panel experiences

Last week, I headed to UNT for a panel on Women and Spirituality. When I received the notice in my inbox, I nearly peed my pants with excitement... because, what's better than my two favorite topics - women and GOD together in the same discussion!?

Join us for an exploration of gender and spirituality!


The event centerpiece is a panel of women from various faith traditions discussing their personal experiences with the intersection of faith and gender, various traditions' histories of restriction and empowerment, and gender-focused social justice work in religious contexts.


Participants include:

*Lilian Calles Barger, UTD Department of Historical Studies
(Dr. Barger has written two books on evangelical Christianity and feminism. She has a Bachelors degree, a Masters degree, AND a Doctorate. She founded a project called the Damaris Project “…founded in 1997 to provide women with resources for starting conversations in their personal circles and communities about women’s lives, culture, and the teachings of Jesus." Important stuff!!)
*Shams Cohen, First Unitarian Church of Dallas
(Pronounced like "Brahms"; a Unitarian gaining her masters in view of becoming a minister. She is a member of a Sufi order. No books that I know of, but she preaches and performs homilies at church on Sunday, and open-mindedness seeping from her pores.)
*Susan Harper, TWU Department of Women's Studies
(a Wiccan, a witch, or whatever you want to call it. I looked at her curiously when she said that, as if she had admitted she had a third nipple. She is also an adjunct professor at Texas Women’s University where she teaches women’s studies. She believes she is a goddess, and in fact, all of us are.)
*Mary Blye Posani, Lay Leader, Congregation Beth Torah
(Ms. Posani is a lay leader (which means unpaid minister) at Congregation Beth Torah. Her bio fascinated me. Not only has she written several books, but she also was born and raised Southern Baptist before becoming a Sufi then finally converting to Judaism.)
*Dianne Rodgers, EFT Practioner, Baha'i Community
(EFT means “Emotional Freedom Technique” and involves tapping and releasing energy and negative thought patterns through contact with your body. Baha’i is an offshoot of Islam, a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. The follow the teaching so Baha’u’llah and The Bab (pronounced “bab” not, “bob”, as I want to pronounce it). Although I am not really covering Baha’i in my study, I find their core principles which promote the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humankind both refreshing and hopeful. They believe that God periodically reveals his will through divine messengers, whose purpose is to transform the character of humankind and develop within those who respond moral and spiritual qualities. Religion is thus seen as orderly, unified, and progressive from age to age (wikipedia). Ms. Rodgers posessed a quiet confidence throughout the discussion.)
*Alia Salem, Islamic Speakers Bureau- D/FW chapter
(A token younger than the other panelists, she was in traditional Muslim hijab and modest clothing and spoke gently and eloquently about her belief system and her choice to be a Muslim.)
*Arvind Singh, constitutional attorney & sociopolitical filmmaker
(Arvind Singh was amazing. She is from India and had an arranged marriage to her husband. She is an attorney, but moved to the US when she decided to pursue making controversial documentaries outlining the mistreatment of women and members of lower castes in India. She was inspirational!!)
*Jennifer Chase, UNT Department of Anthropology, MODERATOR
(Ph.d. in Anthropology. I knew we were in for a good time when she interrupted the panel members after the first question to commence into a diatribe touting the non-existence of gender in society. It was one of many times she would interrupt verbally with a lecture on antiquated terminology, and every time she disagreed with a panel member, she would roll her eyes in childish frustration and mutter “I disagree! I disagree!” At one point, Shams Cohen pointed out that, although Dr. Chase’s desire to view the world through ungendered eyes was noble, there obviously IS a gender difference, otherwise why were we there speaking about WOMEN and spirituality? Touche. Apparently Dr. Chase did not get the job description for moderator, which is, to moderate the lively argument between panel members, rather than be the CAUSE of all of the conflict!)

Please bring your experiences and contribute to the discussion!

NOTE: FMLA General meeting from 6-7pm will precede panel. (FMLA apparently stands for “Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.” I thought it stood for “Family Medical Leave Act”. If I had realized otherwise, I might not have attended, since I rather dislike all things labeled "feminist" organizations.)

I know some of you may be shocked right now that I don’t self-identify as a feminist, in fact, that I think the term is antiquated and unnecessary. This is because feminism was a movement that secured women’s equal opportunities in the United States several decades ago. I say secured in past tense. I believe that women’s opportunities are secure in present day America. In fact, I believe that women have MORE rights than all other citizens in America, which, to me, seems patently unfair. I am not standing around touting [the inequality experienced by my gender] or [disproportionate workplace elevation of those who have penises], because, in truth, I don’t believe it really exists. In truth, I am much more likely to stand up for the group that gets less airtime and more public denegration (with fewer public moral checks to that denegration). In this present day in the USA, that is white males. I self-identify as a humanist. I am a member of the human race, first and foremost.

The room was packed with co-eds, I might have been one of the oldest there – with exception of the panelists. It goes without saying that I was thrilled to be in the presence of so many open-minded and diverse women speaking about my FAVORITE thing, RELIGION! Secondary to that was my unadulterated desire to NOT ONLY hear these women speak, but to speak with them further, pick their brains, find out what they thought about my project, and my questions, and ask them questions that weren’t chock-full of $10 college undergrad words, but that would tell myself and my readers what we wanted to know about [their] relationship with [their] God.

Although the panel that night was rather disappointing due to frequent interjections by the FMLA squad and the infamous Dr. Chase with her shrugs, eye-rolls and "I DISAGREE!" comments, and although the questions asked were much more of the theoretical lofty sort than the down-to-earth-real-life sort, I immediately went home after the meeting and cyber-stalked the panelists, with the exception of Ms. Rodgers (because I’m not really looking at Baha’i), Dr. Chase (for obvious reasons), and Ms. Harper (because the word “witchcraft” is really hard for me to swallow in any setting… I just can’t do it yet).

I tracked down their books and ordered them on Amazon. I read their bios on their websites, I friended them on facebook (if they had a facebook), I read their blogs. And...

I am happy to report that they have agreed to let me interview them for this project!!

Attorney Singh has an interesting and unique take on Hinduism and God and said she was “delighted to collaborate on such a project, although [her] positions are not representative of Indian society as a whole” (leave it to a lawyer to put a disclaimer in the first sentence she writes to me!) :) I am really excited about the work she is doing on film and excited to see where she will go! She’s going to do amazing things!

Dr. Barger emailed me back and stated that she would definitely be interested in speaking with me regarding her views on Evangelical Christianity, more specifically, women’s roles in church, and help me in any way she could.

Ms. Posani emailed me back immediately to tell me she would love to participate in my journey. She ALSO invited me to shabat and synagogue with her and said that she could introduce me to other Jewish women in the area!

Score!!! I am wrapping up Mormonism this week and then will spend my typical few days of down time while I prepare to launch myself into Judaism at the end of May! Stay close by, friends, the journey is only getting funner! (I know that’s not a word.)