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From Queer to Eternity: Spirituality in the Lives of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People
This is not another book about why religion should accept lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Instead it moves off the defensive, and asks why any self-respecting queer would want to have anything to do with spirituality. Answers come from a diverse collection of holy homos, including Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Neo-Pagans and New-Agers, as well as queers who seek spirituality through drugs, nature, massage, dance, art - and sex.
There are contributions from Rabbi Lionel Blue, Reverend Richard Kirker, Catherine Treasure, Father Bernard Lynch, Rabbi Sheila Shulman, Fernando Guasch, Reverend Jean White, Maitreyabandhu, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence - along with over sixty others.
There are contributions from Rabbi Lionel Blue, Reverend Richard Kirker, Catherine Treasure, Father Bernard Lynch, Rabbi Sheila Shulman, Fernando Guasch, Reverend Jean White, Maitreyabandhu, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence - along with over sixty others.
- GenresReligion
239 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1997
28 people want to read
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July 3, 2024
AN LGBTQ INQUIRY INTO SPIRITUALITY, NOT “RELIGION”
Author Peter Sweasey wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “Wherever you look… the message seems clear: homosexuality plus religion can only equal bad news. And yet, for a large number of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, both spirituality and sexuality are sources of joy and strength. The book that follows attempts to redress the imbalance, by letting their voices be heard. Although all the people collected here identify as spiritual, none of them is unhappy about their sexuality… This isn’t a book about ‘religiosity’… it’s about spirituality. This isn’t a book about homosexuals… it’s about out and proud lesbians, gay men and bisexuals… This book… also aims to broaden the debate from the particular problems of the Christian Church which---for the majority of us, who are not Christian---are ultimately of limited interest: whereas spirituality, this book suggests, is a universal concern.” (Pg. ix)
He explains, “I do not belong to any religion, and never have done… the subject was rarely mentioned when I was growing up. I certainly never entertained the idea that religion had any authority with which to attack my sexuality. The absence of any religious trauma or guilt in my background obviously makes it easier for me to be sympathetic towards spirituality. One reason I wrote this book is that I wanted to know if spiritual traditions had anything to offer a self-respecting gay man like myself. I was also aware that I wasn’t finding my gay identity and lifestyle quite as fulfilling as queer theory and the gay media suggested I should… I had to give up… the delusion that I could be an objective commentator. The end result is perhaps more an argument than an anthology.”
In the first chapter, he wrote, “My question is: why should queers want anything to do with religion?... What makes it worth it? Why can’t these people be satisfied with our deeply fashionable queer identity?... The answers to these questions form the basis of this book… there are many people who assert that you do not have to choose between being queer and being religious: you can be both… To find out why queer believers are prepared to defy conventional wisdom, it is necessary to look at the details of individual lives.” (Pg. 3, 5) Later, he adds, “This book places more emphasis on transcendent experience than might be usual in more conventional religious works precisely because (unlike religion) these experiences are equally available to queer people.” (Pg. 22)
He suggests, “Spirituality is more than conceptual: more than philosophy or ethics… Spirituality includes areas of human experience that defy neat categorizations. Most faiths suggest that people do not struggle with the how and why of life in isolation; humans can experience a sense of connection with ‘something more,’ a reality greater than themselves.” (Pg. 16-17) Later, he adds, “Spirituality, like sexuality, is a bit embarrassing. It’s not rational, it’s too complex to be neatly categorized or even talked about, and often leads to people getting rather excited. It’s also very serious, and has a power that can be revolutionary. These are all things that a conformist society… will hate.” (Pg. 23) He adds, “spiritual is a useful tool. Queers are involved because they want to be, not because they feel they ought to be. Religious is assessed according to its utility rather than its claim to authority.” (Pg. 41)
He points out, “Because we need to come out if we are to have the chance of a fulfilling emotional life, queer people experience a kind of gravitational pull towards truth-telling, an imperative to be honest (about sexual orientation, at least). A lot of religious groups are scared of truth, and will put pressure on their members to suppress it in order to keep up a façade of conventionality and conformity: this is how Christian denominations can criticize homosexuality despite a quarter of their clergy being gay (at a conservative estimate)…” (Pg. 35)
He states, “Drugs, physical activity, music and nature, along with other inspirations, like visual art, can be important sources for spiritual experiences---and form the whole of some people’s spiritual lives. But the meanings of such experiences are difficult to articulate; and their impact on the rest of the person’s life may well be somewhat nebulous, given that the experience is generally not supported by a group, or ritualized or translated into ethics for behavior.” (Pg. 61)
