#-- check out blessedarethebinarybreakers for my faith content

[a-queer-seminarian]

Anon from before. Yeah, sorry I probably was kinda weirded out. I like a lot of your content usually. But I'm afraid of death and also several people I love a lot are dead so while I understand on a logical standpoint people going "Who cares about the afterlife? Here and now's all that matters." I very much hope that there is an afterlife because I hope all good is preserved. Not that I won't do good while I'm alive but that I hope there's a soft place for all of us at the end as well.

cw death discussion

Ah, the text limits aren't helping me make sense. I get that things suck and that privileged people have used religion to make excuses for the status quo but at the same time focusing on the hopelessness part feels, idk, like you've only missed nihilism by a hair. I have no idea if that makes any sense.

Ah, sorry for the spam, I keep thinking I haven't explained my point well and then I worry I've offended you perhaps by trying to. I'm glad if you get some peace from the things you read, even if they don't quite resonate with me. And I hope for all of us that there are brighter days ahead, if that's alright. :)

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You haven’t offended me at all, anon! I deeply appreciate your insight. It’s clear from your comments that in posting these disconnected quotes I am misrepresenting De La Torre’s point, so I’m grateful you’ve offered me this feedback and a chance to clarify.

One big thing i should clarify is: just because i post quotes doesn’t mean i fully agree with everything the author’s said -- i post them primarily as food for thought, a place for me to keep track of concepts i personally want to keep pondering, with the added aim of potentially fueling conversation like the one you and i are having now!

Like, for me, if De La Torre is saying that hope is never useful (which I’m not sure he is trying to say), then I disagree with him. I am with you that hope is not always an “opiate of the masses��� -- when hope is imposed upon oppressed persons by the oppressors, or used by privileged persons to quiet their discomfort about how marginalized persons are suffering, it is; but when someone who is oppressed chooses to hope against hope in a way that fuels their struggle...that’s a powerful hope, I think.

I’m pretty sure that De La Torre takes a....what’s the word....a hyperbolic stance in much of his book? Like, he’s being intentionally provocative, and he’s talking about worst-case-scenario hope because he’s focused on urgency, on inciting action immediately.

De La Torre, if i am reading him right, is very against nihilism, if nihilism means “everything’s hopeless so nothing matters” -- that, in his opinion, is not “hopelessness” as he defines it, but despair, which is useless if not harmful. He’s very much “even if things are hopeless, we must make meaning.”

He’s also against the nihilism of “nothing matters here and now because all will be well in heaven” as well as the meaning-making of “suffering today is neutral or good actually, because at the End of Things it’ll all be shown to have been a part of the path to heaven.” He prefers the meaning-making of “We have to make life here and now matter because larger forces (oppressive systems) strip oppressed lives of their meaning and dignity; let’s fight that even if we probably can’t win.”

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The primary aim of Embracing Hopelessness is not to comfort the afflicted but to disturb the comfortable -- if it’s not speaking to you, then you’re not De La Torre’s main audience. Instead, you sound like someone who -- on the subject of death and grief, at least -- is in need of comfort. And I stand with you in hoping that there will be an ultimate restoration of all that is good!

You might find some of my posts on my other blog’s #heaven tag more uplifting than the stuff I’m posting on this blog -- for instance, this post discussing anxiety around death as well as the continuation of things we love on earth in heaven; or my poem “heaven is home to quick green things.”

If looking forward to an afterlife where you are reunited with your lost loved ones, where goodness is restored and justice prevails, keeps you nourished for the journey in the here-and-now, then that’s a good hope! Hold onto it, and let it fuel you for fighting for goodness and justice now. <3

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

QueerlyChristian has a new website -- blessedarethebinarybreakers.com!

I decided to consolidate my various projects into one website! The overall goal of the site is to equip its visitors with passion and knowledge for the blessed work of binary breaking -- particularly as relates to LGBTQA+ / queer Christians, disabled Christians, and trans & nonbinary persons of various faith backgrounds.

Interested in the biblical figures and Christian figures across history who refused to be confined to their assigned gender? Pop on over to the Trans Christianity tab! (This content used to be its own site, transchristianity.com, which now redirects here.)

