Introduction

 Previous Issues
  1. The World Wide Web and You: E-mail regrets about hitting "send."
  2. Resources for Christian Living: Miriam Therese Winter on "An Alternative Eucharistic Tradition," and some online sermons by women.
  3. Special Topic: Diversity
  4. Current Issues: War in Iraq and its aftermath; Caring about Our Sisters around the World.

Introduction 

Three points to keep in mind in using "Web Explorations for Christian Feminists":

1.  When you click on the links below (words underlined in a contrasting color) you'll be taken outside the EEWC site. In most cases, you can come back to the EEWC website by clicking on the back button on the toolbar at the top of the screen. (In some cases, when you click on a link taking you to an external site, a new window opens up and the back button won't take you back to the site you just left. In such cases, try clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the new window to close it. You'll find yourself back at the EEWC site -- which was there the whole time, but underneath the new site's window.)

2.  Since the links take you outside the EEWC website, the Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus cannot be responsible for their content. The inclusion in this column of any particular external link doesn't necessarily mean EEWC endorses all or any of the content you may find on that site. A listing under "Web Explorations" only means it's a website that I think you'll find of interest.

3.  All of the "Web Explorations for Christian Feminists" columns are archived, so be sure to visit the archives from time to time to check out tips and links in previous columns.

April Greetings

from Letha Dawson Scanzoni, your Web Explorations guide

Dear friends, 
This column has not been updated for a few months, and I'm hoping to get us back on track with a slightly different format. Instead of writing a conversational style column, I'm going to use a link list format. That way, you can readily see at a glance which items hold the most interest for you and click on those. I'll include a description and source with each link.

I hope you like the changes. Happy spring! And happy exploring!

The World Wide Web and You 

"E-mails you wish you'd never sent"

Have you ever clicked "send" on an e-mail message and later regretted it? Maybe it went to the wrong person, or maybe you said something you wish you hadn't said. This article from the British Broadcasting Corporation tells the stories of computer users who have had that experience -- and what you can do to prevent its happening to you. (Source: BBC, February 24, 2003)

Resources for Christian Living 

An alternative eucharistic tradition 
Sister Miriam Therese Winter of the Medical Mission Sisters, beloved by EEWC members for her music, her books, and her ministry at one of our conferences, tells us about different meanings of the word eucharist. She points out the existence of two traditions of eucharist from the earliest times, depending on whether it is spelled with a small "e" or a capital "E." (Source: Call to Action-a spirituality and justice reprint)

Online sermons (especially those by women)
You can find some fine sermons by women ministers online.  Some are accessible for listening as online audio; some make it possible for you to both listen and watch via online video; and others you can simply read as text.  Here are some examples of each type:

Audio Form
Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara, CA. You can listen to sermons from 2001 to the present. 

Video Form 
Cathedral of Hope, Dallas, TX (a church with a special ministry to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons and their friends and families, but which has a message for everybody).  Just click on "Sermons online." Three years of sermons are archived. The videos have numerous visuals related to the sermon, as well as showing the ministers as they preach separately or in dialogue together. 

Text For Reading 
First Church in Cambridge, MA (Congregational). Both recent and a long list of archived sermons are available to be read by simply clicking on the links.

Special Topic 

Diversity

"What to tell your child about prejudice and discrimination"
Guidelines from the Anti-Defamation League to help parents, teachers, and other adults in helping children understand what prejudice and discrimination are -- and the harm caused by such attitudes. Related links are listed in the sidebar accompanying the article. (Source: Anti-Defamation League)

Fight Hate and Promote Tolerance
You could easily spend hours at this fascinating, informative site. It's a Web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, providing material designed for teachers, parents and other caregivers, teens, kids, and everybody else. (Source: Tolerance.org)

Understanding race and ethnicity
This material from an anthropology department is an excellent source of information about the complexities involved when we try to separate human beings into groups and categories. It's a site that is sure to make viewers think! (Source: Palomar College Anthropology Department web site)

Reading the Bible from an African Perspective 
An article by Musimbi Kanyoro, a Lutheran theologian from Kenya and now General Secretary of the World YWCA in Geneva. She has also served as a translation consultant for the United Bible Societies. See why she is convinced that "cultural hermeneutics is a prerequisite to biblical hermeneutics." And read about the movement entitled, Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, and the goals they established in their convocation entitled, "Arise, Daughter." (Source: The Ecumenical Review)

Current Issues  

The War in Iraq and its aftermath

Faith response to the war in Iraq 
Information on humanitarian efforts, new hymns and poems regarding war and peace, recommended Scripture, and more. (Source: Church World Service)

National Council of Churches: Pray for Peace 
Continuing efforts to promote peace as a foreign policy.

Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
Excellent material from the Sojourners Community and Sojourners magazine.

The work of choosing peace 
Read about what it means to actively choose peace in a world that thinks the way to solve problems is war. (Source: The Other Side magazine)

Talking to children about war and violence 
Helpful material for parents, teachers, caregivers, and everyone else who cares about kids. (Source: PBS)

Caring about Our Sisters around the World 

Links to news you'll want to know about, think about, and pray about-and perhaps find ways to take action

Women's rights in a world where women are so often abused. 
(Source: Human Rights Watch, Women's Rights division)

Girls flee genital mutilation 
(Source: BBC, Feb. 7, 2003)

Women and ½ price "blood money" reasoning in Iran 
(Source: New Zealand Herald, February 15, 2003)

Controversy over an abortion performed on a nine-year-old rape victim in Nicaragua
(Source: BBC, March 4, 2003)

An earlier article about the nine-year-old girl who was impregnated by a rapist
(Source: BBC, Feb. 19, 2003)

Unwanted Chinese baby girls found in luggage 
(Source: BBC, March 22, 2003)

Are there differences in how women and men view war?
(Source: San Francisco Chronicle, March 28, 2003)

Acid burnings in South Asia: Women seeking justice
(Source: Seattle Times, April 6, 2003)

Afghan women go hi-tech
(Source: CNN, April 10, 2003)

Israeli Supreme Court denies women equal access to Western Wall 
The three links below provide information on the April, 2003 decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to deny women the right of equal access for prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Court reasoned that public order would be disturbed by legitimating such access. Why? Because the sight and sound of women praying and reading the Torah at the Wall stirs men to anger and violence against the women. The third of the articles talks about the blame-the-victim aspect of this decision and how a provision in U.S. law could have a similar effect.

Profile: Women in Israel Suffer Defeat in Supreme Court Over the Right to Hold Public Prayer Service at the Western Wall
From National Public Radio's All Things Considered (April 6, 2003)

"Equal Access to Israel's Western Wall Denied"
From Women's E-News (April 19, 2003) 

The Israeli Supreme Court Denies Women The Right to Pray at the Western Wall: A Misguided Decision Parallels the U.S. "Fighting Words" Doctrine
From Find Law's Writ, Legal Commentary by Sherry Colb (April 23, 2003)

That's all for this time. I hope you'll find your explorations enjoyable and informative and will come back for the next edition.

Your Web Explorations tour guide, 

Letha Dawson Scanzoni