There are many customary situations that occur within religion that would seem less traditional if the same situation took place outside a religious context. In August 1325", translated by Petroff and transcribed by Mennetus, Na Prous Boneta uses queer perspective to display nontraditional characters and relationships, which are more conventional when associated with religion, through same sex doubles of God and Peter John, homosocial bonding between God and Peter John through the nature of their relationship, as well as lesbian signs through power that men traditionally have.
The first feature related to queer perspective is same sex doubles, where God and Peter John have similar characteristics, and this sexual similarity is considered traditional because of its basis is within religion. The reader is presented with an image of Peter John as divine as God, with the same power of the Holy Spirit within him that God possesses and has power over. “…shall be necessary henceforth for whoever shall wish to save himself to believe in the works of the Holy Spirit given to Friar Peter John…words are all the works of the Holy Spirit” (Mennetus 289). While the similarity of characteristics between these two characters allows for a queer interpretation in a
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There are same sex doubles of God and Peter John, homosocial bonding between God and Peter John, as well as lesbian signs from Na Prous Boneta because of the stereotypically masculine power that she possesses. While these features of the queer perspective display unconventional characters and relationships, the religious circumstances of the text transform unconventional to
Using the traits trance catalepsy, she investigates how their appearance in individuals affects ones potential for status in different cultures. She states that mystics who claim psychic abilities or spiritual powers are present in every culture, and in most cultures are highly valued and respected for their abilities. Yet in our culture, such people are considered insane, and are often placed in psychiatric institutions. As for our view on homosexuality, Benedict makes the point that because it’s looked down upon makes it difficult for someone with the trait to fit into society, whereas in other cultures, such as ancient Greece, people with such inclinations were perfectly capable of functioning ordinarily in society, even in positions of honor. Benedict says, “Plato’s republic is, of course, the most convincing statement of such regarding of homosexuality. It is presented as one of the major mean to the good life, and it was generally so regarded in Greece at the
The pain she causes herself is Mariette being the vessel of God’s grace. Mariette’s intention to suffer displays a severe ambition and pride that she has a calling for a higher purpose. This purpose is also explored through Mariette’s experience with the stigmata. Mariette suddenly appears with the wounds of Jesus Christ, and Hansen creates a disturbance of power between female and male relationships to Christ. Mariette has been chosen above the male figures of the Church, and she shares in the appearance and bleeding of Christ wounds. Hansen connects female reproduction to Christ suffering. This ideology fits with Mariette because she has the capacity to perform the transfiguration of Christ, bringing the Grace of God to the World. This feminization of Christ allows Mariette to have a deeper connection with Him and reinforces the idea she has been chosen. Mariette’s intimacy in Christ’s pain is her desire to be more than just a sister, and even more than a Saint. Mariette associates His wounds with her own wounds, thus taking His ability to redeem as her having this capability too. Hansen uses Mariette’s relationship with Christ to draw on the theological formulation of Christ’s wounds as female reproduction. This idea challenges the notion of power within the priory and Roman
In said section, Gomes analyzes the Bible verses that Christians believe to have homosexual implications. Eventually, Gomes uses his personal interpretation of what the verses could mean along with historical context, to explain that the Church should not harbor any hatred or negative opinions to those practicing homosexuality. The other sections of, “The Use and Abuse of the Bible”, give In, “True and Living Word”, Gomes introduces the readers to a variety of topics and attempts to explain how the Bible relates to them. These topics are: The Bible and... The Good Life, Suffering, Joy, Evil, Temptation, Wealth, Science, and Mystery.
The lecture hall filled with the audience members’ conversations in the gymnasium-sized room, which the microphone on the podium in center stage amplified. Through the double door entrance to the hall walked a conference attendee named Adam Moore, who found his seat in the last of many perfectly aligned rows of folding chairs. He began reading the brochure handed to him as he arrived and “homosexuality” being on the list of discussion topics intrigued him because he is an openly homosexual member of the Episcopal Church. After all the discussions had concluded and the ministers and clergy answered every question, Moore approached Father McAllister and asked him to explain some of the Catholic Church’s teachings to him. Father McAllister happily agreed and they both returned to the lecture hall to have their conversation. Father McAllister sat next to Moore, who reclaimed his conference seat. Moore explained that although there were many topics he did not fully understand in Catholic Church teaching, there was only one he wanted to discuss with him. He sought to understand what the Catholic Church taught on the topic of homosexuality and what the Church’s opposition was to homosexual relationship...
