This was when I began to see the phenomenon of “bad local.” The kind of local that means “us first” or “others, keep out.” This kind of local doesn’t care where the seeds came from or who developed them; the important thing is, now they’re here, and they’re ours. It’s a fortress mentality, and every outsider is perceived as laying siege. Read more
THAT was the part of that story that shocked you?...That was the news worthy part of that story to you? That's what you took away from that? What the blazes is WRONG with you people?! Read more
This inability to hear is also associated with a need to protect institutions. People don’t want to believe bad things about the institutional church to which they have given heartfelt allegiance their entire life, on which their identity is based. They don’t want to Catholic institutions they’ve been trained to revere are not only just as bad as secular ones, but sometimes worse. They can’t accept that the institution of Catholic sacramental marriage might be a place for abuse so awful that a woman would need to flee. Read more
Davidson’s criticisms are not anti-Catholic, however. They are anti-rape, anti-assault, and anti-injustice. And insofar as the Catholic church, its leaders, and even its laity, have committed and enabled these iniquities, we deserve criticism. Read more
I’m sorry, but if you don't just differ on certain points, but in fact stand totally against the vast collective of diverse women who are advocating for equality - if you deride them as “not real women” or “fake feminists” - you are not a feminist. Read more
Political stances are not just aesthetic poses. All political views are not equally deserving of respect, and all politicians and political parties are not the same. What policies are enacted can mean life or death, and not just in a roundabout way. Read more
If the church were to turn out to have been wrong in its teaching, we are informed, she will cease to be the church. All our faith will vanish, poof. But what if the church is the church - and is also, often, wrong in its hierarchical teachings? Read more
And for most of our history, false accusations have broadly been made by white people, against people of color. We all grew up reading To Kill A Mockingbird, which accurately depicted how easy it was even for the worst of white men to destroy the life of an honest Black man, with a lie. Read more
It doesn’t require a special class. One need not pay for and download a program. The number one resource for understanding women and consent is right here, men: it’s us. Women. Your friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers. Read more
Our own scandals seem especially revolting juxtaposed against our constant reiterations of specialness: the one true Church, the Church that Jesus founded, the fullness of revealed truth. Only here can we find the sacraments through which divine grace is guaranteed to flow. And, most bleakly ironically of all, only here do we supposedly receive the truth about men, women, sex, bodies, and reproduction. Read more
suspended in her jar
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In