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Animal Sacrifice and Sexuality in Santería
Source: Religion Dispatches
By: Nick Street
Wednesday September 23rd, 2009
In the wake of a religious freedom victory, scholar Salvador Vidal-Ortiz discusses the concepts of "newborns," "wives," and the role of gays and lesbians in Santería.A recent federal court ruling cast an unusually sympathetic gaze on Santería, a family of Afro-Caribbean cultural and religious practices that most Americans learn about (or imagine the ... more
Religiosity and Teen Birth Rate in the United States
Source: Reproductive Health Journal
By: Joseph Strayhorn and Jillian Strayhorn
Friday September 18th, 2009
BackgroundThe children of teen mothers have been reported to have higher rates of several unfavorable mental health outcomes. Past research suggests several possible mechanisms for an association between religiosity and teen birth rate in communities.MethodsThe present study compiled publicly accessible ... more
Number of Female Senior Pastors in Protestant Churches Doubles in Past Decade
Source: The Barna Group
Monday September 14th, 2009
After decades of no growth in the ranks of female senior pastors serving in Protestant churches, a new Barna study that has tracked the ratio of male-to-female pastors indicates that women have made substantial gains in the past ten years.From the early 1990s through 1999 just 5% of the Senior Pastors of Protestant churches were female. Since that time the proportion has slowly but steadil ... more
Gay Clergy: Where Large Protestant Churches Stand
Source: The Washington Post
By: The Associated Press
Monday August 24th, 2009
-- A look at where the largest Protestant churches stand on the issue of gay clergy:
- UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: 7.9 million U.S. members. The most conservative of the largest mainline denominations on gay clergy. An effort to repeal a ban on non-celibate gay clergy failed at the church's last General Conference, in 2008.
- EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA: ... more
A history of Episcopalian battles
Source: Scripps News
By: Terry Mattingly
Monday July 27th, 2009
The resolution from the 1979 Episcopal General Convention in Denver inspired a small wave of headlines, even though it simply restated centuries of doctrine about marriage. "We reaffirm the traditional teaching of the church on marriage, marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian sexual morality," it said. "Candidates for ordination are expected to conform to this standar ... more
Episcopalians' First Openly Gay Bishop Speaks
Source: The New York Times
By: Laurie Goodstein
Thursday July 16th, 2009
ANAHEIM, Calif. — This week, gay-rights advocates at the Episcopal Church convention here chalked up two major victories — moves that both liberals and conservatives agree are probably a turning point in their church's history.Earlier in the week, the church voted to open the door to ordaining openly gay bishops. And on Thursday the bishops voted to start the process of developing rite ... more
Religious Groups' Official Position on Same-Sex Marriage
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Tuesday July 14th, 2009
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.In 2005, the governing body of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. affirmed that "God's design for sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man and one woman" and that "homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching." In 2006, the church's southwestern regional board (which includes churches in Califor ... more
The Constitutional Dimensions of teh Smae-Sex Marriage Debate
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Tuesday July 14th, 2009
On May 21, 2009, the California Supreme Court closed another chapter in the state's long-running fight over same-sex marriage when it upheld a 2008 voter-approved ballot initiative, known as Proposition 8, which amended the California state constitution to ban gay marriage. A month earlier, on April 27, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that a state law defining marriage solel ... more
A Contentious Debate: Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Tuesday July 14th, 2009
A National ControversyIn recent years, the debate over same-sex marriage has grown from an issue that occasionally arose in a few states to a nationwide controversy. Indeed, in the last five years, the debate over gay marriage has been heard in the halls of the U.S. Congress, at the White House, in dozens of state legislatures and courtrooms, and in the rhetoric of election campaigns at bo ... more
Gay Marriage Around the World
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Thursday July 9th, 2009
In many countries around the globe, the institution of marriage is in flux as governments consider whether to allow gay and lesbian couples the right to marry or enter into other legally recognized forms of domestic partnership. Currently, countries around the world, mostly in Europe, offer varying levels of marriage rights to gay couples.
