Quran, Gender, Equality: A Twitterview with Amina Wadud

Last updated on: March 20, 2014 at 9:19 am By Caryn Riswold

Earlier this week I wrote about Scott Kugle’s book Homosexuality in Islam, and how it was the work of Amina Wadud that prompted questions leading me and my students to that book. Here is the Twitter exchange I had with Wadud earlier last month in which she answers the question about whether heteronormativity is established at creation: [&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”//storify.com/feminismxianity/quran-gender-equality” target=”_blank”&amp;amp;amp;gt;View the story “Quran, Gender, Equality” on Storify&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;] Read more

A Paradox of Religion & Tradition: Homosexuality in Islam

Last updated on: March 20, 2014 at 9:30 am By Caryn Riswold

“So, what about gay and lesbian Muslims?” The last time I taught my course on Women in Islam, we were working through Amina Wadud’s argument in Quran and Woman that equality has both cosmological and eschatological grounding in the Quran and in Islam when a student asked this question. It was in response to Wadud’s study of the sacred text which states that God’s creation of the nafs and its zawj (the soul and its partner) establish a basis for... Read more

Women, Race, & Ministry: Streams Run Uphill

Last updated on: March 13, 2014 at 11:11 am By Caryn Riswold

“I wonder if people in the church have any idea how much pain we inflict upon people who are guilty of nothing other than answering God’s call to ministry?” This musing from Marvin McMickle’s foreword to Streams Run Uphill could be applied to so many situations today including the ordained ministry of women as well as gay and lesbian Christians, and the work toward legalizing marriage equality in all fifty states. The church inflicts pain. It is part of the... Read more

Who Are You? On Quizzes, Divergence, & Vocation

Last updated on: March 11, 2014 at 10:49 am By Caryn Riswold

I finished reading Veronica Roth’s dystopian young adult novel Divergent in time for the film’s release later this month, at a time when it seems that those BuzzFeed and Zimbio quizzes are reaching a fevered pitch on my social media feeds: Which Downton Abbey character are you? Which state should you live in? What decade should you have lived in? Who should be your celebrity boyfriend? What should your college major have been? And just today, more than one friend... Read more

Jesus Feminist: Beyond Patriarchy & Proof-texting

Last updated on: February 28, 2014 at 10:54 am By Caryn Riswold

Sarah Bessey drew me into her book Jesus Feminist with a first page promise of conversation over good red wine around a fire-pit on the beach. I’m in. I really decided to take it seriously after she said on page 14 that “Patriarchy is not God’s dream for humanity.” Yes. Let’s talk about that. And she does. With a breezy, conversational, honest style that invites a lot of people to the fire-pit to talk, Bessey offers a narrative and a... Read more

Honorable Mention: Real Spirituality for Real Life

Last updated on: February 20, 2014 at 10:20 am By Caryn Riswold

Several people who I know and like a lot are collaborating on a new project called Real Spirituality for Real Life. Here’s how they describe it: We have experience as leaders in church ministries and teaching in colleges, universities and seminaries. We love what we do. We are committed to sharing a faith and makes sense for ourselves and for other people where we find ourselves in life. Sometimes those are difficult places fraught with questions and uncertainty. Other times,... Read more

Religious Freedom … For Bosses Only?

Last updated on: February 20, 2014 at 9:50 am By Caryn Riswold

On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear two cases in which the argument will be made that your boss’s beliefs should determine your access to healthcare. Sounds preposterous, right? And yet, that’s what the lawyers for Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood will argue. That a boss’ religious freedom trumps an employee’s religious freedom. That scientific recommendations about the overwhelming health benefit of women’s access to low- or no-cost contraception are to be ignored. That the millions of women who... Read more

Of Course Barbie

Last updated on: February 18, 2014 at 10:48 am By Caryn Riswold

Of course Barbie is in the 50th anniversary of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue and on a promotional cover wrap. Let’s just stop pretending that the male gaze cares at all for the flesh and blood women with brains, hearts, and ambitions it regularly features. They gave up on actually featuring swimsuits years ago. The voyeurs who devour this issue already view the models as objects placed on the pages for their consumption and pleasure. So let’s just go ahead and... Read more

Dear Feminism, Let’s Talk About Religion

Last updated on: February 13, 2014 at 9:49 am By Caryn Riswold

Gloria Steinem is right. We have to talk about religion more. When asked at the MAKERS Conference this week “What do you think the biggest problem with feminism today is?” she responded: Anti-feminism [laughs]. The work that women do is given no economic value whatsoever. We could go on about that. But we all know that. What we don’t talk about enough is religion. I think that spirituality is one thing. But religion is just politics in the sky. I... Read more

Moving Justice Forward: VDay 2014?

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 11:18 am By Caryn Riswold

Rehearsals for The Vagina Monologues have begun on my campus again this year and I have a lot of jumbled thoughts and reactions to taking the stage with students once again. Things I want the students to know, things I want the world to know, things I want to remember. When the brave first group of students staged this production on campus here in 2005, they were met with some resistance around use of space. From religious leaders. Participants had... Read more