DOCSLIB.ORG

“Que(E)Rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches”

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
“Que(E)Rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches” Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE December 2016 “Que(e)rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches” Karen E. Macke Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Macke, Karen E., "“Que(e)rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches”" (2016). Dissertations - ALL. 585. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/585 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT Despite the longstanding debate about religion’s role in social movements, conservative religious opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social movement in the United States has limited sociological research in this area to questions of individual identity or the oppositional strategies used by religious and LGTBQ groups to sway public opinion and policy decisions. This dissertation addresses the less well-understood dynamics of mainstream religious group participation in LGBTQ social movement. Through frameworks of social movement theory, organizational culture, and queer theory, it explores the organizational elements shaping congregants’ practices in two Unitarian Universalist (UU) churches considered “Welcoming Congregations”. Analysis of data generated from participant observations, in-depth interviews, and church and denominational texts highlight how structures of church governance, materiality, and history intersected with embedded discourses of gender and sexuality to promote “closeting” and “covering” repertoires of discourse and action on behalf of marriage equality. Findings underscore the value of continued research on the specific ways in which specific elements of organizational culture can shape local group discourses and practices at varying depths, degrees, and dimensions of organizational embeddedness. “Que(e)rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches” by Karen E. Macke B.A., Colby College, 2000 M.A., Syracuse University, 2006 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Syracuse University December 2016 Copyright © Karen E. Macke 2016 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the support, patience, and caring practices of the countless individuals and groups. My sincerest thanks goes first to my dissertation committee, and advisor, Dr. Prema Kurien, whose guidance and confidence in my research and unending patience and advocacy made this project possible. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Andrew London, Dr. John Burdick, Dr. M. Gail Hamner, and Dr. Ludger Viefhues-Bailey, and Dr. Erin Rand, whose continued offerings of insight and support has been foundational to the development of this project. I also owe my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the hard- working UU congregations that welcomed me graciously into their worlds, both public and private, and from whom I received the deepest Welcome as an outsider looking in. To my family, thank you for all of the smiles, hugs, drawings, and messages that have helped keep me going along the way. And to my family, friends, colleagues, and study buddies, you have my unending appreciation and gratitude for your constant companionship and support throughout the years. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Que(e)rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches p. 1 Chapter 1: Que(e)rying Methodology to Study Church-Based Activism: p. 39 Chapter 2: Organizational Culture and Embedded Discourses of “Welcoming” p. 62 Chapter 3: Gay (In) Church? Organizational Identities and Identifying Practices p. 90 Chapter 4: Family and Community Values: Negotiating “The Glue” of UU Social Action p. 129 Conclusion: Reflections: Closets, Covers, and the Possibility of Coalitional Identity Politics in UU Churches p. 174 Appendices p. 193 References p. 197 Vita p. 209 v 1 INTRODUCTION Que(e)rying Religious Activism: Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Family in Unitarian Universalist Churches On a bright Sunday morning in June, I visited Hope Church to attend its annual “Pride Service”. Now a regular part of Hope’s summer worship calendar, the LGBTQ Pride Service is also considered routine practice for all UU congregations that are designated as “Welcoming and Affirming”. The following excerpt depicts the interaction that took place after Joann, Hope’s minister, invited congregants to stand and share their personal stories and feelings with the congregation during that morning’s collective offering of “Joys and Sorrows”: Taking the microphone from Joann’s hand, the first speaker, a white haired man, turned to face the congregation and share “some updates” for which he felt joyful. He described his son’s new job and then said his daughter’s husband was back in good health. Smiling, he handed the microphone back to Joann. Congregants waited for the next volunteer. In the back of the room, a man with equally white hair, then stood and said into the mic “I just wanted to share my joy and thanks.” He felt “thankful” his son found a job out of state and joyful “for the birth of a new grandson”. He then requested prayers for his “sister-in-law’s healing after her recent surgery”. The third speaker, a silver-haired woman with glasses and a faint tremor, stood up next to wait for the mic. She announced she was joyful that she and her husband just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. As congregants applauded the achievement, the