Can queer theory be used as a tool to think about mental health? This is a question that has nagged me for a few years now, and in the fall, I had an opportunity to write about it for a course on liberation theology.
Category: Head
The category, Head, is for posts that make us think.
Marcus Borg, Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
This is a book which should have begun with its epilogue. It is at the end that Marcus Borg makes clear what is at stake for a twenty-first century treatment of the historical Jesus and why it matters.
What the hell is atonement?
Is it just that I’m thick? Or is it that no amount of finesse can rescue atonement from the sin of obscurantism? Nevertheless, having a good guide like this lends clarity to the challenge of addressing some of the most problematic strands of thinking in 21st century Christianity.
Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
With Canada’s federal liberal party leadership race coming to a close today, and a copy of the Booker–nominated novel, Scar Tissue, sitting unread on my book shelf, I decided to sit down yesterday and see for myself what I could learn about Michael Ignatieff.
United Church of Canada Launches Wondercafe
The United Church of Canada has officially launched a media campaign targeting the 30 – 45 demographic. The church is facing the fact that the majority of Canadians (& people everywhere), while regarding themselves as spiritual, no longer see spiritual value in church communities.
Revisiting the Progressive Christian Conversation
It’s time to reevaluate what has been a rather circumspect dance with a progressive christian congregation over the past year. There are times I find myself vehemently disagreeing or else saying: “Your concerns have nothing to do with my experience.”
The Future of the Page
How does one read a book whose fundamental premise is its own demise? It feels a bit like visiting an elderly relation in the old folks home. The conversation is at times awkward, at other times nostalgic and entertaining. After all, when someone (or something) has been around for quite a number of years, it…
Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida
Reviewing a collection of poems and short prose by Roo Borson is like reviewing a book of scripture. There is something in her voice that is spiritual, something that speaks, perhaps, beyond ordinary experience. And so a simple review is pointless, impossible even.
The Magdalene Moment, by Joanna Manning
In 1975, feminist theologian Sheila Collins noted that it was only five years earlier that women “began to take their own experience seriously as the basis for doing theology.” By her reckoning, half the human species has had roughly thirty–six years to play catch–up with the other half in this business of theological reflection – or at least the sort of reflection that emerges without compunction to adhere to male forms.
Written in the Flesh, by Edward Shorter
Although the title of Edward Shorter’s book suggests a discussion of erotic desire, in fact, Shorter offers a book about erotic desire of a particular sort – the desire to eroticize every last inch of our bodies. His project is to trace what he believes is the inexorable trajectory of human sexuality to embrace “total body sex,” to engage all our senses in a fuller exploration of opportunities for pleasure.
Whoring myself for Google rankings
Earlier in the summer I signed up with blogcritics.org, which provides an excellent mechanism to generate decent online content with the incidental benefit of increasing traffic to a contributor’s blog—a win-win situation. Here’s how it works
The Good Works of Ayela Linde, by Charlotte Forbes
An intelligent writer chooses her form wisely, then leverages it to yield meanings that would be impossible if she relied solely on words. Form is a container, like a bucket or a vase. Even before we inspect the contents, the container gives us clues, or at least raises expectations.
Pound for Pound, by F.X. Toole
F.X. Toole is best known as author of the short story which inspired the Oscar winning movie, Million Dollar Baby. He did not live to see the publication of his first novel, Pound For Pound, nor even to complete a polished draft. But given the subject matter – small-time boxers trying to make it to the pros – there would be something wrong with the novel if it didn’t read a little rough around the edges.
Why Progressive Christianity must change or die
As mentioned in my August 9th entry, I took the service at West Hill United Church on Sunday. Before the service began, something interesting happened. I had selected music that spoke to themes of beauty and prayer. The choir director approached me and said that we had to change one of the hymns.
The Wanton Sublime, by Anna Rabinowitz
In her third volume of poetry, The Wanton Sublime, Anna Rabinowitz creates an extended meditation upon the Annunciation—the moment that starts everything in traditional Christian believing—the moment the angel Gabriel appears to a young Mary and tells her she’s going to be the mother of God.