Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness - Softcover

Johnson, Toby; Johnson, Edwin Clark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590210220 ISBN 13: 9781590210222

Publisher: White Crane Books, 2004

Synopsis

In this Lambda Literary award-winning title, author Toby Johnson explores how the rise of gay identity has become an important part of contemporary religious development.

This dramatic transformation has resulted due to the perspective of gay men; their ability to step outside the assumptions and conventions of culture and see things from a different point of view.

This book will reward readers seeking new insight into faith as well as culture, myth and traditions.

About this title

Review

In this challenging and unusual book, Toby Johnson argues that while popular religion is supposed to be "the conveyor of wisdom," it relies on old myths that fail to address the most pressing issues of modern life (among them, the destruction of our environment, biotechnology, and racial equality). Gay men, he claims, by virtue of their position outside the mainstream, have developed ways of seeing that can help us develop a more evolved spirituality. Johnson's chief inspiration is Joseph Campbell, whose illuminations on myth and comparative religion have become wildly popular in the last two decades. But Johnson lacks much of Campbell's subtlety, and has a tendency to rely too much on Jungian thought. He argues against a dualistic world-view, for example, while reproducing some amazingly simplified views about women. And where are lesbians in Johnson's vision? All the enlightened knowledge bearers he anticipates are gay men (and childless ones, by the way). Despite these lapses, Gay Spirituality offers a lively romp through much New Age thought and, in Johnson's descriptions of biblical misreadings and cultural ignorance, a priceless survey of stupidity. Whether gay men can bring about a change in human consciousness is unclear--it is even less clear that, as Johnson breezily announces, "there is a goodness and virtue that runs through gay men's lives"--but his book should inspire serious thinking among spiritually minded gay men, and can serve as a useful antidote to Larry Kramer's Faggots. --Regina Marler

From the Publisher

Lethe Press has been pleased to keep Toby Johnson's perennial classic GAY SPIRITUALITY in print through state of the art, print-on-demand publishing methods.

One reader commented to Lethe Press that this book ought be the "bible" of the gay men's spirituality movement.

It offers a beautiful and positive and loving vision of what religion could and should be and shows how gay people's struggle to find a place within the spiritual traditions actually helps religion keep up with the evolution of human consciousness.

"With provocative insight, impressive breadth of knowledge, and insuppressible optimism, Gay Spirituality shows how a guiding vision is the scaffolding of spirituality and then goes on to construct one for the gay community. A wonderful contribution. Vintage Toby Johnson. Whether you agree or disagree, buy all of it or only a part, if there's an ounce of goodness in you, this book will make your heart smile--and perhaps help us all take that next step toward a better world." Daniel Helminiak, author of What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

About this edition

• Publisher: White Crane Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1590210220
• ISBN 13: 9781590210222
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296