DISPATCHES

Reader Feedback on "Sex As a Weapon"

What a tireless and meaningless rant. The suggestion that the attraction of Jesus was somehow erotic? That the gender of Jesus was at any time in question? Whose cool-aide are you drinking? How can you get that from any kind of honest reading of the gospel? The tone of that whole piece was arrogant drivel as you wondered from subject to subject like you had something to prove or perhaps to rationalize your own way of life. As far as your descriptions, please at least act like you care about getting the facts right. Homosexuals being somehow "more homosexual"? Please.
--TMG
06/11

You seem to feel your way through this article, almost as if you are listening to a siren yourself. The excitement you feel as expressed in your words lead me to believe you feel from this could even be somewhat of an intoxication of sorts. Although you obviously have been reading a few of the "top" right-wingers, though sparingly at best, you fail to get a grasp of what evangelicals would hope you might from such a huge download of conservative verbage. It truly must have been hard for you to swallow given your opinion. I am sorry. I have been reading these and many other evangelicals for over 30 years (and beyond if, like I do, you think of the Bible as evangelical) think you fail to get the message of evangelism itself. The message is: all have fallen short of the perfect standard set by Christ. All will perish but for His Amazing Grace. If you want to get a particle of that message, go to see the movie by that name (Amazing Grace), and see a silver screen rendition of the life of a man affected radically and eternally by the message Jesus is whispering to you even now. Wilberforce (you have read of him, I am sure) nearly lifts the anti-slavery movement on his back like a cross in the late 17th and early 18th centuries bringing about what may be called the greatest blow to slavery since Jesus died to set us all free from our debts of sin. I say this in all humility and love accepting you as you, your feelings and beliefs as you are, without condemnation, just as Christ in His perfect expression of manhood, has accepted me as I am....just as I am. He has performed all that must be performed to conform you and me, as males, just as he does females, into His likeness. He is able to keep us until death, the end of time, and on into eternity. Want to try that out? His blood is for everyone of those He created. EVERYONE. I accepted Jesus most unwelcome intrusion into my life 30 years ago and have not been able to go back to my old way of life. I know you are extremely bright. I am not. I have to work at saying things so others might get it at all some times. If you want to check out what I have been saying, try looking up what I have been saying (the Gospel in a nutshell or the evangelistic message) in a Greek and Hebrew bible. Much is lost in the King James as well as other modern translations. Are you a Greek Geek? If not, try to get a modern translation that has the Greek and Hebrew words or just get a Greek and Hebrew dictionary to go along with a modern English translation bible, etc. I hope this will broaden your investigation into the mind of conservative evangelists (who are charged by the word of God not to give an impression of evil). As Christians we are not condemned and are told that we, as Christ, cannot be Judge over any other. I cannot speak for all, but I can say that I personally try to speak the truth I know in love. Be blessed of God.
--rwc
03/01

Oh my god! there are men not feeling guilty for being men and thier christian!!! Burn the intolorant ones!!!!
--
12/08

Your remarks are congruent with the sexual and religious history of this country. We are still enduring this great fear of "the other" -- whether gay, female, black, foreign etc. Being Christian, and being close friends/ related to people who went the long way around to "come out" it is clear to me that a great deal of this thinking is projection pure and simple. The church is , of course various and not monolithic. But protestants, catholics, *evangelicals* and *fundamentalists* (or any other of a myriad of groups, cults, and subgroups) still cannot get past the sexual shame blame and regret to get to the nitty gritty of Jesus. *Homosexuals* are just the latest in a long procession of boogey-men that act out the part of "The Devil" for the church. Churches that are gay-friendly, that help gay, straight, female, foreign, poor , black -- that help ALL and condemn no one are to be lauded, are miraculous by virtue of their mere existence. All people long for wholeness, for not just the belief, but the EXPERIENCE of God's love for everyone. I suspect the gay-denouncing, gay hating churches are in fact , full to the brim with self loathing homosexuals. What a pity. I know a gay man who is a {close} relative of Dobson. This man has been denounced and driven from his family for his open homosexuality. When I see religion with no heart, no mercy , no compassion, I wonder if God herself (*joke*) ever despairs of the thickness of some skulls. Headship. Good lord. Don't these people know anything about language etc/???
--ERBS
11/02

So next time we want to talk about women's rights in the Middle East like its this complete "Other" world... maybe we should look on our back doorstep for this phenom. This is a conversation we have to have. I think my generation (20-ish yr olds) have totally forgotten that the fight against oppressive discourses must not be forgotten. On another note-- see Elaine Pagels "Adam Eve and the Serpent" for more on sexuality and Christianity throughout the ages via A+E exegesis. In many ways, I think what we are seeing with this movement relates back to Augustine. I would be interested to know what the Professor Sharlet thinks about the 'origins' of this contemp 'discourse' and also how women are responding. I guess they are lying down and taking it? Sorry, no pun intended. Ok ok it was-- just too good to resist! What is the motivation behind these guys?? Insecurity? Political empowerment? Excellent scholarship, totally material for book (a very provocative one at that).
--meg
05/03

I enjoyed your analysis. I don't know if you are already familiar with the website www.godhatesfags.com. It is an actual homepage for a baptist church. I heard about it on the Howard Stern show. The frightening part is not only do they distort the truth about God and the Bible they also publish their funamentalist bullshit into a huge market (the world wide web) for impressionable, internet saavy youth. They strike me as no good, gay bashing, abortion clinic bombing, simple minded fools.
--ahm
04/30

