Empathy

On Making It Better

By |

It had to happen sooner or later: critiques of the “It Gets Better” campaign. But not from antigay religious conservatives; oh no, that would be too easy. Instead, the critique appears to be coming from the left, and it comes down mostly to the following: the campaign is too assimilationist; it only really supports white middle-class young gay men and its vision for them is that they will turn into Dan Savage, though perhaps with fewer insights about how to write a sex column. Left out of the equation are women, queers of color, transyouth, and poor LGBTQ young people, according to these critiques (well-represented by Jasbir Puar’s piece, which ends by claiming that the campaign might be making things worse for queer youth who don’t fit the wealthy white male profile). Then there’s Danah Boyd’s research on how teens in general don’t conceptualize bullying the way adults do, with the consequence that well-intended adult attempts to address teen bullying are falling on largely deaf teen ears.

Empathy

"I wanted to be part of something bigger… Instead, I felt l was part of something really small, and weak, and I was scared."

By |

On Sunday December 5th, Afghan children and a U.S. combat veteran shared their experiences of the war with each other and people across the world. Their stories were heart-breaking, their mutual calls for an end to the war powerful and clear, and their gift to anyone willing to truly listen and learn about the situation in Afghanistan is priceless. You can take part in the next two conversations on Sunday December 12th and 19th. Hosanna People’s Seminary, Christian Peace Witness, St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, working with Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers have put together these amazing Sunday morning conversations.

Culture

Reddit: Being Touched by My Home Base

By |

A person reveals a lot by the website they choose for their home page. Some people want to have their own blog; others have Google news. There have been times when I’ve had both of those, but for the past four years I’ve been firmly linked to Reddit. Reddit is a community forum on which people post, either their own comments or links to sites, news, pictures, whatever. Users can comment on these posts, and discussions, sometimes heated ones, follow.

Culture

Guest Post: "Making the Internet Moral," By Chris Stedman

By |

Is the Internet destroying our morals? Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI issued a warning that the Internet was “numbing” young people and creating an “educational emergency – a challenge that we can and must respond to with creative intelligence.” Speaking at a Vatican conference on culture, Benedict also expressed concern that “a large number of young people” are “establish[ing] forms of communication that do not increase humaneness but instead risk increasing a sense of solitude and disorientation.” Benedict’s comments created an uproar, but he has a point.Studies show that Internet addiction is linked to depression; in 2007, the comedy websiteCracked offered a surprisingly moving take on this phenomenon titled “7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable.” It’s tempting, knowing this, to suggest that we all take a step away from our keyboards, turn off our computers, and go find a field to frolic in.

Christianity

Faith, Feminism, and Finding a Balance

By |

Last weekend I was invited to take part in the 4th annual Faith and Feminism/Womanist/Mujerista conference at herchurch in San Francisco. The theme this year was “Reclaiming the Divine Feminine — pathways to a sustainable world.” Now, I consider myself a feminist in that I support equal rights and protection for women and believe that women have unique experiences that give them a different perspective on life and different needs than men, but I’m not the type to identify myself as a feminist first and foremost. And I’ve never been to a feminist conference. You could probably call me a mainstream feminist.

Culture

Compassionate Care During Illness and Loss: The True Nature of Suffering

By |

by Brenda Shoshanna
Many, many questions arise in our minds when someone close to us is seriously ill. It takes a while to realize that these questions do not have one answer. They have many answers, appear in different ways, and may have different impacts on us at different times. In a sense a finger is being pointed in our direction. These questions are demanding a response .

Culture

The Use and Misuse of Names

By |

I intuitively feel that these experiences, mystical but also sensual and embodied, are the core of spirituality and the foundation that religions build their vast tottering edifices upon: these experiences that work for us, that we then work hard to name and explicate in full logical or fantastically elaborated detail. Naming is not only important but unavoidable … but once the naming develops into major exclusionary truth claims, … and once these get identified with the worldly power involved in religious organization then all the power of the experience gets harnessed to the groupthink and the powerplays (exclusions, repressions and crusades) and we have the worst of religion. Dave Belden in response to How I Became a Pagan

Reading Dave’s comment, I was reminded of Deepak Chopra’s saying “God gave humans the truth, and the devil came and he said, ‘Let’s give it a name and call it religion.'” There is an inescapable tension between experience and the words we use to describe that experience, which cannot help but remove us from the experience itself.

art

Fairytales: One Antidote to Bullying

By |

I can’t help but wonder if lives have actually been saved because of stories, the lasting solace and courage people find in them. And I can’t help wondering if lives are being lost because people have no stories or are in the wrong story.