According to Liebert, Interindividual people are those “who free enough to be themselves, and let others be themselves fully” (153). The interindividual stage looks to integrate fully any opposites for the directees’ comfort in living with freedom, responsibility, achievement, and intimacy. They become mature and “world-conscious people” with social engagement and interdependence. The process of reintegration may appear limitations and tension, but overall the directees are more aware of the need for a reconciliation process, of the imaging of God, and of spiritual self-direction. They see themselves as “co-creators” with God. Although the gay directees do not need much spiritual direction at this stage, according to Empereur, the directors need to keep in mind three areas: “the transformation of loss, the poetics of intimacy, and the public passage” (158). …show more content…
The poetics of intimacy means to approach and respect others as they are. Dialoguing for understanding is the key to unpack and deepen mutual love with God, others, and self. For the directees who are looking for a relationship, the director should advice, “Look where you are not looking” (162). The public passage concerns social roles of gay/lesbian directees, in other words, their mission is significant for human community. There are two steps before “coming out” to a public passage: the appreciation of the human body (both attractive and sacramental) and the call to “generativity” regardless physical beauty. Thus, gay/lesbian people need to prove themselves in fields of profession. They also “witness to believers the shape of homosexual holiness.” For both society and the church, “homosexuality is one of God’s most significant gifts to humanity,” affirms Empereur
Andrew Sullivan, author of, What is a Homosexual, portrays his experience growing up; trapped in his own identity. He paints a detailed portrait of the hardships caused by being homosexual. He explains the struggle of self-concealment, and how doing so is vital for social acceptation. The ability to hide one’s true feelings make it easier to be “invisible” as Sullivan puts it. “The experience of growing up profoundly different in emotional and psychological makeup inevitably alters a person’s self-perception.”(Sullivan)This statement marks one of the many reasons for this concealment. The main idea of this passage is to reflect on those hardships, and too understand true self-conscious difference. Being different can cause identity
This immersion into this new world is what prompted Marin to start the Marin Foundation, an organization that helps bring awareness about the GLBT community to the Christian community in an attempt to build bridges between the two traditionally ostracized groups. In this book he starts out telling stories from his experiences and the relationships he has made and what he has learned since immersing himself in the community. This helps the reader get to know the GLBT community and remind Christians that they struggle with similar things that we do, and help break down some of the stigma walls that have been built up over the years. After that, it becomes a bit more practical in giving the five steps for helping make more constructive conversation and help build those bridges and then eventually cross them altogether. This portion has a lot of biblical references, not to provide ways to condemn the GLBT community but rather help us level the playing field and remind Christians that we are sinful as
Some women seek lesbian relationships because they want to reject this sort of powerless state they may feel in a heterosexual situation. Relationships between men to men and women to women hold several differences, but at the same time they share several similarities. Downing concludes the article by stating that there are both gay men and lesbians that dismiss the homosexuality myth, but it is crucial that they understand that the myth does hold a cultural vision on the power of gender and human selfhood. In order to get past the myth, we must understand to accept its existence.
In Richard B. Hays article, “Awaiting the Redemption of Our Bodies”, he states a story of him and his friend Gary, who struggles with homosexuality and is passing away from AIDS. Hay’s article dives into his own inner discussions while also adding commentary from conversations held with his friend, Gary, about what it means to be a Christian homosexual and what the Bible says about the subject. Walter Wink’s article, “Biblical Perspectives on Homosexuality”, does not feature a story
The poem “Faith”, written by Mark Doty in 1995, works to destigmatize Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) through his relationship with his partner, Wally. Since this poem was written in the mid-1990s, it is a progressive piece that focuses on normalizing homosexuality and raising awareness for AIDS. His writing focuses on combatting the largely-held belief that AIDS only affects homosexual men. There was also the idea that there were “good gays” and “bad gays”. “Bad gays” were the ones who had the misfortune to contract HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and “good gays” did not contract HIV. Additionally, he describes the profound effect that a terminal disease can have on a relationship. Doty’s poem represents the idea that true love provides mankind with the ability to conquer fears. The main purpose of his poem is to show his love for his significant other and show the effect that AIDS had on their relationship, strengthening it, while making it more fragile at the same time. Doty’s poem is important because it opens up a non-judgmental conversation about AIDS, which was unique for that time.