He observes, “If spirituality is our sense of being, and sexuality so pervades our being, then the two must be intertwined… Which means that, while sex and religion may be very different, sexuality and spirituality are likely to be very similar—both are about who you are.” (Pg. 96)
He notes, “spirituality connects us with the difficulties we face. These may be challenges that all people must confront… such as mortality and suffering---or they may be problems specific to our lives. Since there is nothing inherent in homosexuality that will solve these problems, some people turn to spiritual traditions in an attempt to address them.” (Pg. 122-123) Later, he adds, “to come together in an genuinely accepting environment does not necessarily require a specific religious intent… What is most important---more so than the beliefs and practices of the specific faith---is the sense of belonging without preconditions.” (Pg. 142)
He says, “some fundamentalists… deduce that, since homosexuals cannot marry, homosexuals cannot have sex.” (Pg. 145) Then, “For the lesbian and gay community to all become celibate would be as pointless as it is implausible. It is only one possible manifestation of a concern to use our sexuality as wisely and well as we can, and only one possible approach to making the best use of sexual and spiritual energy.” (Pg. 164)
He asserts, “Atheists sometimes attack religious believers as people who cannot cope with reality, and instead escape into superstition. But the spirituality that queer people are talking about here is not escapist: instead, it embraces the real difficulties of living and suffering—and emerges out of those difficulties. People with ‘pathological’ religious beliefs… hope that by following their faith they can control their lives, and keep away from pain. For queer people spirituality is not about trying to control, but about coping with being out of control.” (Pg. 172)
He summarizes, “Religion needs queer people if it is to see the whole picture, understand the whole story. Many lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have been integrating their sexuality and spirituality, bringing the pieces together into a more coherent whole. All of this is an extension of an impulse which is fundamental to being queer: to come out. We refuse to keep important parts of our lives hidden, and insist on telling the truth… about who we are, about life as we see it, and how we want to live it. We do this even though others may not want to hear. We become more integrated when we come out…” (Pg. 184)
He concludes, “As I researched this book, I became increasingly unconvinced by the notion that queer people are intrinsically, spiritually different… If we believe that a queer tribe will save the world, we write off the vast majority of humanity. A remarkable minority of visionaries, teachers, artists and healers can indeed be identified in our queer heritage … Equally, a remarkable minority of visionaries, teachers, artists and healers can also be found among heterosexuals. Extraordinary people tend, by definition, to be a minority.” (Pg. 223)
He continued, “To get to ‘eternity’… we have to move on from here---and move on from queer. This is a difficult task, perhaps more difficult than fighting the homophobia around us… Having already disengaged from one set of social programming… we may be daunted by the prospect of having to more on again, this time from the orthodoxies and dogma of queer culture: but this may be necessary, if we are to find our true authenticity,” (Pg. 232)
This is an original and creative book, that will interest not just spiritually-minded LGBTQ people, but others interested in contemporary spirituality.
Author Peter Sweasey wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “Wherever you look… the message seems clear: homosexuality plus religion can only equal bad news. And yet, for a large number of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, both spirituality and sexuality are sources of joy and strength. The book that follows attempts to redress the imbalance, by letting their voices be heard. Although all the people collected here identify as spiritual, none of them is unhappy about their sexuality… This isn’t a book about ‘religiosity’… it’s about spirituality. This isn’t a book about homosexuals… it’s about out and proud lesbians, gay men and bisexuals… This book… also aims to broaden the debate from the particular problems of the Christian Church which---for the majority of us, who are not Christian---are ultimately of limited interest: whereas spirituality, this book suggests, is a universal concern.” (Pg. ix)
He explains, “I do not belong to any religion, and never have done… the subject was rarely mentioned when I was growing up. I certainly never entertained the idea that religion had any authority with which to attack my sexuality. The absence of any religious trauma or guilt in my background obviously makes it easier for me to be sympathetic towards spirituality. One reason I wrote this book is that I wanted to know if spiritual traditions had anything to offer a self-respecting gay man like myself. I was also aware that I wasn’t finding my gay identity and lifestyle quite as fulfilling as queer theory and the gay media suggested I should… I had to give up… the delusion that I could be an objective commentator. The end result is perhaps more an argument than an anthology.”
