- The World Wide Web and You: Search
Engines
- Resources for Christian Living: Faith
perspectives on 9/11
- Special Topic: Violence against
women
- Current Issues: Reading the world's
newspapers
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.
The World Wide Web and You
Search Engines
Several years ago, one of my sons told me about a search engine
just being developed by two young graduate students at Stanford
and suggested I try it. I liked it so much I made it my home page
immediately, where it has remained ever since. It had the strange
name, Google, and it is by far
my favorite search engine. It's a wonderful research tool -- and
I'm not alone in my assessment.
In the years since I first tried it, Google has
become a world
leader in speedy retrieval of information from the Internet.
I can type in a word or phrase about almost anything I want to
know about, and the information appears instantly. It's amazingly
right on target, too. Google has its own way of finding the most
relevant information on a topic and doesn't clutter the site with
ads (or commercial listings that have paid to have prominent
placement when they come up in a search). So if you haven't yet
tried it, give it a test drive. Check out some of its special features,
too. You might also enjoy reading a bit more about its history
and its fun
approach, including the "doodles"
that a creative artist builds around its logo
on various holidays.
Google has become so popular around the world that, according
to recent news stories, the Chinese government has apparently
blocked it, no doubt threatened by the information and free flow
of ideas it makes available to the people of China. (In the past,
certain Web sites have been blocked, but never before has
access to a search engine been denied. You can read about it on BBC-News
and on CNN.)
Here are some other new search engines you might want to check
out, too: Vivismo uses clustering;
that is, it organizes your particular search into subcategories
that you might want to explore separately.
Kartoo is an unusual meta
search engine from France that can be viewed in either text
version or with flash. The graphic "mapping" concept for
organizing material, rather than a linear list, takes a while to
figure out , so be sure to check out Kartoo's "help" and
"faq" sections. You might also want to look up this
article, which refers to Kartoo, as well as to other search
engines beginning to gain increased attention.
For a detailed chart of search engines and ways each one may
meet a particular need for you, check out this list from NoodleTools.
And finally, there are subject-specific search engines that are
worth knowing about. One example is Artcyclopedia--"the
fine arts search engine." If you enjoy art and art museums,
you'll be amazed at what you'll find there.
Resources for Christian Living
Faith Perspectives on 9/11
One year after the horrific terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington and the tragic deaths of many others in the hijacked
planes that were used as weapons, many people are looking back
through the lens of faith. Some are seeking solace and
experiencing God's loving comfort. Some are asking, "What do
you want me to do, God?" And some are questioning God or are
angry with God.
EEWC member, Rev. Kathy Pigg, a pastor in Virginia, has
suggested that we look at the wonderful material on
"Remembering 9/11," compiled by the General
Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Church as the current
special feature. You'll find wonderful
resources for public commemorative worship and personal and
private meditation, including hymns, liturgies, and other
material. Also, look at the resources in "Faith
Responds to Terrorism" from the National Council of
Churches (NCC).
The Oregon Catholic Press (OCP) has also just sent word about
special liturgies that OCP has provided online, including a
liturgy for children. Check out the entire special section ,
"Prayer for
the Nation." Under general music resources, various
music suggestions are given. And if you scroll down toward the
bottom, you'll find downloadable music for "Christ in the
Rubble," which the Oregon Catholic Press is making available
for services commemorating September 11. Lots of related links are
provided also. Finally, if you missed the special PBS Frontline
broadcast on "Faith
and Doubt at Ground Zero," you might want to check the
Public Broadcasting System website description and also the long
list of online
readings related to the topic.
Special Topic
Violence Against Women (first of 2 parts)
As we think with sadness about so many kinds of violence in our
world, violence specifically directed toward women continues to
show up in news headlines. One example is that of the Nigerian
mother condemned to be put to death by stoning as soon as her
baby is weaned, whose
appeal was denied in August, 2002.
In this issue of "Web Explorations for Christian
Feminists," we're going to take a macro view and look at
violence against women across the world. In the next issue, we'll
take a micro view, continuing the topic by examining both the
physical and psychological abuse that takes place closer to home
(perhaps within our homes). And all the while, as we
consider this topic, we need to be asking, "What can I do to
help? What is God calling me to do as I become aware of the
suffering of my sisters worldwide?
One form of violence many people are becoming increasingly
aware of are the so-called "honor" killings, with
their total disrespect and disregard for women as human beings, as
the following reports show:
48
Hours (CBS) report
Asia Pacific
Center for Justice and Peace report
Amnesty
International; report
Human
Rights Watch report
Sometimes, mutilation rather than death is the way family
members in some cultures claim to be upholding family
"honor," as may be seen in this graphic and shocking
report from National
Geographic News.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (sometimes called
"Female Circumcision") is another means of violence
against women practiced in some cultures. You can read about it on
these sites.
