I often say I am a theologian who is uncomfortable with prayer and does not have a relationship with God. What I mean is that I am still trying to figure out how I understand the divine; conventional prayers feel… Read More ›
God
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 ›
A Test of Faith – Did I pass? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
More often than not, I think our faith is tested in ways that we can’t understand, personally, professionally, on a large and on a small scale. I’m realizing, as the years pass, that there’s no perfect way to handle challenges,… Read More ›
Elie Wiesel’s Stories: Still the Dialogue by Carol P. Christ
This blog is dedicated to Elie Wiesel, September 30, 1928-July 2, 2016 During the summer following my second year [as a graduate student] at Yale, I read Elie Wiesel’s The Gates of the Forest[1], which someone had recommended as a… Read More ›
You Can’t Save Everyone by Oxana Poberejnaia
In my previous post here on Feminism and Religion, “Emerging Energy Wisdom” I suggested we should develop new feminist wisdom for young women of the world, which will hopefully allow them to avoid some of the mistakes we have made… Read More ›
From Evangelical Christianity to Feminist Evangelism by Andreea Nica
I always knew I was a feminist, despite my lack of knowledge in the movement and philosophy growing up. I did, however, have the religious support of my family and community to be an Evangelical Christian. I knew all the… Read More ›
Good Theology is Feminist Theology by Carol P. Christ
Judith Plaskow and I are just now completing the draft of the manuscript of the book we have been working on for the past 2 ½ years. It has a new title: Two Views of Goddess and God for Our… Read More ›
The Mosaic Language of God by Andreea Nica
Throughout my “bible-thumping, smitten with God” years, I scribbled countless thoughts and prayers in four devotional journals. Recently I came across these journals, wiping away the years of dust accumulated. As I have been detaching from the Pentecostal god, it… Read More ›
Watching “Noah” Brought Me Closer to Humanity by Andreea Nica
As a child, I enjoyed the story of Noah’s Ark. I would often imagine pairs of animals running for safety in Noah’s architecturally majestic haven. Practical questions didn’t enter my mind during this blissful period of naivety. I ignored the… Read More ›
God is Too Big by amina wadud
In my current casual reading, a novel, the answer to the question “and where is God for you?” was expressed this way: “Definitely in the car with us as we talk and exchange things, and change each other in the… Read More ›
Religion: Trapped in Love Through Shame by Andreea Nica
I was first introduced to shame in the church. Shame paradoxically drew me closer to God, prevented me from committing sins, and helped me repress certain natural urges. The church I grew up in indoctrinated its congregation to believe that… Read More ›
God Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Gay Bars and the Growing Divide Between Sexuality and Spirituality by John Erickson
oes God exist within the LGBTQ community anymore or has the community itself abandoned God for all-night raves, dance clubs, alcohol, and hypersexualized and over commoditized fetishized forms of femininity and masculinity? Oftentimes, I find myself answering yes to the above questions. After surviving hate crime after hate crime and endless batches of newly elected conservative politicians hell bent on ignoring medical and social epidemic plaguing the very country they were elected to serve and protect, why would a community, oftentimes linked to sin itself, believe in a holy entity?
Incarnating the Mystery with Psychological Awareness by Jean Benedict Raffa
As a college professor I taught Children’s Literature. Mythology, stories about humanity’s relationship with the gods, always raised a few eyebrows. Students tended to feel uncomfortable when this term was applied to their own faith traditions since it generally connotes… Read More ›
When Feminists Disagree by Linn Marie Tonstad
A while back I gave a talk on feminist trinitarian theology to an audience of mostly progressive academics, including feminist and womanist scholars of religion. In the course of analyzing what I called the ‘trinitarian imaginary’ in Christianity and its… Read More ›
And Thus God made a Covenant with Hagar in the Wilderness by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
We are familiar with the covenant God made with Abraham and Moses, but are you aware that God also made a covenant with Hagar? In the wilderness Hagar encounters a deity at the well named Beer-lahai-roi (Genesis 16). Water and… Read More ›
Please Excuse Me for Having a Penis: Taking a Back Seat to Privilege and Power by John Erickson
Male feminists must be aware that we not only engage in an ongoing struggle against sexual and gender inequality, but more importantly an ongoing fight with ourselves.
Visions of My Grandmother by John Erickson
“I never told my grandmother I was gay. I’ve often wanted to visit her grave, clench my hands together, and pray that she forgive me for betraying the trust she instilled upon me long ago. However, even today, I cannot bring myself to make that trek, up the hill into the countryside where her ashes lay below the ground.”
The Crime of Being a Girl Scout: The Sin of Raising Strong Female Leaders by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
Cradle Catholic and Woman Educated by the U. S. Vowed Religious Support the U. S. Catholic Sisters Support, Minister, and Live the Social Gospel Theologian, Feminist, and Critical Thinker Former Girl Scout Leader of Three Troops Former Girl Scout I… Read More ›
SHE WHO CHANGES* by Carol P. Christ
She changes everything She touches and everything She touches changes. The world is Her body. The world is in Her and She is in the world. She surrounds us like the air we breathe. She is as close to us… Read More ›
RE-SOULING ON SHABBAT BY IVY HELMAN
I attended a service at Congregation Shalom in Chelmsford, MA two Fridays ago. During the service, Rabbi Shoshana Perry spent a few minutes addressing the last word of a Hebrew prayer found in the Reform siddur, Mishkan T’filah. It was… Read More ›
Hagar: A Portrait of a Victim of Domestic Violence and Rape
This week Twitter has been a flurry with information for victims of domestic violence and rape. This ranges from the U.S. redefinition of rape to include men to Nigeria’s first anti-rape toll free hotline for women. There is even a… Read More ›
Does Humor Have a Place in Religion? by Barbara Ardinger
Is there anything funny about the divine? Any joke-telling gods? From the days of Abraham until today, the gods and their preachers are a very earnest lot intent on saving us from our sins and building congregations. Like it or… Read More ›
How to Talk to a Deity* By Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.
Originally, when ritual was still part of everyday life and everybody talked to gods and goddesses all the time, we spoke to them in everyday words. As time went on and priests assumed more power, however, exalted language and fulsome… Read More ›
