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Homosexuality And Everyday Theologies

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God, Sex, and Politics: Homosexuality and Everyday Theologies by DAWNE MOON
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 2004, 281 pp.;
$34.00 USD (paper), $87.00 USD (cloth)

As an individual surrounded by family and friends who candidly advocate for the unwavering, equal rights of homosexuals in all aspects of life and community, it is difficult to understand why debate is still taking place. In God, Sex, and Politics: Homosexuality and Everyday Theologies, Dawne Moon provides an informative and thought-provoking ethnographic study of the divide within the United Methodist Church (UMC) as members grapple with and respond to homosexuality. She writes an articulate account of a twenty-one month period she spent at two congregations attempting to maintain communitas and transcendence amongst their members and avoid politics.
Moon spent fourteen months of her study at a congregation she brands the City Church. It is a large, urban church characterized by liberalism and diversity. The minority believed homosexuality was sinful and the clergy supported the Reconciling Congregations Program (RCP) aimed at explicitly welcoming homosexual members within the UMC. Members believed God speaks to many people in many different ways and can reveal his truth to people in new ways, such a through everyday ideologies. The other seven months of her study took place at a rural, more conservative church she identified as the Missionary Church. Among its membership, Moon observed that members recognize one unchanged, God-given truth that is outlined by scripture. Homosexuality was believed to be …show more content…

Inclusiveness of the Church, 304.3 Qualifications for Ordination." The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church. Nashville: United Methodist House, 2012.

Moon, Dawne. God, Sex, and Politics: Homosexuality and Everyday Theologies. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2004. Print. N. pag. The United Methodist Church. Web. 30 Nov.

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