- The World Wide Web and You
- Resources for Christian Living
- Theme of the Month: Women's History
- Topics of Current Interest
Introduction
Each month, I begin this feature by reminding all of us of two
things: First, clicking on the links supplied (words underlined in
a contrasting color) will take you outside the EEWC site. You can
always come back by clicking on the back button on the toolbar.
Second, EEWC cannot be responsible for the content of these
external sites. They're just places that I think you'll be
interested in visiting. Their inclusion in this column (or
"Weblog") does not mean that any or all material
contained on a particular external site is necessarily endorsed by
our organization. They are listed simply as sites to explore.
If this is your first visit to "Web Explorations for
Christian Feminists," you might want to click on the
"previous issues" link (at the top of this page on the
right side) and read the introductory material for the January and
February, 2002 issues and the tips provided there.
The World Wide Web and You
Reference Tools
Each month, in talking about "The World Wide Web and
You," I like to introduce some general sites and information
related to the Internet -- treasures you can find on the Web in
addition to those of our main topics in Parts 2, 3, and 4 below.
This month, I thought I'd introduce you to some valuable reference
tools.
Dictionaries
Merriam-Webster OnLine
provides a way to look up definitions or synonyms by keying in a
word and clicking on a "Look it up" button in either the
dictionary or the thesaurus category. If you want to know how a
word is pronounced, click on one of the little audio speaker icons
accompanying the definition and you'll hear it as well as see it.
Specialized dictionaries are also available to help you find
words in particular areas of interest. One site that points
viewers to dictionaries for special categories is the Librarians'
Index to the Internet from the Library of California.
An exceedingly comprehensive list of specialty dictionaries is
found at yourDictionary.com.
This site is considered a state-of-the-art resource with links to
hundreds of dictionaries and other word helps, in addition to
providing links to online
language dictionaries of more than 260 languages and an Endangered
Language Repository.
General Reference
A one-stop site for general information may be found at refdesk.com.
Here you'll find links to information on just about anything you
can think of. Check it out and you'll see what I mean!
Resources for Christian Living
I think you'll be moved and challenged by Joan Chittister's
thoughts on discipleship. You can read online the full text of her
address, "Discipleship
for a Priestly People in a Priestless Period," given at
the Women's Ordination Worldwide Conference held in Dublin in the
summer of 2001.
You might also want to think about the meaning behind each
letter in "The
Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy" by Frederic and Mary Ann
Brussat.
And take a look at Marcus Borg's article, "What
Would Jesus Think of King's Protests?" for a different
way of understanding what it means to "turn the other
cheek," based on the research of New Testament scholar Walter
Wink.
Along with the article above, read Jim Wallis's interview
with Walter Wink from Sojourners Magazine
And as we all continue to struggle with the questions and
issues surrounding terrorism and our response to it, consider this
uplifting statement
from Mariane Pearl, widow of Wall Street Journal reporter
Danny Pearl, after the announcement that the kidnappers had
brutally murdered her husband in Pakistan, as published on
cnn.com.
Then, stretch your mind and heart with a thought-provoking
article about the "Table
Manners" of Jesus by Barbara Brown Taylor from the Christian
Century and reprinted by permission on Religion Online.
And since both Jews and Christians observe important holy days
in late March, visit these pages from About.com to learn more
about all that is involved in the Passover
observance and how the dating
of Easter and Passover were decided. Then, be inspired
by visiting the annual Easter
page from St. John's Lutheran Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Just click on "Enter" and you'll find a menu on the left
side which will take you to beautiful classic art, Scripture, and
meditations for Lent and Easter.
Theme of the Month
Women's History
Since March is observed as National
Women's History Month in the United States, I thought it would
be a good time to look back at our past.
I could give you a number of sites to visit, but the best links
are already found in a thorough compilation by Jone Johnson Lewis,
a Unitarian Universalist minister, educator, and women's history
researcher who serves as guide at the excellent women's
history section of about.com. You could spend many hours and
days clicking on all the links she lists there. They cover many
aspects of women's history, both in the U.S. and globally. You can
click on the topics that interest you from the site's main Women's
History page or from the categories on the left menu.
