I’ve been reading N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope for several months now (with my internship, my research project, plus school and work, it’s been a slow process). In one section he discusses an idea of the “theology of space.” His discussion mostly revolves around whether or not churches should continue to have buildings. I have a lot of mixed feelings about church buildings, personally. I was sexually abused in a church nursery as a child, so for most of my life just... Read more
Sorry that the blog has been silent as of late. I’m on the last stretch of finishing up a big research project on rape and sexual assault in Christian dating/relationship books. I’ve got a title: “‘You Are Not Your Own:’ Rape, Sexual Assault, and Consent in Evangelical Christian Dating Books.” I’ve also got FINDINGS: 1. Benevolent Sexism, Traditional Gender Roles, and Dehumanization (of men AND women) create an environment ripe for rape myth acceptance. 2. Bodily Autonomy is denied to... Read more
The idea that Jesus chose, out of his own free will, to go to the cross is a favorite among abusive church leaders. What better way to get people to submit to you than to compare the God they worship to a lamb led to slaughter? Over and over and over I’ve heard Jesus’ submissiveness unto death used as an excuse to abuse or to silence those who wish to call out abuse. I want to propose a different perspective and... Read more
[Trigger warnings for abuse, rape, and violence against oppressed groups] I recently wrote a blog post for Rachel Held Evans in which I talked about how many popular images of God are abusive. Someone left this comment: I read something once -and it has troubled me since – that God requiring Jesus to die on the cross ‘for our sins’ was the equivalent of child abuse. I would love to hear some opinions on this matter. A few commenters jumped... Read more
I’ve been reading Kenneth Miller’s book Finding Darwin’s God for a class I’m taking. Although I’ve been out of fundamentalism long enough (about two years) for most of this information to be old news to me, some parts have challenged me to think about how low of an opinion of God I had as a fundamentalist. In the chapter I just finished, “God the Charlatan,” Miller (who is himself both a scientist and a believer in God) takes on the fundamentalist idea that... Read more
Today I’m guest posting at Rachel Held Evans’ blog, talking about abuse and images of God. God is love. I believe that with my whole heart. But what is God? And what is love? We need to ask ourselves these questions and think deeply about them before we can even begin to start solving the problem of abuse in the Christian church. Read the rest at RachelHeldEvans.com! Read more
Back in February, Sen. Marco Rubio explained why he opposed the Violence Against Women Act: I could not support the final, entire legislation that contains new provisions that could have potentially adverse consequences. Specifically, this bill would mandate the diversion of a portion of funding from domestic violence programs to sexual assault programs. Rubio has this idea, apparently, that different types of abuse have nothing to do with one another. Not a surprising conclusion in a world that’s determined to... Read more
Lots of posts that I want to share this week. I hope you’ll check them out, as they are all important! They discuss a wide variety of topics, from God, to rape culture, to The Wizard of Oz, to racism/homophobia, to the dangers of fraternizing with bears. “For most of my Christian experience, I’ve only ever heard God described in verbs. Very busy verbs.” “If you want to know why we need to educate men not to be sexually aggressive,... Read more
[TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape and Abuse] As many of you know, in highschool I spent a year in an abusive relationship. Some of my memories of my abuse are vague and foggy. But then other memories I remember well. The ones I remember the most clearly are the ones I remember not only in my mind, but in the rest of my body as well. As I think about my connection with my body, and I think about my commitment to reconnect... Read more
When I first began blogging, one blogger that I both read and respected was Matt Appling of “The Church of No People.” He was even on my blogroll for quite awhile. I start with this because I want you to know that I once thought like he did. I was raised to think like he did, and I’m sure he was raised in a similar way. I want you to understand, before I write this response, that I do so... Read more
Sarah Over the Moon
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