A CHRISTIAN VOICE FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS: "GAY CHRISTIAN 101: SPIRITUAL SELF-DEFENSE FOR GAY CHRISTIANS"; "STEPS TO RECOVERY FROM BIBLE ABUSE."

Sunday, February 10, 2008

"GAY CHRISTIAN 101: SPIRITUAL SELF-DEFENSE FOR GAY CHRISTIANS"; "STEPS TO RECOVERY FROM BIBLE ABUSE."

I first heard about the book, "Gay Christian 101: Spiritual Self-Defense" in a teleconference with Candace Chellew-Hodge who publishes the superb web site, Whosoever. The book is written by Rick Brentlinger and, although I haven't yet read it, I have read reviews of it, seen testimonies to its excellence, and have heard Rick Brentlinger interviewed on Candace Chellew-Hodge's Godcast, that I strongly urge you to listen to, as well as I strongly urge you to read her web site that has new issues appearing every two months. The next issue is due out March 1st.

Although numerous books, blogs, and web sites have been dedicated to the reality that there is absolutely no inconsistency between being Gay and being Christian, this book copiously investigates the "clobber passages" that have been traditionally used against Gay people and shows what they were originally intended to mean and what ancient commentators said about those passages, and the results show that same-sex love and homosexuality as we understand that term were never condemned in Scripture, be it in the Old Testament or in the New Testament.

The book's description reads as follows: "Presents strong scriptural proof that God loves and affirms gay Christians. GC101 is written in clear, understandable language. Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians, defends gay Christians and gay relationships which are within the Biblical moral framework, committed, faithful, noncultic. Reasonable, scriptural, thoughtful, this book offers cultural, doctrinal, historical, linguistic and religious proof that the same sex relationships condemned in the Bible are linked to ancient fertility goddess worship. Strongly Christian and evangelical, Brentlinger honors God and the written scriptures of truth in this powerful book." [See here]

From what I know about this book from secondary sources, I wanted to urge you to read it before I get a chance to read it myself. Rev. Troy Perry, Founder and 37 year Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches says:

"Rick Brentlinger's new book, Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense for Gay Christians, is a must-have book for any person who is seriously interested in what the Bible really says about homosexuality.

"It is a wonderful intelligent book for any person who is seeking answers to the continued debate around the Bible and human sexuality. Rick knocks the ball out of the park with his knowledge of Scripture and his love for the Bible.

"If I could only afford to purchase one book this year, this would be it! Rick, you've done an incredible job.”

[See here for Rev. Perry's endorsement as well as for other information on this book. Moreover, this web site, gaychristian101.com offers many links dealing with Christianity and homosexuality that are of inestimable use for "spiritual self-defense" by LGBT people and allies.]

The ignorance and distortion of selected biblical passages have for far too long been used to erroneously condemn LGBT people, and this book should go a long way to remove any vestiges of doubt that anyone might have regarding the harmony between Christianity and homosexuality.

Another book that I have read and do strongly recommend is the book, "Steps To Recovery From Bible Abuse by Rev. Rembert Truluck. It is similarly superb!

The book's description is as follows:

"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse," says Dr. Truluck, "is over 550 pages of information and encouragement to equip gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and all others who have been abused and oppressed by religion to learn the truth and to rejoice and grow in their God-given worth as individuals."

"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" is organized in 18 chapters. The first five chapters contain introductory material, including essays on "Why this Book is Here," "My Story" by Dr. Truluck, "Jesus Heals Sick Religion," "Guidelines for Small Groups," and "How to Use this Book." The next 13 chapters are the Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse. Each of the 13 Steps contains four Bible Study Lessons, suitable for personal study or small group use. As a result there are 52 Lessons, one for each week of the year.

Any doubts any Gay Christian, any Gay non-Christian, and any spiritually and intellectually honest Straight person may currently have concerning the fact that one can be both Christian and Gay will be eradicated when they read these books!

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6 comments:

Justice MH said...: @Jerry: I love this post, and I love that website, it's so informative.

I have read many site with so much information on the bible and homosexuality, but this one is on my top three list.

Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse is another good book. I've been through truluck's website, and it's informative as well.

Personally, I still don't understand how some Christian try to interpret ancient texts with modern time thinking. I feel some, if not most are cultural for that time.

Again, I love the book based on the review, and I love the site; February 12, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Jerry Maneker said...: Hi Justice MH: I'm very glad! The more people read intelligent commentaries on "the clobber passages," as well as other parts of the Bible, the more they will come to see that the Christian life only comprises two things that even a child can understand: Love God and love others!

