WRITING

Articles & Features

on crying & Social ethics

  • “Children weep easily, shattering our ability to pretend that no one is hurting. This naturally makes adults uncomfortable, simply because tears are destabilizing, and we shame kids into ‘growing’ out of their tears. This is emotional abuse. We should instead foster and praise weeping as a liberating spiritual act.” Click to read more.

  • “Given the GOP’s enthusiasm for biblically based governance, Republican leaders might want to consider the chasm separating their current immigration policies and the source document upon which they claim to base their politics.” Click to read more.

  • “For too long, we have taught men a sense of gross entitlement, shunned male emotion, laughed off boyhood violence, and absolved our abuses. ‘Effeminacy’ describes a rejection of toxic masculine behavior, but it ought to be seen as repentance for patriarchal sins.” Click to read more.

  • When discussing children who have been brutally and senselessly slain, tears are an appropriate response. In that context, stoicism is not a sign of strength, but an indicator of emotional damage. Click to read more.

  • “Just to the south, the border slices through the community — a seemingly arbitrary 40-foot fence separating one resident’s house from their neighbor’s. The only thing more striking than the intensity of all this security, however, is the palpable need of the people it’s designed to keep out.” Click to read more.

  • “Our refusal to see the natural world as holy and sacred in its own right — worthy of honor, dignity and respect — is at the heart of our ecological abuse. Portraying the Earth as a collection of resources to be consumed is a pernicious lie, and one that must be uprooted if we want to heal.” Click to read more.