| Feb. 19th, 2008 02:14 am I'm scared now I'm not used to criticizing things I enjoy or laying a burden of responsibility and blame on a place where I feel encouraged, motivated, affirmed, and empowered by the select number of authorities I work with. And I'm not used to having to consider social repercussions to my actions, objections, and attempts to raise awareness of issues key to my heart. Never before have the people I seek to hold accountable been a nice, friendly group that, if they haven't outright included me into their network, at least smile at me and know my name and save me a place during the shared meal that takes place after service. But it had to be done although I agonize over why I had to be the one to do it. Why, why, why? Is my blend of Christianity and feminism that much of a chimera on campus? With the feminist Christians allowing that he made some interesting points and sweetly pointing out that "it's only natural for some of the speakers to be a bit more conservative" and the not-so-Christian feminists who overheard him railing about his bigotry but feeling unqualified to speak because they're not campus goers, am I really the only one who will give public voice to my discontent?
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ayamechan1113, yuri93, if this never gets printed, I still want you two to know that I wrote it and I wish I could have said much, much more about the issue of interfaiths (and non-faiths) on campus and only reluctantly limited myself to feminism and relativism. Sometimes it feels like everything I say or do with the slightest religious perspective and standpoint, and much that my family does and says, particularly in my mother's job, is a form of crying out to the rest of the world that "all Christians are not like that!" True Christianity would never endorse such things as hate, bigotry, violence, war, homophobia, discrimination, sexism, etc etc ETC!!" I don't know. I need sleep. I need rest. I want this to be over with so I can go back to my happy little world of intense theological, literary, and feminist discussion with the professors whose opinion, perspective, and insight I value more than the entire rest of campus (AND the administration) put together. Because, really, it's because of those professors that I spoke up in the first place. I knew they would want me to. And I want to make them proud. So here goes.
I said in an earlier post that I was happy for the conscience and activism that my parents endowed me with, although they never dragged me to marches, made speeches, or petitioned Congress (that I knew of, at least) when I was growing up. I attribute so many good things in my life- my feminism, my open-mindedness, my compassion, my daring to speak and believing that all voices, no matter how small and insignificant, were valued to my United Methodist upbringing with its firm grounding in its Social Creed and Social Principles (the two links, respectively) that touched everything from the abolition of sex-specific roles, to the protection of religious minorities, to a sex-positive yet sex-sacred belief system to consumption, corporate responsibility, politics, protecting the environment, war, and the protection of a woman's right to choose. We always knew how to argue and discuss issues from a purely secular standpoint and could prove our points without any recourse to Scripture or doctrine but I think it no coincidence that the values I esteem so highly are reflected in the Creed of the denomination that my family has been a part of for generations.
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1836
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1686
"And I don't want to world to see me, 'cuz I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken... I just want you to know who I am."Current Location: Lacie's house
Current Mood:  anxious
Current Music: "Iris" Goo-Goo Dolls
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