To Anne Rice: You can be pro-gay AND Christian

Bestselling author Anne Rice announced this week that she is quitting Christianity because, as she put it on her Facebook page:

“I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of ...Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”

Her decision to leave the church is getting a lot of news coverage. Here is a copy of my open letter to Anne Rice:

Dear Ms. Rice,

I read the news that you quit being a Christian because you refuse to be anti-gay and anti-feminist.

Believe it or not, you can be Christian AND support gay rights and feminism! I’m a lesbian minister and author who blogs about gay, lesbian, bi and trans spirituality and the arts at http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/

There are thousands of churches around the world that affirm LGBT people. You can find links to them through my website http://jesusinlove.org/

It sounds like you have made an important transition from being a church member to being a post-institutional, individual follower of Christ. Congratulations. I believe that this is one of the stages of spiritual growth to which Christ calls us.

I feel a special connection to you because, like you, I wrote first-person novels about the life of Christ. I also enjoyed meeting your son Christopher when he moderated an authors’ panel discussion on which I appeared as finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

A book review comparing your “Christ the Lord” novels and my “Jesus in Love” novels is available at this link:

http://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2008/09/novels-show-jesus-from-heart.html

Here is an excerpt from the review:

"Cherry in essence begins where Rice's narrative ends… Cherry's primary objective is to depict Jesus as fully human in terms of sexuality, while maintaining, as Rice does, that Jesus was not genitally sexually active. Her rational for this, which I find marvelously sensitive and cogent, is that Jesus realizes his divine nature would inevitably produce an "imbalance of power" that would not permit the full and free interaction of "consenting adults" which sanctifies all human sexual interaction. Jesus also recognizes, in Cherry's vision, that he is "married" to the Holy Spirit."

Ms. Rice, I thank you for supporting LGBT people and I hope that you will continue to grow in your relationship with Christ.

Blessings,

Rev. Kittredge Cherry
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This isn’t the first time that I have corresponded with Anne Rice. I sent her an email to inform her when the double review of our books was published, and she even sent me a short personal reply. I hope to hear from her again this time!

(Photo: Anne Rice)

Mary and Martha: Sisters or lesbian couple?

Mary and Martha by Bernardino Luini

Mary and Martha of Bethany were two of Jesus’ closest friends. The Bible calls them “sisters” who lived together, but reading the Bible with queer eyes raises another possibility. Maybe Mary and Martha were a lesbian couple. Their feast day is July 29.

Mary and Martha formed a nontraditional family at a time when there was huge pressure for heterosexual marriage.

As Rev. Nancy Wilson wrote in the brochure “Our Story Too: Reading the Bible with ‘New’ Eyes”:

“Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha. What drew Jesus to this very non-traditional family group of a bachelor brother living with two spinster sisters? Two barren women and a eunuch are Jesus’ adult family of choice. Are we to assume they were all celibate heterosexuals? What if Mary and Martha were not sisters but called each other ‘sister’ as did most lesbian couples throughout recorded history?”

(“Our Story Too” was first published in 1992 by Metropolitan Community Churches and is still one of the most advanced texts on LGBT people in the Bible.)

Mary and Martha are best known for the conflict they had when they hosted Jesus and his disciples. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to listen, but Martha wanted her to help her serve. Jesus’ famous answer: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42).

In another major Bible story, Jesus talks with Mary and Martha in turn before raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. During the conversation, Martha speaks what may be the first profession of faith in Jesus: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world” (John 11:27).

Like with most Biblical figures, the truth about Mary and Martha is a mystery. The gospels references are brief and sometimes contradictory. As a result, Mary of Bethany is identified as Mary Magdalene in the Roman Catholic church, while in Protestant and Eastern Orthodox traditions they are considered separate persons.

The Orthodox Church also includes Mary and Martha among the “myrrh bearing women” who were faithfully present at his crucifixion and brought myrrh to his tomb, where they became the first to witness his resurrection. Christian feminists also honor the sisters and say that they probably were leaders of a “house church.”

I’d love to see a contemporary artist show Mary and Martha as a loving lesbian couple. Is anybody out there ready for the challenge? I hope to see these images soon! Meanwhile, art history provides some beautiful paintings of the “sisters,” including the one above by Italian Renaissance artist Bernardino Luini (1480 -1532).

