Along with Barcelona, my other RNC counterprogramming was Michael Moore's 1989 documentary, Roger and Me. It's structured around Moore's quest to get a personal interview with Roger Smith, the head of General Motors, who is in the process of basically devastating Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich. by closing the GM plant there. It's incredibly powerful--I don't think there's a wasted frame. A few thoughts, beyond my basic thought which is just, "You should see this movie."Artistically it is … [Read more...]
Why Is There a Refugee Olympic Team?: Dara Lind
August 7, 2016 by
explains how being a refugee is changing:The Refugee Olympic Team (or #TeamRefugee) is the first time refugees have been represented at the Olympic Games. And by representing the 19 million refugees and asylum seekers displaced around the world, the team is an inspiring symbol of internationalism. Its 10 team members, who have been displaced from five countries to five other countries, embody tremendous fortitude, discipline, and courage. But the Refugee Olympic Team is also a symbol of … [Read more...]
“Inside the Deadly World of Private Prisoner Transport”: The Marshall Project
August 5, 2016 by
this piece starts grim and only continues in that vein: In July 2012, Steven Galack, the former owner of a home remodeling business, was living in Florida when he was arrested on an out-of-state warrant for failing to pay child support. Galack, 46, had come to the end of a long downward spiral, overcoming a painkiller addiction only to struggle with crippling anxiety. Now, he was to be driven more than a thousand miles to Butler County, Ohio, where his ex-wife and three children lived, to face … [Read more...]
Unchosen Blessings: Gay Celibacy and Unplanned Pregnancy
August 5, 2016 by
Someone who knows I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center sent me a recent article from Medicine Anthropology Theory, "Blessing unintended pregnancy: Religion and the discourse of women's agency in public health." It's a qualitative study of the reproductive histories and practical spirituality of women at a homeless shelter in the Southeast. The things the women say really sound like things our clients say; but what struck me most was how much of their experiences resonated with the religious … [Read more...]
“Good Neighboring in an Age of Police Brutality”: Bonnie Kristian
August 5, 2016 by
at AmCon--on race, power, being a good neighbor & being a good newcomer: But nuisance and an easy remedy are not enough to justify dialing 911 in an age of police brutality. Calling the cops is not guaranteed to be best for our block.After all, is the very real risk of undue escalation—even violence—worth it to turn off music? To catch the originator of that weed smell? To address a housing code violation, like unshoveled sidewalks or trash strewn across the alley? Again and again my ans … [Read more...]
Fr. Mother, Or, Is There an Equivalent to the Priesthood for Ladies?
August 3, 2016 by
A while ago I wrote this ironically-distanced post about how one might defend the all-male priesthood on feminist grounds: I think a feminist Catholic could legitimately say that women are already treated as available, as disposible, even as Kleenex. A woman priest, therefore, would just be a cliche. Of course a chick is here to serve you! That's not radical at all. A male priest is new and different and needed--a radically disposible male, not a female. A man-Mary, whose only word can be, … [Read more...]
“What’s Missing from the Conversation About Transgender Kids”: New York Magazine
August 3, 2016 by
makes an increasingly-important point: “If you wait until puberty has got a little way along, a fair proportion of the children change the clinical presentation and feel more like straightforward lesbian and gay kids,” said Barrett. “They don’t seek social role change any more and will end up with no need for lifelong medical intervention, surgery and with no loss of natural fertility should they want children.” more. This article notes the limits of the studies we have about kids with gender d … [Read more...]
Follow Patheos
Catholic: