Who did you say you represent?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm by Robert Hunt

Who did you say you represent? 2015-03-13T20:07:56-06:00 Robert Hunt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How can there be a dialogue about sexuality with only men? How can there be a discussion of religious views of homosexuality with only straight men?

Good questions. Questions asked at the end of our recent Faiths in Conversation Dialogue on sexuality, marriage, and homosexuality.

These questions reveal the vast gulf between traditional religious views and those of contemporary persons, particularly in the West. The traditional view is that revelation is, as a product of God, gender neutral. It neither favors nor disfavors any particular type of person as interpreter. Traditional methods of interpretation in all three religions imagine themselves to be equally gender neutral. They are the application of a set of universal principles. These principles and their application is not determined in any way by the particularity of gendered human experiences.

On this view one could have invited a female pastor and a gay imam and their presentations would have been no different from their male or straight counterparts.

Most contemporary people would disagree with this. And many did the other evening, and quite vocally.

We are intensely aware that our personalities, our gender, our social location, our sexuality, and our individual experiences deeply affect what we see and fail to see in interpreting God’s revelation. We see all interpretation is influenced by gender, social class, sexuality, and even individual personality.

There is no truly objective interpretation of revelation, or of a religious tradition. And, going further, there is no interpretation that doesn’t either perpetuate or challenge the structures of oppression within which traditional interpretations were formed.

Thus, it is argued, any presentation of religion must absolutely have representation by women and gays, and others. Only with this representation can we fully grasp the meaning of the revealed message and avoid exploitative interpretations.

The belief that the social location of the interpreter plays an important role in determining the results of interpretation, and that interpretation perpetuates power differentials, is now so widespread that many people cannot imagine that not everyone has this understanding of reality. It seems like a truth so obvious that it need not be stated.

Just, I might add, as the older view of objective interpretation seems to those who hold it to be a truth so obvious it need not be stated.
But it does need to be stated. Within and between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity there is a fundamental disagreement over the basis upon which scripture and tradition are interpreted. And lacking agreement on the basis of interpretation there is no possible agreement on the results of interpretation.

Which is why we need dialogue, but perhaps a different kind of dialogue than that which we have pursued thus far. We need to probe further the question of who can claim access to the meaning of God’s revelation, and on what basis those claims can be judged.

Christian Identity

Christian Muslim Relations

Home Page

Inter-Religious Dialogue

Previous Post

May 21, 2014

Sexual Desire versus Sexuality

Next Post

May 29, 2014 The Irrelevance of "God"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Identity Christian Muslim Relations Home Page Inter-Religious Dialogue Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 July 2010 May 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz