#queer liberation theology

[thurifer-at-heart]

"Christianity is the only major world religion to have as its central focus the suffering and degradation of its God. The crucifixion is so familiar to us, and so moving, that it is hard to realize how unusual it is as an image of God." Churches sometimes offer Christian education classes under the title "Why Did Jesus Have to Die?" This is not really the right question. A better one is, "Why was Jesus crucified?" The emphasis needs to be, not just on the death, but on the manner of the death. To speak of a crucifixion is to speak of a slave's death. We might think of all the slaves in the American colonies who were killed at the whim of an overseer or owner, not to mention those who died on the infamous Middle Passage across the Atlantic. No one remembers their names or individual histories; their stories were thrown away with their bodies. This was the destiny chosen by the Creator and Lord of the universe: the death of a nobody. Thus the Son of God entered into solidarity with the lowest and least of all his creation, the nameless and forgotten, "the offscouring [dregs] of all things" (1 Cor. 4:13).

—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (p.75)

[ohholydyke]

See the thing about fundamentalists and trads and Christian nationalists and MAGA evangelicals and ethnocratic bigots is that they render the faith so boring.

I take no issue with the fact that they would look at me and say that I’m not a member of the faithful because their faith is radically, inherently, ontologically distinct from mine. My God is too big and too loving and too esoteric to fit neatly into the gendered understanding of an authoritarian white father disciplining his children for not perfectly falling into lockstep. My Savior is the man who told the religious leaders “Caesar can have his idolatrous blood money, but give God your heart and your faith,” challenging the notion of an earthly ruler. My apostles wrote of the throne of man being empty—there are no masters or kings or governments, there is only Jesus Christ, Basileus Basileōn, king of kings. I believe in radical oneness with God through Christ—one flesh and one body, biblical marriage with the bridegroom whose flesh and blood make up the holy Eucharist. My faith is Queer, ancestral, esoteric, anarchist, insurrectionary, anticolonial, antiracist, unorthodox, disruptive, free. When I encounter the divine, or pray to the saints, or sit in the chapel to pray, I am experiencing communion with the sublime, in every sense of the word, the same presence that made the apostles fall to their faces before the transfiguration, that shaped the world from void, that animates the deep care and rage which boil into every aspect of my being.

When conservatives tell me I am not a Christian it is only because they cannot conceive of a Christ and a faith so big, so all encompassing, so beyond anything our human minds can comprehend, and they cannot conceive being in tune with this divinity and being left senseless by the knowledge that the divine above all else is us and loves us more than we could ever comprehend, such that experiencing this love is enough to leave one fundamentally, ontologically changed down to the fiber of their being. I feel sorrow for them. I pray that Christ may reach into their hearts and open their eyes, that they may see not only the horrors that they commit but also the deep love and freedom that awaits them through abandoning their fundamentalism and their bigotry.

Or, in other words, me every time I see another conservative Christian whining about how people aren’t doing Christianity right because they don’t adhere to a super narrow and watered down version of the faith:

[many-sparrows]

Embracing my queerness made me a better Christian, and I mean that in a very literal, concrete sense. I read my Bible more often and get more from it, I live out the gospel better. Embracing my queerness was the thing that truly taught me to love without bounds and it has irreversibly shaped my life and faith for the better. I want non-affirming Christians to gnaw on that for a while.

[cath-lick]

Had to buy this zine!

[dandelionjack]

marymadgalenestan on instagram. my favourite account by far. anarcho communist christian lesbian with a heightened interest in monastic life she Gets me. would do numbers on here

[chelledoggo]

someone needs to make some queer/progressive/liberation theology Bible tracts

they could potentially be life-saving for queer youth in evangelical families

or maybe get some conservative evangelicals to rethink things

[victusinveritas]

"...or during June, when the Sacred Heart of Jesus requires protection for some reason." has me rolling as a Catholic school survivor (K-BA) who still ended up embracing Liberation Theology despite a lot of attempts from parochial school theology to drive folks like me away.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

So @prosphoramuncher asked me to write about why I say the make-up industry is demonic.

Gladly hehehe.

So this idea is rooted pretty firmly in the Book of the Revelation and so first thing to understand is I am an idealist: I do not believe it is just for the first century, or just for the last one; nor do I think the historicist perspective makes much sense either. But rather I believe the Book of Revelation is using symbols and archetypal language to talk about the spiritual meaning and significance of the rise and falls of powers in the world. It is about the ongoing cosmic conflict between God and the forces of darkness.

