MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

Ken Wilber on Joe Perez

Integral philosopher Ken Wilber has posted a unique column on Beliefnet:  The forward he has written for the not-yet-published book Soulfully Gay, by our very own Joe Perez.  If, like me, you've only read Wilber's academic writings, you'll be delighted by the very human (and moving) tone in which he writes about Joe.  This is the first paragraph:

I am in the awkward situation of writing a foreword to a book by a gay person. This is an awkward situation not because Joe Perez is gay, but because I have to point it out. I feel the same damn irritation as having to refer to, say, Edmund White as a "gay writer." Nobody has to point out that I am heterosexual, although now I hear that I am not a heterosexual but a metrosexual, although, in fact, I have never had sex with a metro in my life. But I’m sure it is a wonderful experience.

Ken Wilber uses events in Joe Perez's life as a way of showing how to apply integral spirituality to one's everyday life.  Read it here:

Integral Spirituality in Real Life

Canada

Prime Minster of Canada on February 16, 2005

I wish I could be as proud of my country. Canada is firmly on the side of protecting minority rights.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1120045252727_19/?hub=Canada

Vatican Tightens Nocturnal Emissions Standards

from The Onion:

The Vatican has released a strict new set of Church laws intended to reduce the nocturnal emissions of teenage polluters by 50 percent in the next decade, Cardinal Antoni Bertoli announced Monday.

"In the past 10 years, unholy emissions from young men have risen by 150 million cubic centimeters, releasing erotic-dream byproducts into the bedsheet environment," Bertoli said. "The accumulation of pollutants from millions of individual violators around the world is having a devastating effect on the moral atmosphere."

Yeah, it's a satire.  But maybe it's also only a matter of time.

Love In Action Investigation Concludes

Via the Washington Blade and ABC News comes word that the Tennessee Dept. of Childrens Services investigation of “Love In Action” on allegations of child abuse has ended, without findings of abuse.

From the Blade.

Tennessee said Monday it has found no evidence to support child abuse allegations against a Christian group that works with gay teenagers.

The group, Love In Action International, believes instilling strong Christian beliefs can keep gays from acting on their gay sexual desires.

The group, which also works with adults, has a program called Refuge for teens 15 to 18 years old.

The state Department of Children’s Services said last week that it was looking into a report of child abuse at the Refuge program. The program drew protests earlier this month from gay advocacy groups.

On Culture

This blog is about not only gay issues, but the intersection of spirituality and culture.  While I am not a professing Christian, I still find connection with reality in the writings of Christian thinkers.  One of my favorites is T.S. Eliot.  He gave several lectures that focused upon the connection between society and religion, specifically Christianity.  These comprise a book entitled Christianity and Culture.   He was writing/speaking during the rise of totalitarianism and the beginnings of World War II.  Reflecting on some of the dialogue recently between the "religious right" and the "secular left", I pulled out this short book and flipped open to Chapter IV, in the section titled "The Idea of a Christian Society."

As something to meditate upon, whatever your religious tradition, I'm posting a few snippets.  I'd recommend reading the book in full.  It's relatively brief.

To identify any particular form of government with Christianity is a dangerous error: for it confounds the permanent with the transitory, the absolute with the contingent...those who are convinced that the present form of government of Britain is the one most suitable for any Christian people, should ask themselves whether they are confusing a Christian society with a society in which individual Christianity is tolerated...

Update on Gay Youth in Ex-Gay Camp

Thanks to The Disenchanted Forest, Majikthise, Law Dork, aTypical Joe, and KipEsquire for their posts on this ongoing story, and for their links back here.

The Washington Blade has an editoral and a longer story than yesterday’s piece from ExpressGayNews, which includes this excerpt from  an Exodus International representatives.

According to Julie Neils, spokesperson for Exodus International, an umbrella group for “ex-gay” projects, Love in Action’s Refuge program is the only project they are affiliated with that focuses on gay teens.

Love in Action has only offered services to adolescents for two years. Administrator Tommy Corman said that the program has treated 23 adolescents and that there are currently two teenage boys in the program, both signed up for six-week programs.

Corman confirmed that teens are sometimes forced to participate in the programs, but dismissed the idea that this is wrong.

“Youth camps, vacation bible school, Sunday school, how many places do parents put their children against their will,” Corman said. “It’s like when I tell my three-year-old to take a bite of broccoli. You have a legal, moral and ethical obligation to mold a child.”

Corman has worked at Love in Action for about a year and a half. He said that though the program advertises treatment for problems associated with drugs, alcohol and pornography, it is homosexuality, which the organization sees as a “deviant sexual behavior,” that is the main focus of the program. Corman said that some clients come to Love in Action after de-toxing from drugs to “heal” themselves of homosexuality.

Corman said that he has helped clients convince insurance companies to cover the costs of the program.

Tennessee Investigates Ex-Gay Camp

Terrance Heath has been keeping us informed on this blog about Zach, the teenage blogger who has been sent to a residential program designed to "cure" him of homosexuality.  Zach's postings have indeed created a "blog storm," and now the state of Tennessee is going to investigate the program where Zach has been sent against his will.  Here's the New York Blade story:

Tenn. investigates ex-gay camp
Teen's blog leads to outcry, charges of abuse at unlicensed facility

Zach Update: LIA Investigated

Holy Cow.  I’ve been blogging about Zach’s story for almost two weeks, and the latest news just about knocked me off my feet. Word is that Love In Action — the place that runs the camp Zach is attending — is under investigation for allegations of child abuse.

Episcopal Church Affirms Gay Clergy

The Episcopal Church affirmed its support for gay clergy on Tuesday, in a document which says, among other things, that "members of the Episcopal Church have discerned holiness in same-sex relationships and have come to support the blessing of such unions and the ordination or consecration of persons in those unions."

Conservatives, of course, are threatening a "divorce" from the denomination.  As a gay Episcopalian, I say:  Let them go.  They'll be much happier in other, more conservative churches, where they can thump their Bibles and proclaim their bigotry as gospel.

How To Change Hearts and Minds on Gay Marriage

I've been thinking ... and writing ... a lot about how to change hearts and minds on gay marriage. I know that very few people will agree with everything I have to say, but for those bold enough to adventure forth into the land of The Integralist, here are some recent posts:

• A critique of an article by the conservative Dale Carpenter on gay marriage.
• "How We Will Change Hearts on Gay Marriage," a piece that tries to present the practical upshot of the integral politics, including the idea of divergent rationales
• "What the Left and Right Don't Get About Gay Marriage," a summary of my integral approach to the gay marriage topic
• "Lost Boys, Polygamy, and Gay Marriage," a look at the shadowy side of polygamy and what it all means for the marriage debate