I explored the happy possibility of Mary and Martha as a lesbian couple in my novels “Jesus in Love” and “At the Cross.” I will close with the scene from “Jesus in Love” in which Jesus blesses the relationship of Mary and Martha.  It's a kind of same-sex marriage. Jesus, the narrator, tells the story:

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The sisters were still making my bed. I realized that they were dawdling over the task in hopes of talking with me. As soon as I tore myself away from direct contact with the Holy Spirit, the women’s longing for me drew me like a magnet. Tenderness toward them welled up in me, and I decided that I had time for one more human conversation that night. I walked over and saw Martha smoothing out every wrinkle from a woolen blanket spread over my mat, while Mary-Beth was arranging and rearranging a pillow for me.

“Thanks,” I said again as I sat on the blanket and looked in their eyes: Mary-Beth’s dark and generous, Martha’s just as dark, but receptive. It was the first time we three had been alone together. Divine energy traced pretty triangles at it poured from me into Martha and from her to Mary-Beth, then back to me. Sometimes it reversed its course, repeating the cycle in the opposite direction. The Holy Spirit reigned over us, providing a kind of filter that purified our energies and prevented one person’s disturbances from merging into the others. The flow of sacred love between Martha and Mary-Beth was always strong, no matter which way it traveled.

“Your teaching tonight was fantastic!” Mary-Beth said, clapping her pudgy hands together for emphasis. “Martha and I have been hoping and praying for years for God to guide us to someone like you. You are going to lead our people to true liberation. You are the best on earth!”

I smiled and let it feel good as she went on like that for a while. Mary-Beth’s words kept growing louder and faster. “We want you to know that you are always welcome in our home. In fact, please treat this as your own home.”

Martha managed to slip in a sentence. “We discussed it with Lazarus, and we all agreed.”

“That’s right,” Mary-Beth enthused. “Please come here whenever you want and stay as long as you want. You can come even if you just need a quiet place to pray. We won’t interrupt you.”

“Even though we’re interrupting your prayers right now.” Martha’s sly wit made us all laugh.

“I feel at home with you. I’ll be back,” I agreed.

A not-quite-satisfactory silence stretched among us.

“I thought there was something more you wanted to tell me,” I prompted them.

There was, but there wasn’t. The sisters looked at each other, unable to speak. They had longed for my attention and approval, but now that they had it, the intensity of my love was almost unbearable to them. They had invited me into their house, and here I was, knocking at the door to their hearts.

The goodness of who they were, of who God had created them to be, was hidden from them behind layers of shame. Their silent, futile struggle to hide the full extent of themselves and their beautiful relationship moved me to speak in compassion. “Everything hidden will be revealed, and everything secret will come to light,” I assured them.

Fear made them convert to a closed, vacant politeness that they thought would appease me. “We have to go,” Martha said preemptively. “We’ll get you some more bedding.”

I put a hand on her shoulder for a moment, holding her back. “No. Enough serving me. Enough listening to me. Go ahead and speak to me.”

An awkward silence arose as each sister waited for the other to speak up. Mary-Beth was full of bluster, but when it came time to say something difficult, Martha was the braver one.

She took the lead now. “Well, you’ve been so open with us that we thought we should be more honest with you about who we are. Lazarus isn’t our biological brother. We all decided to move in together and be a family because none of us wants to get married. We all look after each other.”

Martha drew a deep breath and began to stammer as I gave her my kindest look. “Mary-Beth and I told you that we were sisters, but we’re not sisters by blood. We’re...sisters...by love.” Unable to find any more words, Martha took her sister-lover’s hand and held it in my lap.

“If people knew what we do, they would say that we gave up natural intercourse with men and are consumed with passion for each other,” Mary-Beth explained.

I had sensed their real relationship from the start, but their honesty opened a floodgate between us. I couldn’t find words that would convey my feelings to them, either, so I held their hands in mine and bowed my head to place a long, gentle kiss on their clasped hands. Divine love surged powerfully among the three of us. Now their souls invited my divine heart into their relationship and we forged a stable triangle with me at the apex. Their souls began a lifelong kiss.

When I looked up and saw their bright eyes, the right words came to me. “May nobody separate what God has united.”


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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

 

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Icons of Martha and Mary of Bethany and many others are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at TrinityStores.com

Sts. Boris and George: United in love and death

Saints Boris and George the Hungarian

By Brother Robert Lentz, OFM. © 2000

Courtesy of www.trinitystores.com (800.699.4482)

Collection of the Living Circle, Chicago, IL

The love between Saint Boris and George the Hungarian ended in tragedy in 1015 in medieval Russia. Their feast day is July 24.

