Showing posts with label Sexual Ethics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sexual Ethics. Show all posts
Towards a Sound Sexual Ethic
Posted On Sunday, 11 April 2010 at at 00:55 by TerenceIn several recent contributions to the Open Tabernacle comments threads, reader David Ludescher has made the very sound observation that if we reject the Church's teaching on sexual ethics, what are we to put in its place? I agreed with him that an alternative, positive view of sexuality is desperately overdue (several senior priests and theologians I know have told me precisely the same thing). My own history has led me to discard the standard teaching piece by piece, forcing me (in the absence of useful guidance from the Church) to attempt to piece together an ethical framework for myself, based on my own reading, prayerful reflection and spiritual direction. I still have a long way to go, but I do have some sound principles that I work with.
For a long time I have been wanting to share with my readers some of the contributions that I have found useful elsewhere, but like many of the projects that I would like to tackle, this is one I have not yet begun. Now, goaded by David's important observation on the importance of the task, I would like to make at least a start. This is in no way intended to be a formally reasoned exposition, but just a mere listing of some starting principles, together with some preliminary links to outside thoughts. A more coherent presentation will come later.
Given that it is just a set of initial thoughts, I would welcome similar contributions from others. If you disagree with my ideas, please say so - and add your own guiding principles. I do ask, though, that given the purpose of this exercise, you steer away from simply regurgitating the catechism. For the purposes of this discussion, let us leave aside church teaching entirely, for better or for worse, and concentrate on identifying the moral guidelines for sexual life that you would accept and apply in your own life - not because the Church says so, but because reason or experience have convinced you.
Sexuality - what is it?
I want to begin by making it clear that by "sexuality" I do not mean merely a set of genital acts, with or without another person. It is a far broader concept, including other forms of touching, non-tactile aspects of our relationships, and awareness of ourselves as bodily beings. Most of the ethical issues meant by "sexuality" area bout physical elements, but we should not forget that there are also other dimensions.
Sexuality is good.
Sexuality is given by God, and is inherently good. In Genesis 2 (the earlier creation story), we read that God said it is not good for man to be alone, and so he created for him a companion. Science has shown that a sound sexual life contributes greatly to both physical and mental health. I take it as fundamental that sound, intimate relationships are given to us for our benefit, and should be seen as positive. They should emphatically not be seen as somehow second best to a state of celibacy.
"Sex As God Intended" (Book Review)
Posted On Monday, 9 February 2009 at at 13:12 by Terence
John McNeill, Lethe Press 2008.
I have just two small niggles about this book, so let me get them out of the way now. First, I was initally disappointed to find that this is not all new wrting by McNeill. Only half the book is by McNeill, and the rest is a collection of celebratory articles, a "Festchrift", by others. This Festschrift is welcome, but even his own writing is not all new. I have not read all the previous works, but even so I recognised large chunks of the material as not just a restatement, but verbatim reprints, of sections of "Taking a Chance of God." So big chunks of this are not new material.
Also irritating was the poor editing. McNeill appears to have gone to a new publisher, who have clearly made good use of a spell-checker - but paid insufficient attention to grammar. There were many instances where the flow of the text was interrupted by obvious missing words, with important parts of speech simply not present, leading to incomplete sentences or clauses that just did not hang together.
Celebrating John McNeill
But these were irritations only. It does not matter that this is not all new writing by McNeill, and should not be treated as such. The Festchrift is the clue: this is not a continuation, but a celebration, of the earlier work. Just running down the contributors, all of whom have made major contributions of their own to the continuing struggle of LGBT Catholics, is testimony to the importances of McNeill's work as theologian, as writer, and as therapist. (One of the contributions is titled "You saved My Life" this is intended to be taken quite literally). Amongst the contributors, I was already familiar with the work of Toby Johnson, Mark Jordan, Robert Goss, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Daniel Helminiak. The contributions of others has left me wanting to explore their work too.
So what is this life work of McNeill, and why should we celebrate it?
"The Church and The Homosexual", published back in 1976, was groundbreaking. Many writers since have testified to the liberating impact it has had on their own lives, and it has become a staple in the exploding bibliographies on the subject ever since. It was originally published with the blessing and 'imprimi potest' of his Jesuit order, but soon attracted the displeasure of the Vatican. Ordered to refrain from publication and teaching on the subject, McNeill initially complied, and fell silent for some years. In conscience though, he felt compelled to continue to write and to speak out. Like so many others, he left the priesthood and embarked on a precarious career as writer and psychotherapist. Subsequent books included "Freedom, Glorious Freedom", "Taking a Chance on God", and "Both Feet Planted Firmly in Midair."
