Queer Theologies: The Basics

Chris Greenough

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429887673
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Queer Theologies: The Basics is a concise and illuminating introduction to the study of this controversial and discursive subject area. This book provides an accessible exploration into the major themes within queer studies, queer theologies, and themes of gender and sexuality in Christianity. Topics covered include:

• The development of queer theologies
• Queering 'traditional' theology
• Queer theologies in global contexts
• Queer Bible
• Queer theologies from queer lives

With a glossary of key terms and suggestions for further reading throughout, this book is an ideal starting point for anyone seeking a full introduction to Christian queer theologies as well as broader themes in theology, gender, and sexuality.

1

THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUEER THEOLOGIES

This chapter traces, briefly and in broad strokes, the development of queer theologies, which chronologically followed on from modern liberation theologies and queer theory. The German theologian and philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) built on the philosophical principles of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), and he used them to argue that human understanding of theology and religion is linked to individual experience. This chapter looks at insights from three major theological movements in the development of queer theologies: liberation theology, feminist theology, and lesbian and gay theologies. There are overlaps between each movement not only in terms of the time frames in which they were developed but in the fact that each movement was mobilised by activism in the pursuit of social justice. Before queer theologies came to be known as such, liberation theology and feminist theology were concerned with issues around equality, justice, and inclusion. From the late 1960s, gay and lesbian activism highlighted and responded to injustice and mistreatment from authorities towards non-heterosexual people. At a similar time, early gay and lesbian theologies began to emerge. They reflected on the liberation movement and sought to find an inclusive space within Christianity for lesbian and gay people. In the 1990s the term ‘queer theory’ was coined, informed by feminist, womanist, and postmodern thought. This chapter therefore provides a brief overview of the rise and agenda of those who came to be known as queer theorists, and the function of queer theory. Insights from these areas provided fertile ground from which queer theologies began to flourish. In offering a brief overview of the predecessors and rise of queer theologies, there is not enough space to give a more detailed narrative than the one traced below. Readers should be drawn to the suggestions for further reading at the end of this chapter in order to plug some of the omissions.

LIBERATION THEOLOGY

Liberation theology developed in Latin America during the 1960s, in a period characterised by dictatorships and regimes which required complete obedience from the people to the State. The primary concern of liberation theology was the poor and the oppressed. In sharp contrast to the dominant theologies of the west, liberation theology took Jesus’s message of liberation in the gospels as real. The notion of Jesus as liberator was an important message to those who lived in poverty and oppression. Liberation theology, therefore, exposes how traditional theology was produced in privileged or wealthy contexts, yet hunger and persecution characterised the social and economic locations of the majority of the world.

In 1971 Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian theologian, released A Theology of Liberation. He popularised the phrase that became a central motif of liberation theology, that God had a ‘preferential option for the poor’. In the fight for economic justice, human rights, and an end to poverty, liberation theology looks at biblical narratives which show how God sided with the oppressed and marginalised. Ivan Petrella comments how Gutiérrez’s theology was practical: ‘Theology is a second step, commitment and participation in the struggles of marginalised communities is the first step’ (Petrella, 2007: 162).

The liberation theology movement was criticised by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1979 Pope John Paul II stated how it was too close to secular Marxism. Marxism, from the economic and philosophical writings of Karl Marx (1818–1883), revealed how social class and conflict were a result of wealth and the powerful systems which produced wealth. The idea of liberation for the oppressed and marginalised became a lens used in feminist and gay and lesbian theologies. These are known as contextual theologies – theologies that are grounded in particular social contexts and experiences.

FEMINIST THEOLOGY

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the first wave of feminism advanced issues of women’s equality in the western world. Its focus was on allowing women the right to vote (suffrage) and on legal inequalities which favoured and were biased towards men. An example of this included the fight for a woman’s right to own property, which was granted in the UK in 1882. Yet it was in the 1960s that a second wave of feminism drew attention to further important and timely issues including sexuality, workplace rights, reproductive rights, and the role of women in the family. It was during this period of second-wave feminism, which lasted approximately 20 years, that feminist concerns in relation to Christianity were voiced. Thus, the idea of feminist theology developed.