Public Opinion on Gay Marriage: Opponents Consistently Outnumber Supporters
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Thursday July 9th, 2009
Since 1996, when the Pew Research Center began polling on the issue, opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage have consistently outnumbered supporters, although by varying margins at different points in time. For instance, in 2004, just months after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage, a joint survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and t ... more
Spiritual Profile of Homosexual Adults Provides Surprising Insights
Source: The Barna Group
By: The Barna Group
Friday June 26th, 2009
The gay and lesbian population, which constitutes about 3% of adults, has garnered national attention in the past several years thanks to issues like gay marriage, gay adoption, and other gay rights conflicts. In the wake of those controversies and the spotlight aimed at gays, Americans have developed numerous assumptions about the lives of the homosexual population. A new survey by the Barna Grou ... more
Iranian Women Demand Change
Source: National Public Radio
By: Davar Iran Ardalan, Senior Producer
Monday June 8th, 2009
This week, one of Iran's leading women's rights activist, Sussan Tahmasebi, stopped by NPR to speak to Scott Simon about Iran's upcoming Presidential elections. Watch her YouTube video and scroll down further to read Tahmasebi's thoughts on how civil and political discourse in Iran has been influenced by the demands of women. You can listen to her radio interview with Scott tomorro ... more
Q&A: A Clash of Gay Rights? Gay Marriage and the Free Exercise of Religion
Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Friday May 22nd, 2009
With New Hampshire considering legislation that would make it the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage, could religious individuals and institutions that oppose gay marriage be required to recognize or even solemnize these unions? Although churches and other religious organizations, including charities and schools, have typically been exempt from state and local laws prohibiting discriminatio ... more
More Americans "Pro-Life" Than "Pro-Choice" for First Time
Source: Gallup, Inc.
By: Lydia Saad
Friday May 15th, 2009
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995. ... more
Mother of the Believers
Source: Amazon
By: Kamran Pasha
Tuesday April 14th, 2009
Deep in the heart of seventh-century Arabia, a new prophet named Muhammad has arisen. As his message of enlightenment sweeps through Arabia and unifies the warring tribes, his young wife Aisha recounts Muhammad's astonishing transformation from prophet to warrior to statesman. But just after the moment of her husband's greatest triumph -- the conquest of the holy city of Mecca -- Muha ... more
Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran
Source: Amazon
By: Azadeh Moaveni
Tuesday April 14th, 2009
From Publishers WeeklyIn her new memoir, American-born journalist Moaveni (Lipstick Jihad) returns to Tehran in 2005 to cover Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election for Time magazine, hoping to make the city her permanent home. Her plans are complicated by the standoff with the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program, as well as several unexpected turns in her ... more
Jewish Women's Archive
Source: JWA
Wednesday April 1st, 2009
The mission of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is to uncover, chronicle, and transmit to a broad public the rich history of American Jewish women.A national non-profit organization founded in 1995 and based in Brookline, MA, the Jewish Women's Archive presents the stories, struggles, and achievements of Jewish women in North America. We create and disseminate educational materials ... more
Sexual Politics in Modern Iran
Source: Cambridge University Press
By: Janet Afary
Monday March 30th, 2009
Janet Afary is a native of Iran and a leading historian. Her work focuses on gender and sexuality and draws on her experience of growing up in Iran and her involvement with Iranian women of different ages and social strata. These observations, and a wealth of historical documents, form the kernel of this book, which charts the history of the nation's sexual revolution from the nineteenth centu ... more
Most Mainline Protestants Say Society Should Accept Homosexuality
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Thursday March 19th, 2009
Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, two mainline Protestant denominations, are considering whether to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as members of their clergy. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that majorities of both denomination ... more
Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement
Source: Beacon Press
By: Kathryn Joyce
Monday March 2nd, 2009
A journalist's investigation of a Christian Right movement in which women put their fertility in the service of a patriarchal culture war.... more
What's your religion's view of marriage?