"Sex as God Intended"
In the current book, McNeill examines systematically the treatment of sexuality, particularly in same sex relationships, and finds conclusions rather different to those usually used against us. As he and others have done before, he dismisses the old interpretation of the story of Sodom as a gross misinterpretation The sin of Sodom was not that of sexual relationships between men, but the failure to offer hospitality to guests - an important traditional obligation in a desert society. Where McNeill differs from so many other writers who have made the same point, is that he is not content to simply argue against the old 'clobber texts'. Rather, he goes further, arguing for the positive place of sexuality in the Old Testament. Highlighting Genesis 2 (the older version) rather than the more usual creation story in Genesis 1, he shows how Eve was created because Adam needed a companion, not just a mother for his children. This balances the procreative nature of marriage, so beloved by our opponents, with that of love and companionship.
An important piece of new writing in the book is a celebration of the Song of Songs, as a scriptural basis for sex as play. He also presents evidence that this may have been written to celebrate love been men. The gender of the protagonists, though is ultimately not important. The passion and ardour expressed is sufficiently powerful that the Song can be read with any interpretation you choose - but impossible to come away with the idea that sex is only about procreation.
Similarly, in examining the New Testament, McNeill's focus is on the positive messages for LGBT Christians, rather than a repetition of arguments against the clobber texts. He shows for instance, that in his family of choice, Jesus is associating with same sex groups rather than with 'traditional' family groups. His analysis of the healing of the (male) 'servant' of the Roman centurion shows how this servant was almost certainly a sexual partner, even lover, of the centruiion. He also draws attention to the special attentions paid to John the Evangelist as "the apostle whom Jesus loved." It has often been noted how Jesus in the Gospels has absolutely nothing to say about homosexuality. John McNeill has shown clearly that in His actions, the Lord goes much further than words in acknowledging and accepting such relationships.
Joy and the Holy Spirit.
The joy of McNeill's writing is always his emphasis on the positive. His recurring refrains are a quotation from St Irenaus "The glory of God is humans fully alive", an insistence that healthy psychology and healthy theology go hand in hand (and healthy psychology requires in turn healthy sexuality), and a strong underpinning of Ignatian Spirituality, in which we find God in all things - even in persecution and exclusion by the church. You can take McNeill out of the Jesuits, but you cannot take the Jesuits out of McNeill, and I thank the Lord for that.
Central to this thinking is that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work in our lives and in the world. In a context where official teaching on sexuality out of Rome is so obviously misplaced and psychologically unhealthy, it is too easy too lose one's spiritual bearings. McNeill reminds us that where Rome fails, the Holy Spirit is permanently at hand for guidance - we need only ask.
He goes further. In an important address to Dignity, reprinted in this book, he speculates on the active participation of the Holy Spirit in the church of today, directly intervening in a 'Kairos Moment ' to restore a proper balance between what has been the unbridled power of the papacy and the rest of the Church. (I am delighted that I have secured permission from McNeill to post this address in full on this blog, here.) At the time of writing, it was prescient. Given the turmoil in the church in recent weeks, and the resistance of so many to the series of Vatican fiascoes, I suspect we may now be seeing signs of just this intervention. As evidence, just see how Benedict has been forced to react to outrage over the most recent disaster concerning the SSPX by completing a nearly complete turnaround. What at one time appeared to be a slap in the face for the spirit of Vatican II has now become a firm endorsement of it!
This book may not contain significant new writing by John McNeill, but no matter. If you have not yet had the benefit of enjoying his exuberance, this will be an excellent introduction. If you have read the earlier books, then you should still buy it, read it, and circulate it, to join the celebration.
John McNeill, thank you.
I have just two small niggles about this book, so let me get them out of the way now. First, I was initally disappointed to find that this is not all new wrting by McNeill. Only half the book is by McNeill, and the rest is a collection of celebratory articles, a "Festchrift", by others. This Festschrift is welcome, but even his own writing is not all new. I have not read all the previous works, but even so I recognised large chunks of the material as not just a restatement, but verbatim reprints, of sections of "Taking a Chance of God." So big chunks of this are not new material.
Also irritating was the poor editing. McNeill appears to have gone to a new publisher, who have clearly made good use of a spell-checker - but paid insufficient attention to grammar. There were many instances where the flow of the text was interrupted by obvious missing words, with important parts of speech simply not present, leading to incomplete sentences or clauses that just did not hang together.
Celebrating John McNeill
But these were irritations only. It does not matter that this is not all new writing by McNeill, and should not be treated as such. The Festchrift is the clue: this is not a continuation, but a celebration, of the earlier work. Just running down the contributors, all of whom have made major contributions of their own to the continuing struggle of LGBT Catholics, is testimony to the importances of McNeill's work as theologian, as writer, and as therapist. (One of the contributions is titled "You saved My Life" this is intended to be taken quite literally). Amongst the contributors, I was already familiar with the work of Toby Johnson, Mark Jordan, Robert Goss, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Daniel Helminiak. The contributions of others has left me wanting to explore their work too.
