FUCK YEAH! THEOLOGY

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.

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.

neightkelly:

This is my fav video

Gay Education.

So while this video made me giggle a few times (left handed, lol) I have a few issues with it. First, the person being portrayed as the bigot is named “Christian” which really hurts, actually. Firstly, it reenforces the idea that you can’t be gay and Christian, which is silly really because I know plenty of gay Christians. This is something that is promulgated by lots of different people too. Many conservative Christians seem to think that while you can commit any other number of sins and be Christian, that you can’t be gay and be Christian (note their implication that it’s a sin—I’m not agreeing with that standpoint, just saying where they’re coming from). There’s also a great amount of backlash from the GLBT community especially by those who have been hurt by religion to not want anything to do with Christianity. I really believe that this isn’t true. I see no reason why you can’t be GLBT identified and Christian. In addition, there are plenty and plenty of straight allies who are Christian like umm… me, for one. Yeah, so you can see why I’m a bit hurt at the implication that anyone who calls themselves “Christian” automatically thinks that being gay is a choice and that they’re sinners and should be shipped off to ex-gay rehab centers (which, by the way, don’t work and don’t profess to make anyone straight, can really be harmful, etc. I did a paper on them last semester so I have a huge rant which may come much later xD). I hate that people think “gay” and “Christian” cannot coexist or even be in good relations with one another. It’s something I’ve certainly been trying to break down because I don’t think there’s any good to come from hating on gay people or Christianity as a whole.

Okay, that aside, I have another complaint about this video… The latter sons are more likely to become gay because the mother’s womb tries to feminize them? Is no one offended by the implication that all gay men are more feminine than all straight men? Or that being more feminine is more likely to make you gay? Or a host of other undesirable implications? I know plenty of feminine and/or flamboyant straight people. People you would almost have been certain were gay. I realize that is a notion, that the more you genderbend, the more likely you are to be gay or lesbian. IMO—and I’m not GLBT identified, so please forgive me if I’m wrong, I’m just noting what I observe from conversations and interactions—GLBT people feel more comfortable relaxing the bounds of gender roles. I hate the pressure on straight people to fit into the rigid categories of man and woman. I’m a short haired straight girl and I always feel like people think I’m a lesbian xD Like, I’m pretty sure people have, just based on my hair cut and I have my own insecurities that guys will want girls with long flowing locks and blah blah well geez, no one’s asking you to be the pique of masculinity. Oh wait, they are. The pressure is on guys too. I wish people would realize that NO ONE is 100% masculine or feminine and that it’s okay to express your gender however you want.

Okay, I think that’s all for now »

Gospel of Mary Magdala, translated by Karen King

Forgive that this photo is terrible quality :D

I just wrote this paper on the eroticism on the passion narrative, amidst other things. And this picture is what inspired it. There was something I said like, ‘Jesus is bound, stripped, mocked, flogged, and humiliated by other men in front a crowd for their viewing pleasure. This line wouldn’t feel out of place in an erotic novel…’

Trufax. Sounds like something I would read.

Images like these make me just go… what? Seriously? Am I the only one seeing it? Jesus’ hands are bound behind his back, his robe is falling off and he’s standing before a man sitting in a throne. I’m seriously waiting for Pilate to throw his own robe aside and tell him to get on his knees. This is easier to imagine when you don’t think of it as Jesus, but for some reason sex is like off limits for Jesus. Our Jesus has no genitals, which is silly really because he obviously did. And so do we, even though many Christians would like to forget about them.

I mean, look at Jesus! Seriously… if you’re a horrible person like me, you’re thinking this looks like it should lead to pronz. Okay, I’ve been assured I am not a horrible person for this. What it is is that we just can’t handle seeing Jesus in a place where we’d see something erotic. That picture is so erotic, so sexy, so hot to me and then “OHWAIT that’s Jesus. Well, shit. Guess it can’t be sexy anymore,” sets in.

Just sayin’.

Verse 9 from Frauenlob’s Song of Songs, a reinterpretation about the Virgin Mary

Robert E. Goss says that “to say Jesus the Christ is queer is to say that God identifies with us and our experiences of injustice… Resurrection is God’s ultimate queer surprise.”

Ultimate queer surprise, eh? First thing I thought of was surprise!buttsecks.

But I suppose resurrection is pretty fucking queer as well. Just like a virgin birth. I love Christianity, lmfao.