New Book on Queer Theology

Gay people giving validation to an archaic idea that has allowed them to be persecuted for centuries. I'll pass.

 

Look, I'm not really into that whole religion thing, but just because I'm not doesn't mean I can't let people have it. Most religions were supposed to be about being a good person, but people have warped this to suit the need to fight against difference and change because they can be scary.

I think that any book to make this less scary for religious people is a good one to have out there. You can be sure that there are no fewer people writing to condemn the gays using religion, so maybe the only way to combat that is to write back.

Plus, it's a huge deal to a really devout religious person when they discover that they're gay but their religion says it's wrong. That internal struggle seems like it should be unnecessary, and maybe this book will make it so.

I don't see much bad there.

 

Sounds like this is coming out of our good old friend: liberation theology. Fascinating stuff.

 

Warning. Liam is about to get his geek on.

Fuck Gilgamesh and Enkidu. It's all about David and Jonathan (OTP!). And Ruth and Naomi, I suppose. Actually, Mirko, you're right, Gilgamesh would be the appropriate start for a mythological discussion of queer theology. For those not in the know, Gilgamesh is a Sumerian(? Babylonian? Assyrian? One of those) epic about the god-king Gilgamesh and his *ahem* companion Enkidu. They go on adventures then Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh is wracked with grief and terror of his own death. It's one of the world's oldest pieces of written literature.

If he wants to connect this with liberation theology, he'll turn to Exodus. Queer people have been, allegorically speaking, "held in captivity" by patriarchal norms for centuries. Moses, of course, acts with God to lead Israel to freedom, though I'm uncertain what precisely God would do in this scenario (I'm not too read-up on liberation theology).

There's also some New Testament gender-bending that could serve as an introduction. However, I suspect he'll either start or quickly lead to Paul, specifically Galatians 3:28, which is the basis for feminist theology, but has clear tie-ins for anyone interested in queer theology. If there is no male or female in the Kingdom of God, how can there be homosexuality or heterosexuality?

Of course, denying homosexuality as separate from heterosexuality may not be his point. Queer theory often focuses on the unique perspective that being queer gives on politics, culture, economics, etc.

In any case, it should be a fascinating read

Geekdom ends here.

 

I'm assuming you know nothing about queer theology.

I've been wanting to read more about it, so this book sounds absolutely fascinating.

 

Pretty interesting stuff, I'm intrigued.

 

I'm assuming you missed the part where the author is Christian.

 

When did that make someone evil? Lots of people are Christians. Gay people too. It's going to be a vicious circle if all the gays decide that all Christians are the bad guys... Automatically judging a group of people by one aspect of their identity is exactly what you're accusing them of doing, but it's what a lot of us end up doing too. It's wrong on both accounts.

 

I think Midwestblues has a valid point. Part of queer theology (and liberation and feminist theology) is finding a way to validate scriptures used in persecution. And it's perfectly acceptable to say that it makes more sense to throw out the baby with the bathwater, especially if you're increasingly convinced that the baby isn't there.

Look at liberation theology. For centuries Bible passages endorsing slavery were used to justify the enslavement and mistreatment of black people. In liberation theology, passages from Exodus were used to show that God was liberating them from captivity, with Lincoln playing the part of Moses.

But not all black people accepted this new interpretation. Some said, "No! These scriptures were used to persecute us, and we will have nothing to do with them" and embraced recreations of African spiritual traditions or Islam.

The point being that there's more than one way to respond to scripture, and it's okay to go in either direction. And there's nothing wrong with encouraging others to agree with your viewpoint.

I would say that the first part of a good queer theology would be an examination of scripture used to persecute queer people and ask, "Is this worth salvaging?"

 

I'm not saying he's evil. I'm saying he's silly for bending over backwards to justify himself to a superstitious belief system.