To Every Season by Deanne Quarrie

Deanne QuarrieWe are closing in on the last of the season of abundance. Wherever we look we see Her harvest around us. Purple grapes hang from their vines. Branches hang heavy from the weight of fruit and sweet nuts. All the forces of life have done their work ~ the sun ~ the rain ~ the earth ~ the wind ~ all have added and blessed everything with fruitful abundance.

We have reached the time of the harvest. The shadows of the day are lengthening and our growing season is drawing to a close. We reach out claiming our rich rewards ~ our bountiful harvest. Continue reading “To Every Season by Deanne Quarrie”

Trumpery in America by Gina Messina

Gina Messina-Dysert profileThroughout his campaign, Trump has spent his time in front of crowds justifying his penis size, boasting about what a “winner” he is, and encouraging fear, violence, hatred, and nationalism. After a man was attacked at a recent rally, Trump responded asking, “Is there anywhere more fun to be than at a Trump rally?”

The Republican nominee for POTUS is clueless when it comes to domestic or foreign policy, thinks Vladimir Putin is a “great leader,” and is still confused why bombing other nations as a response is a problem. And yet, his poll numbers continue to rise. In a nation that claims “Christian” values, one must ask, how can this be?  How could we possibly elect Donald Trump as the next President of the United States?

As Ingrid Holmquist explains, “Trump’s language is one of the things that make his campaign so popular to many: It’s not politician-like and is anti-establishment. Many of his supporters praise these traits.”

This has been the theme of his candidacy. Appealing to the public through “showmanship,” Trump has turned the presidential race into the ultimate reality show. Through one liners, insults, and fear mongering Trump has successfully created a smokescreen that has concealed – to some – his own inability to think critically, much less lead a nation. Sadly, those who support “The Donald” haven’t figured out that his campaign in based on trumpery defined as deceit, fallacy, and although showy, of little value.

Trump’s refusal to respond to questions on policy is not new. Although sometimes rather than flat out refusing, he fumbles through responses like a child who didn’t finish his homework but is trying to convince the teacher otherwise.

Thanks to George Takei for demonstrating this so eloquently in his recent Facebook Post.

“I have to say a lot of people have been asking this question. No, really. A lot of people come up to me, and they ask me. They say, ‘What’s 2+2’? And I tell them, look, we know what 2+2 is. We’ve had almost eight years of the worst kind of math you can imagine. Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. Addition and subtraction of the 1s the 2s and the 3s. It’s terrible. It’s just terrible. Look, if you want to know what 2+2 is, do you want to know what 2+2 is? I’ll tell you. First of all the number 2, by the way, I love the number 2. It’s probably my favorite number, no it is my favorite number. You know what, it’s probably more like the number two but with a lot of zeros behind it. A lot. If I’m being honest, I mean, if I’m being honest. I like a lot of zeros. Except for Marco Rubio, now he’s a zero that I don’t like. Though, I probably shouldn’t say that. He’s a nice guy, but he’s like, ‘10101000101,’ on and on, like that. He’s like a computer! You know what I mean? He’s like a computer. I don’t know. I mean, you know. So, we have all these numbers, and we can add them and subtract them and add them. TIMES them even. Did you know that? We can times them OR divide them, they don’t tell you that, and I’ll tell you, no one is better at the order of operations than me. You wouldn’t believe it. So, we’re gonna be the best on 2+2, believe me.”

When questioned on ISIS, unable to offer a detailed strategy, Trump responded, “I will…quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS, will rebuild our military and make it so strong no one — and I mean, no one — will mess with us.”

When asked about his support for torturing and “taking out” the families of terrorists, Trump claimed that soldiers would commit such illegal acts under his orders; “They’re not going to refuse me, believe me, If I say do it, they’re going to do it.”

Personal attacks are a staple in Trump’s strategy to deflect questions and regain the attention of the public.  He attacked Megyn Kelly for questioning his misogynistic comments by calling Kelly a “bimbo” and suggesting she was being aggressive because she was menstruating.

During the Fox News Michigan debate, when pushed for a response on foreign policy by Marco Rubio, Trump responded by saying that everyone in Florida hates “Little Marco” and he wouldn’t be elected as a “dog catcher.” Trump never responded to the question on foreign policy.

