First off, I found reading this paper both enjoyable and informative. I really enjoyed the quote from St. Paul, a figure who is often cited in anti-homosexuality arguments, cited as seeming to be in favor of homosexuality: "No longer is there slave and freeman, Jew and Greek, male and female... but we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord..." The power of this quote can't be over-analyzed and the fact that it is used in a pro-homosexuality argument is just fantastic. Moving on, while we've discussed the MCC in class, which is possibly the most gripping story of this kind of church, I feel like we've cheated churches/groups like Dignity, The Church of the Beloved Disciple, and so on; we haven't discussed them on the list for so called 'Lavender Churches'. I would suggest that we do so in class. It also felt good knowing what was going on when I heard mention of John Hose, Richard Ploen, and Jerry Joachim, from reading 'Our God Too'. However, the figure of Father Patrick X. Nidorf is another clergy member who I would like to talk more about since he did set Dignity on its feet essentially. Another interesting aspect mentioned was that of the American Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church. Apparently Mikhail Itkin was ordained into this church of which I know very little about. Something I'd like to change. Similarly, I wasn't aware to the extent that homosexuals found themselves welcome in groups associated with the UUC and the Society of Friends (begun in 1970 and 1971 respectively) however it does make sense. Even Jews who identified themselves as gay had a group to support them which struck me as interesting because I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to Judaism.
No comments:
Post a Comment