We are not to judge or condemn others, and Jesus makes that fact abundantly clear which, especially in this context, is very significant as He never said one word about homosexuality. Nor do the Ten Commandments, nor did the Prophets even deal with that subject and one would think that if it were that important it would have been discussed (or at least mentioned) in one of those contexts.; February 12, 2008 at 1:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Jerry-

Thanks for mentioning my book and website. I'll be happy to send you a free review copy of "Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians" if you'll send me a shipping address.

Thank you for taking a stand for GLBT rights even when it has made you unpopular in some circles.

Rick Brentlinger
GayChristian101.com; February 19, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Jerry Maneker said...: Rick: It was a pleasure to feature your book. Thanks so much for offering to send me a copy of it. I'd love to read and review it. If you would, please ship the book to:
Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
California State University, Chico
Department of Sociology
Chico, CA 95929-0445

Also, thank you for your very kind words. Best wishes, Jerry.; February 20, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Jerry-

Your review copy of "Gay Christian 101" is en route. I'd have shipped sooner but just saw your response today.

God bless you!

I'm willing to send a free review copy of my book to other people of influence who will review "Gay Christian 101" on their established, well-trafficed Blog or website.

Contact me through my website and request a free review copy.

http://www.gaychristian101.com/Contact-Us.html

Rick Brentlinger; February 28, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Jerry Maneker said...: Thanks so much, Rick. I'm very much looking forward to reading and reviewing it. Best wishes, Jerry.; February 28, 2008 at 1:45 PM

FROM "THE CHRISTIAN LEFT"

"It’s easy to see the sinfulness and corruption of “the world” for what they are when you spend enough time reading what Jesus said. It has nothing to do with abortion and gay marriage. It has everything to do with the lust for money, power and control. Starving the poor and depriving the sick of health care, not caring for the least of these among us, is what angers God the most. It’s easy to see why the road is narrow. The world is very efficient at convincing even Christians that its agenda is good. When people try to carry out God’s agenda they’re labeled “Socialists” and demonized."

MUST-READING FOR THOSE INVOLVED IN THE LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE

In most Native American history, Gay, Lesbian, and/or Transgendered individuals were considered holy and treated with the highest respect. They were the historians, the healers, and the people of empowerment. They possessed the delicate balance of male and female, and were often honored for being unique and having a different spiritual calling. For their tribes, they were the mediators between the spirit world and the natural world. They were known in their separate languages as “naadle” (nad le) They who love their own kind, translation from the Navajo language; “winkte” (wink-day) would be woman, translation from the Lakota Sioux language; and “bade” (bah-day) male/female person, translation from the Hidatsa language. (By the staff of the Two-Spirit Society of Denver.)

CIVIL RIGHTS ARE NOT TO BE VOTED UPON BY THE ELECTORATE!

We can't spend our time and tremendous amounts of monies trying to get the majority of the electorate to vote for equal rights. If integration of African Americans was put on the ballot in each state during the civil rights era, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws! There must be meaningful, coordinated, and aggressive grassroots, street, and organizational activism, coupled with the filing of civil suits at the federal level, to achieve equal rights. "Separate is not equal," and that fact must be, and undoubtedly will be, affirmed by the Judiciary in regard to Gay people, as it was for African Americans, and not left to the will and whim of the majority of the electorate, for to do so demeans Gay people, and puts each and every minority group's rights up for grabs. We would never think of putting one or more civil rights of Jews, of African Americans, of Asians, etc. on the ballot to be voted upon, and Gay people's civil rights must not be treated any differently.

Christianity Is A Lifestyle

Christianity is a lifestyle -- a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into a clever "religion," in order to avoid the lifestyle itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain, and still believe that Jesus is their "personal Lord and Savior." The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great. - Richard Rohr

THE BIBLE IS NOT GOD

The Bible is NOT God! To elevate the Bible to the status of God, not only is an injustice to scholarship and logic, but is a direct offense against God Himself. We are to have no idols other than God, and biblical literalists and many of those who seek to counter them, both use the Bible as an idol, elevating it to the point where they explicitly or implicitly believe that it contains all of God's Word to us. Jesus is God's Word, and Jesus makes very clear what God expects of His followers: to trust God over and above seen circumstances, and to love other people! That's what puts the lie to homophobic professing Christians' selective use of certain biblical passages to "justify" and impose their hateful prejudices on others; their re-defining Christianity, and God Himself, in their own image, thereby using not only the Bible, but themselves, as their idols; ignoring Jesus' words, work, ministry, and life! The Bible is best viewed as a "finger" that points us to a couple of the many dimensions of God. What the biblical literalists do is equivalent to the following: If I ask you where you live and you point in a given direction and I just keep staring at your finger, I'll soon come to know everything about your finger, its size, shape, fingerprint, and every single detail about your finger, but I won't come any closer to knowing where you live. I have to look to the place where your finger is pointing in order to know where you live. The same holds true for those who elevate the Bible as being the "inerrant word of God." No! Only God is the Inerrant Word!

