A recent Salon article analyzing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to children notes accurately that the culture-wide acceptance of violence over sex deserves some critical attention. The assessment, however, doesn’t mention how religious values might shape the prevailing viewpoint that minors need to be shielded from sexually explicit materials but not from violent video games.
More pointedly, in their reporting on violence against the LGBT community, journalists should probe the religious roots of our culture’s lopsided relationship to sex and violence.
…
The relationship between the tolerance of violence and intolerance toward diverse expressions of human sexuality urgently needs to be examined but is often missing in reportage on the murder of gays and transsexuals. More specifically, exploring the religious culture that informs the belief systems of both the murder suspects and the community at large can deepen the analysis in these stories.
So far, it seems to be the best-written primer on the subject I’ve found. Not so jarring as to turn off the exploratory reader. Doesn’t take concepts for granted. Doesn’t spend a lot of time arguing, either. It’s an introduction to, not a defense of.
I haven’t finished, but I recommend it if you’re interested in the subject…
A recent article on CNNMoney.com asks the question, “Why do new female college grads earn 17% less than men?” It’s a question worth asking, in a society supposedly trending toward equality.
While women are completing 57% of the four-year degrees earned in the US, and are actually hired at a higher rate than their male counterparts, their actual pay lags males’ significantly, even in identical jobs.
By Anne Fisher, contributor
FORTUNE — If you’re a woman about to graduate from college (or have a daughter who is), the National Association of Colleges and Employers has some disconcerting news for you.
First, the bright side: You probably won’t have more trouble finding a job than the guy sitting next to you. In almost every year since 1994, unemployment among female grads has been lower than for their male counterparts. In 2010, it was 8.1% for women, versus 10.3% for men.
Great, but here’s the rub: Even if you snag the exact same job as your male classmate, you’ll probably get paid 17% less.
At least, that’s what happened last year. NACE research director Ed Koc analyzed starting salaries of 2010 bachelor’s degree graduates and found that women pulled down an average of $36,451, vs. $44,159 for men.
You might suppose that’s a result of men choosing majors that lead to higher-paying jobs. But the NACE study found that men usually come out ahead even in the same fields. One exception: Engineering. Because only about 18% of engineering grads are female, women engineers “are highly sought-after ‘commodities’ and command a premium price,” NACE reports.
The conclusion is that women are less likely than men to push for higher pay, and need to be more aggressive in demanding higher salaries. But it is also the responsibility of institutions to ensure equitable practices, not only when they are “demanded.”
I spend a lot of time pointing to the sins of churches, and how poorly they handle their failures. Here’s an example of – yes, church sin, which is inexcusable – but also of a church trying to do the right thing in acknowledging, owning and repenting of that sin. And what happens? Their INSURANCE COMPANY won’t let them?
It’s pretty messed up…
When officials at Vienna Presbyterian Church decided to acknowledge the church’s failures in handling reports of sexual abuse by a youth ministries director, they thought it might upset some in the congregation.
What surprised them was the admonishment from the church’s insurance company. And it wasn’t the church’s lapses in responding to the abuse a half-decade ago that bothered the insurer — it was the church’s plan to admit those lapses and apologize to the victims.
The insurance company’s position was clear: On March 23, a lawyer hired by the company, GuideOne Insurance, sent a warning to church officials:
“Do not make any statements, orally, in writing or in any manner, to acknowledge, admit to or apologize for anything that may be evidence of or interpreted as (a suggestion that) the actions of Vienna Presbyterian Church … caused or contributed to any damages arising from the intentional acts/abuse/misconduct” by the youth director.
It’s far too late for this advice (corporate culture has WRECKED spiritual sensibilities) but: Don’t mix business and religion. Ah, perhaps this even more directly: don’t mix capitalism and spirituality.
IF YOU’RE READING THIS POST TODAY, THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY PRETTY MUCH F*CKED, BECAUSE JESUS CAME BACK TODAY, AND CLEARLY YOU’RE STUCK READING THIS BLOG AND WONDERING WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED.
SINCE I AM MOST CERTAINLY IN HEAVEN AT THIS TIME, I HAVE SET THIS POST TO PUBLISH AT 10:30AM AUTOMATICALLY. ASSUMING WORDPRESS (AND MOST OF THE WEB, IN GENERAL) IS RUN BY GODLESS SINNERS, I’M SURE YOU’LL HAVE NO TROUBLE WITH ACCESSING THE SITE.
