temporally speaking: halfway. Actually, the idea that I am halfway is a bit of a shock to me, considering I feel like I just started!… Read More ›