WaPo’s On Faith asks its panelists Does religion empower women? This is one of the few On Faiths that I’ll probably read each response to. I’m looking forward to the Christian/Catholic answer, which I’ve found generally centers around “having kids is empowering!!1!” There is some wonderful evidence for non-child-based empowerment which I’ve yet to hear [...]

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or, xJane gets mushy Yesterday was DH’s and my 3rd anniversary. It gave me a chance to reflect on love, marriage, and rights. Specifically on why I did (and did not) get married & what that makes me think about the rights of others. I did not get married so that I could bear DH’s [...]

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This is a beautiful story from a favorite blogger, discussing why she gives money to beggars on the street. To religionists who say that morality may only come from the Divine, I give you this story. Love for fellow man need not be based in religion. This is a simple story that affected one person’s [...]

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I just had tea with the female faculty at my law school. It was fascinating to discuss their experiences of sexism and inequality in the workplace. It was also heartening to see that two men showed up as paying members of the Women’s Legal Association (apparently there’s a third who simply couldn’t make it for [...]

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I know I’m not the only one to whom this has occurred before, but the Pope thinks secularists are too materialistic (unlike the Church, of course). Some great comments on this over at Pharyngula.

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This is the trailer for a new movie, a Jihad for Love. I thought it was apropos given Prop 8′s drawing ever nearer. It is a story about the struggle of gay Muslims. I have added it to my Netflix queue, but if it comes out in the greater LA area, I’ll prolly get a [...]

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There’s a debate that addresses this at school today, which I shall attend. It is put on by the local chapter of the Federalist Society (the campus representative states that they are devoted to “honest & careful interpretation of the constitution” and are “never timid about debating”). Sometimes I feel like I’m surrounded by them [...]

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This has been floating around the feminist blogosphere and is by no means new. The argument goes thusly: some people think that abortion should be illegal; what, then, do they propose the punishment for breaking the law be? Tellingly, the answer is often “counseling” or “prayer” for the woman but loss of license or jail [...]

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I just started Law School (yesterday!) and one of the major focuses of the first classes in each course was this question. We were asked to define the law in our own words. What is the purpose of law? This question received answers like “civilizing of society”, “justice” (which was further defined as incorporating concepts [...]

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Over at Salon, for their series “Pinched: Tales from an Economic Downturn”, comes Our Cupboard Was Bare, an article that brings focus to the fellow Americans more adversely affected by the non-recession that we’re currently experiencing.

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