A deeply pious man, John considers the Bible a sublime source of moral code, guiding him through the challenges of his life. He proclaims to his kid son, for whom he has written this spiritual memoir, that the “Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you” (81). While John manages to stay strong in the faith and nurture a healthy relationship with his son, his relationship with his own father did not follow the same blueprint. John’s father, also named John Ames, was a preacher and had a powerful effect on John’s upbringing. When John was a child, Father was a man of faith. He executed his role of spiritual advisor and father to John for most of his upbringing, but a shift in perspective disrupted that short-lived harmony. Father was always a man who longed for equanimity and peace. This longing was displayed in his dealings with his other son, Edward: the Prodigal son of their family unit, a man who fell away from faith while at school in Germany. John always felt that he “was the good son, so to speak, the one who never left his father's house” (238). Father always watched over John, examining for any sign of heterodoxy. He argued with John as if John were Edward, as if he were trying to get Edward back into the community. Eventually, John’s father's faith begins to falter. He reads the scholarly books
In Sarah Ruden’s book, Paul Among the People, Ruden strives to disprove modern society’s common belief that the apostle Paul was a man strongly against women and homosexuality. She makes the claim that he was actually fighting for more equality and love than what Roman society allowed in Paul’s time and even before his time. Ruden compares the words Paul wrote around the middle of 50 A.D. and into the early 60 A.D.’s against other popular literary works of the Roman first and second century B.C.in an effort to challenge contemporary negative thoughts regarding Paul. Despite the negative opinions that a majority of modern society hold about the apostle, Sarah Ruden does a remarkable job of refuting the claims that Paul was a misogynist homophobe by putting Paul in perspective inside the society that he lived in. She claims that Paul was offering equality and a better life for the people of his time. By doing this, Ruden attests that Paul was not the negative man that most people believe but that he actually fought for more equality and compassion than what he is given credit for by most people today.
Her choices of metaphors are simplistic explanations providing the backdrop for the emotional and spiritual connection we seek in following Christ. The symbolic comparisons of Mary Magdalene, her relationship to Jesus, mirrors some of Julian of Norwich’s personal spiritual journey of prayerful contemplation while seeking intimacy in her relationship to God.
First of all, actions of symbols can help shape people’s images. In the first chapter, Rothman illustrate how is a transsexual successfully using her symbolic interaction to present herself as a woman with a man’s body. Her name is Agnes. For presenting a female, “She uses her hands, angle her head, move her legs and eyebrows.” She is just doing the things what women normally do, which is called s...
Thus, the partygoers in Symposium have gathered during a festival celebrating the fertility and productivity of heterosexual relationship to attempt to justify their homosexual relationships by eulogizing Eros. Since heterosexual relationships were justified by the production of children, a justification of homosexual relationships woul...
In the book the writer of the story Felicitas and Perpetua, presents faithful Christians who show their devotion to Christ in several ways. Felicitas and Perpetua deny themselves the best that the daily life has to offer; the joys, duties, and the intimate family love
Upon completion of this novel, a clearly prevalent and outstanding motif is that of religion and biblical reference. The frequent references to religion come in varied forms from that of biblical role-playing, to that of the fate of our current society. Another related argument that occurs can be the relationship of biblical role-playing and character domination. When all are combined appropriately, a very strong and prominent key motif in this novel is produced. Mary Shelley might have used religion reference as a method of showing us how something that happened during the creation of the earth can be related and brought to us via modern day fantasy creations. It is important for us to realize this connection because it will help us to understand an important deeper meaning of this work.
Aristophanes has mildly insulted the previous speakers in two ways. By claiming that one of the original forms was androgynous, he has suggested that heterosexuality is at least as natural as male homosexuality – as is being a lesbian. In contrast, Empedokles in fact did hold to a theory of sorts based on fitness to the environment, the description at 191c strongly suggests that only heterosexual relationships yielding only a temporary satisfaction and relief, allowing the participants to go about their business.
The topic of homosexuality has always been one approached with caution due to its taboo nature derived from its deviation from the heterosexual norm. Traditionally, and across several cultures, homosexuality has been successfully discussed through normalizing the behaviour through heterosexual representation. Gender reversal or amplification of feminine qualities of male characters have often been means by which authors are able to subtly introduce the foreign idea of homosexuality and equate it to its more formal and accepted counterpart, heterosexuality. The works of Shakespeare and Li Yu have assisted in exposing homosexual relationships while still maintaining them under the heterosexual norm, whether it be through direct or metaphorical representations.
Men and women lived in completely dissimilar spheres, until the time of marriage. Even after marriage, they still retained strong ties to their own spheres by Achilles and Patrocleus. This is aspect of young life is depicted by Sappho in her poems. Apparently alternative lifestyles were commonly accepted in youth and continued throughout adulthood. This passive encouragement of homosexuality further strengthened ties between the separate genders and emphasizing the differences.
This quote addresses directly the primary difficulty of the issue. The terms gay and lesbian are useful in literature in that they allow a group of people who have been marginalised and even persecuted to become visible. They enable a way of life and a set of identities, harmonious or conflicting, to be presented, to be questioned, to be understood and accepted. As categories they create ‘space’ in which there may develop a more evolved understanding of texts and they also create a genre within which many lesbian and gay writers are comfortable with being placed. A gendered reading of a text can reveal undercurrents and depths which might otherwise not be apparent. These categories also make ‘space’ for the author within the text which leads to a closer tie between the author and the reader in the reading process.