Category: current events

Interview with Ivone Gebara

I just finished reading a great interview with Catholic feminist theologian Ivone Gebara of Brazil.  http://iglesiadescalza.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-pope-has-good-will-but-he-cant.html

There are so many threads for me that come together here: my own experience as a Catholic woman and mother of Catholic daughters; years of study of church history, doctrine, Scripture, theology, and spirituality; my advocacy for social justice through NETWORK and other organizations; being an alumna of a women’s college; recent blogging reading and writing, including my Holy Saturday post and a reply to one of OM’s post on women and the priesthood, which I can’t seem to find at the moment so link is to his homepage; the women’s history month/feminist posts that I have been planning to get to for months and haven’t; and reaction to long-standing problems with oppression, violence, mutilation, and human trafficking around the world.

Serious stuff.  The top of my mind gets overwhelmed sometimes…

April fool

It’s April first, also known as April Fools’ Day, when pranks and practical jokes abound.

I am not participating and am attempting to avoid as much of the folderol as possible.

I have never enjoyed pranks and let’s just say that I am not known for my sense of humor. Or maybe more accurately, I don’t have a broad sense of humor, which most April-Fools’-Day-ness requires.

My natural resistance to it is only part of the story. There are just too many serious circumstances and happenings right now – both on a national/international level and among family and friends – for me to spend time dealing with jokes and false news stories and such.

So, I’m opting out and trying to get my head together to deal with the remainder of Holy Week and Easter amidst the challenges of winter-becoming-spring.

JC

Descriptions of Marriage

Re-blogging this post from my friend Rev. Pat Raube about the nature and definition of marriage and the decision yesterday of her church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), to establish marriage equality in their constitution:   http://swimmerinthefount.blogspot.com/2015/03/descriptions-of-marriage.html
I am happy to know that Pat can know officiate at weddings for any couple that is committed to living together as spouses. She writes:

As a result of this, the denomination in which I serve is now saying to all its members: You are welcome here. Your relationships are real and valid. God has made you who you know yourself to be, and we rejoice with you in what that means for the world. In your marriage we see– not pie in the sky perfection, but real human beings, children of God, striving to live with meaning and joy. Just like all the other married people, in the PCUSA, and beyond.

Amen!

Follow-up: Feminist Afghan Artist Forced into Hiding

Thanks for sharing this. Such courage should be applauded, not derided.

IdealisticRebel's avataridealisticrebel

This entire story has really caught the imagination of women around the world.  The bravery of this talented, courageous, creative woman lit up hope in the hearts of many women and feminist men.  Now, she has had to go to ground to protect herself.  Even though there will be those who say “well, she shouldn’t have done it in the first place”, progress is made by those who extend themselves beyond the normal bounds of society to the betterment of all.

I will be keeping up with this story, as best I can, so we all know what happens to this wonderful young woman.

bjwordpressdivider

After Protesting Sexual Violence, Afghan Artist Forced into Hiding

  • by Laura C. Mallonee on March 9, 2015 – From Hyperallergic.com

kubrakademiagain

An Afghan artist who enacted a performance against sexual molestation in a crowded Kabul marketplace has been forced into hiding,AFP reported.

Kubra Khademi had hired a local…

View original post 613 more words

The Tohoku Earthquake Four Years Later

Sending thanks to Jay Dee Archer for this astonishing and heartfelt post about the earthquake/tsunami in Japan four years ago.

Jay Dee's avatarI Read Encyclopedias for Fun

It’s now March 11th.  At 2:46 pm Japan time on March 11th, 2011, the fourth most powerful recorded earthquake struck northeastern Japan off the coast of Tohoku.  I was in Yokohama at the time, and never in my life have I felt such violent shaking of the earth.  It’s an experience I will never forget.

Looking back, I’m amazed that it’s been four years since the earthquake and tsunami.  15,889 people died, most from the tsunami.  The buildings held up to the 9.0 magnitude earthquake remarkably well.  It was the tsunami that was devastating.  Not only did it destroy or severely damage numerous villages, towns, and cities, it also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and caused a level 7 meltdown.  The surrounding area was evacuated and is still restricted.  Few are permitted to enter the vicinity of the power plant.  60% of the people who lost their homes…

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Lessons from Selma, Ferguson, and Seneca Lake

This morning I watched coverage on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the first attempt at the voting rights march in Selma, Alabama. I am re-blogging my post from January after I saw the film “Selma” which draws together the story of the march with recent events.
– JC

Joanne Corey's avatarJoanne Corey

When the events depicted in the film Selma occurred, I was a four-year-old girl in rural New England.  I do remember seeing Dr. King on the news when I was a bit older and definitely remember his assassination in 1968 in the midst of the Memphis strike by black public works employees who were facing discrimination.  It was incomprehensible – then and now – that a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of such an important social movement could have been only 39 when he died. Because he was such a force and martyred so young, his legacy became a legend, masking his complexity as a human being. While the public life of some of those around King, such as Ambassador Andrew Young and Rep. John Lewis, was decades long and vital to keeping the civil rights movement going forward while remembered its momentous, if painful, past, King’s life has…

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Margaret Anna Fridays – on human trafficking

Although I am late for the official media campaign, I wanted to share this movingl blog post from Sister Susan. I hope that the End Modern Slavery Initiative Act of 2015 will be passed in Congress and signed into law.
– JC

Margaret Anna Fridays – on human trafficking.

Farewell, Colbert Report!

We have watched – okay, recorded and watched at a more reasonable hour – the entire run of The Colbert Report. We will miss Stephen’s smart, wickedly funny but pointed humor and wish him well with his new gig, after, one hopes, a well-deserved rest.

In tribute, I offer this link to a clip of the song from his finale with the people labelled. I knew it had to exist somewhere…

Not One Well!!!!!!!!

Hours ago, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that high volume hydraulic fracturing will be banned in New York State. I am thrilled with the news, if a bit dazed. After spending countless hours on this issue over the last several years, the whole fractivist community is relieved and celebrating!

I will get to slow down on commentary a bit, but I’m sure that I and other NY fractivists will continue to fight expanded fossil fuel infrastructure and waste disposal in NY, as well as continue to help other states to rein in the pollution and health impacts that fracking is causing.

But now, from my home in New York on the PA border, I can proudly state:  Not One Well!

lake effect snow update

Yesterday, I posted about the lake effect snow storms afflicting several areas in the US, including western New York State just south of Buffalo. Sadly, there have been twelve deaths attributed to the storm so far. Because so many feet of snow are very heavy, there have been some roof collapses with more feared to come.

Some areas are still receiving additional snowfall. The forecast predicts a warm front with some rain arriving over the weekend. This has only heightened worries of more roof collapses as the rain adds weight to the feet of accumulated snow. People are trying to clean snow off roofs as quickly as possible, but the area is quite densely populated and many roads are still inaccessible for help and equipment to arrive.

The other very real threat is flooding. With temperatures predicted to climb to 60 degrees F. (15 degrees C.), the snow will melt rapidly and street and small stream flooding is most likely unavoidable.

All brought to you by global warming. Remember, even though this is a cold weather event, it was started by a tropical typhoon.