In Benedict's vision of the Church, one part of the consensus reality mandates that men have sole ownership of the teaching and ritual authority of the Church. I used the word authority purposely, because Jesus' idea of servant leadership was ditched almost from the get-go in favor of a definition of leadership based in personal self assigned authority. The 'other centered' servant aspect was assigned by this authority to women. We now call this split between genders, the complementarity of the genders. Traditional marriage is the ultimate symbol of this complementarity of 'other-centered' service oriented women, and 'self-centered' authoritarian oriented men. . . . Pope Benedict has determined that Roman Catholicism will be the last best defender of this paradigm.
One of the major clashes with actual reality engendered by this world view is that it also contains a very reductionist conceptualization of sexuality. That view of sexuality has lately been presented in absolute terms. The farther secular culture has gotten from the idealized notion of gender complementarity, the more hard line and absolutist the religious position has become. No amount of science or sociology or anthropology or plain old fashioned reality testing impacts the "truth" of the sexual teachings. As our consensus reality about gender roles change, the keepers of the old consensus are digging in deeper and meaner.
Thoughts & interests of a queer seeker of the Divine Presence;
of a “soul dancer,” seeking to embody with grace and verve
the mystico-prophetic spiritual tradition
Another late night. I was up until almost midnight reading and digesting this, the letters, the comments. Learn and understand.
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