Religion at the Margins

It Is Well with My Soul

Thom Stark — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:59:05 +0000

Jesus, why you so angry? We get it already. You have some problems with your religious leaders and institutions. But why you no focus on the positive? Why you always gots to be so negative? That whip ain’t very Christ-like, now is it? You’re obviously a very troubled soul. I pray for you. I hope you find the inner peace to just move on. Someone I’ve never heard of has called me, and a friend of mine, and unspecified other trouble makers, troubled souls. He’s right, of course. And God save us from inner peace.

Who Art in Heaven To Win Award at 46th WorldFest-Houston

Thom Stark — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:17:49 +0000

I was fortunate enough to be able to make two films this past summer, both featuring my brother Jim. I’ve known for about a month that one of them, Revolution, is to win an award at this year’s WorldFest-Houston. But I’ve just this evening learned that the other one, Who Art in Heaven, will also be receiving an award at the 46th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. I’m very honored to have both of my entries this year receive an award, and that makes us three-for-three so far (with Note to Self’s Platinum Remi win at last year’s festival). Revolution is not yet available for online viewing, but you can watch and download the trailer here. I am, however, proud to present Who Art in Heaven in its entirety below. It can also be downloaded for your personal collection here. If you choose to download the film, please consider leaving a donation in the Tip Jar beneath the video on the Vimeo page at the link. Without further ado…

Transdimensional Autophilic Middle-Aged College Professors for Marriage Equality

Thom Stark — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:09:45 +0000

Treat yourself to lunch:

A Revolution at WorldFest-Houston

Thom Stark — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:43:17 +0000

One of the films I made last summer, Revolution, has been selected to screen (twice) at the 46th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. This marks the second year in a row Jim Stark’s glorious visage will grace the screens of Houston’s AMC Studio 30. Click here to see Revolution‘s entry on the WorldFest-Houston website. What Others Are Saying: Jim Stark’s performance is honest and heart-breaking. Thom Stark’s artistic direction is wonderful and visionary. . . Stark has created something that will help people better understand themselves. — Chuck O’Connor, Playwright Incredibly powerful. . . [Stark has] created a Sartre-esque hell. . . A journey paradoxically both static and in motion. — John Douglas Sinclair, Writer/Director/Producer Synopsis: Seth Ward comes home for dinner only to find his house empty and his family inexplicably absent. As he awaits their return, he grows hungrier and hungrier. Tagline: Blessed are those who hunger. Cast & Crew: Director: Thom Stark Writer: Thom Stark Cinematographer: Thom Stark Editor: Thom Stark Producers: Jim Stark, Thom Stark Associate Producers: Erica Calderon, Lee Penya Music: Kevin MacLeod Cast: Jim Stark – Seth Ward Margo Watkins – Hannah Ward Carol Ann Rogers – Jane Good Lily Stark – Abby Ward Robert Stark [...]

Chris Rollston Secures Visiting Professorship at George Washington University

Thom Stark — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:57:23 +0000

I’m very pleased to be able to say that my professor, Chris Rollston, has officially accepted a visiting professorship at George Washington University beginning in the Spring semester. You can read his announcement here, as well as his note of thanks to his friends, colleagues, and students, here. This marks the end of a sustained period of pain and uncertainty for Dr. Rollston, and I couldn’t be happier to see him come out of it stronger, even more gracious, and with forward momentum.

Dr. Kyle McCarter Speaks Out for Dr. Rollston

Thom Stark — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:26:43 +0000

Dr. P. Kyle McCarter, the William Foxwell Albright Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, has written a lengthy open letter in support of Dr. Rollston. He has published this letter both on his own personal website (here) and on Dr. Jack Sasson’s ubiquitous academic newsletter. With his kind permission, I’ve reproduced Dr. McCarter’s letter here in full. But please be sure to visit his website. Yesterday, 11/13/2012, Dr. McCarter wrote: ————— Emmanuel Christian Seminary wants to fire Chris Rollston. This is not news. It’s already known to readers of this list and other public and semi-public forums. Still, it seems to me to be a matter of such gravity, and now urgency, that I should call attention to it yet again. My hope is that colleagues who share my concern will find time to send messages expressing their points of view to relevant addresses at Emmanuel — but more on that below. First let me describe the situation more precisely and then explain why it’s especially important to me. To be precise, administrators and others at Emmanuel Christian Seminary have been working hard since at least September to sever the contractual relationship between [...]