TO RM: You're correct that Promise Keepers speak publicly about "racial reconciliation," and that I did not discuss that aspect in my article. That's because my article was about a movement, self-defined in its literature, and its attitudes toward sexuality. As to your assertion that the Promise Keepers are "the only people - anywhere, any time - that I've ever heard talk in public about racial reconciliation." -- that's absurd. Only white Bill McCartney talks about racial reconciliation? That's a revolting notion, sir. You need to learn some American history. And I'd recommned deepening your understanding of race in America beyond the idea that all can be solved by white men and black men hugging one another and talking about their feelings.
--
04/29

Thanks for this excellent article. I noticed some of the hypocrisy several years ago when I had been reading Iron John, and Wild at Heart Came Out. I was 19 at the time, and I remember having lunch with a Fundamentalist middle-aged man, who was strongly "encouraging me" aka telling me I "had" to read this book. I asked him to explain the gist of it, and when he did, I told him that I was reading Iron John, which takes the myth of the Wild Man as its basis, and he ignorantly tried to debunk the quality of the book based on the fact that it was from a "myth". So when I did finally get around to reading some of Wild at Heart, and saw how Eldridge pretty much just distilled it into Christian Spirtual hogwash, I got kinda upset, to say the least. Oh, whatever will we do? Thanks again, grant grant.havekost@gmail.com
--GH
04/28

Anyone who�s had much contact with the Christian community will appreciate the range of variety it contains � as multifaceted as is the American populace. Certainly there are the pockets that manifest great awkwardness about sex, yet the movement has also birthed those like Lauren Winner (author of �Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity�) and blogs like my own, �Sexless in the City� (http://annabroadway.blogspot.com�). Indeed, we may be part of a new wave opening up more-candid conversation. A conversation, I should point out, in which women actively partake. But that�s not to say those discussed by Sharlet are totally off the mark. He may have focused on the violence/warrior mindset of men, but what does the resurgent popularity of poker tell us about men�s competitiveness? Perhaps warrior is a too-easy example of that character trait (athlete could be more ambiguous), but the underlying notion of uniquely male competitiveness is something we all instinctively recognize, no matter what our views on or self-identification with religion.
--AB
04/28

This is the kind of article that makes me start to wonder if I have suddenly lost the ability to read the English language. Surely those electrons did not die to preserve this creakily ancient, shallow and thoughtless bigotry. "the Christian men's movement ... Promise Keepers to the tenth power" What, exactly, would that mean, if it meant anything? Promise Keepers pretty much was the beginning of the "Christian men's movement." (They're also the only people - anywhere, any time - that I've ever heard talk in public about racial reconciliation. How did every "objective" critic miss that topic entirely?) "A discussion ... is best begun with some mean-spirited fun" Here's a thought, Jeff: Try interacting respectfully and responsibly. Just a thing I heard somewhere. As far as respectful responses from me, this disorganized, scattergun string of unsupported assertions and flippant ignorace has had the lot.
--rm
04/28

Usually I shudder whenever fundies get press. Sharlet manages to explain their views honestly without being flippantly dismissive or sympathetic. Good work. What sparked the need for fundamentalism anyway?
--ko
04/27

Gay former souther baptist anarcho-socialist punk here... Used to know this guy at the christian college i idiotically attended (and still owe lots of money for) almost ten years ago now. Forgotten his name. Cute, kinda mormon looking, who was really into Promise Keepers (the christian men's movement where men cry and hug and sing and talk about how hard it is to stay with their wives....) and the charismatic/joy movement. He liked to hug a lot (guys, of course--not supposed to give girls hugs because it might cause him to think sinful thoughts), and would always talk about how he was "really feeling the joy of the Lord today." One time he told me how, the night before, he was "on his knees for hours until he finally felt the Joy of the Lord come upon him." The warnings I heard from my sojourn through evangelicalism about "The Homosexuals" from deacons, pastors, and "concerned women," lurid stories of sexual acts the likes of which i still cannot imagine even now, seemed always a little too prurient, almost vicariously lustful. Jeff Sharlet rocks.
--Rhyd
04/27

Wonderful! But...when you get to the word "evangelical" read FUNDAMENTALIST. The "fundies" have got the public using evangelical, charismatic, and conservative as words to hide their true "flat-earth", Scopes Monkey Trial, snake-handling, holy-rolling, hate-filled fundamentalist identity. Pass it on - they are the Fundamentalists!
--JB
04/26

"Nonetheless, writers such as Eldredge and Lundy shy away from intellectual conflict." That's true, but there's also an increasing interest in take-no-prisoners fundamentalist Reformed theology among some of the Charismatics who are involved with this masculinist self-help discourse. For instance, the flaming sword of Rousas Rushdoony is particularly attractive to Doug Giles, the Florida-based radio preacher (and brother-in-law of Mell Winger, who wrote "Fight on your Knees"): he keeps a copy of Rushdoony's "Institutes" on his desk, and has an MA from James Kennedy's Knox Theological Seminary, an institution apparently devoid of any female input. If I may take a moment to self-publicise, I've got a bit more here: http://blogs.salon.com/0003494/stories/2004/10/31/patriarchy.html Cheers, Bartholomew
--RB
04/25

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