“When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to make applesauce.”
Politics
Matriarchal Politics by Heide Goettner-Abendroth
Today’s blog is a sequel to: “Matriarchies Are Not Just a Reversal of Patriarchies: A Structural Analysis.” On the basis of modern Matriarchal Studies, we can develop the vision of a new matriarchal, egalitarian form of society. This is called… Read More ›
Poem: In These United States is a Woman Electable? by Marie Cartier
In these United States we are wondering if a woman is electable. Is she likeable enough? I donate to a woman candidate and I have put a sign on my front lawn with a woman’s name on it. I’m a… Read More ›
Say it with Music by Esther Nelson
Daniel Deitrich, a worship leader in South Bend City Church, a “Jesus-centered community” in South Bend, Indiana, isn’t the first evangelical Christian to go up against fellow evangelical Christians who support the current U.S. president. Perhaps, though, he’s the first… Read More ›
The Brass Tacks of the Trump Impeachment by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
From the very moment after the dust settled from the 2016 elections, notions of impeachment started to break. Now three years into the Trump Presidency, impeachment proceedings have been launched. To start, Impeachment is a Constitutionally supported right. It is… Read More ›
Metamorphosis and a Press Conference: A Kafkaesque and Shakespearean Fantasy about an Unreal Individual by Barbara Ardinger
Donald wakes up too early. Feeling confused and disoriented, he looks around the room. His bed has disappeared! He seems to be lying on the floor. Why? he asks himself, how’d I fall off my king-size bed? The floor (uncarpeted??)… Read More ›
The Real American Horror Story by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Content Warning: Story of state violence, use of rape imagery, and racial slurs. America was born like most nations – invaded, plundered, violently colonized by the diseased, and in turn, decimated the indigenous people of the… Read More ›
The Impeachment of Us by Karen Leslie Hernandez
I do believe that I have heard the word impeach more times in the last three years than ever in my lifetime. Perhaps, when Nixon was impeached that word was thrown around often, but I was young, so have a… Read More ›
I’m That Trump Voter You Hate by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
There are people in my family who believe Christianity to be so inherently oppressive and harmful, that anyone who identifies as Christian is culpable for all of the harm done by all imperial colonization by Christian empires and nations, all… Read More ›
#GunControlNow: While We Still Have Now by Marie Cartier
If you are somewhere: a movie theater, festival, mosque, temple or church, bar (especially a gay one although it could be any bar –cheers), concert, elementary to college classroom, or any other public space in America…and someone starts shooting, shooting… Read More ›
If For Anyone Other Than Yourself by Karen Leslie Hernandez
I’d say that the two things that are most pressing on the continued existence of the human race are the utter destruction of our environment and planet, as well as violence. My week began with the horrible image of Oscar… Read More ›
The Berlin Wall—what did the US learn? by Marie Cartier
I am writing this from Berlin. I am here for two weeks for the ALMS conference entitled, “Queering Memory.” Berlin is a city of such memory. You walk the streets and there are small brass plaques in the sidewalk in… Read More ›
We Won’t Go Back by John Erickson
Bottom line: abortion is healthcare. Nearly a fourth of women in America will have an abortion by age 45. Every day, people across the United States make deeply personal decisions about their pregnancies. Those decisions deserve respect.
Falling Down and Going Under by Sara Wright
I have been traveling across country during the past week from New Mexico to Maine, leaving one “home” for another wondering what the word even means for me these days. I suspect the word doesn’t refer to a place, but… Read More ›
Marianne Williamson. . . I’m Sacredly Smitten by Lache S.
