Marie's Blog
Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune offers analysis and commentary on issues that concern the work of FaithTrust Institute.
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Accidental?
Apr 29, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against Women, Sexual ViolenceThe recent song, “Accidental Racist,” by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J got me thinking about how one accidentally oppresses other people. As a white woman raised in the South, I’ve heard the angst expressed before. I just don’t buy it. Yet it inspired me to write another version.
Beyond Shameful
Apr 19, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against Women, Domestic ViolenceDear Forty-five Obstructionist Senators: The President used the word “shameful” to describe the Republican filibuster two days ago in the U.S. Senate of bipartisan legislation to address gun violence. “Shameful” doesn't even begin to describe what you did. This was an act of pure cowardice.
Ethically Challenged Part 2: Youth Ministers Take Note
Apr 08, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Healthy Teen Relationships, Violence Against Women, Sexual ViolenceAs I have continued to ponder and worry about the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case which I blogged about last week, I came across a two very interesting pieces. First is an open letter from Melissa Harris-Perry to the survivor of the Steubenville rape: “Dear Steubenville Survivor, I Believe You.” It is written from one survivor to another in appreciation for the courage of the young woman in coming forward in spite of knowing the response she would get. Please listen to it.
The Ethically Challenged in Steubenville and Beyond
Apr 01, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against Women, Sexual ViolenceThe fact that two teenage football players raped an intoxicated teenager is bad enough. They have now been convicted of their crimes. But the additional fact that other teens not only watched and did not intervene to help the victim but also took photos which they then broadcast with social media is even more disturbing.
Guest Blog: Reflection on Good Friday and Resurrection
Mar 25, 2013Nancy entered my office at 6:15 on that Tuesday morning without an appointment. She grimaced and hobbled as she slowly made her way to a nearby chair. Her actions caused me to look down at her feet. They were a fleshy mess, swollen and blood-stained; injuries, I soon learned, caused by her violent husband. “I need your help, Chaplain Al, in order to learn how to better deal with the sacrifices a dutiful Christian wife must endure from her husband, whether or not he’s abusive. Christ suffered so I shouldn’t complain about the cross I must bear.”
Correction to blog: UN Statement on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
Mar 18, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against WomenWe have received several calls from people questioning the quote that I attribute to pope Francis in my last blog.
Guest Blog: Reflection on a Journey Towards Freedom
Mar 18, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Jewish, Domestic ViolenceTen years ago, the Center for the Prevention of Sexual Violence (now FaithTrust Institute), published A Journey Towards Freedom: A Haggadah for Women Who Have Experienced Domestic Violence. The text, borne out of a series of ongoing workshops with survivors of domestic violence, and lovingly crafted by a dedicated group of advocates, educators, and spiritual leaders spoke to the command l'hageed, to tell of our story at Passover.
Faith Based Resistance to a UN Statement on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls?
Mar 15, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against Women, MultifaithIn the face of high profile, horrific violence against women - the attempted assassination of a schoolgirl in Pakistan who had campaigned for education for girls, the brutal rapes and murders of young women in India and South Africa, and, lest we assume this is someone else’s problem, the rape of a drunk woman student in Steubenville, Ohio, by football players - one might assume that the meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women focusing this year on the elimination of violence against women and girls would have a singular agenda to speak in one voice on the pandemic of gender based violence that plagues every country of the world.
Catholic Bishops Oppose Violence Against Women Act?
Mar 11, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against WomenDear U.S. Bishops: What is the matter with you? The headline "Catholic Bishops Oppose Violence Against Women Act" speaks volumes to women in the pews. It confirms what many Catholic battered women and rape victims have long feared or suspected: the church is not a safe place for them. They cannot expect to receive appropriate pastoral care and support from their priests. And sadly, they are probably correct.
UN Women's 57th Commission on the Status of Women
Feb 28, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against Women, MultifaithEvery year in early March in observance of International Women’s Day (March 8), hundreds of international delegates gather at the United Nations for the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. This year will be the 57th session. The priority theme for this year will be the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.
