Gender and Language — Revisiting Advice I Posted in 1998
When I was in college and active in a Catholic student group, I remember noticing that a second edition of the hymnal Glory and Praise rewrote lyrics, replaced many generic references to “men” or “brothers” with synonyms like “all” or “fam’ly” (elided to two syllabus). Sometimes this meant rewriting the rhymes, or occasionally leaving a line that referred to “brothers” and “sons” and adding a parallel verse that addressed “sisters”…
Candlemas, by John Henry Newman (read by Dennis Jerz for WAOB Audio Theater)
I enjoyed reading this short John Henry Newman poem for WAOB Audio Theater.
Someone I know very well is in the trailer for Midnight (2020)
IN-ZOOM (A world-premiere 10-minute play)
A very current short play by Bill Irwin. Very creative use of Zoom as a performance space. I didn’t expect it also to cover so much else. Very touching.
What are ‘Judeo-Christian values’? Analyzing a divisive term
block of American society. But for critics of how the term is used today, Judeo-Christian is vague, historically flawed and even inflammatory. These opposing views reflect a deep rift in American society and illuminate very different fundamental political beliefs.
“This is a term defined by exclusion,” said Shalom Goldman, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, arguing that the term is often used to reject secular values and Muslims.
“It’s essentially saying our values are not the values of the Enlightenment or the Constitution, but instead our values are the values of the Bible,” he said.
Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, called the term a “generalization” and said it is one “Christians in particular use to put a patina of universality on a certain Christian culture in the United States.”