The images and stories coming out of Palestine are horrific and shocking — but, as Susan Sontag wrote, do these images have any power to tell a story or change a mind or only to shock? When people share these stories, reports, and images, especially online, what goals are there other than awareness? Whilst itContinue reading “Palestine, Performativity, and Prophetic Action”
Author Archives: Michael Toy
XIV International Bonhoeffer Congress Conference Report
Scholars from all over the world gathered in Sydney, Australia for the fourteenth International Bonhoeffer Congress. Known in some circles as the “Bonhoeffer Olympics” due to its every four-year occurrence, this iteration of the congress explored the theme “crisis and hope.” Taking place over four days (not counting the meeting of PhD students before theContinue reading “XIV International Bonhoeffer Congress Conference Report”
What does God Give a Sh*t About?
One of the most popular news accounts on social media among young people is called Shit You Should Care About. Run by three twenty-something New Zealanders, the account has 3.4 million followers and hundreds of thousands of views on each post. I have to be honest and I have not tracked with the account forContinue reading “What does God Give a Sh*t About?”
The Pope, Blessings, and Queer Visibility
Visibility matters. What’s on the outside matters. As a queer theologian, this seems like a given. But in the cartesian duality that permeates our social consciousness and conscience, it sometimes needs to be stated again. This week in religious news, the big headline is something like: The Pope Allows Same-sex blessings. The best reporting onContinue reading “The Pope, Blessings, and Queer Visibility”
2023 Anglo-Catholic Hui Reflection
My protestant roots run deep. Even after a near conversion to Roman Catholicism (what we colloquially call swimming the Tiber) ten years ago, I was hesitant when the theme for this year’s Anglo-Catholic Hui was announced to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. While I can affirm for Mary the theological title Theotokos, God-bearer, with theContinue reading “2023 Anglo-Catholic Hui Reflection”