Men, homosexuality, and the gods : an exploration into the religious significance of male homosexuality in world perspective / Ronald E. Long.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Long, Ronald E. (Ronald Edwin), 1946- author.

Series:

Haworth gay & lesbian studies.

Haworth gay & lesbian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Male homosexuality--Religious aspects.

Male homosexuality.

Masculinity--Religious aspects.

Masculinity.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (190 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Harrington Park Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods is an eye-opening look at a representative sampling of religions and their edicts concerning gay sex. This book examines the origins of historic holy directives involving homosexuality?whether forbidden, tolerated, or mandatory?and establishes a link between theology, sex paradigms, and the sensitive issue of masculinity. This intriguing text calls for a new approach to gay rights as a freedom of religion issue and shows how the modern homophile movements are in effect redefining masculinity to obliterate the stigma of being a sexually receptive man. Easy-to-re

Contents:

Cover; Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1. Straight Thinking on Some Not-So-Straightforward Matters; Getting Our Bearings; How Shall We Think of Religion?; What of ""Homosexuality""?; Chapter 2. Holy Homosexuality: Of Men and Semen; The Sambians of Papua New Guinea: It Will Make a Man of You; The Taoists of Ancient China and the Preservation of Life; Chapter 3. Holy Homoeroticism: Splendid Men and Splendor Divine; Plato and the World of Ancient Athens; The Platonism of Islamic Sufism

Chapter 4. Holy Effeminacy: The Native American Berdache As Living War CharmMen and Manhood; Berdaches: Third-Gendered Persons or Unmanned Men?; Chapter 5. Holy Homophobia in the Hebrew Scriptures; Homophobia and the Fear of Exile; The Fear of Death: Anal Intercourse As ""Unsafe Sex""; The Fear of Disorder: Homosexual Sex As Deformity; Alien Worship, Enemy Ways in War; Whose Body Is It Anyway?; Chapter 6. Early Christianity: A Revolution Aborted?; Paul: Food, Sex, Sin, and Taste; Augustine of Hippo: Sex, Homosexuality, Faith, and Death

Chapter 7. The Variegated Lotus: Homosexual Sex and Historical BuddhismThe Nirvanic Transcendence of Desire; Enlightenment and Homosexual Sex in Japan and Tibet; Chapter 8. Struggles on the American Front; A Gay Agenda? And the Social Good; Gay Rights As a Freedom of Religion Issue; The Spiritual Challenge of Contemporary Homophile Movements; Toward a New Poetic of Masculinity; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-172) and index.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

1-136-56823-9

0-203-05703-1

1-299-14059-9

1-136-56816-6

9780203057032

OCLC:

827206810