Source: UW Daily
By: Wade Caves, Thomas Cloud, Zakariya Dehlawi, and Natalie Sikavi
Sunday February 15th, 2009
Baha'i By Wade Caves The Baha'i view of marriage — indeed, the Baha'i view on anything — comes from the writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. While Baha'is believe these laws and writings are meant for all humankind, we are also reminded that only Baha'is can be held accountable to these laws. How can I hold anyone to the standards I hold myself to if we ... more
On the Shekhina's Wing
Source: The New Republic
By: Adam Kirsch
Wednesday February 4th, 2009
When Harold Bloom suggested, in The Book of J, that the oldest component of the Hebrew Bible was written by a woman--an aristocratic woman at King David's court, possibly even Bathsheba herself--he might not have been offering a testable scholarly hypothesis. But he was correctly drawing attention to the extraordinarily prominent and positive role of women in the Jewish scriptures. God may hav ... more
Abortion Views By Religious Affiliations
Source: Pew Forum
By: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Thursday January 15th, 2009
Thursday, Jan. 22 marks the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark abortion ruling, Roe v. Wade (1973). Abortion remains a divisive issue in the U.S., with a slim majority (53%) in favor of keeping it legal in all or most cases and four-in-10 in favor of making it illegal in all or most cases. However, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Ce ... more
Sex and the Seminary: Preparing Ministers for Sexual Health and Justice
Source: Religious Institute
By: Kate M. Ott, PhD, Study Director
Wednesday January 14th, 2009
Religious leaders have the potential to change society's understanding of sexuality through the power of the pulpit, pastoral care of individuals and families, and their presence in the media, politics, and civil society. At a time when many denominations and faith communities are embroiled in sexuality issues, there is an urgent need for leaders who understand the connections between religion ... more
MyOutSpirit
Source: MyOutSpirit
Sunday January 11th, 2009
Pro-gay inspiration and cultural commentary. ... more
Some Arab Women Find Freedom in the Skies
Source: The New York Times
By: Katherine Zoepf
Sunday December 21st, 2008
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Marwa Abdel Aziz Fathi giggled self-consciously as she looked down at the new wing-shaped brooch on the left breast pocket of her crisp gray uniform, then around the room at the dozens of other Etihad flight attendants all chatting and eating canapés around her.It was graduation day at Etihad Training Academy, where the national airline of the United Arab ... more
What's the Word? The Bible on gay marriage
Source: NPR
By: Talk of the Nation
Monday December 15th, 2008
Religious leaders often cite scripture as the basis for their opposition to gay marriage. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and host of the Albert Mohler Program, believes a strict reading of the text forbids gay marriage. But Lisa Miller, religion editor at Newsweek, contends the Bible's models of marriage are flawed, and its lessons about love actually arg ... more
Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians
Source: Whosoever Magazine
By: Candace Chellew-Hodge
Tuesday December 9th, 2008
With Christmas approaching, what better gift to give those you care about then a "Bulletproof Faith" – a faith that lives fully into its authentic self without fear, argument, or apology? You can do that, and get a little something for yourself in the deal.From now until December 31, 2008, when you order Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians through A ... more
Palin, Biden trade views on abortion
Source: CBS News
By: Katie Couric
Wednesday October 1st, 2008
(CBS) Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin have put in some very long days preparing for their Thursday night debate. To give voters a better sense of who these candidate are, and where they stand on a number of issues, CBS News anchor Katie Couric asked Biden and Palin some "Vice Presidential Questions." This installment tackles Roe v. Wade and Supreme Court decisions. Katie Couri ... more
I Don't: A contrarian view of the history of marriage
Source: New York Times Book Review
By: Susan Squire
Friday September 5th, 2008
If you've spent any part of the past year watching the spectacular train wrecks of celebrity marriages, you will know that recent public displays of carnage include the spattered bits of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Sheen, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Murray, Sir and Mrs. Paul McCartney, and Mr. and Mrs. Christie Brinkley. Watching the wealthy and famous bicker over children, vacation homes and Tupperware invari ... more
In bed with the right
Source: New York Times
By: Hanna Rosin
Friday August 29th, 2008
At this point, you almost have to feel sorry for the Christian right. The movement's most famous leaders are dead or fading from view. It's stuck with a presidential candidate who barely goes to church. It's losing gay marriage court cases left and right. Yet still, its ideological opponents are bent on discovering new corners of American life that conservative Christians have single-h ... more
Sexual Misconduct at Church
Source: Christianity Today
Friday August 22nd, 2008
From Christianity Today article about the survey: A new study of self-described "active Christian women" shows more than a quarter personally experienced sexually inappropriate behavior, and one fourth of those that experienced it said it happened i ... more
Faithful Peace, Peaceful Faith
Source: Progressio
By: Jane McGrory
Monday August 4th, 2008
Drawing on first-hand accounts from over twenty women of faith, including nuns and other members of religious congregations and faith-based communities, the report explores the contributions of women of faith to peacebuilding efforts in Papua, East Timor and Mindanao in the Philippines.The report, 'Faithful Peace, Peaceful Faith', seeks to uncover why the peacebuilding work of wome ... more
Census reports more unmarried couples living together
Source: USA Today
By: Sharon Jayson
Tuesday July 29th, 2008
The number of opposite-sex couples who live together, less than a million 30 years, hit 6.4 million in 2007, show federal data released Monday. Cohabiting couples now make up almost 10% of all opposite-sex U.S. couples, married and unmarried.
