By Jacqueline M. Hidalgo. As a student and teacher of religion, I must wrestle with the way that religious discourses and practices have been deeply implicated in settler colonial violence and gendercide, undertaken in the name of “doing good,” of doing what is construed as divinely right and natural. In late eighteenth century colonial New […]
In the wake of the passing of HB2 (“Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act”) in North Carolina, the ongoing discussions regarding the rights, safety, and discrimination against trans*persons have come to the fore. Many have weighed in on the controversy including those who cite their religious beliefs as reasons to support the law or demand […]
This morning, my husband and I decided to visit a popular exhibit called the “Topography of Terror” in Berlin, Germany. It’s located in what used to be the headquarters for the German gestapo and it “focuses on the central institutions of the SS and police during the ‘Third Reich’ and the crimes that they committed […]
By Darryl W. Stephens. This commentary calls churches of all denominations to improve ecclesial response to clergy sexual abuse by embracing recent secular developments in trauma-informed services. Is your church as safe as a college campus? April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For many college campuses, this means increased scrutiny of their policies, procedures, and […]
By Mónica Maher. A religious colonial capital of Latin America, San Francisco de Quito is a monolithic Roman Catholic city in the hegemonic imagination. Yet, it is filled with religious diversity which reflects dynamic, socio-cultural processes linked to international movements for justice. The Spiritualities Project of the Foundation Museums of Quito conceptualized by María Fernanda […]
Lest anyone think that LGBTIQ rights were accomplished when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, I beg to differ. Read Lynn Sherr’s marvelous biography Sally Ride: American’s First Woman in Space for a reality check. This is a marvelously written, highly informative, and deeply touching story of an American hero who changed […]
I have been pondering how to respond to the events of sexual harassment, theft, and rape in several major cities in Germany on New Year’s Eve of 2015. Did the gangs of men, looking “North African” and “Arabic” to the mostly female German victim-survivors, indicate a failed integration policy in Germany or deeply ingrained patriarchal […]
By Sofia Ali-Khan. Dear Non-Muslim Allies, I am writing to you because it has gotten just that bad. I have found myself telling too many people about the advice given to me years ago by the late composer Herbert Brun, a German Jew who fled Germany at the age of 15: “be sure that your passport is […]
Recent comments by the presidential candidate Ben Carson on Muslims in the United States, and the controversial beef ban in India that has led to the murders of Muslims, causes one critically analyze the word “secularism” with regards to the Muslim identity living in a globalized world. In a world that is quickly and increasingly […]
By Sarah Emanuel. Socio-narratologist Arthur Frank writes that “stories animate human life” (see Letting Stories Breathe). They tell us how to make sense of our surroundings, how to develop relationships with those around us, and how to decide what—and who—matters. In fact, we as a species have been able to develop and diversify at such […]