{"id":68852,"date":"2018-03-06T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T14:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=68852"},"modified":"2018-03-06T09:05:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T14:05:56","slug":"a-glimpse-of-life-at-harvard-these-days-secularism-and-its-discontents-by-henry-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=68852","title":{"rendered":"A Glimpse of Life at Harvard these days–Secularism and Its Discontents by Henry Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past month, student group Harvard College Faith in Action endured two serious public relations debacles, both regarding the group\u2019s relation to the BGLTQ community. The first incident arose when HCFA invited renowned\u00a0ex-lesbian<\/a>\u00a0Jackie Hill-Perry, who became famous for\u00a0claiming<\/a>\u00a0that her rebirth into faith saved her from a \u201clifestyle of homosexual sin,\u201d to speak at its weekly Doxa meeting. Then, in the wake of a public\u00a0outcry<\/a>and several\u00a0opinion<\/a>\u00a0pieces<\/a>, news broke that HCFA had\u00a0dismissed<\/a>\u00a0one of its Bible study group leaders after she dated someone of the same gender\u2014though group leaders\u00a0cited<\/a>reasons of \u201ctheological disagreement.\u201d After the latter incident, the College put the group on “probation<\/a>,” reportedly marking the first instance of such disciplinary action in the history of the College.<\/p>\n

Much of the response among community members and the wider public has echoed a familiar array of sentiments. One student\u00a0interviewed<\/a>\u00a0by The Crimson chastised the non-denominational Christian group for exemplifying \u201cinstitutional backlash against queer people.\u201d An\u00a0op-ed<\/a>\u00a0judged HCFA \u201ccomplicit in promoting dangerous homophobic rhetoric\u201d and threatening \u201cthe emotional and physical safety of LGBT people here on campus.\u201d One commenter following the story on a BGLTQ news site\u00a0staked<\/a>\u00a0out a more extreme position: \u201cVirginal births, talking snakes, boats with two of every species on board\u2026 Enough judging people through the prism of fairy tales.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems to this author that these reactions, some more respectfully than others, leave unexamined the purchase that faith still holds in people\u2019s lives\u2014and the lives of BGLTQ people no less. To identify \u201cdangerous homophobic rhetoric\u201d as the object of our frustration means leaving the underlying problem\u2014the way faith is often framed as contending with our secular sensibilities\u2014unaddressed. Attributing homophobia to a belief in \u201cvirginal births [and] talking snakes\u201d only exacerbates that problem, affirming categories like \u201creligious-and-straight\u201d and \u201csecular-and-queer\u201d that constrain nonconforming expressions of identity.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past month, student group Harvard College Faith in Action endured two serious public relations debacles, both regarding the group\u2019s relation to the BGLTQ community. The first incident arose when HCFA invited renowned\u00a0ex-lesbian\u00a0Jackie Hill-Perry, who became famous for\u00a0claiming\u00a0that her…<\/span><\/p>\n

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