And it is with these ridiculous responses that Trump has mesmerized a nation lacking the ability to think critically. Refusing to respond while entertaining the masses; it is trumpery in full effect.

This fact is not lost on the Republican Party. Many have been clear that they will not vote for Trump. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated that Trump is “a phoney, a fraud…His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing members of the American public for suckers.” And the GOP national security leaders issued an open letter opposing Trump’s candidacy calling him “fundamentally dishonest,” condemning his “hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric,” call for increased use of torture, support for trade wars, and esteem for Vladimir Putin.

Likewise, nearly the entire Bush family has come out to announce that they will not vote for Trump.  Although Jeb Bush says he will not vote in this election, his father and former President George H. W. Bush has been clear that his vote will go to Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s blatant inability to comment on domestic or foreign policy is alarming and he is yet to offer a realistic strategy that would lead to a successful presidency. As David Brooks points out, his campaign is a sham just like Trump University and Trump Mortgage. And a President Trump would be a debacle just like Trump Air, Trump Steaks, and Trump Vodka.

Nonetheless, a large segment of the American public appears hungry for the careless, politically uninformed, objectionable billionaire bully whose bid for the White House is an attempt to achieve the ultimate symbol of power. Through hate speech and stances that undermine actual American values, Trump has created a “new red scare” and many are buying into it hook, line, and sinker. He has successfully played on the fears of many allowing himself to climb in the polls – a similar factor that resulted in the rise of other fascist leaders, including Adolf Hitler.

Disturbingly, some Trump enthusiasts are unable to distinguish between statements by Trump and Hitler. Those who support his candidacy claim that Trump “tells it like it is,” is a successful businessman, and funds his own campaign. Perhaps they should review John Oliver’s response to these notions.

Trump has no experience and is clueless as to what the job of POTUS entails. Like the root meaning of his name, he is deceitful, showy but useless and has simply become the clown who has taken center stage in the circus built by American politics. With his “trumpfoolery” he has revealed a disturbing temperament in the nation while duping some Americans into believing a Trump presidency will mean a “reclaiming” of America using anti-American values.

If the trumpery of his campaign strategy is evidence of what a Trump presidency would look like, the US should be prepared for deceitful and dangerous commander in chief who will continue the “new red scare” and limit the freedom so many assume he will defend as an American right. As Louis CK said referring to Trump, “Don’t vote for your own cancer.”

Gina Messina, Ph.D. is an American feminist scholar, Catholic theologian, author, and activist. She is also Co-founder of Feminism and Religion. She writes for The Huffington Post, has authored multiple publications and is the co-editor of the highly acclaimed Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay. Messina is a widely sought after speaker and has presented across the US at universities, organizations, conferences and on national platforms including appearances on MSNBC, Tavis Smiley, NPR and the TEDx stage. She has also spoken at the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations to discuss matters impacting the lives women around the world. Messina is active in movements to end violence against women and explores opportunities for spiritual healing. Connect with her on Twitter @FemTheologian, Facebook, and her website ginamessinadysert.com.

The Restorative Act of the Rite-13 Ritual by Katey Zeh

carpeI had never heard of the Rite-13 Ritual until I saw it listed on my worship bulletin a few months ago. My first reaction was to become annoyed when I saw the additional program item and to begin to calculate the additional minutes we were going to be sitting in our pew. Our nearly two-year-old daughter had just had her weekly meltdown over being left in the nursery, and all I wanted was for this liturgical hour to be over so I could scoop her up in my arms and take her home.

Started by an Episcopal Church in the 1980s the Rite-13 Ritual is modeled on the Jewish bar and bat mitzvah and intends to recognize adolescence as a time of transition in a young person’s life. After the opening hymn, six gangly, slightly awkward teenagers and their slightly nervous parents made their way up to the front of the congregation. They began with a reading based on Psalm 139: “God, investigate my life, get all the facts firsthand.” Most of their voices were barely above a mumbled whisper, perhaps due to the sheer discomfort of being center stage at church. In between each passage the youth read, the congregation responded, “Your creation is wonderful, and we know it well!” I’m a strong advocate for participatory worship, but this kind of of responsive reading always feels a little odd to me.

The last portion of the ritual, however, caught me off guard and left me in tears. The youth knelt down as their parents prayed a blessing over them. We couldn’t hear what was said, but watching these parents lovingly speak words of affirmation and encouragement softly into their children’s ears was beautiful. Now that I’m a parent, I couldn’t help but imagine what it might be like to stand in their place one day and pray a blessing over my daughter. But I don’t think that’s what brought on the tears.

