Notable News: Week of January 26-February 1, 2013

Happy February, everyone!  There is thick, fluffy snow coming down outside my window as I put this post together.  What’s the weather like where you are?

Here’s this week’s round-up of the great and not-so-great.

1. On Mark Driscoll

This post is a great summary of what is wrong when a leader crosses a line.  I won’t stop posting, linking, and re-blogging until people wake up and stop following this man just because they think he has a few good things to say.  His behavior–and many of his words–are inexcusable.

2. On being a scandal

Have I mentioned lately that I love Registered Runaway’s blog?  Probably, but it bears mentioning again.  I loved this post, I am a Scandal in the Evangelical Conscience.  We all have different circumstances, but I think many of us can relate to being square pegs in the church–especially when it comes to things that are easily attached to guilt and shame.  How many of us are there who hid (or are hiding) in the shadows, afraid that something is fundamentally wrong with us?

3. On being thin

Trigger warning: disordered eating.  This is a heart-wrenching and vivid piece on the way we see ourselves.  Although I have never been diagnosed or treated for an eating disorder, I have had a life-long struggle to accept my body.  I can’t think of even one single woman in my life who hasn’t fixated on her weight in one way or another.  Haven’t we done enough damage?  It’s time for it to stop.

4. On refusing to be silent

Women are often told that the best way to stop misogyny is to ignore it and not engage with it.   But when we speak against the systems that marginalize and degrade people, we are not “fighting hate with hate.”  We are not yet on a level playing field.  We need to point it out so that people know what misogyny is and what it does.  Read through the #silentnomore tweets for more courageous women speaking up and for more examples of how women are bullied online just for being women.

5. On how women are not a monolith

I love this, because as a woman I struggle much more to write believable women than men.  I can’t explain why this is other than perhaps the cultural ingraining of men as the default.  The thing is, though, I know some men who write absolutely wonderful, strong women who embody real feminism to me.  So why can’t I do it?  I don’ t know.  Possibly a deeper question to ask is, why do I enjoy writing from a male perspective?  It might not be a simple matter of being able to write better women but wanting to write them.

6. On labeling writers

And speaking of a similar subject, this is a great post by Andi Cumbo on how who we are informs our writing but doesn’t define it.  I love this, because I have long struggled with the ways in which I’ve felt confined by the expectations that I should write a certain way because of my faith.  It’s freeing to know that the things I value most–equity, generosity, kindness, justice–can be as much a part of my writing as they are a part of my faith journey without having to be couched in religiosity.

7. On being damaged goods

Sarah Bessey is just marvelous, and this post is no exception.  This is what freedom and grace look like.  For anyone struggling today, I urge you to read this with an open heart and let her words wash over you.

8. On TMI

Be sure to click the links in this post by Fred Clark.  They are well worth the time it will take to read them.  I usually suggest people avoid the comments sections, but this comment on John Shore’s blog (linked in Fred’s post) says it all when it comes to “differences of opinion”:

It’s not about a difference of opinion on a level playing field but about you having the right to live a fully expressed life while denying me the right to do the same.

9. On getting creative in the winter

Just for fun, here’s a link from last Thursday.  I can only imagine what would happen if such a sculpture appeared in my neighborhood.

Have a great weekend, everyone!