Faith: October 2007 Archives

Gay Perspective: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us About the Nature of God and the Universe
Toby Johnson

In this companion volume to his critically acclaimed, Lambda Literary Award - winning Gay Spirituality, Toby Johnson further explicates his visionary stance that gay people's nature as outsiders gives them a uniquely powerful perspective on the nature of God and religion. By living outside gender norms, gay people are more open to seeing across boundaries of gender and gain access to a less dualistic outlook on the nature of life. Once again, Johnson approaches this potentially controversial subject matter with -erudition, empathy and visionary speculation and gives meaning to gay consciousness beyond superficial issues of sexual behavior.

Toby Johnson is the editor of White Crane, a quarterly journal of gay men's spirituality, as well as the author of Gay Spirituality. He lives in Wimberley, Texas.

Trans-Gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith
Justin Edward Tanis

In the introduction to Trans-Gendered, Tanis says: "I intend to write about the ways in which religious communities have contributed to our oppression and occasionally, to our liberation. I want to speak, too, about the beauty and power of our lives. We need to think about how to fight back religiously and spiritually, as well as politically." Tanis largely accomplishes this goal.

The book began as a doctoral dissertation, while Tanis was at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, but it is not designed strictly for the academic world: As Tanis states in the books "I am not particularly interested in theories that do not have practical application for trans lives. Tanis writes in the first person, and weaves his own experience as a transgendered clergy person in with the experiences of other transgender individuals.

Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe
Christopher Penczak

When Christopher Penczak was introduced to Witchcraft, he found a spiritual path that hononred and embraced his homosexuality. Now he has written a book of clearheaded theory and practice that is bound to become a classic. With Gay Witchcraft, Penczak joins the ranks of his forebearers in spirit, gay writers who have taken a tradition and made it home.

Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition
Steven Greenberg

Wrestling with God and Men is the product of Rabbi Steven Greenberg's ten-year struggle to reconcile his homosexuality with Orthodox Judaism. Employing traditional rabbinic resources, Greenberg presents readers with surprising biblical interpretations of the creation story, the love of David and Jonathan, the destruction of Sodom, and the condemning verses of Leviticus. But Greenberg goes beyond the question of whether homosexuality is biblically acceptable to ask how such relationships can be sacred.