Knox, a nondescript town located in the northwest corner of the state in Starke County, Indiana with a population of 3704 souls became the focal point in hard lesson of life for me. Knox is well represented with churches, primarily Protestant denominations including Pentecostal, Baptist and various semi-independent Evangelical sects. While Knox is well outside the Bible Belt, the religious culture is very much like that you will find there. This is particularly so with regard to attitudes toward homosexuality. Generally speaking, it is a religious culture in which homosexuality is neither accepted nor tolerated. You may be wondering how it is that I came to know about and am so interested in Knox, Indiana and its religious culture. The reason, in short, is that Knox is the birthplace of Thomas Lee Bridegroom, a young gay man whose life and untimely death I learned of in a youtube video published by his grieving partner Shane Bitney Crone. It could happen to you is the video Shane published in memory of his partner Thomas Lee Bridegroom. Continue reading →
In the past few weeks the British parliament passed legislation to move forward in allowing same sex couples to marry in England and Wales. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales received its first reading on 24 January 2013. On 5 February 2013, the House of Commons debated the bill, and later approved the legislation on second reading in a 400–175 vote. Hitherto, civil unions were allowed between same sex couples under the law since 2005. This is very welcome news indeed. Certainly English society has come a long way from when homosexual sex between consenting adults were decriminalized in 1967. Still, there is determined opposition to amending the law to allow same sex marriage, most notably from religious institutions. The Catholic Church in England and Wales together with the Church of England are campaigning against this legislation. The Muslim Council of Britain and the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue are also opposed. The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems. Continue reading →
Gavin Boby delivered his speech at the Ottawa Public Library last Monday night without incident it turns out, but there was a fuss raised locally from various politically correct prigs who obstinately accuse Mr. Boby of promoting hate against Muslims. Their objections, aside from the content of Mr. Boby’s public speaking, is that the Ottawa Public Library rented him space to speak. Thankfully, they refrained from coming out in force to shout him down as was the case when Ann Coulter came to Ottawa for a speaking engagement at the University of Ottawa in March of 2012. Strangely enough the people who shout down those whose thoughts and opinions they dislike deny this is censorship. On the contrary, they insist, it is about stopping the likes of Mr Boby from inciting hatred against vulnerable minority groups in our society. In the case of Mr. Boby’s speech, it seems that any criticism of Islam is viewed as hate speech by the politically correct. I chose not to go hear Mr. Boby speak, but Mika and I have since viewed the segments of his recent speeches on video which is published on the internet. On the basis of what we viewed, we are satisfied that this is not hate speech. Mr. Boby is not without his critics either. In his opening remarks, Mr. Boby shared with the audience some of the epithets he has received in the press back in England. He gets more than his share of unflattering commentary in the British press, to say the least. Continue reading →
Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man / Katherine K. Young and Paul Nathanson. McGill-Queen’s University Press, c2010.
The introduction into the academic world of the notion that culture in paleolithic Europe was matristic or goddess centred came in 1974 with the publication of The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe by Marija Gimbutas, a Lithuanian archaeologist. The gist of her argument is that Neolithic cultures across Europe were woman-centred, peaceful, free of homophobia and egalitarian. These inferences were greeted with skepticism from her peers and that probably would have been the end of the story except her arguments were taken up and made popular by Riane Eisler in her publication The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, 1987. Following the publication of The Chalice and The Blade various forms of goddess worship and spirituality emerged. With this came a yearning for a return to what is believed was the culture of Paleolithic Europe before the ‘Fall.’
In publishing Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man Katherine K. Young, Professor of Religious Studies at McGill University and Paul Nathanson, Researcher of Religious Studies at McGill University, offer a critique of versions of this modern goddess religion they view as antithetical to equality between the sexes and actively promoting misandry, hatred of men in popular culture.