I caution myself to be critical and nuanced. I’m sorry, folks. I just haven’t had such dazzling hope or remote interest in politics since. . . well, since I was a puppet junior high evangelist for an independent candidate my… Read More ›
A Letter to Senator Feinstein by Sarah Robinson-Bertoni
Dear Senator Feinstein, I distinctly remember celebrating the 1992 historic victory when you and Barbara Boxer were elected as the first female Senatorial duo from any state in the union. My father brought my sister and me to an election… Read More ›
The Modern Problematic Nature of the Sabarimala Temple, Part 2 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
The Sabarimala Temple has received an influx of global attention since last October. In my last FAR post, I researched the origin story of the Sabarimala Temple and its dedicated deity, Ayyappan. Ayyappan’s unusual parentage and chosen attributes and patronage… Read More ›
Christmastime for the Self by John Erickson
We’ve all been there.
Sitting around the tree watching the kids open presents. Attempting to enjoy a holiday meal with extended and immediate family that you may or may not have traveled thousands of miles to see. Trying with every fiber of your being to not talk about the elephant, or red hat, in the room.
Unpacking the Midterm Elections by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
As the dust is settling, with the mixture of finishing counting ballots and races being conceded, the true realities of what happened in the 2018 Midterm Elections is taking concrete form. From the earliest hours of November 6, numbers showed that… Read More ›
Identity Politics by Gina Messina
This past week my daughter, Sarah and I had a conversation about God: Sarah: Dad says God is a myth. He doesn’t exist. Me: Well none of us really know who God is because we’re humans. And besides, God is… Read More ›
Fierce Heart: The Power of Women’s Voices by Elizabeth Cunningham
“Women, when you begin to make fierce sounds on your own, don’t be surprised if it’s difficult at first. Start gently. Get close to the earth. These sounds may bring up memories, emotions. Have a way to work with them…. Read More ›
What Part of “No!” Don’t You Understand??: Morality at Center of Mid-Term Election by Elizabeth Fresee
As my late and dearly missed Professor, Dr. Otto Maduro, put it, “One mile from the courthouse, it’s complicated. One hundred feet from the courthouse, it’s not.” In that spirit, with just a couple of weeks until Nov 6, I submit… Read More ›
What to do with Trump? by Barbara Ardinger
The United States used to get some respect. But now, except for the most gullible Trumpeters, people all over the world are seeing the damage the Troll-in-Chief is doing to our nation with his narcissism and corruption. What can a… Read More ›
I Believe Dr. Blasey Ford by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
I had a completely different post that I was going to submit for my FAR contribution this month, but that went out the window on Thursday September 27th with the Supreme Court Justice Nomination hearings of Brett Kavanaugh and the… Read More ›
The Cost by John Erickson
Brett Kavanaugh is a piece of shit.
Listen more. Talk Less. Tread Lightly. By Karen Leslie Hernandez
Illegal. Nazi. Migrant. Refugee. N****r. Terrorist. Heard of read any of these descriptions recently? I have. A lot. It seems that now more than ever, communication is breaking down. Name calling and labeling – which many times incites violence –… Read More ›
Time to Stop Talking by Esther Nelson
One of my Facebook friends—someone I’m quite fond of—posted the following remarks given by her pastor, Dr. Jim Somerville, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, to the congregation on July 15, 2018: It was Thanksgiving 2016, and my brothers and I… Read More ›
It’s All About Control by Vibha Shetiya
When I first moved to America, I was shocked to learn of the high rate of domestic violence here. Surely, American men weren’t like that. Besides, American women were strong – they would never take BS from their husbands, fathers… Read More ›
In These Dark Times, a Bit of Goodness in the World by Karen Leslie Hernandez
In my almost 52 years, I feel as if this is the darkest time we have ever witnessed. I don’t need to name it all here, because we know. I, like many of us, am struggling. Struggling to make sense… Read More ›
Don’t Look Away by John Erickson
Why can’t social media be fun anymore? Why can’t we spread happy pictures of puppies, babies, and rainbows? While the answer may be simple to many of us, let me state it plainly to my relative: Because the world is on fire and we have a racist in the White House creating edicts that call for babies and children to be placed in ‘tender age’ facilities.
