From: avcholt@amber.indstate.edu (Thomas W. Holt Jr.) Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 11:25:38 GMT --- Forwarded message follows --- From: aa733@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark E. Hricko) Subject: Passion: Christian Spirituality From A Gay Perspective (long) Date: 30 Jul 1994 06:15:59 GMT i received this newsletter the other day. i have permission to reprint and distribute this. please feel free to distribute this as you deem appropriate. you can find subscription information at the end. --me -- Passion Christian Spirituality From A Gay Perspective Volume I * Number 7 July, 1994 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kicking and Screaming Moving by uncharted paths toward the promise of a better life is fraught with sadness, anxiety, jealousy, impatience, and fatigue. These emotions accompany anyone who is coming out of the closet, struggling to deal with his/her addictions, fighting for civil rights, or responding to the AIDS crisis. This is a phenomenon that Moses and the Hebrew people knew well. As a Hebrew who lived in the privileged environment of Pharaoh's household, Moses agonized over the forced labor of his own people and the frequency of Hebrew bashing. One day, when he thought there were no witnesses, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. The next day, he challenged a Hebrew who was fighting with his own kin. The man indignantly asked Moses who had appointed him as ruler, and wondered aloud if he intended to kill him as he had the Egyptian. When Pharaoh heard of the murder, Moses fled. In exile, with his past behind him, Moses was happier as a shepherd than as a champion of his people. Thus, he was not pleased to hear the message flaming from the burning bush. concerning his call to return to Egypt and convince a newly resigning Pharaoh to free the Hebrew slaves, Moses asked, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Hebrews out of Egypt?" [Exodus 3:11] After offering a string of weak excuses, he pleaded, "Please, send someone else." [Exodus 4:13] Back among his own people, Moses delighted the Hebrews with his mission to lead them to freedom. His popularity, however, fizzled when Pharaoh exacted more labor from his slaves. The Hebrew supervisors accused Moses of placing the sword in Egyptian hands to kill his own people. Moses cried out to God, "Why did you ever send me?" [Exodus 5:22] and repeatedly asked God to explain: "If the Hebrews have not listened to me, how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?" [Exodus 6:9, 12, 30] Indeed, Pharaoh refused to listen throughout nine irritating and destructive plagues, but relented at the death of his firstborn son, and allowing the Hebrews to leave Egypt. But when he finished grieving, Pharaoh realized he had lost his work force, and decided to reclaim his slaves. Fearing Pharaoh's approaching army, the people turned on Moses and asked, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'?" [Exodus 14:11, 12] Providentially, the sea befriended the Hebrews but served as a deathtrap for Pharaoh's army. Unfamiliar with survival tactics in the desert, the Hebrews confronted Moses: "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by dishes of meat and ate our fill of break; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." [Exodus 16:3] So, God taught them to make use of the manna which covered the ground every morning. Dissatisfied, they accosted Moses again: "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now...there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." [Numbers 11:5,6] They soon discovered that large flocks of quails, following the desert winds, provided sufficient source of meat. [Exodus 16:12,13] On the border of their promised land, the Hebrews accepted the report of those scouts who felt they could not subdue the present inhabitants. They complained to Moses, "Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?...Let us chose a captain and go back to Egypt." [Numbers 14:3,4] For their lack of trust, the people remained in the desert for forty years, and a whole generation died before the Hebrews entered their land. This wandering only intensified their discontent. Jealous of Moses' influence and position, some leaders renewed an old grudge: "Is it too little that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us?" [Numbers 16:3] Again dissatisfied with the manna, the people complained: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." [Number 21:5] Although their fears were founded, the Hebrews unnecessarily sabotaged their journey by consistently assuming the worst case scenarios, and by refusing to trust in God's providence. Nonetheless, the people finally took possession of their land; it really did flow with milk and honey. For all their obstinacy, they had the wisdom to preserve the story of their journey, as unflattering as it is, so that it might benefit others in times of transition. In answer to their prayer for deliverance, God gave them the leadership of Moses. This was not the answer they expected. Yet, the Hebrews learned, by experience, that opposing an oppressive power, leaving the familiar, adjusting to a different lifestyle, and facing new challenges, are the only paths to the promised land. Moses learned that those who want to be free struggle with an attachment to the familiar, however unpleasant; and a resistance to the unknown, however hopeful. They are impatient with the process, and desire immediate and total success. They find it difficult to remember and build upon small victories, and have a penchant for naming the leader as the scapegoat for every predicament. Regardless, Moses learned, it's important to keep moving. These human dynamics hold true today. People dream of a better life but hesitate to make it happen; they get discouraged in the process, and even blame others for their struggles. People often get in the way of their own growth. Gays and lesbians lament the internal battles that go on while promoting causes important to them. Perhaps it is a part of human nature to walk toward freedom kicking and screaming all the way. God knows -- and so do Moses and the people he led -- that the journey is something excruciating, but well worth the goal of a better life. -- A Closer Look In a new book, _What The Bible Really Says About Homosexuality, author Daniel Helminiak concludes that the Bible never addresses the question of whether gay and lesbian sex is right or wrong. If people wish to find that kind of clarity, he says, they must look elsewhere. In less than 100 pages, Helminiak summarizes the latest biblical scholarship in everyday English, and suggests that the scripture texts which people use to condemn homosexuality are not what they seem. He explains clearly the differences between a literal reading of the Bible [i.e. what the words, usually in an English translation, mean to a contemporary reader] and an historical-critical reading [i.e. what the words meant, in the original language, to the