Ruth Krall, "Persephone’s Journey into the Underworld: Lessons for Our Time"

Ancient portrayal of Demeter and Persephone, Apulian red-figure loutrophoro, ca. 4th century BCE, from the J. Paul Getty Museum, at the Theoi Project website

When I announced at the start of this year that I've decided no longer to maintain Bilgrimage, I also noted that if readers have something they'd like me to consider for posting here down the road, I'll gladly do that. Ruth Krall has kindly offered the following essay for publication here, and I'm delighted to share it. 

Ruth Krall, Prolegomena: An Act of Re-Thinking (Part 2)

This posting is a continuation of an essay by Ruth Krall, the first part of which I posted several days ago. As that previous posting notes, Ruth's essay, entitled "Prolegomena: An Act of Re-Thinking," invites readers to re-think how we've come to view the phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people in religious contexts. Ruth urges us to consider applying terms and concepts from the realm of public health to this phenomenon. Is this abuse an epidemic in religious contexts today? Is it endemic in religious structures? Is it pandemic?

Because the essay belows continues (and links to) the first part published previously, the endnotes begin at xvi rather than 1. Here's the second part of Ruth's valuable essay:

Ruth Krall, Prolegomena: An Act of Re-Thinking

Ebola Virus Isolation Unit — A Visual Metaphor to Ponder (i)

I'm very pleased to be able to share once again an outstanding essay by Ruth Krall. In this essay about re-thinking how we've come to view the phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people in religious contexts, Ruth urges us to consider applying terms and concepts from the realm of public health. Is this abuse an epidemic in religious contexts today? Is it endemic in religious structures? Is it pandemic? Because Ruth's essay is dense and long, I've broken the essay into two parts. The second part will follow in a day or so, and will link to this first half. Here's Ruth's essay:

Ruth Krall's Risking the Collective on the Space We Make for Violence Against Women and Children, and the Metaphor Systems Legitimating It

Here's another illuminating passage from Ruth Krall's new monograph Risking the Collective, about which I blogged yesterday. Ruth argues (cogently) that, for sexual violence against women and children to be widespread and endemic in one society after another, there has to have been a prior society "making space" for such violence. As she observes, powerfully,

Ruth Krall's Risking the Collective: Commitment of Religious Institutions to Dominant Male Privilege at Root of Abuse of Women and Children

Theologian Ruth Krall has just published a new monograph at her website. It's called Risking the Collective. I'm reading it now, and will be sharing excerpts as I read. 

Ruth's work in the field of sexual violence, and her combined background as a nurse-therapist and theologian, make what she has to say extremely important for those seeking ways to respond to endemic sexual abuse of women and children in our society and its institutions. This book could not be more timely, in light of the Philadelphia grand jury report.

Theologian Tina Beattie on Irish Abortion Referendum: "It Can Be Seen As the Assertion of the Common Good Over and Against a Corrupted and Dysfunctional Institutional Church"

Tina Beattie's reflection on the results of the Irish referendum on abortion is, in my view, exactly right — balanced, thoughtful, theologically dense and well-informed:

Toronto Van Attack: We "Continue to Find Any Reason for Violent Misogyny Besides Violent Misogyny"

Emer O'Toole, "If incels' violent misogyny had a role in Toronto, we mustn't downplay it":