What Are They Going To Do About Jeffs? 6/15/2005 02:18:31 Warren Jeffs is getting attention again. I've written about him before, but the more I learn, the more I am interested ~ in a creepy sort of way. The latest press is all up in arms about the so-called 'Lost Boys', teenage boys split off from the group & left to fend for themselves. By ridding the community of teenage boys, Jeffs lowers the competition of men for claiming multiple wives, sort of like a stallion. Unlike that wild life scenario, it seems none of the strong males came sniffing back around to challenge him... Well, as far as we know. We think he's in hiding somewhere, but if a body shows up, there's a group to consider. Meanwhile, the law figures the only charge they can file is that of Jeffs arranging the marriage of an underage girl. Never mind they had this knowledge in 2002. And in 2004, others noted the irony: "As Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl go on Sunday talk shows to argue for the rights of women in Iraq, Jeffs ascends the pulpit to tell his followers that a man must have at least three wives to secure a place in heaven, while a woman will get there only if invited by her man, local residents said." But, they are only women in the USA. So who cares? We need to focus on what other men do to other women. Men in the USA are exempt. *ahem* Seems Jeffs hasn't been violent enough. Nor do the problems of his ignored assets etc seem to be enough to warrent any legal action. They are a-scared of Mr Jeffs, they are. (The idea of acting as if he's a murder victim might be the best approach: "Hey, Jeffs, no harm, no foul, we thought you was dead & we went looking for ya. Now that we see you're a-ok, we'll let you be on your merry way..." Then they can follow him back to his lair & monitor him... or not, I guess.) But Jeffs' civil liberties aside, what I want to know is, are we going to blame Mormons & religion, or is this another lone gunman? "When men rape women, it indicates war, even in civilized society. Since one in four women will be raped in our country, I believe we have war simmering under the crust of our gender relationships." Tess gives her thoughts on the word Rape. 0 comment(s) "It's a huge issue. Are they a man or a woman, and when do they change?" says Richard Chaifetz, CEO of Chicago-based ComPsych, an employee-assistance firm. "It creates discomfort for people; their prejudices come out. The gender is changing, but (employees) know it's the same person, and that can create problems for people." ~ from the USA Today story on transgender employee issues. 0 comment(s) Where are all the female political bloggers? Clancy Ratliff, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Rhetoric, minoring in Feminist Studies, intends to take a look at this issue in her studies. Read her Dissertation Fellowship Proposal: GENDER, PUNDITRY, AND WEBLOGS: BLOGGING’S CHALLENGE TO CURRENT UNDERSTANDINGS OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE 0 comment(s) Mamma's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Celebrities 6/7/2005 13:33:40 All the fuss about Saddam in his skivvies. On one hand, some folks say 'He'd have done worse.' But there is that pesky little Geneva Convention dealio-mc-bob, which says prisoners have the right to dignity. Strangely, in the USA (& in many a wealthy Arabic male's hidden stash, the proof lies...), scantily-clad-women-in-undies are the norm. Does this debase women? Are those models lacking in dignity? It's not the same, you say? Why? Oh, because they have made a choice to parade in panties & be photographed... I see now... Saddam was violated by having private moments recorded without his permission & then this was magnified when the photos were published. Nasty business, that is. But wait a minute. What about all the photos the paparazzi snap of unsuspecting, unwilling celebrities? Capturing private, intimate & yes nude moments of celebrities ~ moments they have not consented to being photographed, let alone published ~ is the life-blood of many businesses. Why do prisoners of war, warlords, criminals & the like have rights to humane treatment when the celebrities do not? If you are currently working on or have recently completed a study that weaves together science, spirituality and/or health, you could win up to $2000 and have your research featured in a future issue of Science & Theology News. See the details of the The Science-and-Religion Contest 2005 for more information. 0 comment(s) It's crunch time for some of high court's biggest decisions, including cases surrounding the Ten Commandments, legalizing marijuana and internet file-sharing. Most experts agree that the 10 Commandments issue is a question of where you draw the line over what is historical & cultural and what is religious ~ not an easy line to draw. According to University at Buffalo Law Professor Lee A. Albert, a constitutional law expert, "The court already has held that posting Ten Commandments in a classroom is unconstitutional, so we're not talking about whether the government can do anything with the Ten Commandments. The issue is more contextual." 0 comment(s) An excellent review of Loyal Rue's Religion is Not about God ~ a book about the biological foundations of spiritual traditions. I am so getting a copy of this! 0 comment(s) Tess shares some gems regarding Myths of Female Sexuality. The book they come from is approximately 30 years old, yet the information is not exactly fact... Tess writes: "And people were writing about women as though we were some weird, vaguely threatening animal species that had been studied and catalogued by scientists but still not truly understood." 0 comment(s)