Presbyterian Voices for Justice 

A union of The Witherspoon Society and Voices of Sophia

Welcome to news and networking for progressive Presbyterians 

Home page

Ordination / inclusion

Health Care Reform

Immigrant rights

Search Archive
U S Politics, 2010 Confronting torture The Economic Crisis Israel & Palestine About us Just for fun

News of the PC(USA)

Global & Social concerns Other churches, other faiths Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan Join us! Notes from your WebWeaver

What's Where

Our reports about the 219th General Assembly, July 2010

ABOUT US

The Summer 2010 issue of
Network News
is posted here
- in Adobe PDF format.

Click here for earlier issues
Adobe PDF  Click here to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.

News of the Society
How to join us
Witherspoon's
Global Engagement Initiative

SEARCH

CONNECTIONS

Coming events calendar 

Do you want to announce an event?
Please send a note!
Food for the spirit
Book notes

Go to  Amazon.com

LINKS

NEWS of the Presbyterian Church

Got news??
Send us a note!
Social and global concerns
The U.S. political scene, 2010
The Middle East conflict
The economic crisis
Health care reform
Working for inclusive ordination
Peacemaking & international concerns
The Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan
Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
U. S. Politics
Election 2008
Economic justice
Fair Food Campaign
Labor rights
Women's Concerns
Sexual justice
Marriage Equality
Caring for the environment
Immigrant rights
Racial concerns
Church & State
The death penalty
The media
OTHER CHURCHES, OTHER FAITHS
Do you want regular e-mail updates when stories are added to our web site?
Just send a note!
The WebWeaver's Space
ARCHIVES
JUST FOR FUN
Want books?
Search Now:

 

Re-Imagining Gathering, 2000

Mary Daly


"The Burning Time Revisited: Rekindling the Fires of Radical Feminism"

a report from the Re-Imagining Gathering
by Doug King
posted 11-1-00


Mary Daly, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Boston College, where she teaches Feminist Ethics. Her courses are accredited for both graduate and undergraduate students, and are offered for cross-registration through nine theology schools and universities in the area. Mary is well known for her many books, beginning with The Church and the Second Sex to the most recent, Quintessence ...Realizing the Archaic Future: A Radical Elemental Feminist Manifesto. In the past 30 years, Professor Daly has lectured at over 300 colleges, universities and public gathering all over the world. Her most recent lecture was at "Festival of 2000 Women" in Frankfurt, Germany. She has also appeared on radio and television.

(From the Gathering program book)



While the other speakers at Re-Imagining were thanked with standing ovations at the end of their presentations, Daly was welcomed with one before she even started. Her significance to the feminist movement is that great, and her presence at this "Millennial Gathering of the Re-Imagining Community" was that important.

She began by proclaiming, "I'm really here to summon you, to offer you an invitation -- from the call of the wild and the world of the weird." She went on: "I'd like to make the seemingly absurd proposal that radical elemental feminism is the politics of the 21st century." Quite clearly, in the face of gentle questions being raised by voices representing the "Third Wave of Feminism," Daly was calling her audience to remain steadfastly committed to the radical (and angry) vision that she has articulated over the last couple decades.

Weaving together snippets from many of her books, her feminist redefinitions of words like courage and nemesis and patriarchy, and insights from contemporary science, Daly seemed to be building a case that the world, still dominated by patriarchal systems and attitudes, is moving steadily toward a future in which humanity will render itself obsolete and the natural world will be destroyed. The only hope, she said, is for "wild women" who are unafraid to confront the evils of patriarchy, and who will live out of "the unseen fabric of connectedness," affirming the wholeness of all of reality.

Acknowledging that she had not heard Rebecca Walker's talk in the morning, nor read her books, Daly took the trouble to comment that "I disagree with the phrase 'Third Wave feminism,' because the generations must be linked and not separated." There is no real difference between the generations, she implied, except that the younger feminists don't appreciate the battles fought by the women who have gone before them.

So while she no longer feels any need for a patriarchal God, said Daly, the image of the goddess is still meaningful as "a great metaphor for the unseen fabric of connectedness."

In the time for discussion after her talk, Daly was asked to explain the meaning of "grace," as in the title of her latest book, Amazon Grace. Grace, she said, is the assurance that we are not alone, "that our foremothers are with us ... and the angels!"

Rebecca Walker then rose to respond as one of the founders of the Third Wave. Beginning with a very warm affirmation of Daly's work and all she has meant to younger women, Walker continued by saying that "I was dealing with young men and women who were turning away from feminism and activism. It was important to us that we connect to the Second Wave," but also that we find new forms of feminism that would appeal to people for whom the earlier struggles were finished. She asked Daly to comment on whether the two "waves" are really incompatible. Dr. Daly's response was very brief, and then Thandeka rose, asking Daly to give a more serious response to a serious question.

Daly's response seemed to offer impressive confirmation that there really are differences. "We're not enemies," she said sharply, "but I'm not dead yet lady!" She went on to add that "You have a great mother!" (Walker had never in her own presentation mentioned her famous mother by name.) She then made some reference to "right wing women pretending to be feminists."

Thandeka stood again to try to make a bit of understanding possible between the waves, insisting that the younger women are not denying the significance of people like Daly, but suggesting that both mothers and daughters need to be heard by the other.

 

 

Some blogs worth visiting

 

PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

You can post your own news and views, or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you.

 

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

After fifteen years of scholarship and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy, students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and thoughtful community.

 

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

Theological and philosophical reflections on everything between summit to shore, including kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian Church in Flushing, NY.

 

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

A Presbyterian minister, currently serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and lightening up.

 

Got more blogs to recommend?

Please send a note, and we'll see what we can do!

 

Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch Seminar!

GHOST RANCH SEMINAR

July 26-August 1, 2010

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE

 

If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep this website going ... and growing!

Please consider making a special contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve this service.

Click here to send a gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.

Or send your check, made out to "Witherspoon Society" and marked "web site," to our Witherspoon  Bookkeeper:

Susan Robertson  
9650 Clover Circle
Eden Prairie, MN  55347

 

To top

© 2010 by Presbyterian Voices for Justice.  All material on this site is the responsibility of the WebWeaver unless other sources are acknowledged.  Unless otherwise noted, material on this site may be copied for personal use and sharing in small groups.  For permission to reproduce material for wider publication, please contact the WebWeaver, Doug King.  Any material reached by links on this site is outside the control and responsibility of the WebWeaver and Presbyterian Voices for Justice.  Questions or comments?  Please send a note!