Feminist theology exposes and challenges the role of women within the Christian churches. Traditionally, the fact Jesus and his disciples were male was used to justify the subordination of women within the churches; for example, why women could not become priests. Throughout, feminist theology has also re-examined the role of women in the Bible, through feminist biblical interpretations. Scholars have examined women in the gospel stories at the time of Jesus, as well as their roles in the development of the early church. Feminist theology exposes how theology is soaked in assumptions and practices based on male experiences, and how theology is overwhelmingly authored by men. Patriarchy is a system by which men are privileged power holders and women are subjugated. The agenda of feminist theology is to dismantle patriarchal theology. Feminist theology, therefore, developed methodologies which prioritised and promoted women’s experiences as a source of theology. Such experiences included discussions of motherhood, childbearing, sexual violence, and lesbianism. The turn to women’s experiences highlights how traditional theology had been a source of oppression towards women.

One of the most prominent voices in feminist theology at the time of its emergence was Mary Daly. In 1968 Daly published The Church and the Second Sex, a critique of the Catholic Church. Daly’s critique is formed from her observation of how the Church puts women on a pedestal, yet this pedestal renders women invisible at the same time. Daly titles one chapter ‘Pedestal Peddlers’, exploring how women are encouraged to be selfless, hidden, and find fulfilment in motherhood and as wives. Daly exposes how a woman’s role in Christianity is to be passive and silent, like the Mary revered by the Church.

More radical explorations in feminist theology came from Daly five years later. In 1973 she authored Beyond God the Father, a critique of the Christian tradition as a model of patriarchy. Daly’s work reveals how the language used to talk about God is masculine (God the Father; God the Son) and this language is therefore an obstacle for women. The patriarchy in Christianity was exposed by Daly, who states ‘if God is male then male is God’ (Daly, 1973: 19). In a shocking move, Daly claims that the task of feminist theology was to castrate the male God of Christianity. She reveals how this male God is a source of oppression and implicit in patriarchy. Daly’s work also called for feminists to reclaim Eve. Within the story of Genesis at the opening of the Bible, Eve is associated with temptation, sin, and death. Daly calls for feminist theologians to exorcise the association of woman (Eve) with evil. She writes: ‘Women as a caste are “Eve” and are punished by a cohesive set of laws, customs and social arrangements that enforce an all pervasive double standard’ (1973: 62).

Daly exposes the problematic nature of the manhood of Jesus, referring to Jesus as the God-man. This points to the problem that the ‘image of God’ is male, as Daly says, and this image is reflected in men’s roles in politics and society. In such terms, the idea of Jesus’s maleness is in collusion with sexual hierarchy and patriarchy. If idolatry is defined as the worship of false gods or idols, then Daly’s ‘Christolatry’ reveals that worshipping Jesus equates to worshipping the male. According to Daly, women cannot accept the idea of incarnation in the form of a male saviour.

It was not only Daly who had such concerns about Jesus as male. Rosemary Radford Ruether engages with some of Daly’s concerns in her publication of Sexism and God-Talk in 1983. Ruether famously asks, ‘Can a male saviour save women?’ (Ruether, 1983: 116). She exposes how women’s experiences have been virtually excluded from theology and that theology is based on male experience rather than human experience. Ruether states:

The uniqueness of feminist theology lies not in its use of the criterion of experience but rather in its use of women’s experience, which has been almost entirely shut out of theological reflection in the past. The use of women’s experience in feminist theology, therefore, explodes as a critical force, exposing classical theology, including its codified traditions, as based on male experience rather than on universal human experience (Ruether, 1983: 13).

In responding to her own question – ‘can a male saviour save women?’ – Ruether’s answer is similar to the ideas found in liberation theology, as she envisages Christ as the liberator. In this role as liberator, Christ liberates women from oppression, just as he liberates the poor. The idea of Christian justice can therefore be applied to women. Ruether’s work sets out an important agenda for feminist theology, as she states ‘the critical principle of feminist theology is the promotion of the full humanity of women’ (1983: 18). Her aim was to recover the neglected aspect of Christianity – the contributions and beliefs of women. Theology can then be constructed with feminist principles and women’s experiences.

The idea of language used to talk about God as being masculine was still problematic for some in feminist theology. Sally McFague addresses the concern about male-centric language used to describe God and argues that language is a metaphor, stating how ‘theology is mostly fiction’ (McFague, 1987: xi). She envisages God as mother, lover, and friend, and uses female pronouns (she/her) to refer to God. Feminist theology, therefore, challenges traditional concepts of God.

