Queering Sacred Texts

Particularly for the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, sacred scriptures play a central role in the discourse about queer rights and the place of LGBTQ individuals in synagogues, churches and mosques.  An ‘understanding’ of what the sacred scriptures ‘say’ about LGBTQ individuals is a central part of the way that religious communities address these issues.  Scholars tell us that prior to the nineteenth century the category of ‘homosexual’ did not exist.  The concepts of ‘gay and lesbian’ were created in the mid-twentieth century and the positive use of term ‘queer’ is from the last decade of the twentieth century.  Obviously none of these terms existed in the sacred scriptures of Judaism, Christianity or Islam nor at the time that they were written, edited and compiled.  The types of relationships or styles of life that these terms refer to in the twenty first century did not exist millennia ago.  That said, the way that queer individuals are treated today by people of faith and religious institutions often relies upon our understanding and interpretation of a few scattered texts in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, or the Koran. Whether it is arguing against employment nondiscrimination laws, marriage equality, or laws that would penalize the bullying of queer youth, conservative politicians and individuals rely on faulty understandings of these texts to justify their actions.  History shows us that sacred scriptures have long been used to justify social injustice. A few examples include slavery, the repression of women, and laws that outlawed inter-racial marriage in the United States and supported apartheid in South Africa.

 

Today there are a number of monographs that offer new interpretations of sacred scripture that respond to the needs of LGBTQ people of faith.  In this post I will look at only a few of the texts available from the Christian tradition. There are Jewish, Islamic, and other faith traditions that offer similar materials but work in this area has been most prominent within Christianity.  In the first chapter of Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology, Patrick Cheng looks at ‘queer scripture’ within the Christian tradition and reviews the major writers in this area over the past half century.  Some notable examples are Nancy Wilson (Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible), Daniel Helminiak, (What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality) and L. William Countryman (Dirt, Greed and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today). Cheng’s book details the contributions made by these authors and a number of others to queering the Christian scriptures.

 

God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality by Jay Michaelson is popular in Unitarian Universalist circles. In his book, Michaelson looks at the bible from two perspectives. The first section of the book looks at scriptural verses that emphasize compassion, love, and fairness. The second portion looks critically at the queer "texts of terror" and adopts queer affirming interpretations, and critiques conservative Christian readings of these texts that are used to marginalized and condemn LGBTQ individuals and devalue their lives and relationships. Looking at the adaption of religion to new understandings of sexuality, Michaelson writes: “Religion lives when it grows, when it is able to maintain its core values while adapting to new facts and understandings. We should welcome this new understanding of sexual diversity, which is a natural part of God’s creation, found in every culture around the world and in hundreds of animal species as well. We are able to encompass more truth in our religious teachings than our ancestors were. Yes, this new scientific information is challenging…But this challenge makes our spirituality stronger, not weaker” (p. xx).  Overall, Michaelson argues for progressive religious support of LGBTQ equality on the basis of biblical values and ethics informed by contemporary scientific understandings of sexuality.

 

Given the central importance of sacred scriptures to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, religious communities that are hospitable to LGBTQ folks need to address the issue of what the scriptures have to say in relationship to the lives and struggles of queer individuals around the globe.  In addition, if these religious traditions want to reject the identification of their faiths with violence, injustice and oppression of LGBTQ folks, the queer "texts of terror" and the misuse of sacred scriptures need to be addressed by religious communities directly.