writer]. Using this historical-critical approach, Helminiak addresses each biblical text that has some clear or supposed negative reference to "homosexuality." In place of this generic topic, he suggests for each text, a precise concern of the writer, such as ritual purity, a cultural bias, or abusive sexuality. He also points out three positive relationships in the Bible that, as the least, are gay and lesbian friendly: David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, and Daniel and the palace master at Nebuchadnezzar's court. This book is a good resource for lesbians and gays who want to keep informed themselves, are looking for an intellectual response to the Religious right, or are searching for a helpful book to pass on to parents and friends. -- If not in your local bookstore, you can order _What The Bible Really Says About Homosexuality_ by Daniel A. Helminiak, Ph.D. from Alamo Square Press, PO Box 14543, San Francisco, CA 94114. $9.95 + $2.00 postage and handling. -- Weeding Out Queers Armed with knives, two elderly, Japanese women are out early in the park. Squatting, in what looks like an uncomfortable position, they are harvesting the choicest of the dandelion crop before the mowers do their damage. Their resourcefulness does not reveal if the harvest is headed for salad or for wine. Gifted with an uncluttered vision, a young child's eyes widen to take in a lawnful of tiny petalled, golden disks. Because the lawn is not off limits like the flower beds, a bouquet of dandelions is the perfect way to share this wonder with his mother. For most people, however, there is no worth nor wonder in weeds, which by definition, are any plants growing where someone doesn't want them to grow. Dandelions burst the dream of the perfect lawn despite hours of nurturing a uniform expanse of color, texture, and height. Society often treats gays and lesbians like dandelions. Homosexuality is an affront to the illusion of sameness. Gays and lesbians are *queer* only because enough people find them where they do not want them -- as teachers, ministers, and co-workers; in families, politics, and the workplace. Despite hours of weeding out those who do not conform by means of spiritual, medical, psychological, emotional, financial, and legal strictures, lesbians and gays remain. For those with eyes to see, dandelions bear beautiful flowers, nourishing leaves and joyful spirits. For those with hearts to accept, lesbians and gays are beautiful human beings whose diversity and resilience are worthy of wonder. -- Interdependence Day "Nothing flatters vanity or confirms obstinacy in kings more than repeated petitioning," wrote Thomas Paine in _Common Sense_ his popular pamphlet arguing for independence from Britain. So, six months later, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress, "by the authority of the good people of these colonies," declared independence, citing the self-evident truths "that all men are created equal." Two years previously, a group of slaves appealed to the Governor of Massachusetts, declaring, "...we have in common with all other men a natural right to our freedoms..." Yet, when Thomas Jefferson presented his draft of the _Declaration of Independence_, the delegates from Georgia and South Carolina insisted that the Congress delete the paragraph that condemned King George III for promoting slavery. During the deliberations of the Congress, Abigail Adams wrote to her delegate-husbands, John, warning, "If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we...will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which, we have no voice or representation." Although Abigail and the Massachusetts slaves used the same logic as the declaration from the Continental Congress, their equality has never been self-evident. The current debate over *civil rights or special rights* for lesbians and gays highlight the phenomenon that those who have the power define themselves as the measure for all people. While the _Declaration of Independence_ awaits a comprehensive application, its approach is instructive. The Colonists were unwilling to allow the King of England to define them as his pawns. They no longer sought approval, but on their own authority, defined themselves and were determined to fight for their equality. The African men and women, forced to labor in Massachusetts, were unwilling to allow the Colonists to define them as slaves. Abigail Adams was unwilling to allow men to define her as subservient and inconsequential. Although for Blacks and women, their struggles continue, they have gained most when, from their inner authority, they no longer asked permission, but acted on their beliefs. Likewise, gays and lesbians need to define themselves, and act upon their own truth. Perhaps one day, when the statement, "all people are created equal," really is self-evident, a declaration of independence will give way to an affirmation of interdependence. -- Source: _The American Reader, Words That Moved A Nation_, ed. Diane Ravitch, HarperCollins: 1990. -- Make A Note of It The following questions might serve as starts for prayer, journal writing, or discussion with a friend. -- What aspect of my life invites me to move by uncharted paths? What is the strongest emotion I feel when I am on this journey? Do I find that I need the approval of others, or can I claim my own inner authority? How do I define myself? Am I willing to affirm this definition in the face of opposition? What past experiences can help me through a time of transition? How can I support others who are sad, anxious, jealous, impatient, or tired? -- Unknown, Mysterious God, you scare me. You work in the most unlikely circumstances, you choose as your co-workers the weak and hesitant, and you invite oppressed people to claim their freedom. As you lure me into abundant life, grant me joy when I long for the security of an oppressive past, patience when I want the answers now, a cooperative spirit when I find it easy to blame others, and confidence when I feel I will not survive the journey. You soothe me, Unknown, Mysterious God AMEN! -- PASSION is published monthly. Copyright (c) 1994, by David Schimmel, all rights reserved. David Schimmel has a M.Div and a M.A. [Theology]. He has spent the past twelve years working in adult spiritual formation, as a program director, speaker, writer, retreat director, and spiritual director. One year subscriptions to PASSION is $15.00 [US], $18.00 [Canada], $22.00 [Europe and Australia]. To request a free copy or to subscribe, write to [and make check, *in US funds*, payable to]: David Schimmel, 4520 N. Clarendon, #801, Chicago, IL 60640-6171. The art in this issue is by Mark Vincent Fairs. For more information about the artist's work, write him at: 814 Bridge Street, Sweet Springs, MO 65351. Design assistance by Harrington Communications. -- -- * * * * If you're dishonest about your sexual orientation, and * * * dishonesty is a character flaw, then where does it stop? * * * P. O. Box 1089 * Hiram, Ohio 44234-1089 * 216/734 0470