Dr. Athalya Brenner Lends Her Support to Christopher Rollston

Thom Stark — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:01:30 +0000

Bob Cargill has issued an open call for letters in support of Dr. Christopher Rollston. The first to respond is none other than Dr. Athalya Brenner herself, a Jewish biblical scholar at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, and the editor and author of over 25 books on feminist and gender issues in the Bible, including the New Testament. She writes, Rollston’s article, against my background of undisputed expertise in the field, is balanced and mild. In the Bible, regrettably, women are second-class, and much more so than Rollston sketched. There are positive female roles in it, as he himself indicated, but those are too few to offset the general picture. This is regrettable since the Bible is for many of us and including Rollston and me, regardless of creed, a source of fascination and a Book of Life; exposing less savoury elements in it is painful to say the least, albeit necessary in order to continue the ages-honored process of its interpretation, reinterpretation, updating and usage for current believing and cultural communities. I believe this is what Rollston did: he exposed a biblical bias, in a balanced and responsible fashion, as to say: This is our heritage. We do NOT [...]

God is Transgendered (And So Can You!)

Matthew Worsfold — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 05:38:32 +0000

In seeking liberation for themselves and subversion of the dominant meta-theologies, contextual theologies often do violence to or ignore other marginalized voices. For instance, Womanist theology—theology done from the experience of black women—has brought up the issue of where black women fit into white women’s theology, especially in relation to the history of oppression at the hands of white women. Delores Williams reminds us of the past actions of white suffragettes and their lack of concern for slave women and their active role in perpetuating this oppression in order to benefit from it.1 Williams quotes Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who when running for the New York legislature in 1866 remarked, “We prefer Bridget and Dinah at the ballot box to Patrick and Sambo.”2 Likewise, “Latinas have become suspicious of [feminist Anglo-European movements in the United States] because of its inability to deal with differences, to share power equally among all those committed to it, to make it possible for Latinas to contribute to core meanings and understandings of the movement, . . . because of the seeming rejection of liberation as its goal, having replaced it with limited benefits for some women within present structures, benefits that necessitate some groups of women and [...]

Paul Ryan, Thomas Aquinas, Ayn Rand, and Honey Boo Boo

Thom Stark — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:41:40 +0000

It is no secret that Paul Ryan has been an enthusiastic devotee of the moral and economic philosophies of Ayn Rand. At a gathering of Ayn Rand acolytes in 2005, Ryan said, “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.” Later in 2009, after President Obama came into office, Ryan reiterated his devotion to Rand: “I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that morality of capitalism is under assault.” But this year, after accepting the Republican Vice Presidential nomination, his affection for Rand’s views came under sharp scrutiny. Trying to distance himself from his earlier wholehearted endorsements of Rand, Ryan said: If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas. Don’t give me Ayn Rand. An interesting juxtaposition. OK. Let’s take a quick look at the epistemologies of Ayn Rand and Thomas Aquinas: Since man is not omniscient or infallible, you have to discover what you can claim as knowledge and how to prove the validity of your conclusions. Does man [...]

An Unauthorized Official Statement from President Michael Sweeney of Emmanuel Christian Seminary Regarding Dr. Christopher Rollston

Thom Stark — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:34:12 +0000

The previous post here I have dedicated as a “sacred space,” a place where students can share their appreciation for Dr. Rollston without appearing to be taking sides in the politics of this growing controversy. That, I think, is an important space. But the need for that space certainly does not negate the need to address the real problems Emmanuel Christian Seminary is facing, and the need to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of what is causing those problems. I understand that many students are frustrated and angry with the online controversy. Some are angry with me and others who have come to Dr. Rollston’s defense. Some are angry with Dr. Blowers. Some are angry with everybody. But the solution is not pious and vague appeals to so-called Christian unity. When an injustice is being done, the Christian thing to do is not to be unified with those responsible for the injustice. There can be no authentic unity where truth is in short supply. To that end, I am compelled by my conscience to tell a story that I really do not wish to tell. On Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, I was contacted via email by a [...]