Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity (Queer Action/Queer Ideas)

by Rev Elizabeth M. Edman

Paperback, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

230.086

Collection

Publication

Beacon Press (2017), Edition: Reprint, 200 pages

Description

Christian Nonfiction. LGBTQIA+ (Nonfiction.) Religion & Spirituality. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML:LGBTQ people are a gift to the Church and have the potential to revitalize Christianity. As an openly lesbian Episcopal priest and professional advocate for LGBTQ justice, the Reverend Elizabeth Edman has spent her career grappling with the core tenets of her faith. After deep reflection on her tradition, Edman is struck by the realization that her queer identity has taught her more about how to be a good Christian than the church. In Queer Virtue, Edman posits that Christianity, at its scriptural core, incessantly challenges its adherents to rupture false binaries, to "queer" lines that pit people against one another. Thus, Edman asserts that Christianity, far from being hostile to queer people, is itself inherently queer. Arguing from the heart of scripture, she reveals how queering Christianityâ??that is, disrupting simplistic ways of thinking about self and otherâ??can illuminate contemporary Christian faith. Pushing well past the notion that "Christian love = tolerance," Edman offers a bold alternative: the recognition that queer people can help Christians better understand their fundamental calling and the creation of sacred space where LGBTQ Christians are seen as gifts to the church. By bringing queer ethics and Christian theology into conversation, Edman also shows how the realities of queer life demand a lived response of high moral caliberâ??one that resonates with the ethical path laid down by Christianity. Lively and impassioned, Edman proposes that queer experience be celebrated as inherently valuable, ethically virtuous, and illuminating the sacred. A rich and nuanced exploration, Queer Virtue mines the depths of Christianity's history, mission, and core theological premises to call all Christians to a more authentic and robust understanding of their faith. From the Hardcover edit… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member JJMcDermott
This is not a book about being Christian "despite" being gay. Rather, Elizabeth Edman shows how LGBTQ people's experience resonates with the core message of the Gospel--God working through marginalized people and those who are a scandal to society. Using her own experiences as a lesbian Episcopal
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priest, she argues that the LGBTQ community has taught her more about being a Christian than the churches have.

Edman challenges the binaries in our world: divine/human, death/life, spirit/flesh, female/male. Ideally, Christianity is about breaking these down, but too often it has instead emphasized them. LGBTQ people, however, are forced to confront the assumed binaries by not fitting in to pre-conceived categories, and are consequently in a position to teach the rest of the church out of their own experiences.

This is a well-argued and thought-provoking book.
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LibraryThing member blackrabbit89
Elizabeth M. Edman is an Episcopal priest and a lesbian. These two aspects of her identity are stitched into her very soul; they are vitally important, essential aspects of who she is as a person and how she moves about in the world. In Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and
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How It Can Revitalize Christianity, Edman argues that Christianity is inherently queer: it “ruptures” the binaries of life and death, human and divine. Edman also argues that the queer path and the Christian path are not so different from one another. In fact, they are incredibly similar. Both paths involve the discernment of an identity; the reaching out to others and forming of community, despite the risks involved; and the navigation of scandal. Both paths also require that we participate in supportive communities, fight for justice, and “look to the margins” to help those who are less privileged than we are.

As a lesbian who was raised Catholic and who struggled to merge these two identities, Queer Virtue really resonated with me. In this book, Edman affirms, validates, and lifts up queer people. She celebrates queerness; her pride in and love of the queer community is palpable on every page. I loved this. Reading Queer Virtue was an absolute joy. It left me with a sense of hope and several ideas to ponder.

It was refreshing to read about the ways that queer people can benefit Christianity, rather than the other way around. Edman proposed several strategies that progressive Christian communities might adopt in order to become more authentic and hospitable. She advises progressive Christians on how to have healthy pride in their Christian identity and on how to come out as Christians. Most of all, she impresses upon the reader that being queer and Christian is not only possible, it’s natural.

Queer Virtue is intelligent, well written, and heartfelt. Edman is honest and forthcoming about her experiences and shortcomings, and she speaks with compassion and a deep understanding of the ways in which queer people have been and are still being hurt by Christians. Queer Virtue is an excellent read for LGBTQ+ people struggling with their faith, for Christians wishing to open up their community to all people, or for anyone interested in Christianity or queerness.
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LibraryThing member LSUTiger
I will admit I experienced a sense of dread as I read the author's note to this book, which details the language choices that the author uses throughout (i.e. using "Ze" and Hir" to refer to God) to be more gender neutral. I worried that I would find it distracting. Thankfully, I can say it was
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not.

