User:Claire.lewis171/Queer theology

Theologians

Marcella Althaus-Reid

One proponent of queer theology was Marcella Althaus-Reid, who drew on Latin American liberation theology and interpreted the Bible in a way in which she saw as positive towards women, queer people and sex. She proposed a theology that centered marginalized people, including people in poverty and queer people. For Althaus-Reid, theology ought to be connected to the body and lived experience. She put it this way:

Indecent Sexual Theologies [...] may be effective as long as they represent the resurrection of the excessive in our contexts, and a passion for organizing the lusty transgressions of theological and political thought. The excessiveness of our hungry lives: our hunger for food, hunger for the touch of other bodies, for love and for God. [...] [O]nly in the longing for a world of economic and sexual justice together, and not subordinated to one another, can the encounter with the divine take place. But this is an encounter to be found at the crossroads of desire, when one dares to leave the ideological order of the heterosexual pervasive normative. This is an encounter with indecency and with the indecency of God and Christianity.

She wrote several books on the topic of queer theology such as "The Queer God," "From Feminist Theology to Indecent Theology," "Liberation Theology and Sexuality," "Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender, and Politics," and even some in Spanish. Additionally, she has also had works written about her under titles such as "Queer and Indecent: An Introduction to the Theology of Marcella Althaus Reid" written by Thia Cooper in March of 2021. Author Nicolas Panotto also wrote a piece titled "Indecent Theologians: Marcella Althaus-Reid and the Next Generation of Postcolonial Activists" in 2016. Her works sparked much controversy and she was not afraid to make bold statements. She once said that "all theology is sexual theology," which proved that she was not afraid to speak her mind. In 2000, she published her first book "Indecent Theology," which then established her reputation as a queer theologian pioneer. Coming out in the book as a Latina, bisexual theologian, she addressed sexual oppression behind the traditional Christian concepts of decency.

Her writing style is considered to be dense and continued to grow more and more controversial, even among faithful LGBT individuals. Althaus-Reid took undeniable risks to raise awareness concerning queer and religious lifestyles. Due to her courage to speak out on an issue Althaus-Reid received a portrait in her honor that went on display in 2016 at the New College School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Scottish artist David Martin, a teacher at Leith School of Art, made the portrait in her honor because it doesn't happen often enough that woman gets a portrait focusing on her intellectual power. In addition to the portrait, a Scottish university classroom originally named Room 1.07, was renamed the Althaus-Reid Room also in 2016.

Key concepts from her theology include otherness, decency, difference, indecency, freedom, modesty, and sexual ethics.

One theme in the theology of her The Queer God (Routledge, 2003) is the holiness of the gay club, as she explores the intersection and essential non-contradiction of a strong, vibrant faith life and sexual desire. An example of finding otherness and desire in Biblical texts is her reading of Jeremiah 2:23–25 from the Hebrew, presented in her previous work Indecent Theology:

[...] a young camel deviating from her path: a wild she-ass accustomed to the wilderness, sniffing the wind in her lust. Who can repel her desire? And you said, "No! I love strangers, the different, the unknown, the Other, and will follow them."

Althaus-Reid was also the first woman to be appointed to a chair in the school of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2006. She held this post until her unfortunate passing at age 56 in 2009.

Hugh William Montefiore

Monteflore was known as as a progressive Angelican theologian and cleric. He is appreciated for advocating literary freedom, female priests, and the environment. He grew up in a Jewish family and practiced Judaism himself until he converted to Angelican Christianity after claiming to have a vision of Jesus Christ. He has authored many books such as "The Probability of God," "Credible Christianity," "Christianity and Politics," a many more.

Montefiore was ordained a deacon in 1949 and graduated from St. John's College, Oxford University with a Bachelor's degree in Divinity in 1963.

