Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Friday, September 09, 2016
[ally or accomplice?]
I read a very challenging article recently. I don't know enough about the topic to make intelligent comments, but it does make me think about motives. Here's the introduction:
The ally industrial complex has been established by activists whose careers depend on the “issues” they work to address. These nonprofit capitalists advance their careers off the struggles they ostensibly support. They often work in the guise of “grassroots” or “community-based” and are not necessarily tied to any organization.
They build organizational or individual capacity and power, establishing themselves comfortably among the top ranks in their hierarchy of oppression as they strive to become the ally “champions” of the most oppressed. While the exploitation of solidarity and support is nothing new, the commodification and exploitation of allyship is a growing trend in the activism industry.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.indigenousaction.org/accomplices-not-allies-abolishing-the-ally-industrial-complex/
categories:
indigenous,
power
Tuesday, September 06, 2016
self-styled jesus
After the massacre in Orlando, one pastor in Sacramento was happy about the killings. Here's what he said in a sermon:
"Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? No, I think that's great. That helps society ..."
Can you imagine Jesus saying something like that?? I sure can't, but tragically, in some "Christian cultures", this is what happens....
Reference in cartoon is to Ezekiel:
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ Ezekiel 33:11 NIV
categories:
bullying,
exclusion,
hostility,
lgbtq,
western jesus
Wednesday, August 03, 2016
[these beautiful photos set trans and gender queer people free]
"An Australian photographer [Emma Leslie] created a breathtaking photo series that shows gender diverse and transgender children exactly how they want to be seen. The images are meant to give these children a voice, as transgender and gender queer people as a whole are often misunderstood."
Read the whole article and see more pictures at:
http://www.attn.com/stories/7606/photo-series-trans-gender-queer-kids
categories:
portraits,
transgender,
youth
Monday, August 01, 2016
[how to tell if your church is welcoming for transgender people]
Related to my exploration of declared spaces and uncertain spaces, an article on queertheology.com asks,
Is your church welcoming of transgender people? And if it is, does anyone know?Read the rest of the article...
Lots of churches declare their “open and affirming” status on their websites. Or they will put a rainbow flag on their church sign or website homepage. But those symbols often don’t tell the whole story. Many churches that have done a lot of work on gay and lesbian issues haven’t bothered to study anything about transgender people. They have outdated language on their websites or don’t mention transgender issues at all.
A second article on their site is titled: How do we reach more transgender people?
This one addresses the question:
Hello! We’d like to do outreach to the transgender community, but we’re not sure how. We’ve had trans worshipers in the past, but none currently. What’s the best way to reach trans people who are looking for a safe and affirming worship space?
https://www.queertheology.com/how-do-we-reach-more-transgender-people/Getting personal:
Callan Williams shares about her own experiences with various churches as a transperson, making it clear that the "transgender experience is essentially different than the lesbian, gay and bisexual experience in a number of ways."
Read the rest of the story at:
https://callan.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/welcoming-trans/
Monday, July 18, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
one vote short - for less than a day
Tonight was the vote on changing the Marriage Canon of the Anglican Church of Canada to include same-sex marriage. It passed the house of laity and the house of bishops, with over 2/3's majority in each. But in the house of clergy, it was one vote short of passing....
And then the next day, an error was discovered which shifted the motion into passing!!
"But will we be addressing root causes of homelessness among lgbtq youth?" wonders someone attending the 2016 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.
That's a good question. If ending homelessness is not just about providing housing, the root causes behind the homelessness of many people should be addressed, or we will just be treating the symptoms....
Yet is is much easier to provide some housing than it is to recognize and acknowledge that we are complicit in causing the problem. Let's take homeless lgbtq youth, for example. We are complicit because for years, the church has preached and acted against those who are part of sexual and gender minorities. Complicit because for years, the church has closed its heart to the least of these. Complicit because churches that are progressive in regard to their understanding of Scripture often still seem ashamed of the sexual and gender minorities in their midst, not offering a full and public welcome.
Read more here.
And read more here.
Saturday, July 09, 2016
[two key videos on systemic racial injustice]
Zakiya N. Jackson, whom I follow on Twitter, has recommended these two key videos on systemic racial injustice:
https://youtu.be/r4e_djVSag4
https://youtu.be/dw_mRaIHb-M
https://youtu.be/r4e_djVSag4
https://youtu.be/dw_mRaIHb-M
categories:
human rights,
racism
Friday, July 08, 2016
apology from the Baton Rouge Police Department
In memory of Alton Sterling, age 37, killed by Baton Rouge Police Department officers who responded to a report that a man selling CDs had threatened someone with a gun. July 5, 2016.
we just want to say
father of five in red shirt
selling CDs outside store
someone called in
an altercation
die Bullen pinned him to the ground
he's got a gun one shouted
the other did his sworn duty
and gored him to death
Forgive us
we had hoped to spar with a white dude
but the night was dark
and his dance card was full
poem by rob g
Read the story here.
Last stanza in poem refers to this:
If only #AltonSterling had this luxury. pic.twitter.com/uueoZE5eDP
— Anthony Anderson (@anthonyanderson) July 6, 2016
This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams. If you are new to my blog, be aware that this is a social commentary blog. Most posts are rather frank and some are hard-hitting. Read more about this blog.
Thursday, July 07, 2016
#equallyAnglican
"We are your LGBTQ friends and family
in the Anglican Church of Canada.
These are our stories."
Just out in advance of this year's General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, the #equallyAnglican Facebook page features almost 30 images of Anglicans (see sample below) as well as videos and more, sharing the stories of lgbtq friends and family in the Anglican Church of Canada.
Check it out!
Friday, July 01, 2016
depictions of god on this blog
Ah, yes. God is a man. Or at least, looks like a man.Those defaults that I've been taught all my life by the religious culture that I'm embedded in have really sunk in.
Until something shakes them up a bit:
It might seem like an innocuous tweet, but Broderick Greer is someone I pay attention to. And so after reading it, I thought to myself, oh, while I know that God is not a man with a beard, and while I have even depicted Jesus as a queer black female, I do sometimes depict God as a man with a beard.
Until something shakes them up a bit:
There is a photo floating around Twitter depicting God the Father as a man with a beard.— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) May 27, 2016
It might seem like an innocuous tweet, but Broderick Greer is someone I pay attention to. And so after reading it, I thought to myself, oh, while I know that God is not a man with a beard, and while I have even depicted Jesus as a queer black female, I do sometimes depict God as a man with a beard.
categories:
gender
Saturday, June 11, 2016
how Gentiles almost ended up not being part of the body of Christ
And many years later, Peter and the other Jewish followers of Jesus might still be debating whether Gentiles could or should be part of the kingdom of God.
Remind anyone of our current times?
Churches and denominations dialogue and debate and chat and argue about if and how our LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ can and should be included in the church in a way equal to the way cishet Christians are included.
And while this is carried on by people whose lives it does not directly affect in any way, our siblings in Christ are often left outside the door or in the back pew....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)