HOW DOES ABUSIVE
THEOLOGY MANIFEST ITSELF?
At present in the UK abusive theology is made use of in
relation to gay people and women. Whilst
the matter of the ordination of the latter seems mainly to concern a particular
section of that gender it clearly has an implication for the whole, as well as
affecting an understanding of the male sex and our perception of ourselves. Regrettably one hears only too often of the
way both men and women (but mainly male priests) denigrate women priests. Concepts of ‘tainting’ sanctuaries and
altar’s; the refusal to communicate with women priests, or touch them; the
maintenance of places where women cannot enter; the refusal to acknowledge
women in hierarchical authority, and much more all indicate a fear that women
are ‘unclean’ both in particular and, by extension, in general.
For those men who hold such beliefs or who accede to them,
there is also potential damage. To
exclude the feminine from the holy or to hold a view of the divinity which
excludes the feminine is to place the masculine in a position which unbalances their humanity. It is arguable that those who hold a theology that exclude women can find themselves drawn into an
abusive relationship with both men and women.
ABUSIVE THEOLOGY AND
THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL
Whilst the Christian Church, in common with society, has a
history of male supremacy/domination this, of course, has been changing in the UK. However, by allowing such
views within the Church those pastorally responsible seem reluctant to address
the issue of abuse of women and LGBT people by some priests, laypeople and
bishops who seem, consciously or unconsciously, to be influenced by a theology
purity/exclusivity. Whilst many would be
supportive of an approach to life determined by WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) it
astonishes me that such people do not seem to hear those terrible words our
Lord, directed at the religious purists of his day and recorded in the Gospel
of Matthew:
Then Jesus said to the
crowds and to his disciples, … 13 "But woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For
you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop
them. 14 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert
twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. … 23 "Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected
the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you
ought to have practised without neglecting the others. 24 You blind
guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! 25"Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of
the plate, but inside they are full of greed and
self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the
cup, so that the outside also may become clean. 27 "Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs,
which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of
the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28 So you also on the outside
look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt. 23)
Hearing the way in which some priests and bishops speak of
women and LGBT people one wonders what they make of these words or how they
hear the underlying command contained within the whole of the New Testament to
Love one’s neighbour as oneself. I fear
that self-love may be undermined by loathing for abusive theology will
‘taint’ those who hold it just as it hurts and damages others.
John-Francis
Friendship
Feast of S. Luke 2012
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