last speaker stood, cautiously holding the pew in front of her. With focused concentration, she said, “My name is Abby, and my joy is that this is a Welcoming Congregation” (Field notes Hope Church). I chose to introduce my dissertation with this excerpt because it offers a “magnified moment” of Hope’s practices as a “Welcoming Congregation”. “Magnified moments,” according to Arlie Russell Hochschild, are “episodes of heightened importance, either epiphanies, moments of intense glee or unusual insight, or moments in which things go intensely but meaningfully wrong” (2003:16). Either way, she explained, “the moment stands out as metaphorically rich, [or] unusually elaborate,” with respect to a research topic or question. While on the surface, the excerpt of field notes that I recorded may seem to depict a 2 rather mundane moment, a fairly typical interaction that occurred during a routine worship practice at a small UU church in the Northeast United States. However, as I watched this moment unfold, I realized that it actually revealed a situation that was much more complex. This moment became magnified because of how the silence in the sanctuary outmatched the Pride that morning. It was magnified because of the questions it raised about the complex relations of power and discourse that surfaced through those interactions. Why, for instance, on a day of celebrating the lives and honoring the struggles of LGBTQ people, did only one congregant mention Hope’s Welcoming Congregation, or anything related to LGBTQ social justice for that matter? How, in the height of statewide political contest over same-sex marriage rights, was it possible to hear so many hetero-normative stories of family “joy”, without so much as a whisper about LGBTQ Pride being the theme of the service or the day? This moment, in other words, is magnified for what it captures about the interwoven mechanisms of organizational life that shape UU participation in LGBTQ social movement, which is the topic of my dissertation research. At the heart of my dissertation research is the question of organized religion and its relation and significance to social movements. This question, once central to the early development of sociological thought and practice, still stands as a topic of considerable interest both within and beyond the academy. Whether as an agent and catalyst of social change or as a source of conservative opposition and social stability, the history of religious group participation in social movements is long and complex (Smith 1996; Wood 1999). In the United States, this history of religious advocacy for social change spans more than two hundred years, and encompasses a wide range of social justice efforts (Quinley 1974; Slessarev-Jamir 2004; Smith 1996; St John 2001). From the large-scale movements of Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights to 3 local-level grassroots and community organizing, “the stuff of religion has helped constitute the very substance of these social movements’ grievances, identities, organizations, and strategies” (Smith 1996:9; see also Bumbaugh 2000, Raines 1977, Slessarev-Jamir 2004). Yet, for all that we know about religion as a catalyst of change, religious collective action for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ) social justice have remained largely unexplored.1 Dominant Christian opposition to non-normative gender and sexuality has limited our understanding of religious groups’ practices when advocating for sexuality and gender justice. Scholarship on religion and sexuality largely falls instead within two loosely defined themes: namely, the ways that individuals reconcile their (seemingly
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Unitarian Universalism Selected Essays 2001
    Unitarian Universalism Selected Essays 2001 Published by the Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Association Boston, Massachusetts The Reverend Craig Roshaven, Publications Repres e n t a t i v e Kristen B. Payson, editorial consultant Unitarian Universalism Selected Essays 2001 Preface . v Berry Street Lecture 2000 . .1 The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Morrison-Reed Fahs Lecture 2000 Queer(y)ing Religious Education: Teaching the R(evolutionary) S(ub)-V(ersions)! or Relax! … It’s Just Religious Ed . .13 The Rev. Elias Farajaje-Jones An Awakened, Compassionate Life in Today’s World . .39 Barbara Carlson Does a Building Matter? An Inquiry into the Effectiveness of Unitarian Universalist Church Architecture . .51 Charlotte Shivers The Law and the Spirit: Power, Sexuality, and Ministry . .67 The Rev. Sylvia Howe & The Rev. Paul L’Herrou A Theology of Power in the Ministry . .81 The Rev. Gordon B. McKeeman The Core of Unitarian Universalism . .91 Charles A. Howe ii UUMA Selected Essays — 2001 2001 — UUMA Selected Essays iii Preface This volume of essays is the creative product of many Unitarian Universalist colleagues who have challenged themselves to reflect at length on issues of impor- tance to our ministry. This year, six essays were submitted to a four-member panel of peers for rev i e w . Five were selected for publication. Most, though not all, of these essays were first presented to Unitarian Universalist gatherings or study gro u p s . In the future, we will continue to consider well-written essays of relevance and in t e r est to our ministry for publication, even if they have not been presented to a Unitarian Universalist gathering or study grou p .
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Reproductive Justice?
    o o o o o .