That's up from 2006, when the Census bureau reported 5 million unmarried, opposite-sex househol ... more
The Uncensored Bible
Source: Amazon
By: John Kaltner, Steven Mckenzie, Joel Kilpatrick
Monday July 14th, 2008
From Publishers Weekly: In this unexpectedly delightful (if juvenile) little book, two Bible professors and a journalist unpack some of the more outrageous interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, focusing on juicy tales of sex, dysfunctional families and body parts. What if Eve was not made from Adam's rib bone but, as one biblical scholar has suggested, h ... more
A hard pill to swallow
Source: National Post
By: Charles Lewis
Saturday July 12th, 2008
In the late 1960s, the sexual revolution was in full swing, free love was the order of the day and the widespread use of the birth control pill made experimentation all the easier.For faithful Catholics, who had lived with an absolute ban on artificial birth control, oral contraception seemed to offer a loophole. Physician John Rock, co-inventor of the pill and an ardent Catholic with five ... more
Muhajababes
Source: Amazon
By: Allegra Stratton
Thursday July 10th, 2008
From Amazon.com:
"Muhajababes will disabuse you of your preconceptions of the Middle East forever."—The Times Literary Supplement
"Fascinating. . . . Muhajababes is direct, energetic, and unpretentious."—Guardian
"Littered with funny, often charming moments. . . . [Allegra] Stratton has a candid style, not only with the reader, but with her respondents, who clea ... more
Sin, Sex, and Democracy
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Cynthia Burack
Tuesday July 1st, 2008
From the Synopsis: While the Christian Right has spearheaded a variety of antigay projects over the past fifteen years, including interventions in public schools, antigay-rights initiatives, and support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, observers of the institutionalized Christian Right have also noted a softening of antigay public rh ... more
The Rights of Women in Islam
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Asghar Ali Engineer
Tuesday July 1st, 2008
From the Synopsis: Elaborate and thorough, this overview studies countless aspects regarding women's relationship to Islam—from their status in the pre-Islamic period and various traditions surrounding marriage to forms of divorce during that period, dower, and customs regarding slave-girls. It goes on to deal with the post-Islamic era, the Qur'anic ... more
Perspectives on Gender & Religion
Source: PBS: Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason
Wednesday June 25th, 2008
Archives of conversations about gender and religion on the "Faith & Reason" show. ... more
Matrilineal Ascent/Patrilineal Decent: The Gender Imbalance in American Jewish Life
Source: Hadassah-Brandeis Institute
By: Sylvia Barack Fishman and Daniel Parmer
Tuesday June 24th, 2008
From the Institute's site: A new study published by The Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute finds that as the liberal Jewish community empowers its women, its men appear to be losing interest in their Jewishness.According to a report in JTA, which published parts of the study, "outside t ... more
Sex & the Soul
Source: Christian Science Monitor
By: Donna Freitas
Wednesday May 28th, 2008
It began in a college course on dating, where students' honest feelings dribbled out about the sexual ethos on campus. Most were quite unhappy with the "hookup culture" – the casual sex many felt pressed to participate in but secretly hated. That class at a Roman Catholic college gave birth to a national research project and to this candid, disturbing, yet ultimately hopeful new book by Donna ... more
Daughters of Wisdom
Source: Daughters of Wisdom
Friday May 23rd, 2008
Daughters of Wisdom is an intimate portrait of the nuns of Nangchen, who are receiving unprecedented educational and religious training, and preserving their rich cultural heritage even as they slowly reshape it. Some shy, some outspoken, all committed to the often difficult life they have chosen, the nuns graciously allowed our camera a never-before-seen g ... more
Women of the Way
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Sallie Tisdale
Monday May 19th, 2008
In this groundbreaking work, Sallie Tisdale traces women Buddhist masters and teachers across continents and centuries, drawing upon historical, cultural, and Buddhist records to bring to life these narratives of ancestral Buddhist women. ... more
Gender & Religion Links
Source: Gender & Religion Links
By: Geoffrey Samuel
Monday May 19th, 2008
These links were provided as a resource for students on the University of Newcastle subject GEND202 Religion and Politics in Contemporary Society. ... more
Leveling the Playing Field
Source: Jewess,
By: Shifra Bronznick, Didi Goldenhar, and Marty Linsky
Thursday May 1st, 2008
The result of years of collective research and consulting work by Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community (AWP) and Cambridge Leadership Associates (CLA), Leveling the Playing Field is...meant to be a guidebook for those who "believe that gender equity is vital to the health of Jewish communities and want to turn [their] beliefs into producti ... more
Surprised by God
Source: Amazon
By: Danya Ruttenberg
Monday April 28th, 2008