Canadian
Women's History Month, incidentally, is celebrated in October
because of "Persons
Day," which is remembered on October 18. On that date in
1929, after long debates and court battles, women were declared
legally to be persons, and thus eligible for appointments
in the Canadian Senate. To learn about notable Canadian women in
various fields of endeavor, visit the National Library of Canada's
"Celebrating
Women's Achievements" exhibition and click on one of the
pictures there.
You can also learn about the history of women in different
groups, such Asian
American women's history, African
American women's history, and Native
American Indian women's history. Or you might want to
visit the Lesbian
History Project or the Lesbian
Herstory Archives.
If you're interested in ancient or medieval studies, as well as
other periods of history, check out Professor Paul Halsall's
comprehensive Internet
History Sourcebooks Project which includes public domain
documents and copyright permitted reprints in many fields of
history, including women's history.
Useful links are also found in the Women
and Religion Resources section of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library
at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, CA, which is
described on the site as "a consortium of interdependent
theological schools, affiliated centers, and program units joined
in a venture of faith in God, one another, and the future."
And last, you might want to check out "American
Women in Church Denominational History" compiled by
Beverly Whitaker, a professional genealogist with a background in
both public and religious education. This is a brief but useful
overview. The site includes a summary of Susannah Wesley's life,
written by the author as though Susannah herself were telling it.
Beverly Whitaker sometimes gives oral presentations of this kind
to highlight the lives of historical figures. She includes some
information here that I haven't seen elsewhere, such as a summary
of what happened to the other
children of Susannah Wesley who survived into adulthood,
besides her two famous sons, John and Charles.
Topics of Current Interest
Besides being Women's History Month and the
month in which Passover and Easter occur this year, March is Oscar
month at the movies. So I thought we might want to explore some
sites that help us relate our faith to what we see on the big
screen.
I'll begin with three articles by Frederic and
Mary Ann Brussat. The first, "Spirituality
and Film," asks, "How do you find spirituality in
today's films? How can you make watching a film into a spiritual
experience?"
The second article, "Befriending
Films," is about the attitudes we take into a theater. It
provides 12 ideas to help us approach movie watching. (Number 9,
for example, urges us to "watch for epiphanies" those
places in a film that provide "a sudden or surprising aha!
experience that washes over you like a gift from God.")
The Brussats also provide guidelines for
starting a film discussion group. (I can vouch for the value of
such a group, having been enrolled in a film forum at a local
theater for the last couple of years. The group sees foreign, art,
and independent films before they are more widely distributed and
then discusses them together, led by a professor of film. Today,
for example, we saw Kandahar:
Journey into the Heart of Afghanistan, with two guest
professors from Iran to help lead the discussion afterwards. The
film touched me deeply, both as a Christian and as a feminist.
It's well worth seeing.)
The third of Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat's
articles that I want to recommend here is their list of the 35
"Most
spiritually literate films of 2001," including foreign
films and documentaries. The list will give you some ideas about
videos or DVDs to rent if you missed them on the big screen.
Another website, Hollywood
Jesus looks as flashy as its name, but it's worth checking
out. It was created and is maintained by David Bruce, a graduate
of North Park University/Seminary in Chicago (the campus where
several of our EEWC biennial conferences have been held). He has
also been an Evangelical Covenant Church pastor. The link provided
here will take you to the part of the site that introduces you to
David Bruce and the other reviewers, and you can then use the menu
to explore other parts of the site. (Be forewarned that this site
is full of lively graphics that may take a while to download if
you have a slow modem.)
Still other sites you might want to check out
are the Journal of
Religion and Film, where you'll find scholarly articles on
topics related to motion pictures and religion, and the Journal
of Religion & Society, where you can read a review of Reel
Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue, a book by Robert
K. Johnston, professor of theology and culture at Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA (another campus where EEWC
has held a biennial conference).
And in view of the spectacular success of the
first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which received
more Oscar nominations than any other film this year (thirteen,
including best picture), you might want to check out "Lord
of the Megaplex" an article by Steve Rabey in Christianity
Today. This online article also has links to related sites,
including the film's official site. In addition, you might want to
read an article about Tolkien's writings, "Tolkien:
Archetype and Word" from Cross Currents.
That's all for this time. See you again in April.
Your Web Explorations tour guide,
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
© 2002 Evangelical and Ecumenical
Women's Caucus
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