taking a break

let's see.
i write for work.
i'm writing for Screed and Bitch, PhD.
i'm trying to finish my novel draft.
i'm on twitter.

ChurchGal needs a break. (i missed blog for choice day! i never miss blog for choice!)
so i'm putting this blog on hiatus for a bit.

if you'd still want to follow me, i'm still writing for my very first love/blog, Screed, and posting occasionally at Bitch, PhD. (only very occasionally because, well, because - and i'm busy as hell with my real job.)
you can also follow me on Twitter as PrincessDing.

i hope i'll be back by spring - or when this monstrous legislative session is over.

cheers,
ding

churchgal asks: what would you like me to write about?

Writing is hard - especially when you write a lot for work, too. (As well as for two other blogs.) If I'm not careful, posts here will end up being about what I've eaten for breakfast.

So, I'm throwing out a sincere plea to all 5 of my readers:
Give me a topic you'd maybe like to see ChurchGal write about soon.

That should at least give me material for a couple of weeks.

awesome!
apparently, i'm brainier on this blog than my other one, which only clocked in at 'high school.'

thanks, Orange!

another church gal!

Christian Feminist is a blog found through a commenter and i think i like it!
(and, no, it's not just because she links to me, too...)

hey, pitches!

a pitch call from my fave mag waay up north. i'm not twinkly or sparkly enough for this one but if there are any budding poets, artists and/or faery folk who are interested please see below:

PITCHCALL GEEZ NO. 6

The re-enchantment of the world

We need personal, social and political liberation from malaise and mediocrity.

A new way of seeing can provide the seeds of change. An eye for the sacred in each moment, the animation in the trees, the spirit in the wind, the eternal reflected in ancient scriptures and back-lane scrawl.

We want to describe the world behind that twinkle or sparkle, that gleam or glow that emanates from some stalwarts of social change.

We see this revolutionary enchantment in Buddhist teachers like Joanna Macy, poets like Mary Oliver and authors like David C. Korten as he describes the transformation from Empire to Earth Community. It's also the vision that drives youth pastors to shun exotic overseas mission trips and make greater trips closer to home. To see the love and life in what they formerly called inner-city squalor.

This is a call for seers, poets and cultural healers to guide us along this Way.

We are looking for investigative reports, arguments, poems, art and reflections documenting how an enchanted world-view is the fuel for social change. Show us how an enchanted worldview undermines consumer culture and inspires social change.

(Or, if you think this is bogus hocus-pocus, show us the error of our ways.)

Tone and flavor
Think deeply, write lightly. Explore the deepest questions, but go easy on the earnesty. Geez does not assume a religious audience, so cut the religio-jargon, and only send a piece if your sharpest unchurched friend gives it the go-ahead.

Due date
Send pitches (your idea and how you will develop it) by March 21, 2007. If you already have a completed manuscript, poem, photo or design feel free to submit it as well. Unfortunately we are not able to respond to every pitch. If you do not hear back from us within 6 weeks, assume we were not able to use your idea or article.

Send to
editor@geezmagazine.org
or
Geez, Issue 6
264 Home St
Winnipeg MB, R3G 1X3
Canada

valentine's day. is it over yet?

things have been sort of light here and that's because things have been so heavy at work; since i can't really write in detail about work without jeopardizing that work, then it means that i don't have a lot to write about.

but that doesn't mean that a lot isn't going on.

for instance, the very excellent people at Alas have been on a really great streak (must read them more regularly), writing about race, free speech, the kerfuffle involving the Catholic League and the blogger Amanda and there's one particular post i'd like to draw attention to: the one about rape and men 'getting it.' it links to an excerpt from tim beneke's book Men On Rape and it's so worthwhile reading i heartily encourage folks to go there.

(april is sexual assault awareness month, so be prepared. i'm gonna write about it.)

after reading the excerpt, i was struck by a disconnect beneke's subjects showed. there's an academic acknowledgment that rape is bad but there's also the very real emotional/psychological urge to act on that desire to rape, though they guys may not define what they want to do as rape.

it's interesting, this gap in logic. or, perhaps, this isn't a gap at all. to them, it makes complete sense.

which just reinforces a growing suspicion in my mind that straight men and women are utterly foreign to one another and perhaps men should live on an island somewhere to dress in skins and spear fish.

[jeebus. i just read about this asinine thing - Take Back the Date - over at feministing.

when are these people just going to face it? the 50's are dead. they're gone. done.
seriously, i can't wait until all these people who 'remember' what things were like back then and keep wanting things to 'return' to them to just shuffle off this mortal coil.]

the wonder years: remember sassy?

instead of the standard piece about the best way to give oral (for that, you have to check out Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man) nerve has an excellent love letter to the magazine that made me the hopelessly feminist, bitchy woman that i am today: Nerve.com - Cute Band Alert by Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer.

it was sad when Sassy went away. perhaps i was outside its demographic (when it ended, i was just beginning grad school) but i'd like to think my extended virginity lent me an adolescent glow for a realllly long time.

