Eight years ago Black Lives Matter burst onto the national scene as a line on a Facebook post turned into a hashtag. It became the rallying cry of a decentralized movement fighting against systemic police violence towards Black people. Some, taking offense at the highlighting of a particular group’s human value, fired back with, “all lives matter.” Others pointed to the example of violence against police and responded with, Blue Lives Matter. So which lives matter?
[Read more…] about Which Lives (Actually) Matter?Becoming Human
What does it mean to be human?
Are you truly and fully human right now?
Or perhaps there you are still in the process of becoming human?
When I think about the Bible’s third cosmological myth, the story of The Fall, I cannot help but think that it invites us to believe that we both lost an aspect of our humanity, but also gained an opportunity to be even more human than before. And ultimately, all of these posts about sex and gender, are really about the journey of becoming human.
[Read more…] about Becoming HumanWhy Christianity Hates Wisdom (and Women)
How did Christianity become a faith that demands people suppress either their masculine or feminine, preventing them from embracing the wholeness of their humanity? Why is there a compulsion to suppress and subjugate women into “complementary” service roles? Could it be a misreading of the third great cosmological myth that opens the book of Genesis?
[Read more…] about Why Christianity Hates Wisdom (and Women)Paul and the (Dis)Order of Creation
If Genesis 2 portrays Adam and Eve as coequals engaging in reciprocal love that mirrors the very essence of God, then what do we make of the Apostle Paul and his order of creation talk? Did Paul misunderstand Genesis, or do we misunderstand Paul?
[Read more…] about Paul and the (Dis)Order of CreationWas Adam Androgynous?
“You are just a rib.” I still hate that some three decades ago those words dripped off my lips. I said them jokingly, but it was a joke also designed to demean. It belittled a fellow member of my high school youth group, and all women.
[Read more…] about Was Adam Androgynous?Let’s Talk About Sex … and Gender
I am going to guess that when you read the title, the word sex jumped off the page. Perhaps there was even a moment of titillation and excitement. After all, you are human and for most of us, sex is fun.
Or maybe you had a different response tied to the same physical act. Perhaps for you, sex is predominantly a tool of manipulation or an act of violence. Then again, it could be something you biologically yearn for but for any number of reasons, it is denied. Sex can bring up deep feelings of shame or confusion. For any of these readers, sex is anything but titillating and fun.
[Read more…] about Let’s Talk About Sex … and Gender