I had a flash of a memory of a similar scene. I was also thirteen standing at the front of my church with my mother and a group of other youth and parents. We were not there to receive a blessing or to be affirmed, however, but instead to proclaim our commitment to sexual purity until marriage. It was the late 1990s and the True Love Waits movement was just ramping up. I guess you could say my church was an early adopter.

Instead of reciting Psalm 139, we spoke these words instead: “Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate and my future children to be sexually abstinent from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship.” In this evangelical church of my childhood the only readily available affirmation of me as a teenager was tied to an ill-informed, naïve promise I was pressured to make about sexual abstinence for the foreseeable future and beyond.

It was a perfect example of the contradictory theological messages I got constantly from my faith community: God created you, so you are good. But you are also sinful, so you are bad. I remember a church friend once jokingly said, “You totally suck. But Jesus is great through you.”

Twenty years have passed since that True Love Waits Sunday, but as Madeline L’Engle wrote, “I am still every age that I have been.” Over those two decades, I’ve internalized that message of earned and performative self-worth I got as a teenager. It shifted from worth rooted in sexual purity to one tied to academic achievement, transformed to professional success, and then on to marriage and parenthood and the illusive “balance” of doing all of it simultaneously. I still yearn to hear those words of acceptance that I needed then and need to this day.

As I see it, the heart of the Rite-13 Ritual is a commitment on the part of young people to seek divine wisdom throughout the journey of life and for the community of faith to pledge to be a place of unceasing support, friendship, and care for them. No strings attached. I’ve kept that bulletin insert, formerly a source of annoyance, on a prominent place on my desk. I turn to it on particularly hard days as a constant reminder of the truth of my own sacred worth that can’t be lost or earned. It simply is. “Your creation is wonderful, and we know it well!”

Katey Zeh, M.Div is a thought leader, strategiest, and connector who inspires intentionalKatey Headshot communities to create a more just, compassionate world through building connection, sacred truth telling, and striving for the common good.  She has written for outlets including Huffington Post, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches, Response magazine, the Good Mother Project, the Journal for Feminist Studies in Religion, and the United Methodist News Service. Her book Women Rising will be published by the FAR Press in 2017.  Find her on Twitter at @kateyzeh or on her website kateyzeh.com. 

Weaving and Spinning Women: Witches and Pagans by Max Dashu: Reviewed by Carol P. Christ

carol p. christ photo michael bakasMax Dashu’s  Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion 700-1000 challenges the assumption that Europe was fully Christianized within a few short centuries as traditional historians tell us. Most of us were taught not only that Europe became Christian very rapidly, but also that Europeans were more than willing to adopt a new religion that was “superior” to “paganism” in every way. Careful readers of Dashu’s important new work will be challenged to revise their views. When the full 15 volumes of the projected series are in print, historians may be forced to hang their heads in shame. This of course assumes that scholars will read Dashu’s work. More likely they will ignore or dismiss it, but sooner or later–I dare to hope–the truth will out. Continue reading “Weaving and Spinning Women: Witches and Pagans by Max Dashu: Reviewed by Carol P. Christ”

The Red Thread, the Red Heifer, and Red Ritual by Jill Hammer

Jill Hammer

There is an old Jewish custom to use a red thread, tied around a bedpost or a child’s wrist, to keep away demons.  In particular, the red thread is said to keep away Lilith, the female demon who steals children.  Women still give away red threads at the Western Wall in Jerusalem as a segulah, or protection amulet.  Feminist poet Alicia Ostriker reclaims this symbol as a reminder of the umbilical cord, the connection between a human childbearer and a child, and an intimation of the cosmic interconnectedness of all things.  She writes:

the disturbing red thread
invisible yet warm
travels between earth and heaven,
vibrates through starless void…

does it carry the pulse
of our prayers
like a bulge in a snake 

dozing, like a stream
of hungry, bloody hope, do all
the red threads join 

form a web

Alicia Ostriker, The Volcano Sequence (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002), p.11-12.

