This was such an interesting read! I didn’t know anything about Dorothy Day or DL Mayfield, but now I want to know more. It makes me feel sort of - hopeful I guess? - to read such thoughtful, complex conversations around difficult subjects. Thank you for the great interview!
Such an interesting read. I grew up Catholic, and while I think most Catholics have a less individualistic approach than most evangelicals, it wasn’t until I went to (a Catholic, founded by nuns) university that I learned about the Catholic social justice tradition.
Wow! Seems like a big part of the tradition to overlook... but then again, as an evangelical, I initially did not learn about any social justice strands of the religion, and then learned that they weren’t “real” parts of Christianity (just ploys by the libs to distract from the “actual” gospel). Shame.
Totally. I think I definitely understood that Catholics were more into feeding the poor and less into ostentatious personal wealth than a lot of Protestant denominations, but I’d never heard the term social justice in connection to the Catholic Church until I was in college.
As a radical extremist escapee, I loved this! These subjects are difficult to cover and yet so important to grasp as they provide insight into spiritual movement, along with missing pieces (a woman's perspective) from deep immersion. Neurodivergence takes on a different pathway if survival is activated. It depends on privilege and suffrage. Passion exposure and one's willingness to test boundaries. For instance, if you are operating from survival - there is no guilt. There is no fear. A person lives in the moment. Crafting from nothing as a problem solver.
Faith and the expectation of service? Well...what is faith? It's not a myth. A person actually using faith is doing so to balance the pain & confusion in their life. They open up their imagination. For solutions. It's culturing of intelligence -on a personal scale. Prayers should be silent. Anything externalized is for show. It leads to inauthenticity of spirit. I'm writing this from the perspective of someone born into poverty and what I have witnessed.
Faith, internal faith that I personally honed & activated, was my lifeline. I too am considered neurodivergent but I didn't struggle to communicate with other people. I became a master of communication from my disciplinary study, exposure to a wide variety of people and personal life choices. In addition, I was raised by strong willed extremists in a toxic whirlwind of abuse. That kind of passion cluster dynamic shaped me. I was not afraid to test dark paths. But mostly, due to my own faith, I never considered myself broken. I wish I could give other women that strength. That's probably the most difficult challenge I faced in life, having to leave others behind. So many rely on that harsh discipline structure, they fear freedom. My own mother remains trapped. I don't know how to fix that other than to remember/respect free will.
I very much enjoyed this conversation. On the one hand, while I feel (most of) the institutions of faith very much fall under Audre Lorde's reminder of how the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house, that doesn't mean PEOPLE of faith need viewed with the same lens. Or at least not all of them. To salvage our place in this world it is going to take all of us, and discussions like this remind me there are people fighting the good fight from inside some of these unholy spaces. Thank you.
Thank you for this interview! I read the intro, and as an ex-Catholic, thought I wouldn’t find much resonance and I was very wrong! As a late-diagnosed, female identified autistic it was a great read and I can’t wait to keep learning and following the work of everyone involved in it!
When I first met my husband, he managed the investments of several different religious organizations. Each had their own restrictions: some forbade investments in tobacco and liquor, or firearms, or contraception, etc. As an activist investor on behalf of his clients, he appreciated people with a religious vocation whose calling was "the stock market." One of them went to her heavenly reward recently.
Really, really enjoyed this interview and this story, especially as a more-or-less lapsed Catholic who is lapsed primarily because of frustrations related to the lack of radicalism within the Church. Learning more about Dorothy Day definitely gives me some more faith/hope and encourages my own further exploration with my faith and societal beliefs.
This was such an interesting read! I didn’t know anything about Dorothy Day or DL Mayfield, but now I want to know more. It makes me feel sort of - hopeful I guess? - to read such thoughtful, complex conversations around difficult subjects. Thank you for the great interview!
So glad you liked it!
I yelped with glee when I saw the title of this post because I knew it had to be DL Mayfield. Loved this conversation and thank you both of you.
This was a great interview! I especially appreciate the points of being ourselves and knowing our gifts and our limits.
That really resonated with me too!!
Such an interesting read. I grew up Catholic, and while I think most Catholics have a less individualistic approach than most evangelicals, it wasn’t until I went to (a Catholic, founded by nuns) university that I learned about the Catholic social justice tradition.
Wow! Seems like a big part of the tradition to overlook... but then again, as an evangelical, I initially did not learn about any social justice strands of the religion, and then learned that they weren’t “real” parts of Christianity (just ploys by the libs to distract from the “actual” gospel). Shame.
Totally. I think I definitely understood that Catholics were more into feeding the poor and less into ostentatious personal wealth than a lot of Protestant denominations, but I’d never heard the term social justice in connection to the Catholic Church until I was in college.
As a radical extremist escapee, I loved this! These subjects are difficult to cover and yet so important to grasp as they provide insight into spiritual movement, along with missing pieces (a woman's perspective) from deep immersion. Neurodivergence takes on a different pathway if survival is activated. It depends on privilege and suffrage. Passion exposure and one's willingness to test boundaries. For instance, if you are operating from survival - there is no guilt. There is no fear. A person lives in the moment. Crafting from nothing as a problem solver.
Faith and the expectation of service? Well...what is faith? It's not a myth. A person actually using faith is doing so to balance the pain & confusion in their life. They open up their imagination. For solutions. It's culturing of intelligence -on a personal scale. Prayers should be silent. Anything externalized is for show. It leads to inauthenticity of spirit. I'm writing this from the perspective of someone born into poverty and what I have witnessed.
Faith, internal faith that I personally honed & activated, was my lifeline. I too am considered neurodivergent but I didn't struggle to communicate with other people. I became a master of communication from my disciplinary study, exposure to a wide variety of people and personal life choices. In addition, I was raised by strong willed extremists in a toxic whirlwind of abuse. That kind of passion cluster dynamic shaped me. I was not afraid to test dark paths. But mostly, due to my own faith, I never considered myself broken. I wish I could give other women that strength. That's probably the most difficult challenge I faced in life, having to leave others behind. So many rely on that harsh discipline structure, they fear freedom. My own mother remains trapped. I don't know how to fix that other than to remember/respect free will.
I love DL's work, thanks for highlighting it!
thrilled to see this interview here ! thanks all.....
I very much enjoyed this conversation. On the one hand, while I feel (most of) the institutions of faith very much fall under Audre Lorde's reminder of how the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house, that doesn't mean PEOPLE of faith need viewed with the same lens. Or at least not all of them. To salvage our place in this world it is going to take all of us, and discussions like this remind me there are people fighting the good fight from inside some of these unholy spaces. Thank you.
Thank you for this interview! I read the intro, and as an ex-Catholic, thought I wouldn’t find much resonance and I was very wrong! As a late-diagnosed, female identified autistic it was a great read and I can’t wait to keep learning and following the work of everyone involved in it!
When I first met my husband, he managed the investments of several different religious organizations. Each had their own restrictions: some forbade investments in tobacco and liquor, or firearms, or contraception, etc. As an activist investor on behalf of his clients, he appreciated people with a religious vocation whose calling was "the stock market." One of them went to her heavenly reward recently.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/business/sister-patricia-daly-dead.html
Wow!! I read the article. What an important vocation. Her death is a loss for us all.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. Your story sounds fascinating.
So great to see DL over here!
Really, really enjoyed this interview and this story, especially as a more-or-less lapsed Catholic who is lapsed primarily because of frustrations related to the lack of radicalism within the Church. Learning more about Dorothy Day definitely gives me some more faith/hope and encourages my own further exploration with my faith and societal beliefs.