Author: Joan Wallach Scott File Type: pdf In 2004, the French government instituted a ban on the wearing of conspicuous signs of religious affiliation in public schools. Though the ban applies to everyone, it is aimed at Muslim girls wearing headscarves. Proponents of the law insist it upholds Frances values of secular liberalism and regard the headscarf as symbolic of Islams resistance to modernity. The Politics of the Veil is an explosive refutation of this view, one that bears important implications for us all. Joan Wallach Scott, the renowned pioneer of gender studies, argues that the law is symptomatic of Frances failure to integrate its former colonial subjects as full citizens. She examines the long history of racism behind the law as well as the ideological barriers thrown up against Muslim assimilation. She emphasizes the conflicting approaches to sexuality that lie at the heart of the debate--how French supporters of the ban view sexual openness as the standard for normalcy, emancipation, and individuality, and the sexual modesty implicit in the headscarf as proof that Muslims can never become fully French. Scott maintains that the law, far from reconciling religious and ethnic differences, only exacerbates them. She shows how the insistence on homogeneity is no longer feasible for France--or the West in general--and how it creates the very clash of civilizations said to be at the root of these tensions. The Politics of the Veil calls for a new vision of community where common ground is found amid our differences, and where the embracing of diversity--not its suppression--is recognized as the best path to social harmony.

Author: Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda File Type: pdf The increasingly pressing and depressing situation of Planet Earth poses urgent ethical questions for Christians. But, as Cynthia Moe-Lobeda argues, the future of the earth is not simply a matter of protecting species and habitats but of rethinking the very meaning of Christian ethics. The earth crisis cannot be understood apart from the larger human crisiseconomic equity, social values, and human purpose are bound up with the planets survival. In a sense, she says, the whole earth is a moral community. Reorienting Christian ethics from its usual anthropocentrism to an ecocentrism entails a new framework that Moe-Lobeda lays out in her first chapters, culminating in a creative rethinking of how it is that we understand morally. With this moral epistemology in place, she unfolds her notion of moral vision and applies it to the present situation in a full-fledged earth-honoring, justice-seeking Christian ethical stance. ** The increasingly pressing and depressing situation of Planet Earth poses urgent ethical questions for Christians. But, as Cynthia Moe-Lobeda argues, the future of the earth is not simply a matter of protecting species and habitats but of rethinking the very meaning of Christian ethics. The earth crisis cannot be understood apart from the larger human crisiseconomic equity, social values, and human purpose are bound up with the planets survival. In a sense, she says, the whole earth is a moral community. **Review This book is a gift to all . consumers looking for a way out of their addiction. Those of us (myself included) who know our excessive consumption is causing ecological and economic disasters should read Professor Moe-Lobedas new book. It is the best one-volume analysis of our moral dilemma I know of and, even better, it suggests principles and practices to help deal with it. --Sallie McFague, Vancouver School of Theology Cynthia Moe-Lobedas Resisting Structural Evil Love as Ecological and Economic Transformation takes the form of a powerful contribution to Christian ethics, but in fact it is also a major contribution to anyone in any religious or spiritual tradition who seeks to maintain both a commitment to God and to global healing and transformation. Easily accessible and charming in presentation, deep in its ability to confront difficult issues squarely and in a nuanced way, courageous in insisting that we see reality not only as it is but as it could be if we were willing to be unrealistic for a few moments, manifesting daring of thought combined with a pervasive humilitythis is a true classic of spiritual progressive consciousness, packed full of ideas that should be taught in every college and university and religious seminary, every church, synagogue, mosque and ashram! --Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor of Tikkun Magazine, Chair of The Network of Spiritual Progressives This is a grand prophetic book motivated by love and focused on justicesocial justice, ecological justice, and dignity for the least of these. Dont miss it! --Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary About the Author Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda teaches Christian ethics at Seattle Universitys School of Theology and Ministry and in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. She is author of Healing a Broken World (Fortress Press, 2002) and Public Church For the Life of the World (Lutheran Voices, 2004) and is co-author of Saint Francis and the Foolishness of God (Orbis, 1993) and Say to This Mountain Marks Story of Discipleship (Orbis, 1996).