Safe and Sound Sanctuaries for Teens
Feb 23, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Healthy Teen Relationships“Involvement in a faith-based institution does not protect teens against unwanted sexual experiences.” This was the conclusion of a study done in 2003 entitled Faith Matters: Teenagers, Religion and Sexuality. Perhaps this was news to some in faith communities who, in their wishful thinking, assume still that teen dating violence, acquaintance rape, and incestuous abuse don’t happen in our church/synagogue/mosque.
Guest Blog: Creating Communities of Safety and Trust for Teens
Feb 17, 2013 — Categories: Healthy Teen Relationships"I was trying to justify with myself for so long about what happened like oh it's only happened a few times or whatever. But the truth is that it is 3 times too many, I need to have enough strength and respect for myself to not tolerate that." - High School Girl from TN February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and all across the United States there are teenagers in dating relationships who may be confronting situations similar to this young girl. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control reported that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men who experienced violence by an intimate partner first experienced it as a teenager between the ages of 11 and 19. Additionally, recent studies have found that teen dating violence and bullying frequently co-occur in teens.
Dear Archbishop: Please Clarify
Feb 05, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Sexual Abuse by ClergyDear Archbishop Gomez: Kudos for doing something. In response to the release of the personnel files on clergy sexual abusers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, you actually did something about Cardinal Roger Mahoney and Bishop Thomas Curry who oversaw the years of silence, cover-up and non-response to the reports of sexual abuse of children by priests, though of course I wish you had done it earlier.
Déjà vu Again and Again and Again
Jan 23, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Violence Against WomenOnce again the legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act has been introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress. This action stalled in the last Congress due to partisan bickering and efforts to undercut important new provisions in VAWA. These provisions are still included in this current version and include enhanced protections for tribal, LGBT and immigrant victims, who were identified as critical priorities by advocates across the country and also received bipartisan support last year.
Trafficking in Humans: Capitalism at Its Worst
Jan 11, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Human TraffickingIn 2013, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation ending legal slavery in the United States. But slavery isn’t only a painful and tragic fact of our national history; it persists even today in the U.S. and around the world. Now we call it trafficking. Human trafficking is a big, global industry. It generates at least $32 billion per year worldwide—more than Nike, Google, and Starbucks combined. The U.S. is both a source and a destination for human beings who are trafficked.
Guns + Domestic Violence = Lethality
Jan 04, 2013 — Categories: Current Events, Domestic ViolenceThe presence of guns is what makes domestic violence so deadly. The American Judges Association reports that, “If the abuser has access to a firearm, it is far more likely that homicide will indeed be the result. Research shows that family and intimate partner assaults involving firearms are 12 times more likely to result in death than those that do not involve firearms. Approximately two-thirds of the intimate partner homicides in this country are committed using guns.”
In Spite Of...
Dec 18, 2012 — Categories: Current EventsIt is the darkest of days, the longest of nights as we approach the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. The murder-suicides pile up: a football player, a mall in Oregon, an elementary school in Connecticut. And then there are the daily deaths from gun violence in every community that don’t make the national news. The darkness seems overwhelming.
The Work of Tikkun Olam: Repairing and Restoring the World
Dec 13, 2012 — Categories: Current Events, Jewish, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse by ClergyThere are two important stories this week within the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S. The first is the conviction of Nechemya Weberman, a Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn, for sexual abuse of a child who had the courage to come forward and report him.
NFL Player Homicide-Suicide: This Is Domestic Violence
Dec 06, 2012 — Categories: Current Events, Domestic ViolenceA head injury? Alcohol? Drugs? Depression? An argument? Everyone who knew Jovan Belcher is grasping for an answer to “why?” We only know what we read in the paper, but there is nothing all that unusual here when a man kills his partner and himself. The story is pretty predictable. This is domestic violence.
Put Your Activism To Work Right Now
Dec 04, 2012 — Categories: Current Events, Sexual Violence, Domestic ViolenceThe New York Times is right on this one. If politicians are serious about fixing the perception that they don’t understand or care about women, they would do well to move quickly to pass the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) immediately.
