{"id":6083,"date":"2012-08-02T15:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T19:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=6083"},"modified":"2012-08-02T15:03:29","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T19:03:29","slug":"a-better-conversation-about-homosexuality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2012\/08\/a-better-conversation-about-homosexuality.html","title":{"rendered":"“A Better Conversation about Homosexuality”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

article by Christopher Benson in Christianity Today<\/em>.<\/a> There are several nice moments here\u2013I especially liked this bit:<\/p>\n

[Wesley] Hill quotes philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, \u201cI can only answer the question \u2018What am I to do?\u2019 if I can answer the prior question \u2018Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?\u2019\u201d It\u2019s this prior question that gets ignored in the debate on homosexuality because the church has mistakenly given primacy to ethics over the narrative functions of doctrine and ministry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The only book I\u2019ve read, of the three he reviews, is Wesley Hill\u2019s book<\/a>, which I super extra recommend to all of you! It\u2019s probably the best Gay Christian Whatnot book I\u2019ve read.<\/p>\n

I do wish pieces like this, which talk about how \u201cheterosexual\u201d and \u201chomosexual\u201d are recently manmade labels (I agree with that!\u2013in fact Benson quotes me agreeing with it), would give some sense of what it means for straight people to get beyond those labels. Otherwise you end up sounding like only gay people have to change how we relate to the Church. It can sound very \u201cI don\u2019t see race,\u201d which is one of those things white people say. Like, good for you, you ignore a huge part of other people\u2019s lives, community, history, and struggle?<\/p>\n

Benson\u2019s piece has some tics\u2013even a brief swipe at the \u201cvictim mentality\u201d of gay activists will always make me want to defend them!\u2013and I don\u2019t know that I actually understand his criticism of me. I think he is worried that I\u2019m placing the gay\/queer experience on a pedestal, saying that queer Christians have a kind of gnostic, in-group insight into the Gospel which makes us better Christians than mere bourgeois burghers and their wives. (Mmm\u2026 burghers.)<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t what I\u2019m saying, but I do want to stand up for the belief that queer experiences can provide insight into universal Christian truths. Think of it this way: I\u2019m especially interested in how the Gospel looks from prison. If you tell me your essay or blog post<\/a> or sermon is by a prisoner<\/a> or draws on prison experience<\/a>, I am 100% more likely to read or listen with care and excitement, because I think I am likely to learn something. This belief is based on my prior experience learning a lot from prisoners\u2019 words. Does that place prisoners on a pedestal? I don\u2019t think it does. It suggests that they have had experiences which give them unique insights into the truths of the Gospel.<\/p>\n

I think I stated my position pretty well here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Benson\u2019s article, and Christianity Today<\/em>\u2018s decision to publish it, are I think very hopeful signs. The fact that I\u2019ve spent most of this post fussin\u2019 shouldn\u2019t overshadow that. Disagreement and a wild diversity of voices are part of how we move forward. (\u2026Aaaaand I sound like a hippie. How about, \u201cI love everyone, just like Saint Jerome did!\u201d\u2013does that work?)<\/p>\n

No it\u2019s not like any other love\u2013this one is different because it\u2019s ours<\/a>\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

article by Christopher Benson in Christianity Today. There are several nice moments here\u2013I especially liked this bit: [Wesley] Hill quotes philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, \u201cI can only answer the question \u2018What am I to do?\u2019 if I can answer the prior question \u2018Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?\u2019\u201d It\u2019s this prior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[1264,1265,73],"class_list":["post-6083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-catholic-whatnot","category-self-obsessed","tag-gay-catholic-whatnot","tag-self-obsessed","tag-wesley-hill"],"yoast_head":"\n"A Better Conversation about Homosexuality"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"article by Christopher Benson in Christianity Today. 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