Race Still Matters. Religion … Maybe.

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 10:14 am By Caryn Riswold

Results of the Millennial Values and Voter Engagement survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute in early October indicate at least one thing: the racial divide remains. It also indicates that Barack Obama’s support is stronger among younger voters who are Catholic, minority Protestant, and religiously unaffiliated. For a variety of reasons, I suspect, he speaks to them better than his Republican opposition. Back in 2009, The Pew Research Center reported that the millennial generation (born between 1981-2000) is... Read more

Pro-Choice Prayer Is About Justice

Last updated on: October 5, 2012 at 10:47 am By Caryn Riswold

This is the third set of prayers for women, men, and families seeking reproductive justice. 40 Days of Prayer to Stop the War on Women is a campaign by Faith Aloud, with a prayer a day beginning September 28 and leading up to the election. “Faith Aloud is a movement to give spiritual support to persons making reproductive decisions. As people of religious faith and conviction, Faith Aloud supports reproductive justice for every person. Our struggle for reproductive freedom includes... Read more

Joe Biden, Catholic for Choice

Last updated on: October 12, 2012 at 10:20 am By Caryn Riswold

In the words of Vice President Joe Biden, from the transcript of the 10/11/12 Vice Presidential Debate: My religion defines who I am. And I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can’t take care of themselves, people who need help. With regard to — with regard to abortion, I accept my church’s position on abortion as a — what... Read more

Honorable Mention: The Bill of Reproductive Rights

Last updated on: October 11, 2012 at 10:45 am By Caryn Riswold

Meryl Streep says it best: “We’ve got to do something. Right now. You and me.” Nancy Northrup from the Center for Reproductive Rights explains: It’s time that a woman’s right to safe and accessible reproductive health care be safeguarded from the political tactics of those who seek to chip it away. It’s time for women and men to send a strong message to lawmakers across the country that we are drawing the line. This is why today the Center has... Read more

The Myth of Male Religious Power?

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 10:24 am By Caryn Riswold

Stephanie Coontz is spot-on in her analysis of “The Myth of Male Decline” in the September 29 New York Times: Several of the authors of [recent] books posit that we are on the verge of a “new majority of female breadwinners,” where middle-class wives lord over their husbands while demoralized single men take refuge in perpetual adolescence. How is it, then, that men still control the most important industries, especially technology, occupy most of the positions on the lists of... Read more

Baptism & Reproductive Justice. Really.

Last updated on: October 2, 2012 at 12:48 pm By Caryn Riswold

Today is the second anniversary of Owen’s baptism. Last year on this day, over at TheReligiousLeft.org, I wrote: On 10/10/10, he was the fifth child with whom my husband and I stood, alongside his parents, and made promises: To care for him, to teach and instruct him, and to love him. The first time we were present for another godson’s baptism, it was eighteen years ago, as the presiding minister prayed for “the spirit of wisdom and understanding” and “the... Read more

Religious Freedom Is For Everyone

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 11:39 am By Caryn Riswold

What’s wrong – and right – with the role of faith in American politics today? It is wrong that the mantle of religious freedom is being carried by a small minority of leaders who are actually interested in protecting their own ability to impose their religious ideology on others. Here’s how I put it in an earlier post on this blog asking “Whose Religious Freedom?” When the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops launched their Fortnight for Freedom, a two week... Read more

Another Week in Pro-Choice Prayer

Last updated on: October 5, 2012 at 10:16 am By Caryn Riswold

This week, I continue the series that was begun last week, much to the dismay of anti-choice activists commenting freely. 40 Days of Prayer to Stop the War on Women is a campaign by Faith Aloud, with a prayer a day beginning September 28 and leading up to the election. Faith Aloud is a movement to give spiritual support to persons making reproductive decisions. As people of religious faith and conviction, Faith Aloud supports reproductive justice for every person. Our... Read more

Getting Theological: The Bible

Last updated on: October 2, 2012 at 12:45 pm By Caryn Riswold

If you’ve been reading the series of posts in which I “get theological,” then you might have noticed that I use and reference the bible sparingly. A commenter on my very first post, on God, noted this immediately, saying that there “isn’t a whole of of scripture or Christ in your brief analysis.” True enough. In part this is because I think that there is plenty to say about God that is beyond the bible. (Cue righteous indignation from certain... Read more

Debate Bingo With AAUW, Amnesty USA, & RCRC

Last updated on: October 3, 2012 at 2:00 pm By Caryn Riswold

Three of my favorite organizations have challenged us all to Presidential Debate Bingo … to make your debate watching party more fun, and perhaps to dissuade Presidential Debate Drinking Games. (But who’s to say one couldn’t do both?!) The basic questions: Will the candidates address these issues? Will issues that matter to you even get mentioned? What is being said and more importantly, NOT said? The American Association of University Women bingo card includes things like: Paycheck Fairness Act, “my... Read more