tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post445703058270281950..comments2023-12-05T04:20:37.460-06:00Comments on The Journey: A UU Seminarian in BiblelandLizard Eaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04506056116023122414noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-52543367447808086982009-02-13T07:10:00.000-06:002009-02-13T07:10:00.000-06:00Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh wrote a paper for one o...Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh wrote a paper for one of her M.Div classes on pastoral care and transgender issues.<BR/><BR/>Here's a brief section from Sarah's paper that addresses Genesis and transgender issues:<BR/><BR/><B>"The goal of reclamation is the healing of the diminished self-esteem and the fractured self-concept of the self, both direct results of systemic oppression. Central to this healing, for Chinula, is the revelation that we are all created in God’s image. This particular revelation is tricky for transgender people, as the very text from which it is drawn, Genesis 1:27, has been invoked to deny transgender people’s legitimacy. 'So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them' (NRSV). Oddly, this text has also been used to deny intersexual people’s legitimacy, justifying plastic surgery on newborns with 'mixed' genitalia, as if their genitalia were created by anyone but God.<BR/><BR/>The key to unlocking this text and using it for liberation rather than subjugation lies in both debunking the assumptions behind oppressive interpretations and reconstructing an image of God. Helping to demonstrate how this God-ordained 'naturalness' of the social norm was human-created, not God-created, is a first step in liberating God from oppressive interpretation. But in re-imaging lies the more powerful message. God, in whose image both male and female are made, is beyond gender or comprises aspects of female and male. God, in this sense, is transgender. Imaging God as transgender is both biblically accurate and theologically sound. People who are transgender are, then, created in God’s image, just as much as non-transgender males and females."</B><BR/><BR/>The rest of Sarah's paper can be found online here:<BR/><BR/>http://archive.uua.org/obgltc/resource/tgpc.pdfSteve Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12333184436301854794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-27647085912941051892009-02-11T14:32:00.000-06:002009-02-11T14:32:00.000-06:00Fausto -- this is a Pastoral Care class, not theol...Fausto -- this is a Pastoral Care class, not theology, so, no, not in this venue. We'll see what happens when I take Old Testament next fall. (Taught by a Southern Baptist prof.)<BR/><BR/>Steve ... I'm still giggling. Thanks for the quote.Lizard Eaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506056116023122414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-65477433797935115522009-02-10T20:33:00.000-06:002009-02-10T20:33:00.000-06:00On Pearlbear's blog a few years ago, she quoted th...On Pearlbear's blog a few years ago, she quoted the following from one of her seminary textbooks:<BR/><BR/><B>"The appearance of a talking snake should alert even the most unsophisticated reader to the fictional nature of the story."</B><BR/>http://blog.metacentricities.com/2005/09/13/a-wonderful-quote/Steve Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12333184436301854794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-14833480422354127342009-02-10T13:47:00.000-06:002009-02-10T13:47:00.000-06:00Do they even talk about the Documentary Hypothesis...Do they even <I>talk</I> about the Documentary Hypothesis and the, um, <I>possibility</I> that Gen 1 and Gen 2 are two separate stories from two separate cultural sources?faustohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08858053354116695746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-34636813047197353772009-02-10T13:08:00.000-06:002009-02-10T13:08:00.000-06:00Moxie -- absolutely. There is an assumption in ou...Moxie -- absolutely. There is an assumption in our UU churches that fundamentalists are incurious, not educated, etc. For the most part, that hasn't been my experience here. Here at school, they feel comfortable with being open about their struggles to make sense of it all. <BR/><BR/>And yeah ... good practice in listening with seriousness. While biting my tongue.<BR/><BR/>I'm a total minority here -- religious, gender, and race. And that alone makes it worth it.Lizard Eaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506056116023122414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-34508650604630514812009-02-10T12:38:00.000-06:002009-02-10T12:38:00.000-06:00But then again - doesn't this prepare you to meet ...But then again - doesn't this prepare you to meet people where they are spiritually without seeming superior? This might be even better then being surrounded with UU's - especially if you plan to do pastoral care in a more public setting.<BR/><BR/>Granted I would be smirking and rolling my eyes - it is a terrible affliction of the non-believer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-62039500278805852232009-02-10T10:34:00.000-06:002009-02-10T10:34:00.000-06:00Woowee, that would be a huge challenge, to sit the...Woowee, that would be a huge challenge, to sit there and not say a thing! It does get tedious sometimes.Lilylouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02328027965155428624noreply@blogger.com