Dear friends and colleagues:
My new book, "Meditations on the Good News: Reading the Bible for Today" is (finally) available for sale at amazon.com
The
book is a series of meditations on Biblical passages that encourage the
readers to lead a hopeful, joyful life. It is a direct response to
those who say that the Bible teaches that we are all sinners (it does
not) and I hope that it re-introduces the Bible to those who believe it
is irrelevant to life today. And yes, I include many of the passages
that celebrate our sexuality.
I say in the book, "You don't need
to be Christian or Jewish or Unitarian Universalist or attend a church
or synagogue to benefit from these Biblical insights. You don't need to
believe in a creed, or indeed believe in organized religion at all to
apply these lessons in your own daily life....You
can be "spiritual, not religious" or "religious and spiritual" and
still find or make meaning."
I hope some of you may be interested
in reading it (it's available on Kindle as well). During the next few weeks, I'll run a few excerpts at this blog.
Warm wishes to you all.
Debra
PS
The direct link to copy and paste is
http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Good-News-Reading-Bible/dp/0985594918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358966585&sr=1-1&keywords=Debra+Haffner+Meditations
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Celebrating and Lamenting Roe (and Abortion) at 40
I was 18 when Roe v. Wade was decided. I thought, as I walked that day to class, that abortion would now be legal and local and that the controversy would ebb away. I could never have imagined that 40 years later, as a post-menopausal woman, I’d still be working to assure that abortion would be accessible to all, regardless of age, income, or geography.
I think my 18 year old self would have been appalled. That 18 year old had already helped a friend get to New York City for an abortion because it wasn’t legal in Connecticut. That 18 year old had already had a friend who had been sent to an “aunt” for a school year to have a baby and give it up for adoption. That 18 year old had already had a high school classmate who had dropped out of school to have a baby. That 18 year old already knew that her grandmother had had an illegal abortion.
I cheered that Supreme Court decision – and all those who had worked to make it happen.
On this 40th anniversary, I cheer that Roe has held, but despair that we still have to fight. I loved the President’s line about Selma, Seneca Falls, and Stonewall, linking the civil rights and equality of all. I wish he had something about women’s reproductive rights. (As an aside to this blog, I also wish he had remembered the B ad the T in LGBT, as they were invisible yesterday, but that’s another blog this week!)
I applaud all those along the way who have stood for reproductive justice. Let us hold in our hearts those who have gone before us in working to protect the rights of women. Let us stand with those in every part of the globe who are working still to protect women’s access to services and to assure that no woman dies giving birth to the next generation. On this 40th anniversary of the Roe decision, we remember in sorrow women around the world who have died because of dangerous or illegal abortions, and the providers who have been murdered providing women with these services.
Let us applaud those clergy who have worked so hard to help people understand that there are religious foundations for affirming abortion as a morally justifiable decision and that women are moral agents who have the right and responsibility to make their own decisions about their reproductive health and futures. We believe that the sanctity of human life is best upheld when we assure that it is not created carelessly. It is precisely because life and parenthood are so precious that no woman, regardless of income or geography, should be coerced to bring a pregnancy to term. We pledge our compassion and support for all who face these difficult decisions.
Join with us. Work with us on reproductive and sexual justice. May there come a day when every child is planned and wanted; every pregnancy safe and supported by medical services; every abortion legal and safe and without unnecessary laws and restrictions; every woman able to make her own moral decisions about her fertility and family size.
Celebrate Roe today. Get back to work tomorrow.
I think my 18 year old self would have been appalled. That 18 year old had already helped a friend get to New York City for an abortion because it wasn’t legal in Connecticut. That 18 year old had already had a friend who had been sent to an “aunt” for a school year to have a baby and give it up for adoption. That 18 year old had already had a high school classmate who had dropped out of school to have a baby. That 18 year old already knew that her grandmother had had an illegal abortion.
I cheered that Supreme Court decision – and all those who had worked to make it happen.
On this 40th anniversary, I cheer that Roe has held, but despair that we still have to fight. I loved the President’s line about Selma, Seneca Falls, and Stonewall, linking the civil rights and equality of all. I wish he had something about women’s reproductive rights. (As an aside to this blog, I also wish he had remembered the B ad the T in LGBT, as they were invisible yesterday, but that’s another blog this week!)
I applaud all those along the way who have stood for reproductive justice. Let us hold in our hearts those who have gone before us in working to protect the rights of women. Let us stand with those in every part of the globe who are working still to protect women’s access to services and to assure that no woman dies giving birth to the next generation. On this 40th anniversary of the Roe decision, we remember in sorrow women around the world who have died because of dangerous or illegal abortions, and the providers who have been murdered providing women with these services.
Let us applaud those clergy who have worked so hard to help people understand that there are religious foundations for affirming abortion as a morally justifiable decision and that women are moral agents who have the right and responsibility to make their own decisions about their reproductive health and futures. We believe that the sanctity of human life is best upheld when we assure that it is not created carelessly. It is precisely because life and parenthood are so precious that no woman, regardless of income or geography, should be coerced to bring a pregnancy to term. We pledge our compassion and support for all who face these difficult decisions.
Join with us. Work with us on reproductive and sexual justice. May there come a day when every child is planned and wanted; every pregnancy safe and supported by medical services; every abortion legal and safe and without unnecessary laws and restrictions; every woman able to make her own moral decisions about her fertility and family size.
Celebrate Roe today. Get back to work tomorrow.
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