Uses of the Judeo-Christian Bible in the Anti-Abolitionist
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THIS FIERCE GEOMETRY: USES OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN BIBLE IN THE ANTI-ABOLITIONIST AND ANTI-GAY RHETORIC OF THE UNITED STATES by Michael J. Mazza B. A., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1990 M. A., University of Pittsburgh, 1996 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2009 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Michael J. Mazza It was defended on April 15, 2009 and approved by Nancy Glazener, University of Pittsburgh Moni McIntyre, Duquesne University William Scott, University of Pittsburgh Committee Chair: Jean Ferguson Carr, University of Pittsburgh ii THIS FIERCE GEOMETRY: USES OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN BIBLE IN THE ANTI-ABOLITIONIST AND ANTI-GAY RHETORIC OF THE UNITED STATES Michael J. Mazza, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 Copyright © by Michael J. Mazza 2009 iii Jean Ferguson Carr_______ THIS FIERCE GEOMETRY: USES OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN BIBLE IN THE ANTI-ABOLITIONIST AND ANTI-GAY RHETORIC OF THE UNITED STATES Michael J. Mazza, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2009 This dissertation examines the citational use of the Judeo-Christian Bible in two sociopolitical debates within the United States: first, the debate over the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century, and second, the contemporary debate over gay rights. This study incorporates two core theses. First, I argue that the contemporary religious right, in its anti-gay use of the Bible, is replicating the hermeneutical practices used by opponents of the abolitionist movement. My second thesis parallels the first: I argue that the contemporary activists who reclaim the Bible as a pro-gay instrument are standing in the same hermeneutical tradition as nineteenth-century Christian abolitionists. This study is thus about the acts of interpreting texts and putting those interpretations to use in the public sphere. The first chapter lays out the historical and conceptual groundwork for this study. Among the issues considered are the evolution of the biblical canon, the role of interpretive communities in biblical interpretation, and the matrix of human difference, privilege, and marginalization. The second chapter reviews more than thirty biblical passages used by anti- abolitionist activists in their public discourses. There is a comparative thrust to this chapter, iv because it juxtaposes this “slavemaster’s Bible” with the biblical passages used in anti-gay discourse. The third chapter is a comparative analysis of the biblical hermeneutics practiced by nineteenth-century abolitionists and contemporary pro-gay thinkers. In this chapter I identify seven general strategies which these two groups hold in common as each engages the biblical text. The fourth and final chapter considers the possible connections that link the hermeneutics of the American abolitionist and gay rights movements to three other currents of thought: first, the ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu; second, the minjung theology of South Korea; and third, the philosophy of hermeneutics developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer. The study ends with a brief coda, which considers some of the political and cultural events of 2009 in light of the dissertation’s main ideas. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION: SODOMY, SATAN, AND THE SUMMER OF 2008 ............. 1 2.0 CHAPTER ONE: DIFFERENCE, PRIVILEGE, AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION .................................................................................................................. 19 3.0 CHAPTER TWO: THE SLAVEMASTER’S BIBLE AND THE ANTI-GAY BIBLE ..................................................................................................................................... 70 4.0 CHAPTER THREE: THE LIBERATIONISTS’ BIBLE ..................................... 137 5.0 CHAPTER FOUR: HERMENEUTICS WITHOUT BORDERS ....................... 232 6.0 THIS FIERCE GEOMETRY: A CODA ............................................................... 275 WORKS CITED........................................................................................................................ 280 vi A NOTE ON THE TEXT Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible verses quoted in this document are in the King James Version translation as presented in The African-American Devotional Bible. Verses marked with NIV are taken from the New International Version translation as presented in The NIV Study Bible, and verses marked with NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version translation as presented in The HarperCollins Study Bible. This document makes occasional reference to three works recognized as sacred writings within the Latter-day Saint faith community: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Pearl of Great Price. I have represented these titles according to the recognized convention that sacred writings are neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks when mentioned in the body of a work. I do, however, italicize the specific editions of these books which appear in this document’s Works Cited section. Parenthetical references to Doctrine and Covenants as scripture are given in chapter and verse format, as with biblical references. In citing specific passages from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, I have followed the notation convention used by Joseph Dunne in his study Back to the Rough Ground. vii Furthermore, I have supplemented these citations with page references to the primary English translation I consulted. Some of the nineteenth century sources cited herein make use of spelling, punctuation and capitalization in ways that are not in accordance with current standard English usage; so as not to excessively distract from these historic texts, I have opted not to append the Latin marker sic in brackets after each such incident. I have opted to further eschew the use of sic when citing non-U.S. Anglophone writers who employ British spelling conventions in such words as colour. The title of this dissertation is inspired by a line from an English translation of Jorge Luis Borges’ sonnet “Emanuel Swedenborg.” An excerpt from this particular translation may be found on page xi of this document; the Spanish original may be found in a number of volumes, among them Borges’ own Obra poética, 2 (140). More on Swedenborg and on his relevance to my arguments may be found in the first chapter of the dissertation. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the following institutions and individuals, each of which has, in some way, contributed to my progress on this dissertation: Barco Law Library, University of Pittsburgh; Clifford E. Barbour Library, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; Cross- Cultural and Leadership Development, University of Pittsburgh; Associate Professor Alexis De Veaux of the State University of New York at Buffalo; the Rev. Roberta Dunn, Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Pittsburgh; East Suburban Unitarian Universalist Church, Murrysville, Pennsylvania; the Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, Vice-Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches; Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh; Humanities and Social Sciences Library, New York Public Library, New York City; Levittown Public Library, Levittown, New York; the late Rev. Michael Lumberger of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh; Professor Dwight McBride of the University of Illinois at Chicago; Mid-Manhattan Library, New York Public Library, New York City; The National Association of African American Studies; Chancellor Mark Nordenberg of the University of Pittsburgh; Professor Emeritus Donald Petesch of the University of Pittsburgh; the Pittsburgh First Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Pittsburgh New Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Rainbow ix Alliance, University of Pittsburgh; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York City; the late Professor Richard Tobias of the University of Pittsburgh; and Wilkinsburg Public Library, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. I am particularly grateful for the guidance I have received from the three individuals who have held the position of Graduate Secretary in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh during my time as a student at this institution: Philippa Carter, Sue Borello, and Connie Arelt. I would like to additionally thank my dissertation committee: Nancy Glazener, Moni McIntyre, William Scott, and chair Jean Carr. I also wish to acknowledge all of my professors at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the United States Naval Academy and the University of Pittsburgh; my family and friends; and, finally, my sisters- and brothers-in-arms, past and present, in the armed forces of the United States and its allies. x He would see That which earthly eyes do not see: The fierce geometry, the crystal Labyrinth of God and the sordid Milling of infernal delights. --Jorge Luis Borges, “Emanuel Swedenborg” (lines 4-8) xi 1.0 INTRODUCTION: SODOMY, SATAN, AND THE SUMMER OF 2008 In the summer of 2008, the people of the United States were intensely focused on the evolving presidential campaign. Democrat senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois—respectively, the first truly viable female and African-American candidates for the highest elected office in the land—spent the beginning of the summer locked in an historic contest for their party’s nomination. Obama’s eventual victory over Clinton marked the start of his political