Abortion Isn’t the Only Reproductive Issue for Christians to Care About

Last updated on: February 6, 2013 at 9:19 am By Ellen Painter Dollar

I have a post on Think Christian about how the Christian preoccupation with abortion has limited and skewed our ability to respond effectively to new reproductive technologies. From my post: Forty years after Roe v. Wade, abortion remains a dividing line in the culture wars and a central sociopolitical issue for many Christians. Unfortunately, decades of divisive, oversimplified debate around abortion have left Christians ill-equipped to engage in effective discourse and empathetic counsel around technologies that offer parents the promise... Read more

It Is Enough: A Christian Social Media Campaign Around Gun Violence

Last updated on: February 4, 2013 at 6:03 pm By Ellen Painter Dollar

I’m pleased to announce a new initiative, coordinated by me and pastor/writer/blogger Katherine Willis Pershey, to provide a consistent Christian voice addressing gun violence and the need for more effective gun laws. Conversing via Facebook in the days following the Sandy Hook massacre on December 14, 2012, Katherine and I became convinced of the need for a coordinated Christian response that would keep the issue of gun violence on our national agenda; nudge us to think about what Jesus’s life,... Read more

Is It OK to Ask Someone About a Disability or Injury?

Last updated on: February 1, 2013 at 1:21 pm By Ellen Painter Dollar

In our society, which has made so many strides in accessibility and understanding about various conditions, the question of whether or not it’s acceptable to ask someone about their wheelchair, limp, scars, or whatever, has become more and more fraught. Some people make such a concerted effort not to stare or look overlong at someone with obvious differences that their deliberate not-looking becomes, in itself, highly noticeable and irksome to some people who know very well that their differences attract... Read more

Why I Love Writing, But Don’t Always Like It

Last updated on: February 2, 2013 at 12:06 pm By Ellen Painter Dollar

I have been on an Alice Munro binge, gobbling up her latest collection of short stories titled Dear Life, and then rummaging through the pile of books on my nightstand to devour Runaway, which I purchased on a Borders discount table years ago and somehow never read. Alice Munro stories are about regular people, about love and marriage and friendship and family history and grief. They are about decisions made and not made, decisions made then reversed, and the consequences... Read more

Things to Ponder Before Undergoing Prenatal Testing

Last updated on: January 24, 2013 at 12:56 pm By Ellen Painter Dollar

My friend, colleague, and fellow Patheos blogger Amy Julia Becker has a new e-book titled What Every Woman Needs to Know about Prenatal Testing: Insights from a Mom Who Has Been There. My official endorsement of the book, which I include below, was heartfelt and genuine. Amy Julia’s book is in a similar vein to my book No Easy Choice; both are partly memoirs and reflections from us as mothers who have dealt with complex reproductive decisions and having a... Read more

A Message to the “Nones”: Don’t Reject God Because of Human Suffering or Christian Bullshit

Last updated on: January 24, 2013 at 5:56 am By Ellen Painter Dollar

It’s one of the most notable cultural statistics of our time: According to the The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the number of people claiming no religious affiliation—the so-called “nones”—is rising rapidly. About one-fifth of the U.S. population is either atheist/agnostic, or has no particular affiliation at all. A fair number of the unaffiliated still consider themselves “spiritual,” but don’t affiliate with a particular religious group for a host of reasons, including perceptions of religious institutions as being... Read more

Is It Harder for Boys than Girls to Be Who They Really Are?

Last updated on: January 22, 2013 at 11:52 am By Ellen Painter Dollar

As I have written before in contemplating my son’s nontraditional choices of toys and clothing, the double standard at work in how we respond to children who don’t conform to gender stereotypes is rooted in a culture that values men and male stereotypes (physical strength, earning power, toughness) over women and female stereotypes (emotion, empathy, caretaking). Girls who gravitate toward traditional boys’ toys and clothing are praised for daring to be strong-willed and single-minded. Boys who gravitate toward traditional girls’... Read more

Let’s Change Our Gun Laws…and Preserve “Qualities of Heart and Spirit”

Last updated on: January 15, 2013 at 10:47 am By Ellen Painter Dollar

One month (actually, a month and a day) after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, issues around gun violence and gun control are still making headlines. Vice President Joe Biden’s policy recommendations will be shared today. As someone who has written and cared about gun control for many years, I can’t help but be a bit optimistic. Might this time be different? Might we actually make some common sense changes in how guns are regulated, bought, and sold... Read more

“You Made Me Happy, Mom”: Christmas 2012

Last updated on: July 15, 2013 at 9:46 am By Ellen Painter Dollar

I take Christmas gifts for my children very seriously, keeping a running list on my iPhone of gift ideas (some of their choosing, some my own brainstorm) and then sitting down in November to chart exactly what each child will receive, factoring in fairness and wants and needs and budget. I aim for each child to receive one “big” gift, not necessarily expensive (though it might be), not necessarily physically large (though it might be), but rather something that, in... Read more