In the first chapter, he wrote, “My question is: why should queers want anything to do with religion?... What makes it worth it? Why can’t these people be satisfied with our deeply fashionable queer identity?... The answers to these questions form the basis of this book… there are many people who assert that you do not have to choose between being queer and being religious: you can be both… To find out why queer believers are prepared to defy conventional wisdom, it is necessary to look at the details of individual lives.” (Pg. 3, 5) Later, he adds, “This book places more emphasis on transcendent experience than might be usual in more conventional religious works precisely because (unlike religion) these experiences are equally available to queer people.” (Pg. 22)
He suggests, “Spirituality is more than conceptual: more than philosophy or ethics… Spirituality includes areas of human experience that defy neat categorizations. Most faiths suggest that people do not struggle with the how and why of life in isolation; humans can experience a sense of connection with ‘something more,’ a reality greater than themselves.” (Pg. 16-17) Later, he adds, “Spirituality, like sexuality, is a bit embarrassing. It’s not rational, it’s too complex to be neatly categorized or even talked about, and often leads to people getting rather excited. It’s also very serious, and has a power that can be revolutionary. These are all things that a conformist society… will hate.” (Pg. 23) He adds, “spiritual is a useful tool. Queers are involved because they want to be, not because they feel they ought to be. Religious is assessed according to its utility rather than its claim to authority.” (Pg. 41)
He points out, “Because we need to come out if we are to have the chance of a fulfilling emotional life, queer people experience a kind of gravitational pull towards truth-telling, an imperative to be honest (about sexual orientation, at least). A lot of religious groups are scared of truth, and will put pressure on their members to suppress it in order to keep up a façade of conventionality and conformity: this is how Christian denominations can criticize homosexuality despite a quarter of their clergy being gay (at a conservative estimate)…” (Pg. 35)
He states, “Drugs, physical activity, music and nature, along with other inspirations, like visual art, can be important sources for spiritual experiences---and form the whole of some people’s spiritual lives. But the meanings of such experiences are difficult to articulate; and their impact on the rest of the person’s life may well be somewhat nebulous, given that the experience is generally not supported by a group, or ritualized or translated into ethics for behavior.” (Pg. 61)
He observes, “If spirituality is our sense of being, and sexuality so pervades our being, then the two must be intertwined… Which means that, while sex and religion may be very different, sexuality and spirituality are likely to be very similar—both are about who you are.” (Pg. 96)
He notes, “spirituality connects us with the difficulties we face. These may be challenges that all people must confront… such as mortality and suffering---or they may be problems specific to our lives. Since there is nothing inherent in homosexuality that will solve these problems, some people turn to spiritual traditions in an attempt to address them.” (Pg. 122-123) Later, he adds, “to come together in an genuinely accepting environment does not necessarily require a specific religious intent… What is most important---more so than the beliefs and practices of the specific faith---is the sense of belonging without preconditions.” (Pg. 142)
He says, “some fundamentalists… deduce that, since homosexuals cannot marry, homosexuals cannot have sex.” (Pg. 145) Then, “For the lesbian and gay community to all become celibate would be as pointless as it is implausible. It is only one possible manifestation of a concern to use our sexuality as wisely and well as we can, and only one possible approach to making the best use of sexual and spiritual energy.” (Pg. 164)
He asserts, “Atheists sometimes attack religious believers as people who cannot cope with reality, and instead escape into superstition. But the spirituality that queer people are talking about here is not escapist: instead, it embraces the real difficulties of living and suffering—and emerges out of those difficulties. People with ‘pathological’ religious beliefs… hope that by following their faith they can control their lives, and keep away from pain. For queer people spirituality is not about trying to control, but about coping with being out of control.” (Pg. 172)
He summarizes, “Religion needs queer people if it is to see the whole picture, understand the whole story. Many lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have been integrating their sexuality and spirituality, bringing the pieces together into a more coherent whole. All of this is an extension of an impulse which is fundamental to being queer: to come out. We refuse to keep important parts of our lives hidden, and insist on telling the truth… about who we are, about life as we see it, and how we want to live it. We do this even though others may not want to hear. We become more integrated when we come out…” (Pg. 184)
He concludes, “As I researched this book, I became increasingly unconvinced by the notion that queer people are intrinsically, spiritually different… If we believe that a queer tribe will save the world, we write off the vast majority of humanity. A remarkable minority of visionaries, teachers, artists and healers can indeed be identified in our queer heritage … Equally, a remarkable minority of visionaries, teachers, artists and healers can also be found among heterosexuals. Extraordinary people tend, by definition, to be a minority.” (Pg. 223)
He continued, “To get to ‘eternity’… we have to move on from here---and move on from queer. This is a difficult task, perhaps more difficult than fighting the homophobia around us… Having already disengaged from one set of social programming… we may be daunted by the prospect of having to more on again, this time from the orthodoxies and dogma of queer culture: but this may be necessary, if we are to find our true authenticity,” (Pg. 232)
This is an original and creative book, that will interest not just spiritually-minded LGBTQ people, but others interested in contemporary spirituality.
Displaying 1 of 1 review