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In the sultry sounds of Kendrick Lamar’s newest album, ‘Mr. Morale and Big Steppers,’ Lamar takes listeners through a highly spiritual and seemingly religious set of 18 songs. They depict deep understanding of self through therapy, discovery, education, and the social drought of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lamar’s “Auntie’s Diaries,” begins with the voiceover: “This is how we conceptualize human beings.” […]
Read moreThe Path of Queer Virtue: Risk “In 2012, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) documented more than two thousand incident of hate violence against LGBTQ people in the United States. Transgender women were twice as likely to experience discrimination, threats, and intimidations as survivors who did no as transgender women, and transgender women of color were nearly three times […]
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“Proclaiming our inherent value requires that we recognize, name, and celebrate our identity as queer people. That is, shifting the focus from the external disapprobation of our otherness-and the political subjugation it breeds-to an interior knowledge of ourselves. It is in this shift that Pride emerges that empowerment is made possible.” Identity is more than politics. Identity is a life […]
Read moreJudges 3:12-30 accounts for the triumph of a Ehud, a Benjaminite, over King Eglon of Moab through an act of deception. However, three distinct elements of this story appear providing a worthy queer hermeneutic. First, Ehud is described as being left handed, a queer characteristic. Second, the word “hand” (yad) itself is open to multiple interpretations including “penis.” Finally, the […]
Read moreThis blog entry addresses the problematic translation of Leviticus 18:22, a verse commonly used as a “clobber passage” to justify prejudice against LGBTQIA people. A hegemonic interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 posits a strict prohibition of male-on-male sexual activity. This interpretation is problematic because it conforms to idiomatic rules that do not exist in the original Hebrew. Three problems discussed in […]
Read moreI was walking across the campus of Southern Methodist University today. On the sidewalk, I passed a mother pushing her young male child in a stroller. The child looked at me with an expression of absolute joy and said “HI!!” I waved back and said “HI” to him. The happiness on his face at my acknowledgement of his greeting and […]
Read moreConservative interpreters present Rahab, a character in Joshua 2 as a celebrated figure of faith and conversion. A queer, postcolonial interpretation merits consideration. Rahab is described as a prostitute living in the outer wall of the city of Jericho. She assists two spies sent by Joshua to conduct some advance reconnaissance work prior to an attack on Jericho. Rahab hides […]
Read moreQueering Hosea via Genesis – A Genderqueer discussion of the marriage metaphor This blog presents a genderqueer analysis of the marriage metaphor in Hosea by way of a discussion of female sexuality found in Genesis. The marriage metaphor in Hosea has deeply patriarchal roots originating in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. Deryn Guest notes that Hosea’s view […]
Read moreInterpenetration provides a model to understand the Trinity more clearly. The concept of a Triune God is complicated to grasp. In systematic theology, we study at length the natures of God as Divine, human and spirit. I find that fully understanding the Trinity remains an elusive undertaking. Patrick Cheng’s discussion in Chapter 3 of “An Introduction to Queer Theology: Radical […]
Read moreThe humorous story of Ehud recorded in Judges 3 needs a queer reading to understand the deeper meaning of the text and its implication for LGBTq readers. Judges 3 may not come off as humorous to a modern reader but in antiquity it was considered funny. The implications of the words maybe lost on readers today, but the text is […]
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