Sex as God Intended: A Reflection on Human Sexuality as Play

May 16, 2009

DignityUSA

by John J. McNeill (Lethe Press; ISBN: 978-1-59021-042-0; $20.00) Reviewed by Jeff Stone Dignity/New York To many of us in DignityUSA John McNeill is a familiar and beloved figure. Yet because he is so well-known to us it is possible to lose sight of the vast scope of the achievements and gifts of this prophet in our own land. In 1970 John published the first theological articles defending homosexuality from a Catholic perspective which became the basis for Dignity’s original Statement of Position and Purpose. In 1972 he cofounded Dignity/New York. In 1976 he published the groundbreaking book The Church and the Homosexual which brought his subject into the international spotlight for the first time. Over the next two decades John followed with Taking a Chance on God; Freedom Glorious Freedom and his autobiography Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair.  As a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist John counseled hundreds of LGBT Catholics and others. As a workshop and retreat leader he reached thousands more around the world. In addition to many other honors he received DignityUSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. A featured speaker at every Dignity national convention except one (when he was briefly silenced by the Vatican) John will be with us in San Francisco to introduce his new book Sex as God Intended: A Reflection on Human Sexuality as Play. In it John offers fresh joyous and challenging insights into a subject of intense interest to each of us while expanding on the major theological and psychological themes he has developed over a lifetime. In addition twelve of John’s distinguished fellow theologians writers and activists — including Sr. Jeannine Gramick Daniel Helminiak Mary Hunt and Mark Jordan — present their own insightful and provocative reflections on his work and life in a festschrift of essays. John poses a central question at the beginning of Sex as God Intended: “Christian revelation as it came from Jesus was one of the most sex-positive and body-positive religions in the history of the world. How then in just a few centuries did it become such a body- and sex-negative religion and remain so to this day?” Turning to both Scripture and personal experience John seeks out the revelations of God’s intention for human sex as play from the Old Testament’s frankly erotic “Song of Songs” to four profound affirmations of the body in the New Testament. In John’s view God’s plan for sex as a source of joy pleasure and love fully embraces same-gender partners. He finds biblical support for this conviction in the stories of Jonathan and David and Ruth and Naomi as well as accounts of Jesus’s beloved disciple the gay centurion and his beloved boy and Jesus’s membership in a highly unconventional family of choice. John’s vision of playful same-gender sexuality includes the complete spectrum of the LGBT community’s experience. He writes: “Intimacy both physical and spiritual is precisely the goal of playful sex. But…in order to have the freedom to play and to overcome self-consciousness we must have the felt security of being loved. The primary purpose of a relationship of love is to enable the partners to affirm each other continuously through shared activities in an atmosphere of security and trust. Love gives us that freedom.” At the same time John contends that everyone — not just those in committed relationships — has a right to playful and responsible expression of their sexuality and their search for intimacy. “I agree with Norman Pittenger” he writes “that there are only three kinds of sexual activity between consenting adults: good better and best sex.” Arguing forcefully for the right to same-sex marriage John declares that there is nothing in either Scripture or human experience to support the denial of official recognition of committed same-sex relationships by church and state. He explores the “providential role of gay marriage” including the potential for same-sex marriage to correct the power imbalances and rigid gender stereotypes of traditional heterosexual marriage. In addition he celebrates the special gifts of creativity compassionate service and spiritual leadership offered by the LGBT community. Moreover John maintains that one of the main roots of homophobia is feminaphobia or a fear of and contempt for all things feminine. The only cure for this form of homophobia he states is the liberation of women to a full and equal status with men. Furthermore John argues “It is my belief that Christianity in its present form is dying along with all the major forms of patriarchy representing the domination and suppression of the feminine by the masculine. The only way it can be resurrected is to recover and affirm the feminine which will allow the Church once again to proclaim the body- and sex-positive message revealed by God.” The voices of the festschrift writers as well as foreword author Ken Page speak eloquently not only of John’s deep influence on them personally but on LGBT Catholics the broader Catholic and Christian communities and the entire LGBT spiritual movement. As Mary Hunt writes “His impact goes well beyond his roots to persons of diverse faith perspectives who seek to hold together their sexuality with their faith. If a Roman Catholic priest can do it and be open and proud about it why not a devout Muslim a Southern Presbyterian or an Orthodox Jew? As our collective movement matures his example becomes more obvious.” Sex as God Intended is the crowning work of one of our true sages vital and inspired in his ninth decade. A fount of new and stimulating ideas as well as a compact overview of John McNeill’s cumulative wisdom it is essential reading for all of us who call ourselves lesbian gay bisexual or transgender and Christian. All of John’s books are expected to be available for purchase at the convention. He will be on hand to sign all copies new or old. John’s books are also available at online retailers.

Sex as God Intended: A Reflection on Human Sexuality as Play

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