Each of us is like a desert, and a literary work is like a cry from the desert, or like a pigeon let loose with a message in its claws, or like a bottle thrown into the sea. The point is: to be heard—even if by one single person.
—Francois Mauriac
A couple of years ago I received an email from someone who had stumbled across my blog. It had been years since I had posted, so I was surprised when I received an email from a new reader. I was even more surprised by the message: “I wanted to verify you are real….Thank you for…your bold blogs.”
The need to verify that I am a real person had never entered my thoughts, but in reality this is the world we now live in. It feels strange to me, raises all sorts of questions, and I am not alone. Yesterday I listened to an online discussion on whether it is okay for clergy to use AI to write their sermons. Some say it’s okay, others say it’s unethical. I tend to agree with the latter opinion, that it is unethical—even more than unethical. Paul Hoffman, a pastor from Rhode Island and author of the book AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep, raised these pivotal questions: “Does AI know the stories of your people? Do they know about the miscarriage? Do they know about the divorce? Do they know about the abuse? How can an algorithm comprehend lived human experience?” If you have a little time (less than five minutes) to spare and would like to listen to the interview, the link is below.[1] But as I move forward in writing, you can be sure of this:
“I’m not a robot.”
Most of my struggles with the ideas that women have a God-ordained position of subordination took place in the 80s and 90s, before the world was driven by social media. That sense of isolation, of having no one to talk to, of being unable to even broach the subject with others for fear of being “branded” as an “ungodly woman” or even worse: a feminist!—all of that has changed, for the most part, in today’s world. Or maybe it hasn’t. What I’m sure hasn’t changed is the intensity of the struggle.
In May I came across an online article that presents a picture of how this thinking looks now in one group of women. When I read their stories, they seemed so familiar yet so out of place in today’s world. Yet here they are. And I feel their despair. The title of the article is “The Runaway Tradwives of TikTok: How women use the internet to escape oppressive lifestyle.” My plan is to take this article apart and look at what is being said. It would be helpful if you would take time to read it before I do so you’ll be familiar with what I’m talking about. I’ve included a link to the article below,[2] but if you don’t want to click on the link, feel free to email me [Contact] and I will send you a PDF of the article. I hope you will read it. I want you to see how people are hurting, and how they are being helped.
[1] We asked clergy if they use AI to help write sermons
[2] How Tradwives Are Using Social Media to Escape Oppression
Jan C Riley 