ReligionDispatches.org

Everyone likes to see their favorite issue on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. So Nicholas D. Kristof’s January 10, 2010 piece “Religion and Women” brought delight to the eyes of many feminists in religion and opened the eyes of others for whom the issues were new. Let me add several critical reflections to build on this foundation.

First, coming as it did in the octave of the death of feminist theologian and philosopher Mary Daly, there was a sense of déjà vu to the piece. A major critique of Daly since her foundational work in the 1970s was that she held an essentialist view of women (not an entirely justifiable charge in my view, but I leave that for another time). So much water has flowed over the theological dam since then that large claims about huge groups of women have been replaced by far more nuanced understandings of particular women of different racial, ethnic, class, national, age, and sexual backgrounds. I would have preferred to see this twenty-first century approach reflected in Mr. Kristof’s article.

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Pink boas and rainbow flags were the accessories of choice at the National Equality March on October 11, 2009 in Washington DC. Supporters of full civil and legal rights for same-sex loving people filled the Mall near the Capitol after a 2.3 mile prance by the White House where many shouted to President Obama to hurry up and lift “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Under a cloudless sky the rally began with prayer. The crowd, whose median age I would ballpark at 23, grew silent under the imposing dome of the Capitol.

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I debated in Catholic high school and Jesuit college. We practiced by taking positions other than our own so we would understand the ins and outs of our opponents’ ways of thinking. We were taught that gratuitous slams at the other side were never acceptable, and that they certainly were no substitute for reasoned arguments. We were coached to avoid ad hominem (in those days we did not imagine ad feminam) arguments at all costs since they insulted our worthy opponents and made clear that we were out of ideas to bolster our own positions. In the rough and tumble of real world debates, it is training that has stood me in good stead.

Imagine my surprise to read on the Jesuit magazine America’s blog a recent post by Michael Sean Winters in which he violated all the rules. His attack on Frances Kissling and her recent article in Salon began with a gratuitous slam.

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