Continue reading “The Red Thread, the Red Heifer, and Red Ritual by Jill Hammer”

Whose life is this: yours or your identity’s? By Oxana Poberejnaia

oxanaWhat is, would you think, one of the foremost problems that my Russian friends and relatives mention to me? Economy? Politics? Personal and family issues? Nope. It is immigrants in Europe. I hear genuine concern and aversion when my friends mention the number of Muslims in the UK or the fact that there are predominantly black arrondissements (city districts) in Paris.

This mystified me. I sensed that although they were talking about countries foreign to them, they perceived the situation as a personal threat. Why should this be so?

I postulate that it is my old frenemy, identity (or “ego”, or “self” – whichever you prefer) that is at work here. I also realised that the same mechanism works wherever people protest against feminism, contrary to all and any rational arguments. Very often, even women protest, to their detriment.

Continue reading “Whose life is this: yours or your identity’s? By Oxana Poberejnaia”

The Collateral Damage of Addiction by Cynthia Garrity-Bond

cynthia garrity bondI am the mother of three adult children.  I am also the mother of an addict living the nightmare of denial and the consequence of said addiction.  Like many, my family of origin is riddled with alcoholics and addicts.  I learned to “detach” (not always in love) from their demons, drawing clear lines in the sand for my own future.  I thought a geographical relocation in another state would give me the distance and perspective needed to live my own life absent the insanity substance abuse can bring. When I discovered my spouse of then seven years was an addict my world fell apart.  For the life of me I could not understand how this could happen—again.  What did I miss?

I began attending Al-Anon in the hopes of self-discovery and the necessary tools required to live with a recovering addict.  Placing a healthy focus back on myself and away from the addict was liberating and healing.  After a few years I drifted away from meetings, digging in to my marriage and the raising of our children. Continue reading “The Collateral Damage of Addiction by Cynthia Garrity-Bond”

Latin Identities and Muslim Malinches by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente and Sumayah Soler

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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 used in Latin America to point those who sacrifice their identity and tradition in order to please foreigners over their own people and family.

Latin America has experienced in recent years an increase in the presence of Islam on the continent. As Muslims, we support and promote freedom of conscience that leads to our brothers and sisters to embrace Islam as their spiritual journey, as we did ourselves. However, we also know, because we have lived and learned from other latin muslims, that converting to Islam for Latinamericans means assuming the position of Malinche; this means to undertake a violent process of detachment and alienation of everything that identifies them as Latin, to prove their love and desire to be recognized as part of Islam. Continue reading “Latin Identities and Muslim Malinches by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente and Sumayah Soler”

Calling on the Muse: A Meditation for Creative Spirits by Mary Sharratt

mary sharrattThe world at large might view artists and writers as free spirits rocking la vie bohème, but creative people know that it’s much more complicated than that, especially if we’re striving to earn even a modest living from our work. As a writer, I often fall into the trap of measuring my success or failure on factors completely beyond my control, such as the ups and downs of a fickle book buying market.

I know that I’ve often wrestled with the feeling that I’ll never be enough. Never be big enough, never be a bestseller. Sometimes it’s hard not to succumb to a flailing sense of helplessness—why are any of us doing all this? Worst of all is my fear of creative dryness—that my inspiration will turn to dust and I’ll never write—let alone publish—another book.

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Continue reading “Calling on the Muse: A Meditation for Creative Spirits by Mary Sharratt”

“You Look Trim” and Resisting the Tyranny of Thinness by Xochitl Alvizo

Incarnation, Goddess spirituality, Xochitl Alvizo, god became fleshI caught myself reinforcing the norm. The ever present default of focusing on women’s body size and prioritizing their weight gain and loss. I did this with a colleague/friend of mine. After not seeing one another for most of the summer, my first comment to her was about her thinning waistline.

We greeted each other excitedly as we discovered the unexpected surprise that we were both attending the same pre-semester training. But following our warm greeting, and just as we went to sit down with our lunch, I commented to her that she looked more trim. She responded, “That’s the best compliment anyone could have given me – thank you!”

My heart sank a little as I realized what I had done. The first time I see her in months, of all that she is and all the amazing qualities she has, my attention and commentary went to her waistline – to paying attention to the size of her body. I felt such disappointment in myself. And in that moment it also hit me that I wasn’t only doing this with her, I had recently been doing this with myself as well. Continue reading ““You Look Trim” and Resisting the Tyranny of Thinness by Xochitl Alvizo”