Women's Bodies as Battlefield (PDF)

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is a Professor of Theology and former President of Chicago Theological Seminary. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ for over 30 years, she has authored and edited numerous works including Dreaming of Eden: American Religion and Politics in a Wired World, Sex, Race and God: Christian Feminism in Black and White, Lift Every Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside (co-editor) and Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Alternatives to War (co-editor). Dr. Thistlethwaite is a frequent media commentator on religion and public events. She is a Fellow of the Center for American Progress Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, and serves as a trustee of Faith in Public Life, and the Interfaith Youth Core.

“Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite sets out to address the ways in which Western models of war and peace affect the global War on Women. … the book is certainly an accessible read for people from a variety of social locations and interest levels … . This book is entirely rooted in culture, lived experience, historical understanding, and, above all, it offers a hopeful roadmap for praxis that will lead to a life-giving future for all.” (Katie Deaver, Christian Feminism Today, eewc.com, March, 2016)

"Reverend Thistlethwaite makes an important contribution to the current debate on the wars we are waging and how they effect violence against women. Her treatment of Christian notions of "just war" makes this book essential reading for those who are motivated by Jesus' words: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.'" - Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, co-founder of The Carter Center

"In this very important new book, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite argues that war and violence against women have some of the same social, cultural, and religious roots. Women's Bodies as Battlefield is a very significant critical intervention in the public discourses on the war on women a must-read for anyone engaged in such conversations. I highly recommend the book." - Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor, The Divinity School, Harvard University, USA

'With the comprehensive scholarly analysis and complex feminist insight that we have come to expect from Thistlethwaite's work, she reveals the intricate and inextricable relationship of wars fought between nations and the wars fought on women's bodies. To read this book is to be compelled to act against the 'reality of violence in women's lives,' by witnessing against international, national, and domestic wars, for women's bodies are the link between all of them.' - Kelly Brown Douglas, Professor of Religion, Goucher College, USA

'The idea of 'just war' has more often been an excuse than a