The liberation of Eve,

the rape of Bathsheba,

and the masculinity of Joseph.

“Read my blog…” I’ve read a lot of emails that end with a statement similar to this. I begin this essay in such a manner, not because my blogs are significant, but because my writing tends to reveal a few things about my gender traits in a way that even those who have not met me can recognize. I tend…

It’s the “holiday season” but this is not an essay about Christmas. Nor is it about Halloween. It purports be an essay about Quaker’s and holidays. However, it’s more about language – sacred language – and how French philosopher Jacques Derrida has something to say about sacred language that might surprise a few folks that are “in the know.” What should we do with Derrida’s prediction that the words of or about God might avenge themselves upon those who attempt to co-opt them for personal…

His eyes moved from the cracked sidewalk block beneath his feet to the cracked window of the upper flat. There was a sleepy eyelid of space between the window frame and the dingy bedspread that covered the rest of it. A flickering blue light emanated from a television and radiated through the eyelid in contrast to the depressing gray of the Detroit neighborhood. That light - the blue light, - promised that someone would be home.

He walked quickly so as not to betray his anxiety or his…

Author’s note: I have taken the liberty of making use of Ben Pink Dandelion’s reference to a specific manner of Quaker practice as “liberal-liberal” Friends. As one who identifies closely with Conservative Friends, I am a Hicksite and identify as an FGC liberal Friend. My comments are more concerned with identity and intelligibility than an overarching critique of FGC Friends, which has a far different…