For the first time in many of their lives, Muslim men can’t go to the mosque. They can’t feel the peace and serenity, the connection with God. They must create this for themselves at home, a place that is now a hive of activity; adults home from jobs, children home from school. Muslim men are experiencing, for the first time, what women have come to expect.
Tag: Religion
Sexual Abuse Survivors React to Cardinal Pell’s Acquittal
We believe the Pell ruling will cause victims to lose their faith in the criminal justice system and also sends the message that survivors should stay hidden and silent rather than come forward and seek justice. But right now, we want victims to persevere. There is hope.
“Muslim Women Banned for No Legitimate Reason”: Containing COVID-19 is Not An Excuse For Sexism
Many mosques have cancelled all services for all congregants—regardless of gender. However, at some point the lower level of restriction—and its explicit ban on women—may go back into effect. As a public health crisis looms large, it may not be a good time to bring up concerns of sexism. Perhaps there is never a “good” time to address discrimination, so the time is always right, and right now.
On Christianity and Donald Trump
What progressive Christians and conservative, but not fundamentalist, evangelicals find outrageous in Trump’s behavior actually works to his advantage with white Christian fundamentalists, because his world views align with theirs—all in support of a white patriarchal theocracy.
Our Unalienable Rights Include Freedom of—and from—Religion
The danger of Trump’s Commission on Unalienable Rights is that its understanding of religious liberty extends only to a certain kind of religion, conservative Christianity.
Shattering the Stained-Glass Ceiling
These were the subversive sisterhood of saints unsung in most seminaries, unheard of in most congregations, missing in the stained glass and absent in the canons codified by patriarchy. One decade ago, I began to paint them and write about them.
Seetal’s Seva: Feminism Through Service
The Guru Granth Sahib says in Sikh scripture: “None may exist without a woman.” That’s a nice goal—but gender equality, Seetal Ahluwalia says, “is not where it could be or should be.” That’s why she created Young Khalsa Girls when she was just 10 years old.
An Open Letter to My LGBTQ Siblings in the United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church voted this week to affirm the denomination’s anti-gay positions and rejected a plan that would have made LGBTQ inclusion an issue for local churches to decide. This is my response—as a feminist theologian, a queer woman and a Baptist in exile.
From Sexism to Sex Abuse in Southern Baptist Churches
I grew up Southern Baptist. I hold degrees from a Southern Baptist seminary. I taught at a Southern Baptist college. And I left the Southern Baptist Convention nearly 25 years ago because of their misogyny, anti-feminism and homophobia—but now, with headlines emerging about widespread abuse in the church, I feel compelled to offer an insider/outsider perspective.
In the Wake of #NunsToo, It’s Time for Repentance and Conversion
The sexual abuse of nuns is not the problem. It’s the symptom. The problem is patriarchy—and the church’s participation in, benefit from and maintenance of sexist structures of power.