5 December 2005

Using Stephen Ray's idea of sin-talk we will now make a transition explore the model of sin as defilement/essentialization through looking at homophobic accounts of homosexuality.

While there are are many similarities between the ways in which the welfare queen and the homosexual are constructed in our contemporary culture, the topic of sexual orientation differs from welfare in that many homophobic accounts of homosexuals depict them not only as abandoning social responsibility, but as defiling and corrupting the natural order of things. ...the rhetoric of defiling nature comes to the fore with exacting force. The example of sexual orientation also differs from welfare in the degree to which explicitly theological reasoning is used to support depictions of defilement and pollution.

As Ray leads us, once you enter the topic of "the homosexual" there is an intensity that cannot be matched by the conversations and judgments made against the "welfare queen." If you want an example, simply look at what is the burning issue of the day. I think it is William Sloan Coffin who notes that prejudice against homosexual is the last acceptable prejudice. It is made all the more powerful by the fact that people take hold of the scriptures and try to use it as a suitable battering ram that will attack the fortress of homosexuality in order to "clean it up" so that "they" will not continue to defile society. What I find unfortunate in all this is the many people who do not take the time to meet, greet, and converse with people who are homosexuals. That doesn't happen because gays and lesbian people are see as having such a bad influence on society and families and churches and organizations that some people will not move close to them for fear that in doing that, they too might become defiled in some sort of way that I have yet to understand. Finally I find that with the "welfare queen" people simply move away from them or do not go to place where they will see her. In the case of the homosexual...they may be the neighbor, the family member, the other person in my club, and they even....get into church. Therefore the opportunity for "defilement" is a greater issue.

Connection: What makes someone "dirty" in your eyes? More important, where did you get that image within your own upbringing...where do you get it today? With any group of people or even individuals, there is a way of saying "yes" and "no" to how someone behaves...and that is without any sense of condemnation.

How quickly we let our anxiety and fear rule over our hearts. Precious Lord, be the one who Reigns over our hearts so that our lives may be open to the fullness of you love that has already promised to bring all your children home. Amen.