LGBT PEOPLE AS "EUNUCHS SO BORN FROM THEIR MOTHER'S WOMB."

For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb.... (Matthew 19:12)

I don't think any scholar who is truly spiritually sensitive can not see that "eunuchs so born from their mother's womb" refers to Gay and Transgender people who, on this earth, most closely reflect God Who is Spirit and Who transcends gender. LGBT people are God's gift to this world, and to His Church. Too many of the former largely reject that gift; Christ's Church, unfortunately, seems to comprise very few within the institutional Church.

THE CONFUSION OF "HEDONISM" WITH "GAY."

In my opinion, a distinction has to be made between "hedonism" and "Gay," and much public persona of Gay people, and the commentators on all too many LGBT-oriented sites, seem to be more hedonistic than Gay. Frivolity, indecency, and use of hateful epithets as self-identifiers tell us far more about them than it does about Gay people. They use "queer" because they feel "queer," and don't see being Gay in any other terms than being "indecent" and "abnormal." And many of them pride themselves on being outsiders! This reflects their psyches, and they are too dense to accept that fact, let alone change their rhetoric and self-perceptions. They resent anyone who tells them that they are not "mistakes," and that dignity is essential in living one's life, and they undoubtedly thrive on lack of such dignity. I learned a lot from a transgender woman, for example, when she resented the fact that I said that she wasn't a mistake! She tenaciously hung on to the fact that she is a mistake and resented any other possibility. The same is true for most Gay people who comment on assorted Gay-oriented sites. Blindly accepting the oppressor's rhetoric and actions has done inordinate harm to many LGBT people, and that's a great deal of what we must fight against.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AUGUST 4, 1857

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must pay for all they get. If we ever get free from all the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and, if needs be, by our lives, and the lives of others.

A NOTE ON THE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE USE OF PEJORATIVE SELF-IDENTIFIERS

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISM, BY DON CHARLES

1. Thou shalt not address thyself or thy kind with inaccurate, disrespectful or dehumanizing labels, nor shalt thou do or say anything to marginalize thyself or enable thy own oppression.

2. Thou shalt not treat thy moral crusade like a political campaign. Thou shalt not value the welfare of political parties over the welfare of LGBT folk, nor shalt thou bind the equality movement to any political party.

3. Thou shalt not disrespect transgender identity or transgender bodies, and thou shalt not kick thy transsexual brethren to the curb for political advantage. Thou shalt endeavor to rid thy movement of transphobia as well as biphobia, sexism, heterosexism, racism, sexual racism, ageism and class bias.

4. Thou shalt not defend, attend or fund any religious institution which preaches genocide against LGBT folk, and thou shalt pursue separation of church and state with all thy mind, heart and soul. Thou shalt directly confront religious institutions that preach LGBT genocide, and thou shalt use authentic, inclusive theology as a weapon against hateful doctrine.

5. Thou shalt not use the equality movement as thy vehicle for exhibitionism, hedonism, political ambition or self-promotion.

6. Thou shalt not excuse any form of inequality (such as exclusion from marriage or military service) on ideological grounds, and thou shalt not give LGBT equality less importance than other social issues.

7. Thou shalt vigilantly police media representations of LGBT folk for demeaning, ridiculous and vilifying portrayals, and thou shalt not fail to include Gay media in thy policings.

8. Thou shalt preach the gospel of comprehensive sex education. Thou shalt promote intelligent conversation about human sexuality, express thy own sexuality without shame, be considerate of thy sexual partners, and shun sex practices that are unhealthy, irresponsible or illegal.

9. Thou shalt access public and private education systems and use those systems to diminish fear and ignorance about LGBT people. Thou shalt not be turned aside from this goal by scurrilous accusations of "recruitment".

10. Thou shalt protect, nurture and serve as role models for LGBT youth, and thou shalt protect, honor and provide for LGBT elders.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

"GAY CHRISTIAN 101: SPIRITUAL SELF-DEFENSE FOR GAY CHRISTIANS"; "STEPS TO RECOVERY FROM BIBLE ABUSE."

6 comments:

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