A
report on why and how the practice persists (from All Africa
Global media, July 30, 2002)
Information
from Amnesty International on what genital mutilation is,
where it is practiced, and how Amnesty International is working
with others to stop this serious human rights violation.
"Ethiopian
girl recounts night of terror" (report from BBC News,
April 30, 2002)
If you've ever wondered why the practice continues and is often
promoted by many women as well as men in some cultures, you
might want to read a paper presented at "Women's
Worlds 99 -- The 7th International Interdisciplinary Congress on
Women" held in Tromso, Norway, June 20-26, 1999).
Click on "Who Has the Right to Name Female Genital Mutilation
a Crime?" under the "Sexualized Violence" section
of the program. The author, Catherine
Mudine Akale, argues that legislation against FGM does little
good if the people themselves are not convinced at the grass roots
level that the practice must be stopped. To be effective, she
emphasizes, a decision to eliminate the practice must spring from
new understandings from within the culture -- understandings that
do not discount or run counter to the people's own cultural and
religious values. Otherwise, she emphasizes, demands to stop the
practice appear to the people who practice it as one more
imposition of Western ideas coming from outsiders who don't
understand their history and customs. And they resent and resist
such attempts. The horror and health hazards of FGM seems so very
obvious from our own viewpoint, but there are certain complexities
that we may need to understand more fully if we hope to see change
occur. (Note to computer users: Dr. Akale's paper is in PDF
format, so you'll need to install the free Adobe Acrobat if you
don't already have it on your computer. If you don't want to
install it, however, and still want to read the article, try this:
Use Google as your search engine and type in the words, "Who
has the right Akale" and the search will take you to a
listing of the article with a choice of viewing it as regular
HTML. Google does its own formatting of pdf articles into the more
customary HTML formatting so that viewers have a choice.)
You might also want to read materials on female genital
mutilation published by the
World Health Organization (WHO), highlighting health concerns.
WHO also publishes a fact
sheet about the incidence of the practice, as well as a video
and other resources.
Many other forms of denying women's rights and outright
violence against them exist around the world. The exploitation,
rape, torture, and murders of Mexican female factory workers was
the topic of a PBS television documentary on P.O.V.
in August, 2002. Mother
Jones magazine (May/June, 2002) also published a feature
article on these tragic deaths and the feelings of anger,
helplessness, and calls for justice expressed by the grieving
families of the victims.
The shocking increase of rapes of little girls and even babies
in South Africa is another example of the dehumanization of
females and a total disregard for girls and women as persons. One
possible reason for an increase in such rapes is thought to be the
persistence of a myth that sex with a virgin will cure AIDS, the
disease which is devastating Sub-Saharan Africa. You can read
about the upsurge in South African child rapes by clicking on
these sites:
From the San Francisco Chronicle: "Rape
of children surges in South Africa," Feb. 12, 2002, as
reprinted in the AIDS Education Global Information System
(AEGIS)
From the BBC, "Baby
rapes shock South Africa," Dec. 11, 2001.
From CNN, "Infant
rape crisis jolts South Africa,"
A general overview of violence against girls and women the
world over is provided in this article
from Soroptimist Magazine, which includes links to
organizations devoted to women's rights.
The
Feminist Majority Foundation likewise provides an excellent
overview of resources on the topic.
Feminist.com is still
another site that includes news
from across the globe about violence against women. The
reports are compiled from Women's
e-news.
Current Issues
Reading the World's Newspapers
In Part 4 this time, rather than call your attention to
particular current news stories on a variety of topics that we as
women and men interested in gender justice and equality need to
know about, I thought I'd simply supply links to newspapers from
around the world. We can learn so much by seeing what is happening
in other countries and around the world directly from the
viewpoint of journalists in other countries. It helps us gain a
much broader perspective. So click on any of these links to find a
list of newspapers from around the globe. Then, when you're
surfing the Internet from time to time, read an article or two
from newspapers outside your own country. (You'll find that quite
a few publish editions in English.)
The World-Newspapers.com
site lists only newspapers, magazines, and other news-related
websites that are published in English.
Other good resources for finding direct news sources from
around the world (though not necessarily all in English) are NewsLink,
and Google news.
That's all for this edition of "Web
Explorations."
I hope you've found some new sites you'll want to
explore.
Your Web Explorations tour guide,
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
© 2002 Evangelical and Ecumenical
Women's Caucus
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