That said, there are some radical idealists (*agressively side eyes Brian*) that reduce the symbols to just being internal and about personal sin and whatnot. I do not hold to this and refer to this as "abstracting". It's taking "the Cup of God's Wrath" from Jeremiah and making it about hell when you die instead of about God allowing his people to be trampled by Babylon. That's dangerous, don't do that.

With all that out of the way, let's start talking about the beast.

There are 2 Beasts in the Revelation are the Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Land.

The Beast from the Sea is a state or human kingdom that is in opposition to God and conquers through violence. So yes the Roman Empire. But also Greece and Persia and Babylon and Assyria and Egypt and etc etc etc. The British Empire, Germany, The United States, I mean just look for a military power in history or in modern times that has set itself in opposition to God and his will. Spoilers: it's just almost if not all of them.

The second one, the Beast from the Land, is an economic machine that exalts it's power as divine, looking like God but having the voice of the Adversary. It exists for the purpose of promoting the authority of the military state and for performing great signs. It is a liar and a deceiver that denies the kingship of the Anointed One (anti-Christ, "against the anointed one"). It demands that people worship the nation-state or be killed and ordains that all people must give their allegiance via their thoughts and actions.

Both are powered by the Dragon, who is the Serpent of Old (Genesis 3) who is called both "the Slanderer" and "the Adversary", who is the deceiver of the whole world but is defeated by the death of the Lamb.

So, I mean, do I even need to spell it out?

The make up industry, at least in modern times, is an industry that sustains itself through exploiting the insecurities of young women.

That's demonic. That is freaking demonic it is literally a servant of the Beast from the Land are you even kidding me!?

Now, I wish to make something quite clear: I am

Not saying that the people at the heads of make-up industries are worshiping with demons. I am not a charismatic for goodness' sake.

I am also not saying that by buying and wearing make-up that you are opening yourself to demons. Again: I am not a charismatic T-T. My little sister wears make up, not because she's insecure, but because she's a little kid who likes to play dress up all the time lol.

What I am saying is this: that we, as the Church, the Body and Bride of the Lamb, can NOT blindly support such industries without even thinking about it. Taking the Mark of the Beast is not getting a freaking vaccine or a chip implant; it is when we thoughtlessly contribute to, benefit from, and refuse to even become aware of these systems of oppression and violence.

So, to anyone reading this, young or old, man or woman, whatever: if you like make up keep wearing it. But if you think you need make up, do not wear it. You are being taken advantage of not only by an industry but also by the Adversary who wishes to destroy your body and your mind. Do not let anyone feed on your insecurities. You are a human image of God, do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

Keep fighting Babylon, family. Till His kingdom comes.

[faithless-faithful]

Welcome, sibling! 🙏🏻❤️

My name is E, I use they/it/he/she pronouns, and I am 25 years old! I'm a current art history major at university, and I have a special interest in religion!

I am always a spiritual seeker and have been pagan for ~9 years now. I am interested in eclectic and syncrectic faiths, especially Christopagan and Ozark folk practices.

I do have a set of non-negotiable beliefs: I am an omnist/pluralist (all paths are equally valid and ultimately lead to God), a panentheist, and universalist. I am very much going down a heterodox/heretical path, as I am interested in Christianity from a polytheistic perspective! I also have interests in process and liberation theology, as well as queer theology.

DNI: TERFs/radfems and debate-bros or proselytizers. I'm not here to debate my religion or my existence, I'm here to worship my God/s and learn. I'm pro-autonomy all the way - people can make their own decisions on what is best for them and I respect that, and I expect others to do the same.

[egharcourt]

Hot take for queer christians or affirming christian allies, but focusing on picking apart mistranslations in the clobber verses as the means to address homophobia, transphobia, or queerphobia in the church community is literally not gonna take us anywhere further. Okay, now we've disproved that Lev 18:22 doesn't imply whatever the English translation means. Oh and Deut 22:5 applies to a certain context. And then what. Do we just acquiesce in the fact that, after providing a rebuttal to some points raised by exclusionists, we still gotta sit in this unwelcoming and often spiritually stifling environment that they created.

