By Mitzi J. Smith, PhD Many people applauded The Daily Beast photo of the twenty-something year old white female protester who stood toe to toe with a New York City cop defiantly screaming into his face and daring him to arrest her. The white male cop remained stoic and motionless. That is quite a contrast […]
Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig in The New Republic thinks that feminists should not give up on Francis. Maybe not though he provides little to chime my feminist bells. My view is that any suggestion that Pope Francis is a feminist is like calling Raul Castro a Republican. It is simply absurd. While one can affirm many […]
The United States has seen major changes in the past week. Healthcare subsidies were upheld for residence of states not participating in the federal healthcare exchange. Same-sex/gendered partners can marry in all 50 of the United States. Social institutions and laws can change the social fabric and cultural rules by which we live. Legal decisions […]
By Niamh Middleton The resounding ‘yes’ to marriage equality that resulted from Ireland’s referendum on the subject has provoked a great deal of comment, much of it on the implications for Catholic Church authority in Ireland. Some commentators are suggesting that the rejection of Church teaching on homosexuality, despite the Bishops’ request for a ‘no’ […]
In the initial wake of coverage related to the healthcare mandate to cover contraception, media outlets concentrated on “religious communities” opposition to the requirement. From a theological and doctrinal perspective, the only major Christian denomination to oppose use of contraception is the Roman Catholic Church. Other conservative religious leaders chimed in to support what they […]
The recent Supreme Court ruling on ministerial exception potentially legalizes all manner of bad behavior on the part of religious institutions whose understanding of “all God’s children” is narrow, particular, and biased. First, by defining “minister” so broadly, the court allows religious institutions to declare any person who works within it’s doors and/or ministries as […]