Adrian Shirk

“Religious literacy is one way out from under the thumb of fundamentalism; constructing new literacies is another.”
― Adrian Shirk, And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: Stories from the Byways of American Women and Religion

“A woman from the audience asks Kelly how her belief in the Heavenly Mother informs the work she does now, and Kelly takes a while to answer. She’s kind of deflated now, but also incredulous, like, I don’t have time for this kind of thing anymore, I just don’t have any patience. She says finally, sharply —“ It wasn’t empowering at all because no one talked about her.” I’m waiting, as I always am, for a religious feminist to say that the moral framework of Christianity fundamentally compels her to support women, to dismantle the patriarchy as Christ did, or whatever, just to do the thing that the Religious Right does and say something like, “I just know that I am fulfilling God’s will, and anyone who disagrees is a heretic.” Instead she says, “Does the woman down the street have enough to eat? Can women control their own destinies? Those are the things that matter to me. And so I actually don’t think about God that much at all.” She presses her lips together, looks directly at the questioner, and nods. But I guess this is the thing—is that God? That is God. That is thinking about God. That is a life in service. That is everything Jesus/ God was talking about. And once you’re doing it, once you’re actually doing it, you’re like, whatever, middle fingers up—God, no God, I’m gonna make sure that lady has enough to eat, and that that other lady can control her destiny.”
― Adrian Shirk, And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: Stories From the Byways of American Women and Religion