The Authority of Women

The authority of women’s speech does not come, finally, from political roles or ecclesial position, but from the truth of words spoken, the authenticity of the speaker, and the relationship of trust and genuine concern that allows one to speak not only words of encouragement, but also words of challenge.

– Mary Katherine Hilkert,
Speaking with Authority (2001)

In this week's sift:

• Challenging the Inquisition. The Inquisition never died, it just changed its name to the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. Today the CDF is attacking the Leadership Council of Women Religious, which represents most American nuns. But rather than meekly submitting, the nuns are demanding a meeting with the Grand Inquisitor, as if he were the one with something to fear. As American Catholics rally around the sisters, maybe he is.
• Who Can Obama Kill? If you want to kill American citizens, at the absolute minimum you should have to convince somebody who doesn't work for you.
• Carolina Rules the Waves and other short notes. North Carolina considers ordering planners to ignore rising seas. Adopt a uterus. Indiana charges a suicide-survivor with murdering her fetus. Everything is about race now. Who's worth talking to about women's health? Men. The spending increase that never happened. And more.
• Book recommendation of the week. Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. Evans grew up in Dayton, Tennessee, site of the Scopes Monkey Trial. She went to William Jennings Bryan College and learned how to defend a "Biblical worldview". Then she had an unexpected attack of compassion for the people who are going to Hell, and everything started to change.
• Last week's most popular post.Food-eaters are not a special interest group got 166 views. The most-clicked link was to the blog Food Politics.
• What you can do. It's get-out-the-vote time in Wisconsin. The Scott Walker recall election is tomorrow and it's close. You can still help phone bank.