    [Show full text]
  • Values in Our History
    Values in Our History Freedom of Thought “Life becomes religious whenever we make it so.” —Sophia Lyons Fahs Personal Experience Unitarian Universalism names direct experience as an important Source of religious and spiritual understanding, an idea that originated with nineteenth-century Transcendentalism. The 1933 Humanist Manifesto, signed by several Unitarians and one Universalist, stated, “Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien to the religious….” Religious education curricula of the mid-twentieth century integrated humanism into both Unitarianism and Universalism, asking children to reflect on such everyday experiences as finding a dead animal or the birth of a sibling. At the urgent request of parents and religious educators, the UUA ventured into comprehensive sexuality education in 1970 with the publication of About Your Sexuality. Today’s Our Whole Lives sexuality education curricula build on the idea that sexuality is an important and sacred part of being human, offer accurate information, and guide participants to make their religious and moral values central to their understanding of themselves as sexual beings and their relationships with others. Unitarian Universalists explore the religious meaning of the experiences of their lives through sharing of personal stories and reflection, often in small groups. We mark important human milestones through rites of passage: baby dedication, coming of age, bridging into young adulthood, weddings and commitment ceremonies, and memorial services. Many Sources Transcendentalists embraced ideas from Hinduism, but it was the Western Unitarian Conference, led by Jenkin Lloyd Jones, that fully embraced wisdom from the world’s religious and philosophical texts.
    [Show full text]
  • Quest for Quotidian: a National Survey of Non-Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Marriage
    UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Quest for Quotidian: A National Survey of Non-Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Marriage Troy A. McGinnis University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Community-Based Research Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the Philosophy Commons Repository Citation McGinnis, Troy A., "Quest for Quotidian: A National Survey of Non-Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Marriage" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1201. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2754289 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. QUEST FOR QUOTIDIAN: A NATIONAL SURVEY OF NON-HETEROSEXUAL ATTITUDES TOWARD MARRIAGE by Troy A. McGinnis Bachelor of Arts The University of Texas at Austin 1995 Master of Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1999 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Sociology Department of Sociology College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 3384004 Copyright 2009 by McGinnis, Troy A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Safe Congregation Handbook
    The Safe Congregation Handbook Nurturing Healthy Boundaries in Our Faith Communities Patricia Hoertdoerfer and Fredric Muir, editors Unitarian Universalist Association Boston Copyright © 2005 by the Unitarian Universalist Association. All rights reserved. The Unitarian Universalist Association grants permission to photocopy portions of this book for use in workshops. Printed in the United States Cover design by Dutton and Sherman Text design by Dartmouth Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1–55896–498–3 978-1–55896–498–3 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 08 07 06 05 We are grateful for permission to reprint the following: “The Differences Between Stress and Burnout” reprinted from Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry by Roy M. Oswald, with permission from the Alban Institute. Copyright © 1991 by The Alban Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. “Eleven Guidelines for Preserving Boundaries” adapted from “Myths and Facts About Domestic Violence” reprinted by permission of SafeHouse Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, website: www.safehousecenter.org, helpline: (734) 995-5444. “Benediction” reprinted from Awakened from the Forest: Meditations on Ministry, ed. Gary E. Smith. Reprinted by permission of Susan Manker-Seale. Prayer by Thomas Mikelson reprinted by permission of the author. “Stubborn Ounces (To One Who Doubts the Worth of Doing Anything If You Can’t Do Everything),” from Hands Laid Upon the Wind by Bonaro W. Overstreet. Copyright © 1955 by W. W. Norton & Co. Inc. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Sources of Power and Vulnerability and Elements of Justice-making by Rev. Marie M. Fortune, from Clergy Misconduct: Sexual Abuse in the Ministerial Relationship, copyright © 1992, 1997.