Boris was a prince and gifted military commander who was popular with the Russian people. He was married, but he had enormous love for his servant George the Hungarian. Slavic professor Simon Karlinsky has highlighted their gay love story in his analysis of the medieval classic, “The Legend of Boris and Gleb” compiled from 1040 to 1118. Karlinsky writes:

Boris had a magnificent gold necklace made for George because he “was loved by Boris beyond reckoning.” When the four assailants stabbed Boris with their swords, George flung himself on the body of his prince, exclaiming: “I will not be left behind, my precious lord! Ere the beauty of thy body begins to wilt, let it be granted that my life may end.” The assailants tore Boris out of George’s embrace, stabbed George and flung him out of the tent, bleeding and dying. After Boris died, first having forgiven his assassins, his retinue was massacred… Not only was the author of this story clearly sympathetic to the mutual love of Boris and George but he also seemed to realize that “the gratuitous murder of George resulted from his open admission of the nature of this love.”

Karlinsky’s text above is quoted from “Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People” and “Gay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine.”

The man behind the murders was Boris’ half-brother Sviatopolk, who wanted to consolidate his power. He also had their brother Gleb killed at the same time. In 1071 Boris and his brother Gleb became the first saints canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. They were named “Passion Bearers” because, while they were not killed for their faith, they faced death in a Christlike manner, forgiving their murderers.

Brothers Boris and Gleb are popular saints in Russia. They are often pictured together and many churches are named after them. Meanwhile the beloved George the Hungarian was never canonized and has mostly been ignored -- until recently.

The icon above was painted in 2000 by Brother Robert Lentz, a Franciscan friar and world-class iconographer known for his innovative icons. It is one of 10 Lentz icons that sparked a major controversy in 2005. Critics accused Lentz of glorifying sin and creating propaganda for a progressive sociopolitical agenda, and he temporarily gave away the copyright for the controversial images to his distributor, Trinity Stores.

Here George is restored to his rightful place beside Boris, properly honoring this extraordinary couple and the way they loved each other.


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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

St. Wilgefortis: Bearded woman

St. Wilgefortis in the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows at the Loreta Sanctuary in Prague, Czech Republic

Photo by Curious Expeditions

St. Wilgefortis prayed to avoid marriage to a pagan king -- and her prayers were answered when she grew a beard! Her feast day is July 20. This virgin martyr has natural appeal for LGBT, queer and transgender folk.


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Saint Wilgefortis: Holy bearded woman fascinates for centuries

Here’s an account of her life by Terence Weldon, a gay Catholic who blogs on queer and religious matters at Queering the Church, where this summary first appeared.

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A wonderful example of a sainted bearded lady?

Unfortunately, Saint Wilgefortis may also be an example of a ‘saint’ whose biography is more popular fiction than recorded history. Still, she is listed in the standard catholic reference works, and has had an official feast day, as well as bewildering array of aliases, among them Liberata, Kummernis, Uncumber, and Livrade, Of the biographical details, take them as you will. For what it is worth, the legend says that she was the daughter of a king, who had taken a vow of virginity. When her father wanted to marry her off to the King of Sicily, she prayed for deliverance from this evil fate. Whereupon she grew a beard. What self-respecting king would want to marry a bearded princess? Her father was said to be so enraged at this that he had her crucified. This may be the reason she became known as the patron saint of difficult marriages – but crucifixion seems an extreme way to end one.

Modern skeptical scholars suggest that the story of her beard and crucifixion are sheer invention. Spoilsports! Why let facts get in the way of a good story? Sadly, her “cult was suppressed and she was dropped from the calendar in 1969.″
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[Note from Kittredge Cherry: Here are a few more fun facts about St. Wilgefortis. Her veneration arose in 14th century Europe, and her story is often set in Portugal. The name Wilgefortis may come from the Latin “virgo fortis” (strong virgin). Her English name Uncumber means escaper, while she was called Liberata in Italy and France, and Librada in Spain -- meaning “liberator” from hardship or husbands!]
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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Cartoon shows GLBT rights on the cross

Gay Jesus cartoon by Mike Ritter from Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook

Jesus embodies GLBT civil rights as he is crucified by Christian fanatics in a political cartoon from Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook.

The cartoon uses art and humor to support LGBT equality and poke fun at the rightwing Christians who oppose our civil rights.

“Quit squirming! You’re oppressing our religious freedom!” shouts the priest who nailed Jesus to the cross.

Jesus wears a shirt labeled “GLBT civil rights.” He’s not passively accepting crucifixion, but kicks at the angry mob carrying a torch, a pitchfork and Bibles.

The cartoon does a great job of illustrating how fundamentalists seem to feel threatened by the idea of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. LGBT Christians really drive them crazy!

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Update on Feb. 24, 2014: It took years to track down the name of the artist, but he was finally identified today by an anonymous source. I am in the process of contacting Mike Ritter for permission to share his cartoon here.