escapingbabylon.com

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.
Losing my religion for equality | theage.com.au.

via:Eugene Cho

A little bit of old news, but I wanted to point people to this Jimmy Carter’s article outlining his decision to leave the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m not a part of the Southern Baptist Convention in large part because of this very reason, so I support/endorse his decision. You should check out the article, it’s very well written, and it also contains this gem.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.

The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity.

I haven’t heard about this group at all, but it intrigues me, so I’ll be looking into, and checking out what they do. Only, after I finish this paper.

Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » What NOT To Do At SDCC.

So while being distracted from writing my paper I go check out Newsarama. San Diego Comicon is happening right now and it’s honestly the biggest comic-related event of the year. So I’m dismayed (as is the Blog@Newsarama team) that EA has basically decided to run the contest above.

Yeah, basically they want you to sexually objectify women at the con so that you can win the opportunity to sexually objectify two more women.

Here I was ready to roll my eyes at the comic industry once again, when I go luck at the twitter search for #lust. The hashtag is almost completely taken over by comic book fans protesting/decrying this competition.

I know there’s a hard working feminist community in Comicdom, and I’m not sure I’d call this a victory yet, but it’s definitely a heck of a fight.

By saying what she said about gay unions moments after the swimsuit competition, Ms. California was basically telling the world, “We do the same things, but for gay people it’s sin. Lust is good, objectifying my body is normal, the fulfillment of all desire is good.” Then, on the other hand, she says to the gay and lesbian world, “But you can’t do any of this, because you’re different.”

Such an episode reveals the inner contradiction of our own sexual life and politics as evangelicals.

via:Miss California and the Politics of Sexual Redemption | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.

One of the many thoughts that have come to my mind since starting seminary is that Sex, Sexuality, Orientation, Gender Identity  and the “politics”  surrounding all of these things are very complicated and are rarely addressed (both inside and outside the church) in a way that reflects that there are more dimensions to this than political lines would have you think.

The article above from Christianity Today looks at it from a different viewpoint, and I think it makes some very good points. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I love design, and one of the more recent things I’ve been fascinated with are kinetic type videos. Type is very communicative, there’s a lot you can do with just type and motion. Here are a couple of videos that illustrate it

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Typefaces give us signals from erik spiekermann on Vimeo

. via Presentation Zen

And if you don’t mind some (a lot) swearing check out the Pulp Fiction speech.