Unsure how to read scripture in LGBTQA+ / queer affirming ways? In need of resources that help make faith spaces more fully affirming? It’s still under construction, but the Queerly Christian section will be taking content from this tumblr blog (asks I’ve answered, prayers I’ve posted, etc.) and posting it in a more formal, organized fashion. 

Eager to find God’s good news for the disability community in a world that paints disabled persons as broken, cursed, or worthless? You’ll wanna check out the Disabled AND Blessed section -- and my YouTube series connected to it! Currently, this section is pretty empty, but my plan is to post synopses of my series videos plus extra content and resources not included in the videos. 

Ready to hear trans and/or nonbinary persons of various faith backgrounds tell their own stories? 

Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is the podcast for you! The “Binary Breakers Podcast” tab leads to links where you can listen to episodes and to links to episode transcripts. 

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Please give the site a look, at let me know what you think so far! Is there anything I need to fix? Questions or ideas you have? Let me know! :)

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[Image description: a screenshot from the BlessedAretheBinaryBreakers website’s homepage, featuring four images, each one connected to one of the four sections of the site. The first is a photo of a statue of the crucified St. Wilgefortis, a white person in a dress with light brown hair and a beard. Second is a Pride flag turned vertically with a white dove superimposed over it, hovering over an open Bible. The flag is the one designed by Daniel Quasar, with the standard rainbow flag as its base and a triangle jutting into it with the trans flag colors plus a brown stripe and a black stripe. Third image is a painting called "Whirlwheel" by Olivia Wise. It is of a person with deep brown skin and upraised arms wearing a long red dress seated in a wheelchair. The art style makes the dress seem flame-like and lends to the feeling of movement, as if their arms are swaying and wheelchair rolling. Final image shows a trans flag flipped vertically with a broadcasting microphone superimposed. / end id.]

[a-queer-seminarian]

Pinned Post with info about me, links to my work, and a list of this blog’s most commonly used tags!

I’m Avery (they or ze pronouns), I’m in my late 20s, autistic, and graduated with a Masters of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2019.

Since then, I’ve just been working on my various little pockets of online ministry centered around Bible translation, LGBTQA+ theology, disability theology, and interfaith relationships. i love talking about all this stuff so reach out to me if you have questions or ideas or whatnot!

Find my various projects:

blessedarethebinarybreakers.com holds my timeline of gender diversity throughout the Bible + Christian history! It’s also where you can find information about my multifaith podcast of transgender stories, with links for where to listen + read transcripts.

binarybreakingworship is where i keep liturgy i’ve written + some other content that you can use for free in your own worship services, with permission. My liturgy tends to have fun with pronouns and gendered language for God, and is inclusive of nonbinary folk.

@blessedarethebinarybreakers is my advice blog — head on over there if you have any questions about faith, gender/sexuality, disability, interfaith stuff, Bible stuff...

On my YouTube channel, I post videos about queer theology, disability theology, studying the Bible when you don’t know biblical Hebrew or Greek, and more!

I’ve also got a Twitter and an Instagram, though I don’t use either very often.

Aaand I sell hand-embroidered patches and wall art at NeuroqueerCrafting on Etsy 🪡

Organizational Tags

Some of the tags i use most often on this blog:

#seminary - stuff about what seminary is like, including advice for how to pick a seminary, whether it’s right for you, how to get money to attend, issues i had in seminary...

#log - usually stuff about my own life

#chatting tag

#quote tag

#resources

#preaching material - stuff i gather mostly for myself that i think i might use in a sermon one day

#teaching material - ditto, but for future classes / workshops

#interfaith

#antisemitism

#disability theology

#trans theology

#bible tag

My Masterposts!

Masterpost of posts on my other blog about queerness, God, the Bible, interfaith stuff, and more

Masterpost of autistic stuff, from stimming to self diagnosis to finding community

Masterpost of Disability & Ministry Resources

Anti-Racist Resources for Christians

Advice + Resources for Chaplains ministering to LGBTQA+ persons

Masterpost of sermons I’ve preached (not always fully up to date so you might also check out my youtube for newest ones)

Masterpost of resources a nonbinary/genderqueer/otherwise trans person can use to help people understand and affirm them from both “secular” and Christian perspectives

A few resources on intersectionality

A “table of contents” for all of Austen Hartke’s Transgender & Christian videos so that it’s easier to figure out what video says what