    [Show full text]
  • Resistance and Transformation: Unitarian Universalist Social Justice History
    RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIAL JUSTICE HISTORY A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults BY REV. COLIN BOSSEN AND REV. JULIA HAMILTON © Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/re/tapestry 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP 1: INTRODUCTIONS................................................................................................................... 16 WORKSHOP 2: PROPHETIC, PARALLEL, AND INSTITUTIONAL ............................................................. 27 WORKSHOP 3: THE RESPONSE TO SLAVERY ............................................................................................ 42 WORKSHOP 4: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WOMEN'S PEACE MOVEMENT .................................... 58 WORKSHOP 5: JUST WAR, PACIFISM, AND PEACEMAKING .................................................................. 77 WORKSHOP 6: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ON THE MARGINS OF EMPIRE ................................................. 96 WORKSHOP 7: UTOPIANISM ........................................................................................................................ 106 WORKSHOP 8: COUNTER-CULTURE .......................................................................................................... 117 WORKSHOP 9: FREE SPEECH ....................................................................................................................... 128 WORKSHOP 10: TAKING POLITICS PUBLIC .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Editor's Preface
    Editor’s Preface As I read through the collected articles for this issue, I was taken back to a number of incidents that helped in the “formation” of my ministry as a religious humanist – I use that term deliberately because it is current seminary-speak, and would have seemed pretentious to most of us preparing for the UU ministry in the seventies. Ministerial formation is what seminary education is said to be about these days, and the word is used, I take it, as a contrast to ministerial preparation. The whole path from lay person to aspirant, to candidate, and finally to minister-in-fellowship is now seen through the lens of discernment, a process with a built in assumption that there is something about ministry (or perhaps more accurately, about the person moving towards ministry), that needs to be uncovered. While the language involved strikes me as a little precious, the underlying idea has some real merit. The skills you (sort of, begin to) learn in seminary – preaching, counseling, teaching, cultural competence and administering – are important, but probably less so than the insights you come across about yourself in a liberal religious setting. And the academic subjects you cover – theology, ethics, psychology, philosophy, church history and group dynamics – while a necessary framework upon which to hang those insights, are not the heart of what enable you to pastor. That heart is the growing sense of yourself as a minister, in a host of settings and through a host of experiences. Sarah Millspaugh’s article on About Your Sexuality took me back to my own SAR (Sexual Attitude Restructuring) experience at the Akron Forum in the early 70s, as well as my first training to teach AYS.
    [Show full text]
  • Unitarian Universalist History Renaissance Module
    Unitarian Universalist History Renaissance Module PARTICIPANT GUIDE By Gail Forsyth-Vail Developmental Editor, Pat Kahn © 2016, 2018 by the Faith Development Office of the UUA, Boston, MA Table of Contents About the Author ........................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction and Requirements .................................................................................................. 4 List of Timelines ......................................................................................................................... 9 Suggested Opening and Closing Words .................................................................................. 10 Outline of Webinars ................................................................................................................. 11 Session 1: Heretics and Founders - Background and Preparation .......................................... 13 Session 2: Reformers - Background and Preparation ............................................................. 22 Session 3: Missionaries and Builders - Background and Preparation ..................................... 27 Session 4: Humanists - Background and Preparation ............................................................. 33 Session 5: Making Life Religious - Background and Preparation ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Male Sexuality and Masculine Spirituality
    Volume XIII Number 4 March 1985 ISSN-0991-3995 Sex information and Education Council of the U.S. MALE SEXUALITY AND MASCULINE SPIRITUALITY lames 6. Nelson, PhD Professor of Christian Ethics United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities New Brighton, Minn. Member, S/ECUS Board of Directors Allan Sillitoe describes “the loneliness of the long distance In looking at the first of these issues, I start with the premise runner” in his book by that title: that men tend to genitalize sexuality. This means at least the following: that men tend to isolate sex from other areas of life, All I knew was that you had to run, run, run, without tend to focus the meaning of sexuality in the genital expe- knowing why you were running, but on you went, rience, and find the genitals highly important to the male through fields you didn’t understand and intowoodsthat self-image. Without intending a biological determinism, we made you afraid, over hills without knowing you’d been can still acknowledge that the male biological experience up and down, and shooting across streams that would encourages certain tendencies different from those commonly have cut the heart out of you had you fallen into them. experienced by women. And the winning post was no end to it, even though the Male genitals are external, visible, and easily accessible to crowds might be cheering you in, because on you had to touch. One result of this is that males predictably masturbate go. (Sillitoe, 1959, pp. 37-38) earlier and more frequently than females, generating a greater I suspect that some of the major problems in masculinespiritu- tendency to focus and reinforce male sexual feelings in the ality are suggested in Sillitoe’s description.
