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Sexuality remains controversial in religions |
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Tuesday, 13 November 2007 |
Editors Note: This is the third in a four-part series.
by BRANDON BROWN
Lifestyles Reporter
Sexuality is a topic that separates, unifies and defines many of the world’s religions.
“Most religions fail to achieve a monolithic identity,” said Dr. Thomas B. Ellis, philosophy and religion professor at Appalachian State University. “I can safely say most religions have an internal disagreement regarding sexuality.”
While the United Methodist Church’s official Web site defines sexual
relations as only affirmed in the marriage bond, some student-members
have opposing perspectives.
Freshman history major and Boone United Methodist Church attendee Eric
J. Lowe said he views himself as “very lenient” on the subject of
premarital sex.
Lindsey C. Miller, a senior sociology major, attends the same church as Lowe.
“Abstinence is pretty dead on,” she said. “It’s for our own good.”
The Catholic Church has historically opposed the use of contraceptives,
but Catholic groups like Catholics For Choice oppose the Vatican’s
position on sexual conduct.
Stephen M. Borgerding, a senior journalism major, was raised Catholic
and has seen his fellow Catholic students split on the issue.
“As far as younger Catholics, many are against the traditional Catholic
values of the church,” said Borgerding. “However, it’s realistic to
assume that people can follow the rules.”
Homosexuality and the roles of women are other issues that are divided
not only within belief sects, but also between Eastern and Western
religious cultures.
The United Methodist Church acknowledges that while homosexual persons
– no less than heterosexual persons – are individuals of sacred worth,
the church considers the practice incompatible with Christian
teachings, according to umc.org.
Ellis said some Western sub-sects are coming to terms with
homosexuality, and more reform movements have taken place in the modern
period.
Philosophy and religion professor Dr. Shawn D. Arthur said Wiccan traditions tend to consider being gay completely natural.
“Some members even valorize homosexuality as a blending of the God and
Goddess within one person from birth, as a complete embodiment of the
Wiccan idea that every person has both male and female aspects within
themselves,” Arthur said.
Eastern religious cultures have a history of accepting unconventional roles of sexuality.
In the Hindu community, some of the glorified gods were transgender, and women often played the role of goddesses, Ellis said.
“[In Western cultures], often times religion will play up women as the
role of mother,” Ellis said. “Semitic religions have a history of being
more patriarchal.”
Many theologians consider the movement toward acceptance to be part of the evolution of religion.
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