Christianity
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The Saintesses of Manga and Anime
If you happen to stroll through the manga section at a nearby Barnes and Noble or scroll through the anime options on CrunchyRoll, you will likely come across more than one tempting option that features a beautiful saint as the leading heroine living in a fantasy world and falling in love with a dashing duke. I have been an avid anime fan for about four years now, and I have frequented the manga section of my local bookstores more than once, I must admit. I’ve even downloaded the sensational app called Webtoon for a wider range of content (hint: if you like “Hell’s Paradise,” “Tower of God,” or “Solo Levelling,”…
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Religious Espectrocide and Maternal Resistance: Ethical Reflections from a Testimony
Michelle is a Brazilian mother of David, a neurodivergent child diagnosed with autism. In her public testimony, she recounts a painful journey marked by experiences of exclusion and lack of understanding within her evangelical community in Brazil. In many religious contexts, autistic existence is not interpreted as part of human diversity but as a spiritual deviation to be corrected. This article proposes the concept of espectrocide, a term that designates the symbolic, epistemic, and affective erasure of autistic identities, as a tool for analyzing the specific effects of religious discourse and practices on autistic people (Freitas & Franco, in press). More specifically, religious espectrocide refers to the symbolic and structural…
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Out of the Box Theory for Seminarians: an Autoethnography of Facilitating Workshops
Components of a discovered-in-practice, Out of the Box Theory, can come together in the spiritual formation of seminarians being theologically trained. The process of change can be witnessed in facilitating life writing workshops. Shellseekers Art + Soul life writing workshops has some of the answers to fill a gap in the practical aspects of embodied spiritual formation. In creating and facilitating contemplation and creativity workshops in churches, the classroom, and other venues, as a visual artist and practical theologian, I have observed participants for over a dozen years. In this paper I offer a window into the workshops, with insights gleaned. The methodology used here is autoethnography. “Auto” is for…
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Reflections on “Pastoral Ethics and Belief Baggage: A Critical Look at Animal Symbolism in Witchcraft” by Claire Ayelotan
Claire’s piece can be read here: https://practicaltheologyhub.com/?p=1298 Fear and the Desire for Control Why are our societies so obsessed with witchcraft? While I was reading Claire’s brilliant piece, I could not help but remember that we used the same Christian text – Pope Gregory IX’s papal bull Vox in Rama – regarding fear of black cats (but my piece was on another topic: https://practicaltheologyhub.com/?p=1268). Black cats and other animals are widely associated with magic and beyond natural (or supernatural) powers. Trying to answer the question, we all abhor death, disease, famine, poverty and not being able to get what we want [in Buddhist terms these are part of what is understood as…
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Can AI sin?
Can AI sin? The obvious answer would be no; it might be created in the image of humanity, but it is not a human being. In my previous article[1] I discussed whether an avatar can be created bad. The conclusion was that the avatar itself was not bad, but it could be seen as bad, depending on the actions of the person they represent. However, if Artificial Intelligence is an entity, should it be treated differently in relation to the question of sin? Depending on our religious, or non-religious, background, our interpretation of what sin is may differ. Most would accept that sin is primarily an action against God, whether…
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Rape Culture in Pastoral Discourses: An Analysis of Women in the Evangelical Religious Context
Sexual violence against women, often legitimized by cultural and pastoral discourses, remains an alarming problem in Brazil. The concept of “rape culture” encompasses a set of beliefs, behaviors, and discourses that normalize and excuse sexual violence, often shifting blame onto those who experience it and protecting the aggressor, according to Judith Herman (1992). In the evangelical context, religious leaders play a unique role in shaping values and beliefs, influencing both individual behaviors and social structures. However, in certain cases, the language adopted by pastors not only reflects unequal gender norms, but also reinforces them, contributing to the perpetuation of a culture of female submission and violence. To understand this problem,…