From Publishers Weekly: In this memoir of her journey from punk-partying atheist teenager to rabbi-in-training (yarmulke and all), Ruttenberg chronicles the awakening and intensification of religious life. The book's breezy style, mixing personal anecdotes with reflection, is balanced by thoughtful narrative about what religion is and what it demands of ... more
Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians
Source: Barna Group
Monday April 7th, 2008
Recent legislation, lawsuits and public demonstrations over the legality of gay marriage are just one battlefront regarding the institution of marriage. A new study released by The Barna Group, of Ventura, California, shows that the likelihood of married adults getting divorced is identical among born again Christians and those who are not born again. The study also cited attitudinal data showing ... more
God's Troublemakers
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Katharine Rhodes Henderson
Wednesday March 19th, 2008
Library Journal description: After interviewing 11 women making a difference in their communities through the founding of relief organizations, Presbyterian minister Henderson (executive VP, Auburn Theological Seminary, New York), herself a "social entrepreneur," wrote this book to recognize their efforts and inspire others. The 11 women profiled are from a ... more
Virgin: The Untouched History
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Hanne Blank
Wednesday March 19th, 2008
Barnes & Noble synopsis: Why has an indefinable state of being commanded the attention and fascination of the human race since the dawn of time? In Virgin, Hanne Blank brings us a revolutionary, rich and entertaining survey of an astonishing untouched history. From the simple task of determining what constitutes its loss to why it matters t ... more
Young Nuns
Source: PBS
By: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
Thursday February 14th, 2008
In the latest figures for 2006, there were just over 945,000 monks and nuns, down about 7,000 from the year before. The overwhelming majority, 753,000, about 80 percent, were women. Around the U.S. the number of nuns has also been going down, and their average age rising. But there are a few places where the reverse is true. ... more
SoulForce
Source: SoulForce
Thursday January 17th, 2008
The mission of Soulforce is to cut off homophobia at its source -- religious bigotry. Soulforce uses a dynamic "take it to the streets" style of activism to connect the dots between anti-gay religious dogma and the resulting attacks on the lives and civil liberties of LGBT Americans. We apply the creative direct action principles taught by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to peacefully resist in ... more
Conceiving Parenthood
Source: Amazon
By: Amy Laura Hall
Wednesday January 2nd, 2008
From Publishers Weekly: Hall, who teaches theological ethics at Duke, combines perceptive reading with stirring criticism of the corporate-inspired family ideals that have come to pervade the American Christian mainstream. Focusing on the Methodist experience, Hall's narrative potentially resonates across the theological spectrum. How did a denomination ... more
Eternally Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Modern Jewish Poetry
Source: Amazon
By: Anne Lapidus Lerner
Monday December 24th, 2007
"In this wide-ranging work, Lapidus Lerner shows how the typical depiction of Eve as a subservient, and as an evil temptress is wrong. Through a close reading of biblical and rabbinic texts, as well as modern Hebrew, Yiddish, and English poems, she shows a much more complex and interesting Eve. Her method, which allows each text to speak for itself, and to gain more depth through juxtaposition to ... more
The Torah: A Woman's Commentary
Source: Amazon
By: Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
Monday December 24th, 2007
"This is wonderful rendition of our most sacred text, the Women's Commentary will bring a fresh perspective to our people's story. It will be an extraordinary resource that will prove both useful and meaningful to all - men and women alike - who delve into its pages." Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Union for Reform Judaism... more
The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam
Source: Barnes & Noble
By: Lamia Rustum Shehadeh
Monday November 12th, 2007
From Reed Business Information: Shehadeh (American Univ. of Beirut) carefully studies the lives and writings of nine 20th-century Islamic fundamentalist ideologs.... Revealing contradictions between what is advocated for urban women and what is advocated for rural women who must work in the fields...Shehadeh synthesizes her findings and constructs a powerful theory of gender dynamics in contempora ... more
Sisters of the Buddha
Source: Amazon
By: Venerable Yifa
Wednesday October 31st, 2007
Like all other world religions, Buddhism has had its share of controversies regarding women's roles. Yifa, a Chinese Buddhist nun, looks at the role of women in early Buddhism, appraises the controversial "eight rules" that women have to obey in order to become Buddhist nuns and examines the social conditions of women throughout the Buddhist world.Yifa concentrates on the still largely ... more
Jewels of Authority
Source: Amazon
By: Laurie Patton, Ed.
