Posted on 02/08/2010 3:37:30 AM PST by Kaslin
I’ve decided to enter the ministry. And I’m going back to school in order to prepare. My choice of schools is Meadville-Lombard Theological School. I want to go there so I can take the course “Queer Theories and Theologies” under Laurel C. Schneider.
Professor Schneider’s description of “Queer Theories and Theologies” is, to say the least, pretty queer, especially given that it’s offered in a seminary:
“This course is a close examination of the development of ‘queer theory’ out of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered liberation movement on the one hand, and the international development of critical theory on the other. Our particular interest throughout the course will be first in exploring queer theory as a public academic discourse and second in discussing what impact this discourse may have on theology and ministry.”
Professor Schneider’s course objectives are perhaps the most appealing aspect of “Queer Theories and Theologies”:
“1. To get confused and yet not give up on thinking. 2. To improve in critical thinking about the intersections of theory (system of rules or principles) with public action so that we may be better able to recognize the ways in which theory often flies ‘under the radar’ in the public realms of church and ministry, government, social movements, and culture. 3. To make at least one practical connection between queer theory as you come to understand it and public theology.”
I’m pretty confused by some of those objectives. But I’m not quite ready to give up on thinking. There’s hope for me yet.
Whenever one is confused in Professor Schneider’s course he (or she or it or undecided) has an opportunity to submit a “weekly reflection.” This is the part of the reading schedule that includes a “reflection question” meant to help guide reading for the session. The good news is that the student can use the question to frame a one-page response to the reading, or (and I’m quoting directly from the syllabus) the student can “ignore the question and address one of (the student’s) own that emerged for (the student) in response to the session’s reading.”
I can hardly wait for this part of the class because the readings are both godly and scholarly. For example, students read “The Queer God” by Marcella Althaus-Reid. Later, they read an article by Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, which is in “God’s Phallus and Other Problems for Men and Monotheism.” Mark Jordan’s “The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology” also makes the list. But the highlight of the readings is none other than professor Laurel Schneider’s article “What Race is Your Sex?”
I thought about writing a rebuttal to Schneider’s article called “How Tall is Your Age?” But I decided to call it “What color are your brain farts?”
By session nine of “Queer Theories and Theologies” the student is expected to formulate a central question or thesis statement for a project, which constitutes 30% of the final course grade. Mine will take the form of a final paper called “Why Queers Enter the Ministry.”
Some years ago, a man asked for my opinion on why his good friend, an atheist, had decided to go to Yale Divinity School. I told him that the Enemy could do more harm trying to destroy an institution from within than from without.
And so it is with the so-called GLBT (Gilbert) movement. The Gilbert has equal rights. He is not fighting for anything. He is only seeking to destroy anyone or anything that will not validate him. That is why only 4% of gays who live in states giving them a “right” to get married actually do get married. They do not seek to enjoy marriage. They seek to destroy marriage. All because it denies them validation.
Originally, all Unitarians and Universalists were Christians who didn't believe in the Holy Trinity of God but, instead, in the unity of God. Later, they stressed the importance of “rational thinking” and the “humanity” of Jesus. Since the merger of the two denominations in 1961, Unitarian Universalism has emphasized “social justice.” Hence the interest in the Gilbert movement.
We live in a time when Gilberts are invading Christian denominations in an effort to destroy their core Christian beliefs. I intend to enroll in Meadville-Lombard Theological School in order to reverse this trend and bring the Unitarians and Universalists back to Christianity.
I want to set them straight, so to speak. I want to save them before their symbol, the flaming chalice, is replaced by a flaming phallus.
That’s a big ask because I don’t think that thinking critically is always thinking like God - not that God does not think critically but that our understanding is extremely pale in comparison. Critical thinking must come after obedience not before. Otherwise it is easy for those who give too much respect to their own abilities to fall into the pits already dug for them.
Blessings
Mel
As enjoyable and insightful as ever.
The clearest most succinct definition of the rights movement I have ever read.
....at universities “Queer Studies” has been part of the canon in liberal arts depts for some time now...right along with Black studies, Women’s studies, Latino studies ect....so it’s no surprise that GLAD ‘scholarship’ has metasticised into theology school too....if you’re wealthy, go ahead and go to seminary...if not, don’t take loans to go to theology svhool...you’ll never be able to repay them...never in your lifetime...never.
WTF?
Obviously you have never read Mike Adams columns, have you
Evidently not, and won’t again. Thanks.
I do prefer the term queer studies to the former term gay and lesbian studies because it takes the focus away from sexual acts and looks at people who are different in the way they interact with their society. It doesn’t just include people who pair off sexually with members of their own gender, it includes people who never pair off, who live celibate lives, and who focus on their job or their ministry.
There is something I just don't get about this article. Why bother? Only some Unitarian-type seminary would even present such a seminar. It will be an exercise in futility and humiliation for Mike Adams, although I admire his courage.
Back in the 60's, when I was in college, even then Unitarian gatherings were known for devolving into drug and sex orgies. How much worse has it gotten since then?
And what next for our prestigious Universities? We got gay studies, now called GLTG studies. How about 'Bestiality Studies', or 'Pedophilia Studies'? Doesn't everyone have a right...? (/scarcasm)
The clearest most succinct definition of the rights movement I have ever read
It defines my stepson and his friends to a "T"
“Some years ago, a man asked for my opinion on why his good friend, an atheist, had decided to go to Yale Divinity School. I told him that the Enemy could do more harm trying to destroy an institution from within than from without.”
Dear Mr. Adams, Have no concern about atheists destroying the schools of divinity, that process was pretty much finished long ago.
This is a difficult column to absorb if it is your first Mike Adams essay. If you go to the Townhall link, and scroll down you will find his very interesting biography/cv. He is a conservative with tenure - a very unusual position these days, so he uses it to blast a lot of what university administrations have allowed and sanctioned on campuses today.
The reason they need validation is because deep down their practice of perversion eats at their soul, it is on their mind all the time because they know they are disordered. And those homosexuals that don't feel that deep sense of wrong are more sociopathic than the rest and are more likely to be pedophiles at disproportionate than heterosexuals.
The constant need for validation is why those who practice perversion persistently have the need to tell you they are "gay". It's all a coping mechanism.
“disproportionate” rates
Mike Adams is Chuck Norris...with a computer.
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Mike Adams is a jewel. Tells the truth and no matter how bitter it is, makes you laugh. I haven't even read this one yet, will now.
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Oops - I should have pinged the double list. Sorry for any duplicates. This is what they teach in theological school! This is so much worse than Rome.
Those who love evil and hate good, will stop at nothing to corrupt or violate the good that so condemns them by its inherent goodness.
But they can’t eradicate either the good, or the guilt and condemnation they feel, by doing that.
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