Dr Croucher says: As a (heterosexual) advocate for my homosexual friends and clients part of my job is to read/discern 'who's saying what to whom' about gender and sexuality issues. Together with the world-wide turmoil created by religio-political fundamentalist terrorism, this is currently the #1 subject of fraught debate within political and religious institutions, in all Western countries and in most other nations as well. More about various Christian approaches to Homosexuality – see jmm.org.au.
Here we have a unique contribution to this debate: a book (wait for it) written by a somewhat theologically conservative heterosexual Christian who is a professor of anthropology in an American college, a happily married mother of three small children (from six live births: 'Ian, Simon and Gordon, my triplets, passed away at birth'), who respects both the findings of peer-reviewed academic studies into the etiology of sexual orientation, and actually listens to the life-experiences of people right across Kinsey's gender-spectrum.
She writes non-prescriptively (with one exception – see the next paragraph), and the book's publisher is renowned for espousing a (broadening) Evangelical stance. I have a great sense of hope when this sort of book is hitting the shelves of religious bookshops and academic libraries…
So what's new about her approach? Simply this: 'People need identity categories that give a sense of self and community' [111] [but] 'the scientific problem with heterosexuality is that it is an imprecise category, barely a hundred years old, that is difficult to define or measure… Heterosexuality is a concept riddled with problems. I'd even call it an abomination. So let us reject the label of heterosexuality altogether' [31, 38, 48, 129].
Further, 'The concept "homosexual" really functions as a category of negation, containing all who are not heterosexual… It just doesn't make sense to lump diverse individuals together as "homosexuals" and then claim the Bible has a single message of condemnation that covers each of their situations' [72].
'When homosexuality is seen as a disease to be cured, homosexuals seem like a distinct kind of (sick) people. However, when the focus is on care instead of cure, sexuality can be acknowledged for what it really is: a valuable part of human life… through which we receive grace. All humans are beloved children of God, each with a unique sexual story… so let us grow towards greater congruence between what we value and how we live' [131].
More: 'Creating categories, even one as seemingly simple as "boy", is not just descriptive. Categories also prescribe what is normal and right, and who belongs and who doesn't' [3, 14]. (How do we classify those who are born ambiguously sexed?). Binary fixed-position debates (homosexuality vs. heterosexuality, leading to affirmation or negation of same-sex sex) are not helpful [8]. Let's learn from the Bugis ethnic group in South Sulawesi, Indonesia: for them men's and women's sense of who they are exists on a continuum: men, feminine men, 'bissu' (a perfect combination of male and female), masculine women, women [7].
[And let's reject] 'cultural scripts, honouring heterosexuals and maligning homosexuals… For all of us redemption is incomplete. Let us set a place at the table for people with conflicted desires, inconsistent behaviour and complicated sexual journeys. And if we really receive them, we'll realize that they are us' [132]. 'In the post-sexual identity church, there's no moral high ground for heterosexuals and no closet for homosexuals. There's just people, each of whom is lover and loved' [105].
Now, wait a minute, I hear some of you retort. All that talk of grace sounds like Jesus' approach to marginalized folks. Where's her 'conservatism'? Well, it's muted, but it's there. For example: 'My views are conservative – I'm a "sex only within marriage between a man and a woman" kind of Christian' [94].
Let me lob a few more of her 'progressive' hand grenades into the scenery:
- 'Let us pause in the rush to judgement… "Homosexuality is a sin" is a poor representation of Christian teachings… Holiness is not synonymous with morality' [xvi, viii].
- 'Any of the three options for understanding sex – rigidly held sexual dimorphism, openly held sexual dimorphism or sex as a spectrum – could fit with a Christian understanding of creation' [18].
- 'When we name, label, sort and categorize… the consequences [can be] grave; for example when Europeans labeled Africans "primates" instead of "humans"' [19].
- One of her friends: 'I'm not gay… But I'm having sex with men, so I can't be straight, right? Why can't I just be Tom?' [48].
Conclusion? 'Christians too often offer a "one-size-fits-all" condemnation of homosexuality [to support] their collective delusion of moral superiority. When it comes to sex, there is no privileged, holy "we" and no sinful, troubled "them"; there's only us, each of whom finds both virtue and vice in sexuality' [81].
Dr Croucher says this is a 'good read' for conservatives with an open mind. John Mark Ministries website (jmm.aaa.net.au).
Rosie Timmins in a journalism graduate from Bond and is based in Melbourne ministering with OAC as an Intern.
Rosie Timmins previous articles may be viewed at: www.pressserviceinternational.org/rosie-timmins.html