Feminism is lookin’ a fair bit different than it did in its early years, and American religion is an increasingly diverse landscape (like here, here, and here).

Here’s a combo case in point.

At the 2019 Makers Conference, Nadia Bolz-Weber — a feminist Lutheran pastor in Denver — gifted abortion activist Gloria Steinam a sculpture of a vagina.

Yep.

It’s a smidge difficult to imagine Billy Graham honoring some gentleman of esteem with a golden tribute to manjunk.

Further donging the bell of change:

The trophy was made of melted “purity rings,” which are banded promises worn by (usually) young Christians as part of their commitment to chastity.

Pastor Nadia’s against those.

As reported by The Christian Post, in 2018, she asked women to send in their oppressive rings for an art project:

The controversial pastor, who has defended the use of so-called “ethically sourced porn,” first announced her art project at the 2018 Makers Conference, where she explained she wants to “take down” the “church’s teachings around sex” and evangelical purity culture.

“This thing about women that the church has tried to hide and control and that is a canvas on which other people can write their own righteousness ― it’s actually ours,” Bolz-Weber told HuffPost. “This part of me is mine and I get to determine what is good for it and if it’s beautiful and how I use it in the world.”

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm inviting women to mail in their purity rings for a massive art project. @SweetBirdStudio is collaborating with me to melt them into a sculpture of a vagina, click here to join in and get your certificate of impurity! https://t.co/tbaJJdbxeJ #shamelessbook

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) November 26, 2018

In exchange for their donation, girl-powered givers received a Certificate of Impurity, which stated the following:

“This acknowledges that (your name here) has traded in their purity ring in exchange for this certificate, and in doing so vows to live a SHAMELESS, open, and free life, with love for themselves and their body, knowing that they are already holy.”

In addition to the cert, every abdicator of abstinence was also sent an impurity ring. And a bonus: Nadia’s book, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, listed as a Best-Seller on Amazon.

https://t.co/tbaJJdbxeJ pic.twitter.com/1uAQfcugum

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) November 26, 2018

Fast-forward to a cooked chunk of jewelry, now in the form of a vulva.

Presenting the chrome-ish crotch to pro-abortion Gloria during the Feb. 6-8 conference, Nadia told the audience it’s all about liberation:

“Every single thing and person that seemed so powerful and inescapable, I name them and then I just go, ‘Footnote.’ I mean, seriously, Pontious Pilate? He’s a footnote. Your bully from middle school? Footnote. Your depression? Footnote. Your sh*tty boss? Footnote. All of those things are very real, and the harm that they have on us and the world is also real. But to me, the whole point of having faith is it allows us to believe in a bigger story than the one we tell ourselves. Those purity rings are a footnote. The [rings] we couldn’t melt down spell out the word ‘Freedom’ and were woven into this heart.”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

Nadia and Gloria hugged. The crowd cheered.

The Washington Post has hailed Nadia as the “tatted-up, foul-mouthed” leader of “a new, muscular form of liberal Christianity.”

As for her question, “Isn’t it amazing”:

Yes. It is.

-Alex

Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, and here

See 3 more pieces from me: Christian college gets F’d up, an apple looks blue, and officially-gay Mickey.

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

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