I think what's fundamentally imperative is understanding what the core tenets of the Christian religion stand for (aka the Great Commandment). The second commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself" already makes it clear that there's no room for prejudice and bigotry. Bring up the verses and stories where the laws change to empower women, sexual minorities and outsiders in social systems that initially deny their rights (the daughters of Zelophehad, Isaiah 56:3-6, Acts 10:9-16). Stories about people who were underdogs, or from such communities, praised, promoted, and occupying an important position in the narrative.

The Bible's a big book and any argument can be extracted out of it to befit one's agenda. With so much hateful and intolerant rhetoric being thrown around, it's way better to highlight the passages that reaffirm marginalized people are blessed and cherished and deserve a place in faith, ESPECIALLY for vulnerable queer folk within the religious community that are told they can't belong. That's all I'm saying.

[demon-girl-izalith]

I think we should keep something in mind this Christmas/holiday season. As the Christian narrative floats around, the white swaddled newborn plastered on billboards, and the focus on what's "sacred" and "holy" circulating through churches around the western world...

The body being "sacred" has nothing to do with some fucked white European idea of chastity or purity. It has absolutely EVERYTHING to do with making sure people are able to feed themselves and their children, not be straight up poisoned by pollutants, or fetishized and exploited for profit. Holiness has nothing to do with being clean or looking your Sunday best.

It was never actually about "purity" or "virginity" or "cleanliness". If it was, why the hell would Jesus have been crucified? The real historical dude said stuff that pissed off people in power so much they fucking merked him. Nothing pisses off agrarian feudal lords or modern capitalists more than telling the masses that they aren't simply morally justified, but on the side of GOD when they steal medicine and food for their children. If you don't believe me, I highly recommend reading William Herzog's "Parables as subversive speech", read about what theologians actually think historical Jesus was talking about all those years ago. Whether you believe in God or not, think religion is a plague or pray a rosary every night, I think keeping this in mind is like super important.

Christianity becomes dangerous and, in the opinion of this demon girl, blasphemous when it is removed from the context of its social cause, when it's co-opted by those in power and disarmed of the radical rhetoric that it was born from originally. I think that's exactly what we see in broader society. I think that an entirely rational response to this is to equate all of Christianity or even all of religion with evil... But I think there's nuance here.

To be clear, I stand with the satanists who support the fight for separation in church and state by chastising the corrupt institutions who have become the opposite of what they claim to espouse. I stand with the atheists who keep the naive theologians in check, and offer peace to the people who have been ravaged by the monster modern Christianity is to so many. Don't stop doing what you're doing. If Jesus was standing here today he'd be standing with you. You're fighting modern day pherisees out here and I'm for it.

Now, this is not to say there aren't problematic things that were always present in the Christian religion, of course there are. And they're quite abundant. I think Christians need to be very aware of that as well. There's nuance there. What I'm calling for here is a realization that the religion of the oppressed is not the same as the religion of the oppressor, and that the religion of the oppressed, when not stripped of its merit and co-opted by systems of greed, can be a force for good. And when we use that lens to look at this bizarre spectacle we call "Christmas", we can learn some interesting stuff.

What I'm saying is, if you're trans, gay, whatever, for the love of God, literally, please LIVE. Listen to your friendly demon izalith. By existing as who you are, you are sacred. Don't let the people wearing robes and claiming to be on the sides of angels and "God" tell you who you can or can't love, or what you can or can't be. If there is a God out there, and he's with those punks, then he's no god. I spit on his name. Angels are overrated anyways... It's the demons, the poor person who steals from Walmart to feed themselves and their children, the prostitute who is proud of their job and the life they work hard to sustain, the fat trans person who goes to Christmas mass in goth makeup... It's those people who the religion was originally made for. It wasn't made for the rich, the white, the straight, the normative. It was made for us. For all those people who are downtrodden, cold this winter, unable to buy food, scared and tired. Fuck that shit they used to traumatize us and belittle us when growing up. It's all lies and venom anyways. If no one loves and accepts you, this demon will.