I really liked the way the book is organized in two sections, the first being "The Path of Queer Virtue," and the second "A Priestly People." The first section appears more micro and looks at the individual and the process of accepting ourselves as queer (another word that I'm old enough to not be fond of using) and what that means and how that also works for us as Christians. The second section, which I enjoyed more, appears more macro in scope and discusses the queer community and what it can teach Christianity.

I appreciated Reverend Edman's vulnerability as well throughout the book; she shares one story in particular that really paints her in an unflattering light. But she owns it and is honest about it, and she stresses how the community became stronger by working through it. I agree with another reviewer who shared that you can feel Rev. Edman's passion and love on every page. I think she has great things to share; I just wonder what audience is going to hear the message. Will this book be read by Christians to better understand their LGBT brethren, or will it be read by LGBT people to celebrate their uniqueness and what it can bring to their spirituality. I worry it's only going to be a book which preaches to the choir, as it were.
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LibraryThing member jwmccormack
Edman's argument is that Christianity has been, from its very inception, an exercise in rupturing binaries, and therefore that Christianity and queer identity share core ideals about what it is to be a human being living with other humans in relationship to God. This kind of thinking has the
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potential to revolutionize conversations about Christianity and sexuality, indeed about Christianity and its ideals about body and the material world. Much more could be said about how Edman makes complex theological ideas accessible and how her approach to theology truly grounds itself in the lived experiences of individuals. But let me just say that I found her book joyful and hopeful, and that it should be required reading for anyone interested in the future of the Christian churches.
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LibraryThing member EriaDraka
It really does not matter what your religious or sexual preferences are, this is an amazing book that everyone should read at least once.
LibraryThing member Lizdugan
This reading gives an alternative view on traditional religion. Instead of it being told from the point of view of a priest or a member of the LBGT community, it is written by a person. The author acknowledges all aspects of who she is and makes a point that the core of belief is not just for one
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type of person. I have always refused to label myself because I didn't want to be part of a "mold" that is the standard. This selection showed me that a label is not who you are. That you arebyou, no matter how the world labels you.
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LibraryThing member literatefool
I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I went into it expecting to find the same old defensive posture for the GLBTQ community and their religious beliefs.

What I found was a compelling read that made no apologies for being gay or a Christian. It was educational but not preachy. It put into
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perspective some parts to modern life, and made me start thinking differently about my place in the community.

Overall, an excellent book.
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LibraryThing member wademlee
Unapologetic presentation of the virtues that LGBT Christians have developed through socializatin, testing, and trial. While these virtues are not unique to queer people of faith, they have often been made more self-aware of their reliance on these qualities or gained a better appreciation of their
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faith through them. Neither does it argue that all LGBT individuals are somehow innately 'gifted' in these areas, rather that they are acquired virtues that can be used and taught to the betterment of the Church at large.
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LibraryThing member jenniferb
(Note: My husband and I share this account. This review was written by him.)

I found this book to be quite excellent, as I was enraptured by Edman’s clear-eyed and compassionate brand of storytelling. It’s part memoir, part sociocultural study, and part Biblical exegesis. She was direct,
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forthright, and pulled no punches with the life she’s led and the choices she’s made, especially in terms of both her successes and failures.

It’s the inverse of Patrick Cheng’s Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology. She uses hard theology as the seasoning for her narrative prose, as opposed to serving up a dish of dense postmodern theology flavored with the occasional personal reflection.

Finally, as a cis-hetero white dude who attends a progressive Episcopal church and would like to be considered an ally, this was a book I wished I could have read a decade or more ago. I needed to hear about about the love of Christ and how it can change the world from a queer woman of faith.
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LibraryThing member morningrob
Great book. Looks at how several virtues developed within the LGBTQ community can be used to be a model for Christianity and help to transform the church. A positive book that presumes that gay people are part of the church and that their gifts can be used to help enhance its mission.

Awards

Publishing Triangle Awards (Finalist — Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction — 2017)

Physical description

200 p.; 9.01 inches

ISBN

0807059080 / 9780807059081
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