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“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”[1] It is not a surprise that this verse seems to say that gay male sex is forbidden in the eyes of God. The dominant view of western Christianity forbids same-sex relations. This verse is one of the clobber passages that people cite from the Bible […]
Read moreThere is hope in the struggle for faithful LGBTQ people to see themselves in the Holy texts that shape their churches and communities.[1] When people of faith ask, “where does authority come from for the direction of our journey,” in most mainline denominations the answer is: “From the Bible.”[2] This answer sounds reasonable from a Christian standpoint. The problem arises […]
Read moreTransphobia “Not in my backyard!” Or, perhaps more appropriately, “Not in my bathroom!” Such refrains have become alarmingly common in recent years. As the national debate about the queer community has progressed in the United States, more and more groups within that community have come into the spotlight. While at first the debate centered on the right of gay and […]
Read more“Her work was groundbreaking and controversial.”[1] Perhaps no sentence better describes the theological undertakings of Marcella Althaus-Reid. Through her work in a variety of theological fields, Althaus-Reid challenged the status quo of theology and railed against traditional assumptions of class, sexuality, gender, and much, much more. Scholars of liberation theology, queer theology, feminist theology, and postcolonial theology laud the contributions […]
Read more“It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” “Marriage has always been between one man and one woman!” Such are the arguments that often spew from the mouths of those who oppose the validity of non-heterosexual lifestyles. These statements, along with countless others, aim to show that heterosexuality is the only proper mode of human existence. While these people have […]
Read moreA viscous attempt at rape. An immigrant family fleeing for their lives. Sulfur and fire raining down upon the unrighteous. With elements like these, it is not surprising that the story of the judgment and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 19 has arrested the attention of Scripture readers throughout the millennia. A surprising and unexpected interlude amid […]
Read more“The sun never sets on the British Empire!” This cheerful motto, happily thrown about by British citizens and colonial officers through a large portion of nineteenth and twentieth centuries, almost gives one a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I mean a literal warm feeling – the phrase conjures up images of sunny shores, imperial wealth, and maybe even happy natives. […]
Read moreEveryone gave me high fives as I swaggered down our elementary school hall. It was all a gargantuan act. My arm throbbed with every heartbeat and I wanted to sprint to the nurse and get some ice. I got myself into a contest at recess with the brilliant goal of taking the most punches before crying, “Uncle!” Apparently, I was […]
Read moreMichel Foucault in The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction explains power and ultimately demonstrates that sexuality is a construct created by discourse. To begin to understand Foucault’s argument, we must start by learning why he believed that our widely held theory on sexuality was erroneous. The repressive hypothesis is a prevalent theory that analyzes how our current notions […]
Read morePatriarchy is a widespread system of male domination that has caused great oppression in our world and in the Christian church for the ages. Mary Daly brilliantly states in her monumentally significant work Beyond God the Father: “If God is male then male is God”.[1] This statement, for Daly, is about the dominant position of the system of patriarchy. This […]
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