A Theological Choice

June 13, 2011 by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus

Continued from Page 2

The truth is, there is no virtue in compulsion, in any circumstance in which compulsion or lack of true choice exists. In this, I find myself in a rare moment in which I completely agree with a statement from the Quran, that "there can be no compulsion in religion" (no matter how much at variance that statement may be with some facts in the history of Islam). It is not the action of a just deity to make it impossible for a person to choose the "better" or preferred option. As a polytheist, I do not deny that there are divine beings, often of great power, who are unjust or who may deal very manipulatively or antagonistically with humans; but also as a polytheist, I also know that we are under no obligation to revere or worship deities who would deal with us in such a fashion.

The greater our own human agency (but, consequently, our responsibility) is in a particular theological matter—whether of sexual ethics, or of any other aspect of daily conduct and practical cultus—the greater are the possibilities for virtue, liberation, and the enacting of justice. In my view, it is a valid, responsible, and virtuous position to ally oneself with the gods who are for human liberation, equality, and freedom, and to repudiate the daimones who support oppression, homophobia, and compulsion in every arena of human existence.

The possibility of accepting one's LGBTQ identity as a matter of choice rather than of necessity is one that entails greater responsibility for the individuals involved, but the virtue, the vitalities, and the victories involved in such a life are then ultimately all to the individual's credit.

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6/13/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About P. Sufenas Virius Lupus

P. Sufenas Virius Lupus is a metagender and a founding member of the Ekklesía Antínoou (a queer, Graeco-Roman-Egyptian syncretist reconstructionist polytheist religious group dedicated to Antinous, the deified lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and other related gods and divine figures). E is a contributing member of Neos Alexandria and a Celtic Reconstructionist pagan in the filidecht and gentlidecht traditions. Follow Lupus' work on the Aedicula Antinoi blog.

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