I recently read Teach Your Children to Succeed by Putting Obstacles in Their Way by Eric Sentell on Role Reboot. The heart of Sentell’s essay is his story about a day from his youth that he looks back on as a “source of pride, self-reliance, and independence.” He was sixteen years old and in need of an inspection from a mechanic to drive his truck legally. He ran into complications in the form of a burnt-out taillight and no one to... Read more
When I got to college, the very first “worldly music” album I purchased was U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. I’d never heard of U2 before, although I soon realized that I’d heard many of their songs on the radio. I finally learned their name in a professor’s car on the way to an Indian restaurant for a study abroad lunch. Two other students heard me ask him, “What band is this?” If they were embarrassed for me, it didn’t... Read more
Rachel Held Evans has just followed up the discussion linked in my last post with the literary equivalent of an avalanche. She not only affirms her commitment to Christian egalitarianism, but she backs it up with a torrent of evidence demonstrating the very real harm done by patriarchy in the Bible and in the world. An excerpt: Our first glimpses into a patriarchal society, even one in which Yahweh is God, reveal inequity and violence against women. Groups like the Vision Forum have... Read more
Complementarianism is a lie. Yeah. It’s fake. It doesn’t exist. What does exist is patriarchy in drag. Patriarchy slips into a pretty little number and tells you it’s helping you fulfill your God-given potential. It twirls around and smiles at you, showing you how beautiful you can be if you’ll only stop fighting and being so angry and just accept the glorious calling of Biblical Womanhood. Then you’re sent off to the Hunger Games, where whether or not you live depends on how much the rich dudes... Read more
Today, I walked past a rally to take away my rights. I walk past a group of people – whole families, with toddlers chasing each other and rolling in the grass, with little girls about to get their first periods, with mothers carrying newborns or putting their arms around recent graduates – who have gathered together to declare their hatred for women. They are cheering. They are yelling. “Amen!” holler the husbands. Wives thrust their block-lettered signs in my face... Read more
Saliha at Azizatu Nafsiha has begun to write a beautiful, thoughtful series about wrestling with faith and gender expectations as an African American Shi’a Muslim woman. It’s called “Coming Into My Own,” a theme to which most of my readers will relate. Her writing is lucid, elegant and transparent in its depth. I highly recommend following this series. Coming Into My Own, Pt. 1 Coming Into My Own, Pt. 1.5 Coming Into My Own, Pt. 2 An excerpt (emphases mine): In Islamic eschatology,... Read more
Over the past year, survivors of spiritual abuse have been slowly connecting with one another, seeking out new bloggers, linking and cross-posting one another’s work. This collaboration has been inspiring to watch, as it’s happened organically and led to the creation of such community projects as Raised Quiverfull, the Fundamentalism and Sexuality project, and another series that’s currently in the works on marriage and submission. We’ve all benefited immensely from talking to each other: Libby Anne and I have, for instance, written several posts in... Read more
Trigger warning: The following post contains frank descriptions of the hate speech against LGBTQ people that my church used to inculcate fear and contempt in its youth. It’s probably not something you want to read if you’re already having a bad day. I have decided to write about homophobia for two reasons: first, to demonstrate the falsity of fundamentalist rhetoric about “hating the sin and loving the sinner,” and, second, to shed light on the tools fundamentalists use to instill... Read more
Those who read Melissa’s story at Permission to Live will probably be interested in this story, too: Feminist Mormon Housewives: A Look Inside Your Neighbor’s Window: Surprises in Marriage This Mormon couple, like Melissa and her partner, married young after being steeped in a strict Christian purity culture during their childhoods and adolescence. Some time after marriage, they came out to one another as a lesbian and a transgender woman. An excerpt: My husband and I always tell each other everything, so... Read more
Fundamentalists use the Bible the way a drunk uses a lamp post: always for support and never for illumination. Attributed to Rev. William Sloane Coffin Read more
The Phoenix and Olive Branch
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