There are so many things to like, support, and affirm in The Religious Institute’s Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Family Planning: Claiming sex and sexuality as divine gift and the family as sacred, affirming individual moral agency, attending to sacred texts and traditions in terms of what they do and do not say on the issues, naming access to contraception as a moral issue, and clarifying what religious liberty means. Perhaps most important is the “Call to Action” “We... Read more
This week, I’m heading to Washington D.C. for the second convening of the Faith and Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute at The Center for American Progress. Sally Steenland, Director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, described the need for the project this way: Religion and reproductive rights are usually pitted against each other in public debates and the media. But in real life they are not on opposite sides. According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly 8 in 10 women who... Read more
It was right after I’d submitted the final manuscript proofs to the publisher for my third book, Feminism and Christianity, that I admitted to my Facebook friends that I was antsy without a big book project. Wondering what was next. Feeling adrift. My friend Krista simply commented, “Remember sabbath.” Oh. Yeah. That sounds familiar. Sabbath. That religious practice of sacred time. Time set apart from the ordinary, time for worship, reflection, prayer, rest, and gratitude. It’s something found in many... Read more
There is nothing wrong with this statement, released by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, around 6:00am EST, Tuesday, September 11, 2012: “The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our... Read more
Many good people work at the intersections … of feminism and Christianity, of ministry and justice, of religion and politics, of gender and society, of race and inequality, of everything and then some. I’ve invited a few people to tell a story from their work at the intersections, and will be sharing their stories here from time to time. Today’s story comes from Rev. Jenn Moland-Kovash. She is an ELCA pastor serving a congregation in the Chicagoland area. She loves... Read more
Watch this: Read this: “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change. And when I speak of change, I do not mean a simple switch of positions or a temporary lessening of tensions, nor the ability to smile or feel good. I am speaking of a basic and radical alteration in... Read more
Every year since 2006, on this day, MSNBC re-airs the Today Show broadcast from September 11, 2001. This strikes me, every time, in part because that is exactly how I experienced it. I was house-sitting for a friend that week, one of the perks of which was being able to do my laundry at her house and skip a morning at the public laundromat. I was stuffing whites into the washer when Katie and Matt were on the phone with... Read more
This picture is of students from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, the school where I earned my Ph.D., at the Chicago Pride Parade earlier this year. I was proud to call it my alma mater when the seminary’s Board of Directors passed a resolution at its May 2012 meeting, establishing the school as a “Reconciling in Christ” community. RIC is a designation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recognizing “Lutheran communities that publically welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual,... Read more
A strange issue emerged around the Democratic party platform this week: Use of the word God. Peter Montgomery sums up the issue here, calling it a “manufactured outrage” sparked by Republican politicians, and complicated when the Democrats changed their adopted platform, re-inserting the term “God-given potential” as well as changing its language on Jerusalem. Some objected to the process, others objected to the issues. Need God be named in the platform? No. What many have since reminded us is that... Read more
In a comment responding to my first post in this series, Getting Theological, someone gently chastised me for not talking enough about Jesus or the bible. I’m sure that what I have to say about Jesus (and the bible) won’t satisfy some people either. I’ll write more about my view and use of the bible in a later post, though surely what I’ve already said and am about to say (and haven’t said or won’t say) provides insight into what... Read more
Caryn Riswold
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