Christianity

Faith, Feminism, and Finding a Balance

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Last weekend I was invited to take part in the 4th annual Faith and Feminism/Womanist/Mujerista conference at herchurch in San Francisco. The theme this year was “Reclaiming the Divine Feminine — pathways to a sustainable world.” Now, I consider myself a feminist in that I support equal rights and protection for women and believe that women have unique experiences that give them a different perspective on life and different needs than men, but I’m not the type to identify myself as a feminist first and foremost. And I’ve never been to a feminist conference. You could probably call me a mainstream feminist.

Politics & Society

Curb Enlistment, Curb the War

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Regardless of whether or not Obama is making the right decision in regards to Afghanistan, isn’t it disconcerting that there are 30,000 extra military personnel who are available to be sent to Afghanistan? For those of us who do not support armed conflict and want to see an end to violence perpetrated by our government, we might want to start thinking about how to keep people out of the military in the first place. Starve the beast, so to speak. I know a lot of good people who have been deployed, and I also know that very few if any of them enlisted because they supported a specific military cause or ideology. They put their lives at risk, because, for many of them, joining the armed forces is their best chance at receiving a college education, professional training, or a decent paycheck.

Christianity

Karen Armstrong Wants YOU to Teach Compassion

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We may look different, sound different, follow differing doctrines and dogmas, or none at all, but compassion is at the core of the major faiths and ethic systems of our world. The Golden Rule, or some form of it, is found in every major religion and in almost all if not every country on our planet. Karen Armstrong is counting on this unifying ideology to bring together individuals and communities this Friday for the launch of the Charter for Compassion. Here’s a short video about her campaign:
[youtube: video=”DCG4qryy1Dg”]
Last year Armstrong was awarded the TED Prize, which is awarded to three individuals annually — each of whom is chosen for being “a leader in his/her chosen field of work, with an unconventional viewpoint and a vision to transform the world.” Karen Armstrong is considered an authority on comparative religion, focusing on the monotheistic religions, and considers herself a freelance monotheist.

General News

Facebook and Peace Dot Bypass Borders

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10 pm October 27: In the past twenty-four hours 5,185 connections were made between Palestinians and Israelis using Facebook. Oh. You thought Facebook was just a way to show off your spring break pictures? Think again. Earlier tonight Peace Innovation, a project out of Stanford University led by Professor BJ Fogg and the Persuasive Technology Lab, launched Peace Dot – a project to promote world peace through persuasive technology.