[thurifer-at-heart]

Rachel Held Evans on "reading Scripture with the prejudice of love"

The truth is, you can bend Scripture to say just about anything you want it to say. You can bend it until it breaks. For those who count the Bible as sacred, interpretation is not a matter of whether to pick and choose, but how to pick and choose. We’re all selective. We all wrestle with how to interpret and apply the Bible to our lives. We all go to the text looking for something, and we all have a tendency to find it. So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: are we reading with the prejudice of love, with Christ as our model, or are we reading with the prejudices of judgment and power, self-interest and greed? Are we seeking to enslave or liberate, burden or set free? If you are looking for Bible verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to honor and celebrate women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, there are plenty. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, there are plenty more. If you are looking for an outdated and irrelevant ancient text, that’s exactly what you will see. If you are looking for truth, that’s exactly what you will find. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not, What does this say? but, What am I looking for? I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

If you want to do violence in the world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm. With Scripture, we’ve been entrusted with some of the most powerful stories ever told. How we harness that power, whether for good or evil, oppression or liberation, changes everything.

—Rachel Held Evans, Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, p.56-67

[jesuswasgayandtrans]

Musings About Christianity and Stuff I Guess #1

Haven't been active on Tumblr in a while but decided to make a new blog about Christianity and stuff. I'll probably discuss various aspects of liberation theology, queer theology, progressive Christianity, as well as American Protestantism in general.

I'll mostly be keeping this blog anonymous but I will say, I'm a trans nb lesbian who was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention, deconverted as a teen, and recently reconverted and joined a (socially and theologically) liberal/progressive congregation in a liberal urban region in the American Baptist Churches USA.

Now to the actual musings. Been thinking about baptism today. I just have some deeply held belief that credobaptism by immersion is correct. I'd almost not want to join a church that baptizes infants and/or by sprinkling or pouring. (I'm very comfortable at my current church, I merely mean this as an example.) I understand that hasn't been the historic practice of the Church, the Scripture is definitely somewhat ambiguous here, and I definitely want to tend to err on the side of ecumenism, but I also feel uncharacteristically steadfast in my position on this. I just can't imagine being the pastor or deacon of a church that baptizes infants, you know? I obviously think pedobaptism is valid in that i wouldn't have someone rebaptized if they were baptized as an infant, but it's definitely not my preference. Idk, should I have talked about something more feministy for my first post? It's just what came to mind lol.

[many-sparrows]

I love you social justice oriented Christians. I love you Gary (my pastor) who presided over gay weddings before they were legally binding and before the church had come to a decision on it. I love you Conrad (old pastor I work with) for getting arrested for protesting the Iraq war and performing a lesbian wedding the minute it became legal for a couple who'd been together for decades. I love you Dr Donald Hertz for your sermons on Acts 20:27 and your life spent living out that verse and for causing trouble when you were still a student assigned to a segregated church in Birmingham and for spontaneously joining a grape boycott picket line outside of a Safeway in Berkeley because that verse says we cannot shrink away from our duty to each other. I love you Martin Luther's common chest. I love you Charles de Foucauld. I love you Oscar Romero. I love you Dorothy Day. I love you for giving me a legacy to carry on.

[cath-lick]

plenty of cunt at the feast of life

plenty of cunt to share

[blessedarethequeer]

an excerpt from my sermon for this first Sunday of Lent

Each year in the sanctuaries throughout the world, we repeatedly trace the path of Christ’s life, walking each Sunday from the tears and blood and sweat of fragile human flesh in His annunciation and birth, to the weeping and blood and sweat of fragile human flesh in His crucifixion in front of the roaring crowd.  We accompany Christ as we endure the pain, the trials, the betrayal; we steel ourselves with bated breath as we step closer and closer to the violence at the hands of those in power, the blood of the innocent, the death of the undeserving, We walk these footsteps again and again and again and again each journey through the liturgical cycle, just as we witness cycles of violence and oppression repeat each day.

But you see, what we often allow ourselves to forget is this: we walk this path knowing how it ends.

Hope.

It ends in hope, not as a naive, far-off dream, but as a promise and as a certainty.

“If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

We do not say this together each Sunday as an ask of plea, but as a renewal and re-commitment to that certainty. It is promise made to us that the violence of Empire, whether that of Rome or of those who seek to rebuild it today, two thousand years later, will not have the last word.

Beloved, the veil is torn. 

The hope that awaits us at the end of yet another Lenten journey assures us that the brutality of Empire’s oppression is not strong enough to hold us to the cross forever. The resurrection of Christ is promise that the best is yet to come ahead. 

Our call to follow in Christ’s own path, worn down by the feet of Christ and so many who have followed Him before us, tells us that things will get better, because we will make it so, building the foundations of the Kingdom that is to come with our own hands together in the solidarity of God’s justice, brick by loving brick.