FUCK YEAH! THEOLOGY

From: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-50-best-protest-signs-of-2009/

fuckyeahtheology:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzbNkyXO50

Provocative, at least among certain Christian circles that claim to want to ‘cure’ homosexuality. How do you reconcile those kinds of Christian beliefs, and what efforts do you see being made that are trying to make Christianity as a whole to be more inclusive?

And how do you distance yourself from those kinds of Christians when these kinds of parodies are created?

Yes, I’m reblogging myself, but only because this was my first submission! And I can’t tell if these questions were supposed to be food for thought or directed at me, lol. I’m writing a paper at the moment, but I want to throw in my two cents, so I’ll be brief:

I really don’t know much about the efforts about “Christianity as a whole.” I don’t think you can really group all Christians under the same umbrella. I certainly don’t claim to be the same kind of Christian as all those I meet at school or on the street or in church or… see on TV, lol. Some people, no matter how much academic work, exegesis, Biblical know-how, studies, etc. etc. you give them, they’ll still saying “bullshit,” and look the other way. You have to WANT to make the effort for there to be change. There are people in every denomination working for GLBT/queer/women’s/etc. rights, you just have to know where to look. I have met Evangelicals, Catholics, Baptists, all who want the same thing and want Christianity to move forward through all the “bullshits” of the world, and I seriously did not expect that. I expected UUers, UCCers, and MCCers. They’re certainly the more “we’re officially working on this” people, but all denominations do have those out on the front lines.

Lastly, the distancing. I mean, I LOLed at that video too. I suppose you have to be secure enough to say “that’s not me. I’m not out there trying to ‘cure’ anyone.” A religious sense of humor is so a must, IMO. The only way to distance yourself is through your actions. All of my atheist friends are surprised when we talk. I’m like, yes, I’m one of the coolest Christians you know, don’t lie! And they tend to agree, haha. But I mean, speaking intelligently yet not taking yourself too seriously is a good combination. Also, standing up for what you think is right regardless of how a church or your other Christian friends might perceive you. I can name a few of mine who might say I’ve gone down a wayward path. Oh well. I’m not going to start hating on people because you think that’s what the Bible says. I don’t agree.

Sorry this turned into a rambly post I’m pulling an all-nighter xD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzbNkyXO50

Provocative, at least among certain Christian circles that claim to want to ‘cure’ homosexuality. How do you reconcile those kinds of Christian beliefs, and what efforts do you see being made that are trying to make Christianity as a whole to be more inclusive?

And how do you distance yourself from those kinds of Christians when these kinds of parodies are created?

Genesis

(via sheshines92)

Can I get a witness?

We were talking about churches condoning (or not) same-sex unions in class and my prof raised an important notion. Same-sex marriage is, for the first time in awhile, FORCING the church/churches to think about sex and realize how inadequate their views on sex and sexual ethics are. He suggested that maybe we ought to let the issue dangle for a little bit longer because frankly, there are a whole host of sexual issues which need to be reexamined and Aunt Betty just can’t help herself when she sees Fred and Bob hugging on Sundays. She’s thinking about the sex. Hell, I’m thinking about the sex. In fact, as we talked about later in our discussion group, most people are thinking about the sex. There’s something about seeing a gay couple that makes most people think SEX! whether you’re gay, straight, bi, homophobic, or addicted to homoeroticism -cough-. Poor Aunt Betty. Now she has to think about gay sex all Sunday while she’s trying to listen to the minister (story of my life, lady.) So if enough Aunt Betties (plural?) start thinking about it they’ll all eventually be forced to deal with it and not just the prominent issues like marriage and rites of passage like coming out, but about the big dirty S word that the church loves to incorporate into everything they do but never talk about.

I’ll be pretty distracted this week while my mother fawns over me, so I’ll be updating less, sadly. However, I’m supposed to be writing a paper comparing the Sri Guna Ratna Kosa (a Hindu hymn to the goddess Sri) with Frauenlob’s Song of Songs (a reinterpretation of the song of songs with respect to the Virgin Mary) text due Dec 1st, so that should bring some exciting thoughts/quotes. I hope. xD

Mark Jordan, having a philosophical moment in class xD

Elisabeth Ohlson, Palm Sunday

Layton’s translation. The Coptic text is below. I only took it for a semester so I can only read a little bit of it, lol.

There are more translations and some commentary here. Obviously the internet is not the best place to study religion, I just can’t link you to a book always, lol. I do suggest Karen King’s book on the Gospel of Mary Magdala. I’ve taken a course with her on ancient gender and sexuality; she’s quite brilliant.