    [Show full text]
  • Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns, Or OBGLTC
    Latest draft October 2012 from LGBTQ Ministries Multicultural Growth and Witness Unitarian Universalist Association www.uua.org/lgbtq / [email protected] LGBTQ History & Facts for Unitarian Universalists Major resolutions in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people The first General Assembly resolution on this topic passed in 1970, urging the UUA to work to end discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals. In 1980, a General Assembly resolution urged the UUA to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in regards to employment, and assist in the settlement of lesbian, gay, and bisexual religious leaders. In 1984, a General Assembly resolution affirmed the practice of conducting services of union for gay and lesbian couples. Another resolution in support of full marriage equality passed in 1996. The first resolution to affirm transgender individuals and identity passed at General Assembly in 2007 and urged the expression of this affirmation through employment practices, educational efforts, congregational life, and public witness, as well as encouraging congregations to explore the differences between sexual orientation and transgender identity. Over the last 4 decades, resolutions and actions on immediate witness have been passed at General Assembly regarding discrimination, AIDS, the military, sexual education in public schools, marriage equality, the employment non-discrimination act, and more. Welcoming Congregations Unitarian Universalism began teaching about gay issues to youth in 1971 in the UU curriculum About Your Sexuality (now called Our Whole Lives). In 1989, a General Assembly resolution urged the UUA to implement the Welcoming Congregation program (proposed by the Common Vision Planning Committee and approved by the UUA Board of Trustees), and the first edition of the curriculum was published in 1990.
    [Show full text]
  • Thatnon-Members
    100QUESTIONS THAT NON-MEMBERS ASK ABOUT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM BY JOHN SIAS from interviews with Rev. Steve Edington BY JOHN SIAS From interviews with Rev. Steve Edington TRANSITION PUBLISHING Nashua, New Hampshire Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 by the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua, New Hampshire All rights reserved First printing September, 1994 Second printing May, 1995 Third printing November, 1995 Second edition November, 1996 Third edition March, 1998 Fourth edition April, 1999 Fifth edition December, 2000 Printed in the United States of America Designed by Jill Shaffer Additional copies are available from: Unitarian Universalist Church 58 Lowell Street Nashua, NH 03060 ISBN 0-9654497-3-4 PREFACE A few years ago I learned that in this nation of 260 million people, there are fewer than 200,000 Unitarian Universalists. I wondered, “Are UUs so rare because people have studied the reli- gion and rejected it? Or is it that so few people are even acquainted with the religion?” Believing that the latter situation might be the case, I began to as- semble questions about Unitarian Universalism, obtaining them from a va- riety of people outside the religion: Catholics, Protestants, Jews and funda- mentalists. I even went inside the religion, seeking questions from both present and former church members and ministers. Rev. Steve Edington of the Nashua, New Hampshire UU Church is the source of most of the answers. If you don’t like the response to a par- ticular question, I’ll tell you that Steve didn’t answer that one, or Steve did answer it but I didn’t write what he told me.
    [Show full text]
  • REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE 1 2 Our
    1 REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE 2 3 Our beliefs in upholding the human rights of all and in sexuality as a gift to be celebrated call us 4 into the reproductive justice movement. Families, relationships, and our sense of beloved 5 community enrich our shared lives and remind us of the importance of healthy sexuality within 6 supportive social and political environments. Our commitments to love, acceptance, freedom of 7 conscience, and multiculturalism inspire us in working toward a more just world. 8 9 The world we envision includes social, political, legal, and economic systems that support 10 everyone’s freedom of reproductive choice and expression of gender identity and sexuality. In 11 such a world all communities are places of equality, abundance and safety, free from violence, 12 oppression, and hazardous environments. This world includes access to affordable, culturally 13 appropriate and safe child care and health care. In our vision everyone has access to accurate, 14 safe, healthy, and culturally-appropriate reproductive health services and information about 15 sexuality and family planning. 16 17 As Unitarian Universalists, we embrace the reproductive justice framework, which espouses the 18 right to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe and healthy environments 19 (SisterSong). To this we add that all people have the right to bodily autonomy and self- 20 expression with regards to their gender and sexuality 21 22 History 23 Our faith tradition has a long history of progressive witness for freedom and justice. Soon 24 after the merger of Universalism and Unitarianism, the new Association (1961) adopted 25 statements in support of civil rights and the rights of women.
    [Show full text]