{"id":12340,"date":"2019-04-24T13:14:26","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T17:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=12340"},"modified":"2019-04-24T13:14:26","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T17:14:26","slug":"ecstasy-in-celibacy-and-other-queer-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2019\/04\/ecstasy-in-celibacy-and-other-queer-ideas.html","title":{"rendered":"“Ecstasy in Celibacy” and Other Queer Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The workshop descriptions for Revoice 2K19<\/a> are live!<\/p>\n

Revoice is a conference which seeks \u201cto support and encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other same-sex attracted Christians\u2014as well as those who love them\u2014so that all in the Church might be empowered to live in gospel unity while observing the historic Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.\u201d As far as I know it\u2019s the only<\/em> such conference, in the world. I went last year, the first year. I gave an incoherent talk (you can read a more-coherent version of it here<\/a>) and had a blast<\/a>. Hugely recommend it to absolutely every lgbtq\/ssa person trying to live the Catholic sexual ethic, or interested in possibly living that ethic and understanding more about what it means. (Using \u201cthe Catholic sexual ethic\u201d even though most of these people are Protestants and reject significant elements of Catholic sexual discipline; I continue to hate all the possible shorthands\u2013\u201chistorical,\u201d \u201ctraditional,\u201d etc all are just as imprecise if not more.) The conference will be in St Louis again this year so you can also visit one of the absolute most beautiful churches I have ever encountered, their cathedral basilica.<\/p>\n

Anyway, to see the workshop descriptions, go to the homepage<\/a> and scroll down until you see the photos, then click on each photo for a workshop description. I\u2019m doing this:<\/p>\n

Ecstasy in Celibacy<\/p>\n

Contemporary American culture\u2014very much including Christian culture\u2014finds it hard to understand celibacy as anything other than a deprivation. And lots of us also experience celibacy as mostly deprivation, rather than an arena for love. In this workshop, I\u2019ll look at Christian history, theology, and art, in order to suggest ways in which celibacy offers unique forms of openness to love, intimacy with God, and witness to Heaven. I\u2019ll also share my own story of discovering beauty in celibacy even though I never wanted it\u2014if celibacy is a \u201cgift,\u201d I\u2019ve finally stopped looking for the returns counter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s my attempt to describe the many ways Christians have found celibacy to provide witness and beauty, and build community. Some of these are more common in celibacy, but certainly possible in married or hoping-to-be-married life. Some of them are unique to celibacy. This isn\u2019t a how-to workshop, and the ecstasy of celibacy is something I\u2019ve only experienced now and then. But Christians very rarely admit that we have a positive vision of celibate life. It\u2019s a lot harder to accept and build a beautiful life in celibacy if you don\u2019t know what the beauties of celibacy might be. Plus the most common praise for celibacy that we do sometimes hear (it keeps you focused on the things of God because you\u2019re not distracted by merely human relationships) can even be damaging for gay people, as if the way we love God more is to love other people less. I\u2019d like to explore both the freedom of celibacy and<\/em> the ways it offers unique witness even when your life is very much entangled with and obligated to other people.<\/p>\n

But I am not a scholar! So this is also your invitation to send me your best resources, theology, personal anecdotes, whatever, on celibacy as a form of Christian love. I\u2019m at eve_tushnet@yahoo.com . See you in St Louis<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The workshop descriptions for Revoice 2K19 are live! Revoice is a conference which seeks \u201cto support and encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other same-sex attracted Christians\u2014as well as those who love them\u2014so that all in the Church might be empowered to live in gospel unity while observing the historic Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[292,27],"class_list":["post-12340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-catholic-whatnot","tag-i-believe-in-ecstasy","tag-vocation"],"yoast_head":"\n"Ecstasy in Celibacy" and Other Queer Ideas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The workshop descriptions for Revoice 2K19 are live! 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