In a recent post I wrote about finding God in music. I confess, I cannot remember the last time I set foot in a church. As a woman, I continually grapple with the foundational messages of Jesus and Catholic Social… Read More ›
Racism
Greenness, Whiteness, Blackness, and the Nature of the World by Marisa Goudy
There’s magic in hiking alone, but as women, we’ve been taught to worry about venturing far on our own. In fact, we’ve been taught to worry about a lot more than that. Though once I merely shrugged off the warnings… Read More ›
“Go Back to your Country!” OK. But … I’m From San Francisco! by Karen Leslie Hernandez
On December 15, 2018, at 10:22PM, I received a call and a voicemail from someone I didn’t know. The charming message left for me? “Hello, Karen. You fat, disgusting slob. Go back to your country. I hope your new year’s… Read More ›
Just When We Thought It Couldn’t Get Worse, It Did by Carol P. Christ
Like many of you I have been following discussions of the revelation that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam dressed in blackface or as a member of the Ku Klux Klan when he was a medical student. It was reported that Northam… Read More ›
Past Transgressions by Esther Nelson
Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat in the state of Virginia, has many people calling for his resignation after a picture from a 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced showing what some people assert to be Northam wearing blackface or a KKK… Read More ›
Men Just “Know Things” by Esther Nelson
One of my Facebook friends, a young woman academic, recently posed a question, inviting discussion. (I’ve abbreviated her post for the sake of space.) “What is it about white male liberals that just MUST have me buy [into] their ideas… Read More ›
The Hate U Give by Esther Nelson
These days I live in a perpetual state of simmering outrage given the popular support of the “goings on” and happenings within our current administration. The lies, the deceit, the xenophobia, the racism, the misogyny, the homophobia, the anti-intellectualism—things that… Read More ›
Not Yet the Death Rattle by Marcia Mount Shoop
I have had the honor of sitting vigil with dying people. And I have prayed through the coming of the death rattle. It can be painful to witness, especially for those witnessing death for the first time. Sometimes the person… Read More ›
Priestess at the Crossroads by Joyce Zonana
In order to transform what is happening at the Mexico/U.S. “border” (and elsewhere) we must first break down the borders within our heads—all the borders in all our heads. Mr. Trump tells us “If you don’t have Borders, you don’t have a Country”; my response today is: “Who needs countries? Who needs genders? Who needs races or competing religions? What we need is Coatlicue.”
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.
Is God Breathing? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Another mass shooting. Syria. #MeToo. Hunger. Animal extinction. Iraq. Climate change. Deportation. Slavery. Central African Republic. Hate crimes. Rape. Animal cruelty. Oppression. Accidental nuclear war alerts. Homeless encampments. “Illegal immigrants.” Afghanistan. More mass shootings. Sex robots. Trafficking. Russian bots. Racism…. Read More ›
Of Monument(al) Importance by Esther Nelson
I remember being blown away when I read Judith Plaskow’s book, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, shortly after it was published in 1990. She writes, “The need for a feminist Judaism begins with hearing silence.” She… Read More ›
An Algorithm for Capturing White Heteropatriarchy: The Woman Caught in Adultery and the Failure of the Civil Rights and Feminist Movements to Embrace Intersectionality by Blanche Cook
The church occasioned one of my first conscious experiences with inequality — Sunday school to be exact. I was nine and bedecked in black platform shoes and a bright pink polyester suit. It was the 70s, a moment in… Read More ›
White Christianity, Flags, and Football by Gina Messina
While Puerto Rico has faced its worst natural disaster in over a century; Trump has once again used trumpfoolery to distract his base from his failed action in assisting Americans in crisis by starting a fight with the NFL. It… Read More ›
#NotYourWedge: Asian Americans and Affirmative Action by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
Asian Americans are making headline news as the nation once again grapples with affirmative action. There are two precipitating incidents this time around:
Let’s Talk About White Supremacy by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
Sometimes I come across a resource that’s so fantastic that all I want to do is promote it. This incredible graphic from the blog site Radical Discipleship recently made the rounds on my Facebook news feed.
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 ›
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 ›
Hate Trumps Love? by Gina Messina
This election cycle has left many of us in a serious state of mourning. The idea that Donald Trump could be elected president following the many bigoted, xenophobic, and sexist statements he has made seemed impossible, and yet it has… Read More ›
The End is Nigh by John Erickson
How will the world end? No, it isn’t Lucifer himself coming from hell to bring in the end times, it is someone far worse, and his name is Donald Trump.
Racism: We Still Don’t Get It by Esther Nelson
I was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, this summer for several weeks, spending much of my time unpacking boxes the moving van had delivered while simultaneously trying to create an aesthetically-pleasing and comfortable home. I also went to the Unitarian… Read More ›
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 ›
White Privilege: Confessions of a Poor White Girl by Cynthia Garrity-Bond
Recently FAR contributor Sara Frykenberg posted an article to Facebook that caused me to think again about the now-famous essay by Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” In “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person,” Gina Crosley-Corcoran… Read More ›
What My Mothers and Mentors Taught Me about Self-Care by Elise M. Edwards
During another week of killings, war, protests, and debates about whether Black Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter, I’m concerned about the toll it takes on those who are witnessing the violence and fighting for justice. I’m not on the… Read More ›
What Traci West Taught Me about Dominant and Excluded Voices by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I mentioned a book I am writing about how theological and ethical considerations in architectural design can define good architecture. In that post and in ones to follow, I am acknowledging the feminists and womanists and mujeristas… Read More ›
What Dorothee Soelle Taught Me about Creativity by Elise M. Edwards
I’m currently developing a book that considers how theological and ethical considerations in architectural design can define good architecture. My book discusses five virtues related to the architectural design process that promote human participation in bringing out God’s intention of flourishing… Read More ›
What Czech Has Taught Me about Knowledge by Ivy Helman
Stalé mám žlutou knihu tak neumím slova. (I’m still in the yellow book, so I don’t know the words). Mluvíš o něčem ale nevím co říkáš. (You are talking to me about something I don’t know what you are saying). … Read More ›
A Complicated History by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I wrote about my participation in planning a memorial event for the lynching of a man named Jesse Washington in Waco, Texas one hundred years ago. It prompted me to reflect on the challenge of faithfully… Read More ›
To Work and to Pray in Remembrance by Elise M. Edwards
One hundred years ago, Jesse Washington was lynched downtown in Waco, Texas. Next week, on March 20th, some of my colleagues and I are organizing a memorial service to remember this horrific event and pray for a better future for… Read More ›
I Am a High School Drop-Out by Karen Leslie Hernandez
In 1985, four months before I was supposed to graduate from high school, I awoke one morning, made a hasty decision to escape my harsh reality, and by the end of the day, I was a high school drop-out. Even… Read More ›
