As many of us head back to school, events are still unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri. Protests have been expanding since white police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown on August 9. Some young people will know what has been going on, and some will not. Some will relate to the anger playing out in the streets, and some will not. Many will not understand the history, politics, sociology, and psychology at work in these days now turning... Read more
In some crisis moments, some of us do well to listen, learn, and read as a precursor to taking action toward justice. Here, I feature excerpts from a few different places around the web that I think are important to lift up in light of the ongoing protests in Ferguson, Missouri. From Christena Cleveland: THE CROSS AND THE MOLOTOV COCKTAIL As someone who has walked alongside black men, witnessed their suffering firsthand, lamented with them and fought for justice with... Read more
Over the span of six weeks this summer, mostly for fun, I re-watched every episode of the six seasons of Sex & the City (except the one where Miranda is fascinated with the guy in the hot dog suit because my DVD inexplicably won’t play that one!), followed by both movies. Here are some observations, a reflection in listicle form that even notes how and when religion shows up: It still works. It’s fundamentally about women’s friendships and the... Read more
"My belief in God tells me that the most important thing you can do for another human being is help them in their time of need.” Read more
These are confusing times. How can there be such swift and progressive action state by state (Utah! Indiana! Oklahoma!) toward equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans at the same time as the shockingly regressive gender politics around contraception and women’s health care reaching all the way to the Supreme Court? Over at The Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson proposed “Ten Reasons Women Are Losing While Gays Keep Winning,” including feminism’s image problem, flawed language about choice/rights, capitalism, religion, and... Read more
Many good people live and work at the intersections, and I occasionally invite someone to tell a story from where they stand. Today’s piece comes from Fatima Alshantti, who was a student in my Women in Islam class last spring. She is a sophomore majoring in Biology-Pre Nursing at Illinois College. She is a graduate of Shohadaa’ El Maghazi Secondary School(A) and grew up in Maghazi Camp in Gaza Strip, Palestine. She hopes to get her MSN in the United States... Read more
I wrote the following commentary which was published last week in my local newspaper, the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, and picked up the following day by the Alton Telegraph. A letter to the editor responding to it appeared this week … see it, along with my reply, below. Something new is happening in Jacksonville that is actually quite old. Something radical is going on that is actually pretty ordinary. What is new is Holy Family Inclusive Catholic Community, which held its first... Read more
This week I will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the final meeting of a group of scholars with whom I am working on a new volume dedicated to reflection on vocation in higher education. I’ve written about this project before. Here is an adapted piece of the chapter I will contribute, which first appeared on the community blog of the Council of Independent Colleges Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). Stay tuned for more: “Malcolm, you ought to be... Read more
A few weeks ago, I was asked by blogger Tylor Standley to answer a few basic questions about the Lutheran tradition for a summer series he was planning. “Voices From the Branches” (clever title!) launched last week with a post on the Roman Catholic Tradition, continued this week with my post. Here is an excerpt: Give us a brief introduction to the Lutheran tradition. How did it begin? For this, as for a few other of these questions, I will... Read more
I have written here before about ongoing Mormon feminist activism, including the day of action wherein hundreds of Mormon women stepped up to request admission to the Fall 2013 priesthood session of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have also written about the work of Terry Tempest Williams. This past Friday, Williams released this Open Letter to LDS church leaders in response to the planned disciplinary hearings for apostasy by Kate Kelly for organizing the day of... Read more
Caryn Riswold
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In