Rebecca Bratten Weiss
America Magazine
New Zealand
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Past articles by Rebecca:
Working to ‘transform your own heart’ can’t be an excuse to ignore social injustice
If the world is going to wait for all of us to become perfect before we can find solutions to social evils, the world will have to wait for a long time. → Read More
The Worst Possible Way to Respond to a Victim of Abuse
these are never things that should be said to or about a person who comes forward with a story of abuse, because there’s a very good chance that, if they’re telling the truth, you were their one chance for being heard. → Read More
It’s Okay to Base Your Friendships on Religious and Political Belief
Political stances are not just aesthetic poses. All political views are not equally deserving of respect, and all politicians and political parties are not the same. What policies are enacted can mean life or death, and not just in a roundabout way. → Read More
On False Accusations and Hate Crimes: What We Need to Learn from the Jussie Smollett Case
And the truth is, men like Jussie Smollett are subjected regularly to abuse and discrimination for their sexuality, race, or both - and even if it turns out his own report is false, that does not magically evaporate all the real hate crimes happening every day. → Read More
Yes, I Know Others Cover Up Assault Too. No, That’s Not a Comfort
It’s not only that we seem to be especially, monstrously, and consistently bad. It’s that this level of atrocity undercuts everything we’ve been told to believe about the church, why to remain in it, and what it has to offer. → Read More
Why Are People So Unwilling To Do What Is Proven Effective For Protecting Unborn Life?
It’s about ten years now since I started approaching the abortion issue from a different angle, and what I want to ask, right now, is: why are people who claim to be pro-life so uninterested in doing what works? → Read More
Are We Trying To be So Awful That No One Will Want To Come Here?
Do these people realize what they’re saying? That the US is the kind of nation that kills refugee children. That this is a bad place to be, a dangerous place. That war-torn central American countries are better than here. That we practice unjust violence, and dole out crimes against humanity. → Read More
Baby Jesus In a Cage? Yes, It’s Political
So, really, there's nothing especially new and out of the ordinary about depicting the Holy Family in a condition of instability and danger. → Read More
Advent Approaches, and Jesus is Coming
When will Jesus come again? The Advent season approaches, and Jesus is coming now. Still as helpless as that baby in the stable, still the poor who need to be fed, still the homeless who need shelter, still the naked who need to be clothed. → Read More
If You’re Counting on Basic Human Decency to Stop Fascism, You May be Counting Wrong
If You're Counting on Basic Human Decency to Stop Fascism, You May be Counting Wrong → Read More
What Does “Believe Women” Mean?
We’re not privileging women’s voices. We’re simply asking for equal consideration with those who already enjoy the privilege of being believed, of taking center stage in every story. → Read More
Things Journalists Wish You Knew About What They Do
You got into this because of this weird obsession you have with seeking the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may make you - or make others. → Read More
“Nazi Gun Control Theory” is Antisemitic Victim-Blaming
In the case of the Tree of Life shooting, and in the case of the violence against the Jews in Germany, the time to stop the aggressor was not at the last minute, at the door, with a gun. The time to stop the rise of anti-Semitic violence is as soon as we see it emerging. → Read More
What Is The Dispute Over Kavanaugh And His Accusers Really About?
On one hand we have a group of diverse persons - pro-life, pro-choice, male, female, Catholic, secular - who think that these accusations are serious, that the accusers should be given a listen, and that we should be respectful and cautious in how we speak about victims. → Read More
Bad Ethics, Bad Logic, and Sexual Assault Apologetics
Bad ethics can be practically dangerous as well as theoretically stupid. In this case, it allows for a culture that excuses and enables sexual assault → Read More
It’s Not Puritanical To Object To Sexual Assault
It’s not puritanical for us to stick by the single sine qua non for a sex act to be considered morally acceptable in a society that values personal dignity. → Read More
Is It Really The Church That I Care About?
To give up because “it’s all in God’s hands” is a kind of nihilistic rejection of the good and profound meaning of this earth, this life, these living bodies - and our moral obligation to be instruments of peace, love, and liberation. → Read More
Yes, There Is An Institutional Problem: Power
The problem is power. Any concentration of power in a single demographic will lead ultimately to injustice and abuse. If women held absolute authority, we'd probably become predatory, too. → Read More
On The Clerical Sex Abuse Scandal, Scapegoating, and Justice
It’s important to distinguish between scapegoating and the pursuit of justice, and not to try to quell the latter out of fear of the former. → Read More
Catholic Men Explain Me to Me
one serious problem is that religious men feel divinely entitled to have a privileged position in regards to the truth, even the truth about female persons and our bodies. → Read More