(um, i'm killing time waiting for my gay dinner date. clearly, i have nothing important to say.)

calling all writers: anthology submissions

a grad student from Indiana University approached me about submitting a piece of creative nonfiction to her proposed anthology. i've decided to do it and thought i'd pass on the news to the other women out there who write about their religious upbringing. the call is below. (please pay attention to the guidelines - she's looking for women writers!)
...

call for submissions
I'm currently soliciting creative nonfiction for an anthology; its working title is Growing Up Churched: Young Women Writers on Life, Faith, and Being Raised Evangelical. I'm looking for personal essays in the 3000-5000 word range, narratives centered around this theme. Please pass this call for submissions on to any writers you may know who might be interested in contributing to this project.

I'm looking for essays about growing up evangelical that break the mold. Most of the memoirs out there about growing up evangelical either end up fitting the formulas "wasn't life awful and, boy, I'm glad I escaped the church" or "wasn't life awful and, boy, I'm glad Jesus saved me." I want essays that don't fit these formulas, that tell surprising, fresh, unique stories. My hope is these essays will be both narrative and reflective in some way, whether they're funny or disturbing or grateful or angry. Also, a lot of writing about evangelicals focuses on men, hence the gender bias for this project.

A note – I'm working with a loose definition of "evangelical" here. If a writer grew up Mennonite or Reformed or Methodist or encountered evangelicalism later than childhood, her work might still fit this anthology. The more diverse the stories, the better!

Writers: If you're interested in the anthology and have an essay that you think might work, send it to me ASAP by e-mail at growingupchurched@gmail.com. I'd love to look at your piece and see whether it might fit into this project. If you're interested in contributing the project, but don't have anything on paper, drop me a line to let me know. Then send me a draft of your essay by December 31, 2006 (New Year's Eve). This date is going to be the preliminary deadline for submissions.

And please, please do pass this message on to any writers you think might be interested.

In sum, here are the basic guidelines:

Personal essays in the 3000-5000 word range about growing up female and evangelical.
Contributors should be in their 20's or 30's.
Deadline: December 31, 2006.
Send the essays to me by e-mail at growingupchurched@gmail.com

More information and updates will be online at http://growingupchurched.blogspot.com.

moving on

it's never good to stay in one place for too long.

you begin to go over the same ground, the same complaints, the same scenery. the environment loses its sharp color and your brain begins to fuzz down until all the sharp little questions start sounding the same.

and that's what has happened with me and my blogs. i've had them for 4-5 years now and it's time for a change. the sharp little questions i had when i started them are still there: how does a modern woman navigate being a feminist christian, how does a progressive woman of color interact with her world while not hiding from it? will i ever find a progressive guy who doesn't hate the idea of church and who won't annoy the crap out of me? where is my perfect black pair of pants? and if the christian conservative wants to mold the world in their image so much, why not just do what the amish folk do and live on a farm somewhere where they can create their world to their heart's content?

so i still have these questions but is this the right way? is ChurchGal the right way for me to explore and convey what it's like for a woman like me and even provide a space for other women like me?

i read an excerpt from barak obama's new book, The Audacity of Hope, while in the bathroom this morning. he briefly described the defensiveness he felt while battling the kooky alan keyes. (i call him kooky, not obama.) and i know what he's talking about. he defends a pro-choice position, he defends the civil rights of gays and keyes says he's not a Believer. is that what our intellectual exchange has come to? 'you don't believe the exact thing i believe so you don't have faith. you express your struggles so you don't have faith. you've admitted you've had sex, so you're a whore and don't have faith.'

it makes me want to give every self-righteous person who passes by a great big 'fuck you' finger. but that's not the right response either.

i don't want to indulge in these little playground smackdowns anymore. they're tiresome and beneath a good many of us. so what's the new ground i want to explore? where should i go next with ChurchGal?

i don't know.
but it has to be forward.

i'm over here!: christian alliance for progressives

yay!

every thursday (or thereabouts) i'll be posting over at the christian alliance for progressives blog. check it out here.

my first post is up (which i cross-posted below somewhere); the discussion soon veers off into abortion land. notice how i actually manage to keep my temper! do go and visit. (especially if you're a progressive woman. i think it's a bunch of guys - not that there's anything wrong with that, but come on! where are the women?!)

Mainstream Baptist posts there every week, as well as Faithful Progressive, Jesus Politics and De Sententia.

they're a great bunch of folks over there - faithful, learned and progressive.

(i know. and then there's me. already i got called vulgar and blasphemous!)

i just deleted a comment in one of the posts below.
it pissed me off and then, after i had done it, i felt bad that i had broken some sacrosanct blogging 'rule': all comments are equal and must stand.

well, no. all comments aren't equal and comments that make me lose my temper and say something inappropriate get deleted.

blogging is like hosting a cocktail party; some guests have better manners than others. i am the hostess; this is my home. please disagree with me (jesus chick almost always does) but check the rudeness at the door or i'll have to get your coat and escort you out.

there. the hostess feels better now.

so every so often i go on technorati just to see who links here (big wave to all 18 of y'all!) and in my vanity trolling i stumbled across this french anti-feminist men's rights site! they linked to me! somewhere! once!

how funny is that?!
i have to go to bed but i can't stop giggling.