So what is this life work of McNeill, and why should we celebrate it?
"The Church and The Homosexual", published back in 1976, was groundbreaking. Many writers since have testified to the liberating impact it has had on their own lives, and it has become a staple in the exploding bibliographies on the subject ever since. It was originally published with the blessing and 'imprimi potest' of his Jesuit order, but soon attracted the displeasure of the Vatican. Ordered to refrain from publication and teaching on the subject, McNeill initially complied, and fell silent for some years. In conscience though, he felt compelled to continue to write and to speak out. Like so many others, he left the priesthood and embarked on a precarious career as writer and psychotherapist. Subsequent books included "Freedom, Glorious Freedom", "Taking a Chance on God", and "Both Feet Planted Firmly in Midair."
"Sex as God Intended"
In the current book, McNeill examines systematically the treatment of sexuality, particularly in same sex relationships, and finds conclusions rather different to those usually used against us. As he and others have done before, he dismisses the old interpretation of the story of Sodom as a gross misinterpretation The sin of Sodom was not that of sexual relationships between men, but the failure to offer hospitality to guests - an important traditional obligation in a desert society. Where McNeill differs from so many other writers who have made the same point, is that he is not content to simply argue against the old 'clobber texts'. Rather, he goes further, arguing for the positive place of sexuality in the Old Testament. Highlighting Genesis 2 (the older version) rather than the more usual creation story in Genesis 1, he shows how Eve was created because Adam needed a companion, not just a mother for his children. This balances the procreative nature of marriage, so beloved by our opponents, with that of love and companionship.
An important piece of new writing in the book is a celebration of the Song of Songs, as a scriptural basis for sex as play. He also presents evidence that this may have been written to celebrate love been men. The gender of the protagonists, though is ultimately not important. The passion and ardour expressed is sufficiently powerful that the Song can be read with any interpretation you choose - but impossible to come away with the idea that sex is only about procreation.
Similarly, in examining the New Testament, McNeill's focus is on the positive messages for LGBT Christians, rather than a repetition of arguments against the clobber texts. He shows for instance, that in his family of choice, Jesus is associating with same sex groups rather than with 'traditional' family groups. His analysis of the healing of the (male) 'servant' of the Roman centurion shows how this servant was almost certainly a sexual partner, even lover, of the centruiion. He also draws attention to the special attentions paid to John the Evangelist as "the apostle whom Jesus loved." It has often been noted how Jesus in the Gospels has absolutely nothing to say about homosexuality. John McNeill has shown clearly that in His actions, the Lord goes much further than words in acknowledging and accepting such relationships.
Joy and the Holy Spirit.
The joy of McNeill's writing is always his emphasis on the positive. His recurring refrains are a quotation from St Irenaus "The glory of God is humans fully alive", an insistence that healthy psychology and healthy theology go hand in hand (and healthy psychology requires in turn healthy sexuality), and a strong underpinning of Ignatian Spirituality, in which we find God in all things - even in persecution and exclusion by the church. You can take McNeill out of the Jesuits, but you cannot take the Jesuits out of McNeill, and I thank the Lord for that.
Central to this thinking is that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work in our lives and in the world. In a context where official teaching on sexuality out of Rome is so obviously misplaced and psychologically unhealthy, it is too easy too lose one's spiritual bearings. McNeill reminds us that where Rome fails, the Holy Spirit is permanently at hand for guidance - we need only ask.
He goes further. In an important address to Dignity, reprinted in this book, he speculates on the active participation of the Holy Spirit in the church of today, directly intervening in a 'Kairos Moment ' to restore a proper balance between what has been the unbridled power of the papacy and the rest of the Church. (I am delighted that I have secured permission from McNeill to post this address in full on this blog, here.) At the time of writing, it was prescient. Given the turmoil in the church in recent weeks, and the resistance of so many to the series of Vatican fiascoes, I suspect we may now be seeing signs of just this intervention. As evidence, just see how Benedict has been forced to react to outrage over the most recent disaster concerning the SSPX by completing a nearly complete turnaround. What at one time appeared to be a slap in the face for the spirit of Vatican II has now become a firm endorsement of it!
This book may not contain significant new writing by John McNeill, but no matter. If you have not yet had the benefit of enjoying his exuberance, this will be an excellent introduction. If you have read the earlier books, then you should still buy it, read it, and circulate it, to join the celebration.
John McNeill, thank you.