"Be Not Deceived": The Sacred and Sexual Struggles of Gay and Ex-gay Christian MenHomosexuality has become increasingly accepted in mainstream America over the past two decades. Yet despite indications of progress that can be found everywhere from academia to popular culture, gay men and women remain the target of much discrimination and stigma, particularly within conservative Christianity. In Be Not Deceived, Michelle Wolkomir explores the difficult dilemma that gay Christians face in their attempts to reconcile their religious and sexual identities. She introduces the ideologies and practices of two alternative and competing ministries that offer solutions for Christians who experience homosexual desire. One organization--the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches--believes that God made people gay to suit divine purposes. Changing one's sexuality is therefore impossible and a defiance of God. In contrast, Exodus International preaches that homosexuality is a sin and a symptom of disordered psychological development--one that can be cured through redemptive prayer. By comparing participant experiences in these ministries, Wolkomir explores the paths and processes by which members learn to become gay or ex-gay Christians. Through careful analysis of the groups' ideologies, interactions, and symbolic resources, Be Not Deceived goes far beyond the obvious differences between the ministries to uncover their similarities, namely that both continue to define heterosexuality as the normative and dominant lifestyle. |
From inside the book
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... iden- tity reconstruction among members , revealing how important the adoption of new discourses , ideological frameworks , and biographi- cal accounts are to identity changes . As participants in this study for- mulated new ways of ...
... iden- tities demand actions that are simply hard to pull off , usually because they require more time , energy , skill , or other resources than an indi- vidual possesses . It might be nearly impossible , for example , to be both a full ...
... iden- tity dilemmas , hope that their negative feelings and their problem could be resolved . These good feelings drew the men toward the group and made them willing listeners to still others ' similar accounts of how they had once felt ...
Contents
Sins and Solutions | 18 |
The Dilemmas of Christian Men Who Desire Men | 39 |
Choosing a Path to Resolution | 54 |
Copyright | |
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