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Rev . Jamie Washington , Ph.D. President, The Washington Consulting Group

Rev . Jamie Washington , Ph.D. President, The Washington Consulting Group Founder, Social Justice Training Institute Co-Pastor Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore www.washingtonconsultinggroup.net www.sjti.org. The Fundamentals: Engaging Religion and Sexualities. Intentions.

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Rev . Jamie Washington , Ph.D. President, The Washington Consulting Group

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  1. Rev. Jamie Washington, Ph.D. President, The Washington Consulting Group Founder, Social Justice Training Institute Co-Pastor Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore www.washingtonconsultinggroup.net www.sjti.org The Fundamentals: Engaging Religion and Sexualities

  2. Intentions • To create a space for deeper levels of authentic conversations about the intersections of Religion and Sexualities. • To identify and examine the blockers and communication stoppers in this conversation. • To offer strategies for engaging people with differing perspectives and beliefs, with the intention of building more inclusive campus communities and gain deeper understanding.

  3. Foundation for Engagement The Washington Consulting Group

  4. Getting Started • What brings you to this session and how are you feeling about being here? • What do you see as you look around campus and your community, that makes this session necessary? • Hopes for our time together…

  5. FLOW • Creating a Learning Environment • Engaging the “Barriers to Understanding” • The Fundamentals: Tips for continued engagement and learning. • Next Steps

  6. Learning Community Agreements • Open and Honest Communication • All perspectives are valid and welcome • Speak from personal experience: use “I” statement to share thoughts and feeling • Listen respectfully • Open to New Perspectives • Take Risk, Say the Unsaid • Trust that dialogue will take us to deeper levels of understanding and acceptance. • Hang in There and Have Fun • Others…

  7. Barriers to Understanding • The Cycle of Socialization/Oppression • Knowledge of Sexualities • Individual “Faith” Journey • Relationship to, and Knowledge/Understanding of the Bible • Lack of authentic relationships with LGBTQ…, People of “Faith”

  8. The Cycle of Oppression

  9. BORN into society Things Already Set • Actions • Don’t make waves • Promote status quo • Change is bad • First socialization • Expectations • History/traditions • Stereotypes, Myths, • Missing Information/ • Bias History • Norms/habits • Values/dreams • Roles/responsibilities CORE Confusion Hurt Anger Fear • Results In: • Dissonance • Silence, Guilt, Anger, Self Hatred • Dehumanization, Lack of Reality • Collusion/ignorance • Internalized Oppression/Dominance • Horizontal Violence and Hostility • Institutional and cultural • Family and friends • Schools, teachers, books • Religious institutions • Media • Government/legal system • Cultural “Standards” • Internalization/enforcements • Sanctions/stigma • Human difference = negative • Rewards and punishments for behavior • Conscious/unconscious beliefs/attitudes Cycle of Socialization/Oppression From Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. The Cycle of Socialization, by Bobbie Harro (2000)

  10. Understanding and Knowledge of Sexuality

  11. Our Journey With Sexuality • What are your earliest memories about sexuality? • How was it discussed in your home? • What messages did you get from your community, family, school, religious/spiritual practices about sexuality? • Are you currently a part of a religious or faith community? • If so, what is its position on LGBTQAP… • If not, and you desire to be, what’s in the way?

  12. Components of Sexuality 2014 • Biology, Physiology (Male, Female, Inter Sex) • Gender (Socially Constructed sex roles that can and have changed over time. Masculine, Feminine, Androgynous ) • Gender/Bio/Physio/Psychological Expression & Identity Congruence (Ones since of comfort and congruency in mind, body and spirit. Transgender, Transsexual, Transvestite, Gender Queer, Gender Variant Gender Normative, Cisgender) • Sexual Orientation (Ones capacity to connect on spiritual, psychological, physical, emotion and romantic levels,. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, SGL, Heterosexual, Pansexual, and Asexual…)(Kinsey 0-6) • Sexual Behavior(Who one has sex with or not) • How you see and name yourself • How others see and name you The Washington Consulting Group

  13. Individual “Faith” Journey

  14. My Journey:“God” and Sexuality • As a child, issues of religion/spirituality were… • I identify as_____ on the issue of religion/spirituality. • On a scale of 1-10, (1=low-10=high) I would say that the role religion/spirituality plays in my life is… What that means for me is… • My experience with issues of sexuality and my “faith” has been…. • What I struggle most with in this conversation is…

  15. Knowledge of and Relationship to The Bible

  16. Find Someone Who…S.H.O.U.T.

  17. Find Someone Who…S.H.O.U.T.

  18. The BIBLE and You • What is your relationship with the bible? • What do you believe is the purpose of the bible? • What do you believe the bible is and isn’t? • How did you come to believe that? • How do you believe it came to be? • How does your relationship with the bible inform/impact this conversation?