(i'm bad.)

[i was going to let my post below stand up here alone for a little bit. i rather like it. but then Bad Christian found this poor guy's page and it just seemed to personify everything i was saying about obedience, conformity, and the jesus-mask. i'm sure he's a nice guy - he's soooper obedient - but he seems to want to be amish.

you have to follow brandon's link. you must. and, for the record, the christian mingle website he mentions? i totally put an ad on there and got skeeved out!!]

a badchristian blog � the definition of TMI

my faves of 2005

over on his space, hugo listed a few of his favorite 2005 posts.

it seems almost silly, since he has scads more readers than i, but here's a list of my favorite posts this year:

the day i became a christian (feb 24)
letter to my father (feb 15)
the hardest easiest choice to make (mar 24)
'because i said so, young lady!' (mar 18 - the one about sex. tee hee.)
the 'women in ministry' posts (jun 4 & 6)
'amen' & snob (nov 10 & 17)
when the Other speaks (dec 8)

happy new year, people!

a project: December First is "Blog Against Racism" Day

over at creek running north, chris has designated dec 1st to be "Blog Against Racism" Day.

a project!
let's hope i don't forget the date.

i found the blog below by clicking that 'next blog' button in the corner. sometimes you find good things. (other times you find that weird anime teenage girl crap.)

bethany is more conservative than i and ain't having any of this liberal tolerance crap, but i like her voice. and she's teaching in teach for america. anyone who does that has to be alright, right?

Mentionables

scribblingwoman: Gaining my religion

a very good post on teaching literature, religious texts and pedagogy here.

i know i've been posting a lot from other people this week. i'll write more over the weekend. meantime, scribbling woman has an excellent, erudite and good looking blog.

go look at her. go on. go!

more, sir? no, enough!

Have you noticed that those of us in the blog-hood seem to be tottering on our last legs lately? Over the past month I keep running across writers who, one by one, have gasped, "It's too much. The world is too much. I can't take it and now I must go."

It has happened. The absurdity and wrongness of this world have finally taken its toll on the best and brightest of us and now we've retreated to our netflix subscriptions, gin and home-brewed beer.

Katrina was probably the breaking point but let's spread the blame around: George Bush, new Republicans, college kids who don't like homework, opt out moms/daughters, reality tv mavens, social conservatives, men's rights activists, maxim readers, status quo humpers, religious fanatics (of all stripes) and plain old stupid people have succeeded in finally sucking the last drop of resistance from us and now, limp with despair, we just want to take our toys back and live in the tree house where we can remember the good old days of 1999. (remember how much fun it was then? shit, even 2001 was more fun than this. at least i was having sex in 2001.)

I don't know about you, but I can't take 3 more years of Bush Co. I can't take a whole lifetime of Roberts and his anti-privacy/women/pro-corporate crap. (yeah, it's not even his first day on the job but let me go on the record: he's going to startle us with his suckage! look at history! it repeats!) I won't be able to withstand middle age railing against some freaky ID advocate who wants us to redefine science to resemble prayer. I won't be able to muster the energy to keep birth control a matter of health and privacy, not religion. I won't be able to stay sane as we morph into a bunch of nationalistic pseudo-christian hopheads.

Maybe this was their plan all along - exhaust us with an unceasing barrage of stupidity, misogyny, various -phobias and -isms until we are so shocked with their audacity we just fold in defeat.

Because I especially won't be able to withstand the continued transformation of the democratic party into oliver twist much longer, either.

an essay: This is What Religion Should Look Like

via The Revealer here's an introduction and brief analysis of an article on the church/state dilemma (personally, i don't see the 'dilemma' but ok).

in light of a short thread about 'revelation' v. 'intellectualism' below i thought the revealer's critique of reason (heh) resonated a little bit.

one of the reasons i started this blog wasn't (and never will be) to show how good i am. i'm not good. i'll never write about the sweet soft light that came upon me while i was doing my morning devotional. (like i told my father, i don't write church.) most likely, my morning devotional is going to be a hurried prayer as i rumble to work on the bus, crammed between a short order cook and a bitter hipster. that is, when i remember to have a devotional.

churchgal exists to be a cracking interesting conversation about culture, feminist politics and, oh yes, faith. not necessarily in that order and not necessarily without a healthy dose of snark. over here, that's what religion looks like.

i'm waiting...

ignoring vs. ignorance.

echidne's blog is another of my favorites. sly of tongue but very sharp of mind.

this time she levels her gaze at what radical conservatives want to do about the constitution.
we can ignore these little signs of incipient craziness...but should we?

i have to take a nap now.