Beverly Wildung Harrison, a feminist religious ethicist, passed away on December 15, 2012. She was the Caroline Williams Beaird Professor of Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York where she taught for three decades. She was the first woman President of the North American Society of Christian Ethics and served on the Board […]
In a recent sermon to my congregation in Greenwich, CT, I said the following: “You could have it all, the serpent whispered, the possibilities are endless. That was the first lie ever told, and we have believed it ever since.” The sermon topic was anxiety—the need to control more, know more, and be more than […]
It’s that time of the year again… yes, it is the beginning (or is it the middle already?) of the U.S. version of “the holidays.” But, in a related fashion, what I’m currently thinking about is that time of the semester again. Specifically, we just finished our ritual week in my introductory course, a week […]
Question: “What impact can feminist theologies have domestically in the political realm in regards with US foreign policy, war and global dominance? How can feminist theologies and women’s work in the church and society influence a real change of paradigm to move effectively from the “necrophilia of patriarchy” (Mary Daly) -militarism and resource pillaging- to […]
Harvard Professor Karen King’s recent discovery of a Coptic papyrus that mentions Jesus’ wife and speaks of a female disciple is simply the latest contribution to a long line of discoveries about early Christian women. In stressing that hers is the first word on this papyrus, but not the last, she sets a model for […]
Dear Americans: In 1945, French philosopher Jean Paul-Sartre reflected on his visit to America and wrote, “In this land of freedom and equality there live thirteen million untouchables. They wait on your table, they polish your shoes, they operate your elevator, they carry your suitcases into your compartment, but they have nothing to do with […]
“There are no records confirming that women were taken away by force and there are no accounts [by former Japanese soldiers], but the Kono statement came out based on the accounts of comfort women,” said Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Diet on August 27, 2012. Amid increasing tensions over territorial disputes between Japan […]
I want to open a conversation about “radical feminism” so that scholars and activists can have some new, useful things to say when the phrase is bandied about in the media. Until now, I have heard a lot of people distance themselves from it, try to explain it away as someone else’s brand, or ignore […]
The creationism versus evolution debate when discussed in an educational setting does not occur exclusively in the United States. On June 12, 2012, the science journal Nature reported the “successful” petition by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) to remove references to evolution from high school textbooks in South Korea. According to Nature, South Korea’s […]
“Christians and Muslims unite in new bid to silence Lady Gaga.” This was one of the top 10 religion headlines announced by the Pew Forum during the week of May 18 through 24, 2012. The news was a response to the cancellation of Gaga’s concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, due to “security” reasons after receiving strong […]