Life as a Child in the Civil War In 1861 through 1865 the Civil War occurred, it was known as “Brothers against Brothers”. The children were a big impact on the war. Children had to take care of responsibilities that their brothers and fathers did, many young children became soldiers, and there were many after war disadvantages. Even though children gained responsibility and secretly became soldiers during the Civil War, they faced many disadvantages after the conflict.
He argues that psychologists as early as Freud have determined the importance of a person’s sexual identity in defining a person’s psychological make-up and then points out that it is impossible for a reader to divorce their sexuality from a reading of any text, that a reader brings to a text the entirety of his experiences and identity and therefore, he brings his sexual identity to the reading of a text also. I use the male pronoun at this point in this paper because the author of the article examined the homosexual male reader, which is separate from either the heterosexual identity and also separate from a lesbian identity because "the homosexual male, in spite of his ‘difference’ is still a biological man, and very importantly, he is a socially constructed man, with all that this implies for phallocentrism and patriarchy" (73). Therefore, it can be seen, a reader can neither divorce their sexual identity nor their gender identity from a reading of a text; in fact, because these factors play a major role in a reader’s psychological make-up, they also play a major role in a
The topic of sexual orientation is both sensitive and controversial. This is evident in events, such as the Pride Parade, and also in media, where authoritative figures preach against it and speak of its “sinful nature” (Emmanuele, Blanchard, Camperio-Ciani, & Bancroft, 2010). Sexual orientation exists in various forms, it differs in the way it is viewed by different cultures, and researchers propose different perspectives to explain the emergence of an individual 's sexual orientation. In the discourse of sexual orientation,
Another thought that pondered my mind through the course of this essay, was that of the continuous sense of isolation and confusion being felt by the poet, so early on in their life. This sense of isolation is unfortunately so prevalent in the LGBTQA community where it remains difficult to be who you are, or know where you stand in a world that can be so hateful. In many ways, I am sure we are all very familiar with the feeling of loneliness and needing to isolate in one way or another. It is incredibly difficult to be and feel comfortable with yourself when so many people are telling you how you are supposed to look, feel, be and act all the time. However, it is especially troublesome when you do not have a supportive community around you and that remains the harsh reality for so many people today who live without support.
Do you belong to any religion and adhere to the practices of the religion? People need to ask themselves whether they belong to any religion and whether they adhere to the practices of the particular religion in order to establish their spiritual ascription. There exist different religions in the world that follow different religious practices and beliefs. The difference occurs in the sense that what might appear to be correct or right in one religion might actually be wrong in another religion. Some of the major religions in the world include Christianity, Islam, Hindu, Jewish, and Judaism among other religions. Each member of these religions follows what the religion requires and people in each religion have a
“Coming out” is a means of identifying one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. At its most basic, “coming out of the closet,” means being honest with those around you—friends, family, colleagues, and so forth—about your sexual orientation, about whom you are. It also means acknowledging one’s sexual orientation to self. Such disclosure is an ongoing, lifelong process rather than a one-time event. New personal, social, and professional situations require gay men and lesbians to make decisions about the degree to which they can be open about their sexual orientation (Morrow, 1996).
Things that are valuable to us can be things that are old or that have family value and some of the values can also come from our memories. Some of the values that we have, might not be bought with money. There are many treasures in the world but it is all in the person.Everyone has a different perspective of what something valuable can be to them. When people who have the chance to get anything they want, they don’t seem to value everything they have but when you compare it to a person who doesn’t have the chance to get everything they find even the smallest things valuable to them.
Within modern-day America, there are certain societal standards based on sexual relationships. Within the poem, the narrator, a young woman, questions why she has to “wear the brand of shame; /whilst he amid the gay and proud/still bears an honored name” (Harper 26-28). Within her poem, Harper exposes the hypocrisy of the
In Chapter 10 of Rudolph K. Sanders’ book, Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Psychologists, Therapists and Pastors, Mark Yarhouse, Jill Kays and Stanton Jones discuss the “sexual minority” as it pertains to the field of professional counseling. This group is defined as “individuals with same sex attractions or behavior, regardless of self-identification” (Sanders, et. al., 2013, p. 252). By looking at counseling the homosexual community through its etiology, standards by which a counselor should proceed with treatment, and the options a client has on deciding treatment options, we can be better prepared as Christian counselors to be better prepared in serving the needs of others.
The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.