[i]"Church teachings" may or may not include Proverbs 31:15: "[The virtuous and capable wife] gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household." I could go on. [/i]

May or may not allow? So, basically, Harris is randomly pulling that particular Bible quote out of her ass because it "may" become the basis for an article in the magazine. Since when did responsible reporting practices such as actually reading a magazine before commenting on it become unnecessary? And since when did it become acceptable to quote from one text and assume that the same quote would appear in another that has not yet been published?

But I guess it's OK to say something like that about Catholics. I'm Catholic, and a rather progressive one, and I'm beyond sick of seeing that kind of thing in the press. I'll give you my standard response: if a conservative Jewish publication for girls was forthcoming, would you pull that same Bible quote out, and use it in the same manner? Because Proverbs is in the Old Testament, and hence it could pertain to Jewish girls as well. But Judaism is usually above reproach in these matters. Actually, pretty much any religion other Christianity is OK at salon. Once anyone believes in Jesus, then it's open season.

You quoted ""Church teachings" may or may not include Proverbs 31:15: "[The virtuous and capable wife] gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household." I could go on."

About 20 minutes ago I was talking to my forty-something daughter and she worked around asking directly why none of my oil paintings were dated after her birth date!!

If you figure that one minute on the internet or five minutes of MTV easily challenges years of propaganda, to worry about a few glossy teen mags dedicated to nonsense (i.e. religious values), makes you appear petty and threatened. For years, we've been told by that fashion magazines plus tv plus movies equals unhappy, body-centric women, more worried about their thighs than things like science or business, and now, we have mags that challenge the predominant world view (i.e. Cosmo), and still you schvitz, as if your whole ideological foundation is built on air and a few minutes with Jesus Inc. will have some poor teen quitting school, getting married and waking up at 4 am to make breakfast for her family - a horrible concept in itself, I guess, from your choice of bible spewings.

Is it any wonder the movement struggles for respect? You don't even trust your own ideology!

I'm not one to subscribe to the Catholic League paranoia of bigotry against Catholics, but Lynn Harris' article that pulls one passage out of the Bible and characterizes it as "Church teachings" is nothing short of insulting. If Harris wants to criticize the sexism of Catholic church teachings, there is plenty of material to work with and a simple internet search would have put it at her fingertips. Instead, Harris pulls out a quote from the Bible that has nothing to do with Catholic teaching and which I haven't heard in my 30 years of going to church and 12 years of Catholic education. While the Church certainly has its flaws, it also has some very valuable social teachings on economic justice and non-violence and I would hope that those teachings would be included in the magazine that Harris comments on. I have never read the publication, so I can't comment on its substance. It would be nice if Harris held herself to those same standards.

There are lots of misogynistic passages in the Bible; Lynn Harris just happened to choose one that's rather weak. Get up before the crack of dawn and make breakfast for the whole family? Hell, I'd like to see a teenager take on that task. You want an example of a truly alarming passage? Try 1 Timothy 2:12-15: "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."

So, let's see here. St. Paul, the most influential of the early Christian leaders, thinks that women should shut their traps in church and not ask questions or become religious authorities, but let the men teach them. Why? Because Eve was taken in by the serpent first (never mind that Adam believed her, the loser). But never fear--woman's more sinful than man, but if she breeds enough, she too can be redeemed. Lovely.

And as usual, the defenders of the faith come out in full force to make the obligatory "Christianity is actually about peace and love and social justice!" spiel. Call me crazy, but I don't think the intended readership of these Christian teen magazines are budding liberation theologists.

Yes, I would be equally nervous about a magazine for ultra-conservative Jewish girls. Believe it or not, I originally had a sentence in there saying just that, but I cut it for space. Perhaps hastily, I see. Thanks for your comments.

let me amend my previous sentiment: I would *have equally mixed feelings* about a magazine for ultra-conservative Jewish girls.

I also meant to say earlier that I can see how my example quotation from the Bible could be seen as unfair shorthand. Indeed, one of the tricks of blogging is keeping items short *without* sacrificing context.

And now I'll stop posting 'til I've finished my coffee. Thanks again for your comments.

"And as usual, the defenders of the faith come out in full force to make the obligatory "Christianity is actually about peace and love and social justice!" spiel. Call me crazy, but I don't think the intended readership of these Christian teen magazines are budding liberation theologists."

Actually, that's not quite what Ms. McNulty was saying. If I read her correctly, she's saying that *Catholic* social-justice teachings are quite explicit mandates to make the world a better place. If you actually read them (and I suggest both Ms. Harris and you do so, with all due respect), you'll find that Catholics are *charged* to protect the environment, support fair pay for a day's honest work, and not only to feed the hungry but to work on the underlying causes of poverty, etc. All Christians believe that love for God and one another is the basis for a good life, but Catholics believe that working for social justice is a requirement for salvation. That "salvation" part might scare you, and while the magazine may not make a liberation theologist out of every teenage girl, I'd bet any amount of money it not only encourages good works, it makes them a central feature of the magazine.

Here's great link to a website about Catholic social-justice teachings (and no, this is not an attempt to convert anyone):

http://salt.claretianpubs.org/

It just might change your mind about what Catholicism is all about. If *that's* the kind of thing that will be printed in the forthcoming magazine, I would not hesitate to recommend it to my fifteen-year-old cousin.

As an aside to Laura Harris - what's so bad about featuring an actual, non-model teenager on the cover? Beats an airbrushed Lindsey Lohan any day!