Gavin Boby, a lawyer from the United Kingdom, and leader of the Law and Freedom Foundation is on a speaking tour in Canada. He is due to speak at the Ottawa Public Library tomorrow evening. Mr. Boby is a controversial figure as the Law and Freedom Foundation provides a free legal service for those who oppose mosque developments. Through his foundation he claims to have stopped the construction of 16 out of 17 mosques across Britain. Mr. Boby objects to the construction of mosques on the grounds that mosques act as bridgeheads within Western society for the advance of Islam. Mr. Boby maintains:
A mosque is not merely a place of worship. Islamic doctrine requires the application of Islamic law within its geographical reach. As homosexuals, Jews, and those attached to freedom of speech discover, Islamic law claims supremacy over the conduct of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It mandates violence against those who resist it. British common law is clear that there can be no justification for: the preaching of sedition; claims that women, Jews, homosexuals or non-Muslims are inferior and can be abused; the call for persecution or murder of Muslim apostates. Continue reading →
Continuing their series of posts on Christianity and homosexuality, Geoffrey and Mika recently attended the screening of a documentary film, Taking a Chance on God: the Story of Pioneer Gay Priest John McNeill, at Saint Paul University here in Ottawa. This event was organized by Ewelina Frackowiak, who runs a local Catholic gay and lesbian group. The film maker, Brendan Fay, was on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience following the screening. It was a most interesting story related in the documentary, that of the faith, life and work of John J. McNeill. Continue reading →
This book was published in 1960 by the Rev. Robert Wood, a Congregationalist minister. Wood, a gay man, was upset at how Christians condemned homosexuals without attempting to understand them. After an unsatisfactory search for material dealing with ministering to homosexuals, he decided he would write a book on the subject Continue reading →
In light of the recent demonstrations in France against same sex marriage, demonstrations mounted by Catholics and Muslims by and large, I offer comments on religious opposition to same sex marriage and why marriage rights are so important to gay couples.
Late last year I became acquainted with a young gay man on Youtube who is documenting his exit from the Mormon Church. He was raised in a devout Mormon family in Utah and is sharing his experience growing up Mormon. I am quite interested in his story. I am familiar with Mormonism from the courses in religious studies I took as an undergrad at university, but the only interaction I have had with Mormons over the years is when missionaries knock on my door. I found them to be nice enough people. They were not offended when I politely declined their offer to discuss their Church with me. The official position of the Mormon Church toward gay people is not especially charitable. Homosexual sex acts are condemned as sinful. However, at the end of 2012, the Mormon leadership, in a surprising announcement, launched a new website http://www.mormonsandgays.org/in which it calls upon Church members to be more caring and compassionate toward persons who have same sex attraction. It goes so far to accede that a homosexual orientation is not a choice! The following excerpt from the website sums up the tone of the initiative:
The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the Church reaches out to all God’s children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
At face value this change in thinking is encouraging. Could it be that the Mormon Church is seeking to come to terms with modernity? My young friend is not convinced and I see his point. The Mormon leadership may be trying to revisit Church doctrine as it was interpreted by previous generations of Mormon thinkers, but the culture of honour and shame remains deeply entrenched among the rank and file of Mormonism. It must be very difficult growing up gay in a devout Mormon family. My young friend has published several videos on Youtube documenting his exit from the Mormon Church. Here is the introductory video in his series. I recommend viewing the rest of the series. His is a story worth hearing.
A chapter of a Roman Catholic organization called Couragehas turned up at the University of Toronto Newman Centre in Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish. Courage is an organization that counsels chastity for homosexual persons. While this teaching is in keeping with Church doctrine, it is entirely unreasonable and unrealistic to expect gay people to choose either a life of solitude or a relationship without intimacy. This teaching is disputed by many Roman Catholics, gay and straight. Dignity, for example, is a Roman Catholic organization with chapters across the world that works for acceptance of gay people in the Church. Here is a link to Dignity Canada:http://www.dignitycanada.org/.Continue reading →
Geoffrey & Mika 