Wednesday October 31st, 2007
The essays in this collection address the problem of Hindu women's relationship to authority, both within and without the textual traditions of Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and English. The authors adopt a method of close textual and ethnographic reading, which results in some surprisingly new and subtle ways of interpreting older, more "classical" discourses, such as Veda and Mimamsa, as well as n ... more
Infidel
Source: Amazon
By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Saturday October 6th, 2007
From Publishers Weekly: Readers with an eye on European politics will recognize Ali as the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated). Even before then, her attacks on Islamic culture as ... more
Women and the Contested State: Religion, Violence, and Agency in South and Southeast Asia
Source: Amazon
By: Monique Skidmore and Patricia Lawrence
Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Throughout South and Southeast Asia, groups battle over definitions of identity--in direction and character--for their state, a struggle complicated by the legacy of colonialism. The contributors to this volume explore the intricate, dynamic relationships that pertain between women's agency and the state-making institutions and armed forces of Kashmir, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Burma ( ... more
Women's Ordination Conference
Source: WomensOrdination
Monday September 17th, 2007
Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) is the world's oldest and largest national organization working solely for women to be ordained as deacons, priests and bishops into an inclusive Roman Catholic Church. ... more
Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir
Source: Amazon
By: Shalom Auslander
Monday September 10th, 2007
From Publishers Weekly: Auslander, a magazine writer, describes his Orthodox Jewish upbringing as theological abuse in this sardonic, twitchy memoir that waits for the other shoe to drop from on high. The title refers to his agitation over whether to circumcise his soon to be born son, yet another Jewish ritual stirring confusion and fear in his soul. F ... more
Jihad For Love
Source: ajihadforlove.com
By: Parvez Sharma
Friday September 7th, 2007
Fourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam today is the world's second largest and fastest growing religion. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims.Filmed over 5 1/2 years, in 12 count ... more
Flowchart of Medieval Sexual Decisionmaking from 'Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'
Source: boingboing
By: James Brundage
Friday August 24th, 2007
'In his book "Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe," James Brundage creates a truly fantastic flow chart explaining when one can and (mostly) cannot engage in the physical act of love.At the time, a lot of Christian theology basically took the form of lists of things one wasn't allowed to do, so this flow chart probably isn't far off from the real decision ... more
And Adam Knew Eve: A Dictionary of Sex in the Bible
Source: ronalddecker.com
Monday August 20th, 2007
The biblical Hebrews, given God's commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28), had what Drorah O'Donnell Setel has alliteratively called a "preoccupation with procreation." That's why many of the stories and other passages in the Bible involve sex, and why many of these, unheard of in sermons and Sunday school lessons, remain little known among laity.The purpose of An ... more
The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past
Source: Barnes & Noble
Monday August 20th, 2007
More than a generation after the rise of women's history alongside the feminist movement, it is still difficult, observes Catherine Brekus, to locate women in histories of American religion. Mary Dyer, a Quaker who was hanged for heresy; Lizzie Robinson, a former slave and laundress who sold Bibles door to door; Sally Priesand, a Reform rabbi; Estela Ruiz, who saw a vision of the Virgin Mary-h ... more
Gay Religion: News of Religion and GLBT Folks
Source: Gay Religion
Monday August 20th, 2007
News and opinion on queer religious issues ranging from Gay Bishops to keeping watch on the 'Christian' right. ... more
Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers
Source: Amazon
Monday August 20th, 2007
"Regnerus does an excellent job of combining large-scale survey results with vivid interviews to provide a comprehensive portrayal of how sexuality and religion are related in the lives of American adolescents. The book shows how sexuality and religion interact in complex and sometimes surprising ways. It addresses important topics few other books on either sexuality or religion in adolescence hav ... more
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