  19. What is the Bible • A library of writings that was written by dozens of authors gathered over many centuries and made sacred by those in power in the Christian church. • It has been translated but hundreds of scholars and interpreted by thousands. • Each of them brought their own experience, understanding, and bias. • It is to be taken seriously, but not literally. • A resource for making meaning of life and a potential avenue for accessing “God”. • Has been used as a primary resource to support oppression of many populations. • Has been used as a primary resource of Liberation for oppressed populations. • THE BIBLE IS NOT “GOD”

  20. The Dangerous Dynamics of Religious Fundamentalism The Washington Consulting Group

  21. Engaging Religious Fundamentalism And Sexuality The Washington Consulting Group

  22. Examine, Explore EngageChristianity and Sexualities • What do you believe about the bible? • Is there anything in the Bible you don’t agree with? • If so, how do you reconcile those issues? • Why do you think this topic didn’t make the Big 10? • Is there any other part of creation where there is not diversity? • What would it take for you to believe that God created and accepts and honors all expressions of sexual orientation? • What did Jesus say about homosexuality? • WWJD • If you were having a stroke and your doctor pulled out a book from the 1800s to treat you, what would you do? • When did you decide to be heterosexual? • Can you choose to be Gay/Lesbian? • Do you think your heterosexuality is a phase? Did you know who you were attracted to as a teenager? • Did anyone have to teach you to be attracted to men/women? • Do you think it make sense that “God” gave Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals a choice and not heterosexuals? • Do you believe that the only reason God gave us sexual desire is for procreation? • If your religious leader said, we’ve got it all wrong, God revealed that we should all live celibate lives after our children are born, How would you respond? • Others…

  23. The Fundamentals • Seek guidance from your “source”. • Get clear about your intentions and needs. • Do you need to be right or heard? • Meet people where they are, and be with them there. • Get Curious; Ask Questions, Explore. • Pay attention to other identities, yours and those you are engaging. • Share Your Truth, Understanding, and Journey. • Felt • Found • Feel • Avoid the 3 Cs: Convincing, Converting, Convicting. • Stay ENGAGED and Connected

  24. You can not move peoples Faith beliefs with Facts. The Head is not enough, You must engage the Heart.

  25. Beyond “Either” “Or” To “Both” “And”

  26. Resources for Further Development • Readings • The following books are helpful in better understanding the debate about the Bible and homosexuality:    • Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual People of Faith, edited by Debra R. Kolodny (Continuum, 2000);           • Freedom, Glorious Freedom: The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life for Gays, Lesbians, and Everybody Else, by John J. McNeill (Beacon Press, 1995);           • The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, by Peter J. Gomes (William Morrow and Company Inc., 1996);           • Is The Homosexual My Neighbor?: Another Christian View (Revised) by Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (Harper & Row Publishers, 1996);          • The New Testament and Homosexuality: Contextual Background and Contemporary Debate by Robin Scroggs (Fortress Press, 1983);         • Our Passion for Justice: Images of Power, Sexuality, and Liberation by Carter Heyward (The Pilgrim Press, 1984);          • Recognizing Ourselves: Ceremonies of Lesbian and Gay Commitment by Ellen Lewin (Columbia University Press, 1998);          • Stranger At The Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America by Mel White (Plume, 1994);           • Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian, gay and Jewish edited by Christie Balka and Andy Rose, (Beacon Press, 1989); and          • What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak, Ph.D. (Alamo Square Press, 1994). Websites: www.manyvoices.org www.gaychurch.org www.gaychristian.org www.beliefnet.com www.bible.com www.blueletterbible.org www.Rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml www.christianserver.net/bible/home.html Your ministerial staff is at your service for questions and support: Be Encouraged and Grow

  27. Rev. Jamie Washington, M.Div.,Ph.D. President, Washington Consulting Group Founding Faculty, Social Justice Training Institute Assistant Pastor , Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore 410 655 9556 dr.jamiewashington@comcast.net www.washingtonconsultinggroup.net www.sjti.org

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