Hugh William Montefiore's views on Jesus' early life

In a paper read at the Conference of Modern Churchmen in 1967 titled "Jesus, the Revelation of God", Hugh William Montefiore offers a controversial interpretation of the early life of Jesus. Jesus was not aware of his vocation as Messiah until approximately age thirty, Montefiore argues, and this vocation can therefore not explain the celibacy of Jesus. Apart from the Essenes, celibacy was not a common practice in Jewish life. Montefiore suggests we might need to look for a non-religious reason to explain the celibacy of Jesus:

Men usually remain unmarried for three reasons: either because they cannot afford to marry or there are no girls to marry (neither of these factors need have deterred Jesus); or because it is inexpedient for them to marry in the light of their vocation (we have already ruled this out during the "hidden years" of Jesus' life); or because they are homosexual in nature, in as much as women hold no special attraction for them. The homosexual explanation is one which we must not ignore.

Montefiore finds the explanation that Jesus was homosexual consistent with his identification with the poor and oppressed:

All the synoptic gospels show Jesus in close relationship with the 'outsiders' and the unloved. Publicans and sinners, prostitutes and criminals are among his acquaintances and companions. If Jesus were homosexual in nature (and this is the true explanation of his celibate state) then this would be further evidence of God's self-identification with those who are unacceptable to the upholders of 'The Establishment' and social conventions.

Montefiore passed in May off 2005 at the age of 85. John J. McNeill John J. McNeill was an openly gay Jesuit priest and a vocal proponent of queer theology. His work focuses on the pushing of a new and evolving Christian structure that is truly inclusive of gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians. He highlights the importance of acknowledging how far Christian mentality has come in its view of homosexuality but believes there is a long way to go. McNeill argues that it is not enough to demand acceptance but to strive for a Church that provides a community that allows for the spiritual and moral enrichment of gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians. This inclusion can be achieved by engaging with and allowing gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians to not only participate in such a community but be leaders in the ministry.

Homosexuals within the Church have an obligation to organize and attempt to enter into dialogue with Church authorities. Church authorities in turn should show an example in terms of just behavior toward the homosexual minority by displaying an active willingness to hear, to enter dialogue, and to seek ways to resolve whatever injustice becomes clear as a result of dialogue. It is only by means of such a dialogue that the process can begin of separating the true implications of Christian faith and morality for the homosexual from the misunderstandings and prejudices of the past.

McNeill's book The Church and the Homosexual (Beacon Press, 1976) addresses queer theology in three sections: a history of the relationship between homosexuality and the Catholic tradition, finding where homosexuality belongs in a restructured traditional moral theology, and the shifts necessary in the modern Christian ministry that will allow gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians to thrive in their faith. In addition to having Doctorate in Philosophy with highest honors at Louvain University in Belgium, McNeill's doctoral thesis on the religious and philosophical thoughts of Maurice Blondel was published in 1966. It was published as the first volume of the series "Studies in the History of Christian Thought."

In 1977, he received an order from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in the Vatican demanding him to be silent when it came to the public media. McNeill remained silent for nine years and in private, he continued a ministry designed for members of the LGBT community. This ministry that McNeill directed involved workshops, retreats, lectures, and psychotherapy. It was in 1988 that Cardinal Ratzinger ordered him to discontinue that ministry. When McNeill refused to do so, he was expelled from the Vatican for going against the direct teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on the topic of homosexuality.

Unfortunately, McNeill died in in September of 2015. He was so well-respected during his time that the New York Times, the National Catholic Reporter, and the Miami Herald published obituaries.

4. Cherry, Kittredge. “Marcella Althaus-Reid: Queer Theology Pioneer.” Q Spirit, 2 Mar. 2021, qspirit.net/marcella-althaus-reid-queer-theology

5. Reporter, Guardian Staff. “The Rt Rev Hugh Montefiore.” The Guardian, 14 May 2005, www.theguardian.com/news/2005/may/14/guardianobituaries.religion. 6. “John J. McNeill.” LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, 2015, lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/john-j-mcneill.