FIRST OF ALL: DON’T PANIC. THE WATER’S STILL RUNNING. THERE’S STILL ELECTRICITY. YOU MAY FIND SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO USED TO JUDGE YOU ARE STRANGELY ABSENT. THAT’S UNFORTUNATE FOR YOU, BECAUSE THEY WERE YOUR BEST CHANCE OF GETTING OFF THIS STINKING ROCK. BYGONES. YOU MAY HAVE THOUGHT YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN, BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU WEREN’T TRYING HARD ENOUGH. I RECOMMEND FINDING YOUR CHECKBOOK, WRITING OUT A LARGE CHECK, AND SENDING IT TO THE 700 CLUB, OR YOUR LOCAL BAPTIST CHURCH. IT’S NOT THAT THE MONEY WILL ACTUALLY GO ANYWHERE. EVERYONE AT THOSE PLACES HAS CLEARLY BEEN RAPTURED. BUT THE EXERCISE OF SENDING MONEY TO SANCTIFIED PLACES WILL HELP PREPARE YOUR HEART FOR THE INEVITABLE BEHEADING YOU’RE GOING TO ENDURE…
THAT’S RIGHT. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE THAT YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN. IF YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN BEFORE, YOU’LL NEED TO LIE, AND SAY YOU WEREN’T, AND THAT’S WHY YOU WEREN’T RAPTURED. WHY? BECAUSE SIMPLE ANSWERS ARE EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND. ONCE THE COMING ONE-WORLD-GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES YOU AS A SELF-PROFESSED CHRISTIAN, THEY’LL ARRIVE SHORTLY TO CHOP OFF YOUR HEAD. IT’S WHAT POST-APOCALYPTIC ONE-WORLD-GOVERNMENTS DO. THANK GOODNESS YOU SENT OFF THAT CHECK, EH? WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING WITH THAT MONEY NOW, ANYWAY?
I WISH I COULD TELL YOU THAT A SPRY, SEXUALLY-COME-HITHER KIRK CAMERON WOULD BE ON HAND TO HELP GUIDE YOU TO YOUR GLORIOUS DEMISE, BUT CLEARLY THAT WAS ONLY A MOVIE ROLE. KIRK CAMERON AND I ARE HERE IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW, SIPPING NON-ALCOHOLIC DAIQUIRIS WITH NEWT GINGRICH AND ANDY DICK (YES, ANDY DICK – WHO KNEW?!)
GOOD LUCK MY FRIENDS, AND REMEMBER: THE BILLBOARDS WARNED US. YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED, INSTEAD OF ROLLING YOUR EYES AND DRIVING THAT UPPITY PRIUS, LIKE THAT WAS GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD. NOW STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE (I CAN SWEAR NOW – I’M IN HEAVEN) AND GET TO WORK!
Don’t think sexism is a glaring issue in contemporary society today? Think you can look the other way? Just an issue for bra-burning militant feminists who can’t let go of the ’60s?
…
This article is sobering. Yes, it only deals with allegations. You can argue it away, because there was no conviction, but that’s at the heart of systemic misogyny itself. No convictions. Scattered allegations without support, without validation, without credibility… Folks, we have serious issues at every echelon. Racism, yes. Homophobia, yes. But we cannot deal with racism and homophobia without addressing this: our schools, our workplaces, our churches, our social circles – we are surrounded and saturated by systemic oppression, normalized and validated by popular culture, casual conversation and dominant chauvinism (by the way, baptized and sanctified by mainstream Christianity):
A Texas high school cheerleader was kicked off the squad for refusing to chant the name of a basketball player – the same athlete she said had raped her four months earlier – lost a U.S. Supreme Court appeal Monday.
You know me, I’m not always “best” in reformational-mode (so my indignation should be generally suspect) but I say: bang some drums. Raise some shit. Be that person your family and friends are tired of hearing from, because you sound like a goddamn broken record. Nothing changes the world like changing the world around you…
I’m an M.Div student at George Fox Seminary, and a contributing writer in Spencer Burke’s Out of theOOZE (NavPress), Leonard Sweet’s Church of the Perfect Storm (Abingdon Press) and Christian Piatt’s Banned Questions About Jesus (Chalice Press).
I’m a liberal, an egalitarian, a deconstructionist, an Outlaw Preacher, and a loudmouth. I want to be your friend...
Recent Comments