Might Hillary Clinton Become A Guest Pastor In The Methodist Church? What A Brilliant Idea!

Hillary Clinton speaks at Union Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, in October 2016.

Hillary Clinton just might become a preacher. The Atlantic writes that's what she told Bill Shillady, Hillary's longtime pastor, at a photo shoot for his new book focused on the daily devotionals he sent Hillary during the 2016 campaign. The story has legs, according to former Newsweek editor Kenneth Woodward who said that Clinton told him in 1994 that the idea of becoming an ordained Methodist minister was on her mind "all the time". She requested his confidentiality, however, saying "It will make me seem much too pious."

Religion is on Hillary's mind, however, and I doubt it's only because she seeks to rehabilitate her public image, as suggested by Hillary's critics. Hillary clearly sees the way right-wing Christians are demanding that theirs is the only valid American faith, when America worships at least four visions of God, according to an ongoing 2010 project at Baylor University by Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, one that has really caught our eye at AOC. The original research surveyed in-depth 1,648 US adults. But the online research -- which I took -- covered over 100,000 people.

We must broaden the definition of God in America, because the right-wingers who have cloaked themselves in religion and its most rigid beliefs are not the only religious people in America.

Two books are slated to come out of Clinton world early this fall: 'What Happened',Clinton’s personal account of the election, and 'Strong for a Moment' Like This, Shillady’s book of devotionals. Shillady, who runs the United Methodist City Society in New York, wrote the book at Clinton’s suggestion; he said his is the only book for which Clinton has agreed to write a foreword. Clinton and her staffers read and approved the copy ahead of time, writes The Atlantic.

My pleasure of discovering this article came in validating Shillady's devotional to Hillary the day after she lost the election. He wrote:

Jesus completed the excruciating task of giving up his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. It was his faith and belief in his heavenly Father, that gave him the grace and peace to submit to Friday. While death had seemingly won, Jesus knew better. When he said, "It is finished," it wasn't meant to be a statement of concession. It was a declaration that a new day was on the way.

Friday is finished. Sunday is coming. Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday.

As for Hillary attending the seminary, that's doubtful, according to Shillady. 

 “I think it would be more of … her guest preaching at some point,” he said. “We have a long history of lay preachers in the United Methodist Church.”

Since the election, “I think her faith is stronger,” Shillady explained. “I haven’t noticed anything different, except that I think she is more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her.” I will pursue this discovery of Hillary's current thinking to see if there is any way that Anne of Carversville can contribute to a new project, one that acknowledges the importance of religion in American lives, while working to educate and communicate that the vision of God in America is not singular. ~ Anne

Women Physicians Less Likely To Be Introduced As 'Doctor' At Mayo Clinic Medical Events

A new study published in the Journal of Women's Health, examined videos of 321 speaker introductions at 124 internal medicine grand rounds from 2012 through 2014 at Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona and Minnesota. The research was triggered when Julia Files and Anita Mayer, both physicians at the Mayo Clinic noticed a pattern in which female doctors were introduced by their first name but males as Dr. So and So. 

Sharonne Hayes, another Mayo doctor, had noticed a similar pattern. While a male colleague would be introduced as “Dr. Joe Smith,” for example, the women were often simply called “Julia,” “Anita” and “Sharonne.” In that lightbulb moment, the trio decided to quantify their observations. 

The results showed that male introducers used professional titles for female doctors only 49 percent of the time on first reference, but introduced male doctors by their titles 72 percent of the time.

Female introducers used titles in introductions of both male and female doctors more often than male introducers (96 percent of the time vs. 66 percent of the time).

The three women doctors all agree that they are not offended in the least by being called their first names around colleagues. But the gender-based disparity of men being called doctor more often, reinforces the subliminal message that men are more competent and therefore more worthy of being called doctor. via Washington Post

Renee Rabinowitz Wins Case Over Ultra-Orthodox Demand That She Be Moved On El Al

Renee Rabinowitz was asked to switch seats on an El Al flight from Newark to Tel Aviv in 2015 because a strictly Orthodox male passenger did not want to sit next to her. CreditUriel Sinai for The New York Times

Women's rights in Israel have seen a steady erosion in recent decades, although there is no high-pitched debate around a liberal abortion policy in the country. In fact, about 97% of women who seek state financing for abortion are approved. Israel approves abortions as late as 40 weeks of pregnancy.

The most obvious erosion of women's rights in Israel centers around issues of religion and gender in public spaces. Now 83-year-old Renee Rabinowitz has won a critical court ruling, suing the strictly Orthodox male passenger who demanded that she be moved from her El Al aisle business-class seat when he boarded Flight 028 bound for Tel Aviv from Newark in December 2015. Strictly Orthodox Jewish men believe they are contaminated and tempted in the close proximity of women who are not their wives. 

Ms. Rabinowitz, who lived through traumatic days of the Nazis in Europe, moved reluctantly. But she landed in Israel determined to take action. This week a Jerusalem court ruled that gender segregation and the movement of passengers to accommodate gender discrimination was illegal on El Al. 

“This is a common story; it happens to many,” Anat Hoffman, the director of Israel Religious Action Center who represented Ms. Rabinowitz, said of the pressure on women to change seats. Ms. Hoffman called the verdict “a breath of fresh air” and compared Ms. Rabinowitz to the Israeli actress who starred in the movie “Wonder Woman.” “Like Gal Gadot, Renee has superpowers,” she said.