The tensions between feminism and the patriarchal tradition of Christianity were beyond repair for some. In 1990 Daphne Hampson authored Theology and Feminism. In it she reaches the conclusion that Christian theology and feminism are incompatible. For Hampson, the sexism within Christianity means it is beyond repair, despite the work of feminist theologians. She states: ‘an observant friend of mine once remarked that whereas Christian feminists want to change the actors in the play, what I want is a different kind of play’ (Hampson, 1990: 162). Because of this incompatibility, she describes her theology as ‘post-Christian’. Identifying as post-Christian means that the theologian chooses to distance herself from the language and assumptions of Christianity.

LESBIAN AND GAY LIVES

In the late 1940s and early 1950s scientific studies in human sexuality revealed pioneering insights into sexual behaviours. Sexologist Alfred Kinsey conducted two major research projects in human sexuality (Kinsey et al., 1948; Kinsey et al.,1953). It is important to note that at the time of his publications it was illegal to be gay in the UK and USA. Kinsey’s results led to new thinking, firstly that biological genitalia do not equate to sexuality, and, secondly, that sexuality is not limited to a binary (hetero/homo) but that there is, rather, a sexual continuum.

Despite this work, in the history of homosexuality we see how to be gay or lesbian was once considered a psychological disorder and was treated like an illness. To be gay was to be sick. Medical interventions attempted to establish cures for such an illness, with the aim of transforming sick gay or lesbian people into healthy heterosexuals. Procedures to ‘cure’ at this time were very invasive, with lasting physical and psychological damage. In some examples, gay men underwent castration and lesbians suffered genital mutilation, while shock treatment and hypnosis were also used as experiments with the aim of offering a ‘cure’ to non-heterosexual people. This also extends to the practice of gay conversion therapy, an attempt to make a gay-identifying individual convert to be heterosexual using spiritual interventions.

Against the social backdrop of feminist activism, lesbian and gay political movements began to stand up against the anti-gay legal system. One major example of such activism took place in a New York bar, the Stonewall Inn, and became known as the Stonewall riots. The bar was known as a safe and affirming place for gay and lesbian customers, but it was subjected to routine police raids. On 28 June 1969, during one such raid, the patrons fought back against police harassment and this led to four days of intense rioting. News of the riots at Stonewall spread, and for many it was a call to activism. Historians and anthropologists are aware of inconsistencies in attempting to document the events at Stonewall: a generation of those at Stonewall died during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s; the riots were disorganised; people were intoxicated; and lots of people claimed to be there as they were aware of its importance as a major event in LGBTQ+ history (see Carter, 2004). Despite debates about actual facts, Stonewall was undoubtedly a major turning point for LGBTQ+ empowerment. Gay rights groups grew across the country, including the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) comprised of activists for sexual liberation. The GLF spread to the UK and Canada, and the first Gay Pride event took place in New York in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of the riots. By 1971, Pride events took place in numerous states across the USA and within European cities such as London, Paris, and West Berlin. Whereas gay and lesbian liberation movements moved towards events known as Pride, there was still, for many, a personal and social shame attached to same-sex orientations. Arguably the whole point of the Pride events was to counter interior feelings of shame. ‘Pride’ as an emotion becomes a counter-balance to ‘shame’. The idea of shame has its own emotional and psychological consequences, as LGBTQ+ people can often lead hidden lives or not be open about their relationships with family, friends or colleagues. This shame can also be a religious or spiritual shame or inner conflict.

GAY AND LESBIAN THEOLOGIES

Alongside gay and lesbian liberation movements, in theology lesbian and gay voices began to speak. Susannah Cornwall is right to note how those who produced lesbian and gay theologies were activist prophets:

Lesbian and gay theologies, and those who have produced and inhabited them over the years, continue to stand prophetically themselves as testimony to God’s good work in ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1: The development of queer theologies
• 2: Queering ‘traditional’ theology
• 3: Queer theologies in global contexts
• 4: Queer Bible
• 5: Queer theologies from queer lives
• Afterword: beyond the basics
• Glossary
• Biblical references index
• Subject and author index