July 2023 - Assertive Spirituality

Picture of two women talking to introduce a movie review of the film Women Talking

Women Talking and the Narrative of Possibility

July 27, 2023 DS Leiter Comments 2 comments

This week I finally saw the Oscar-winning film Women Talking, which masterfully depicts women problem-solving how to respond a gigantic situation of systemic sexual abuse and assault by men in an isolated religious community. Today I want to take some of the tools of my trade—communication theory and narrative theory—to explain why I saw the film as an excellent expression of #AssertiveSpirituality on so many levels. Thanks for giving me a few minutes to see how I saw so much…

When Conservative Male Politicians Cry Witch Hunt (Repeatedly)

July 21, 2023 DS Leiter Comments 2 comments

Okay, so if you’ve been paying attention to the right-wing political rhetoric lately, you’ll be noticing that a lot of the rhetoric from (mostly male) proponents of The Big Lie about the 2020 Election “being stolen” have once again contained the phrase “witch hunt.” This phrase has been used many times in the past by the same people, and honestly I’m a little tired of it, but as so often happens with rhetorical analysis, new layers of meaning were popping…

When Ordinary Conservatives Defend Billionaires: A Rhetorical Analysis

July 15, 2023 DS Leiter Comments 1 comment

This past week, on the AS Facebook page, I posted a meme comparing Smaug, the greedy dragon villain in Tolkien’s The Hobbit, to billionaires. As usual, the responses from the conservative trolls were extremely illuminating, saying the quiet parts out loud. Thanks to these responses, this week’s article looks at the ways ordinary conservatives find themselves defending dragons…I mean, oligarchical billionaires that are trying to keep their loyalty through shady rhetoric. Where I’m Coming From Here As always, I’m coming…

Assertive Spirituality

Because Sometimes We Stay Lost if We Stay Quiet

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Month: July 2023