A "metrosexual" young man. 80 years ago, with hair like that, he'd have been strung up...
Quoth the enemy.
Some have accused me of having my feet in both camps. That is incidentally true but it is nonetheless an oversimplification. I would have said that the convictions that I have, while fast, are not fully worked out yet because I am ignorant, and lonely. I do not hold that one particular hermeneutic of tradition, of culture, of politics or of society contains all wisdom and goodness. I am an avowed monarchist, for example, a position inspired by my Christian beliefs. At the same time I greatly admire the writings of George Orwell, a man whose sense of justice and moral righteousness was very keen and whose works are an indispensable instrument for understanding the quagmire of 20th century politics. I am a terrible snob (aren't all social climbers, though?) but I also enjoy the society of the local old dears and their custard creams. Politically, I suppose you might call me broadly "conservative," again bethought of my Christian beliefs, although I do not have much sympathy for the Conservative Party or for Mr Cameron. I tend to prefer the terms "defiant" or "sullen" to succinctly describe my political sympathies: the world and I in a constant passive-aggressive struggle for mastery (no prizes for guessing which of us is losing). I am queer but I find the ostentatious and distasteful nature of the gay community very off-putting and I cannot really say that I believe in rights for anyone, let alone "equal" rights. "Equal" is a dead word! Even so, I have some very effeminate tastes. Hinge and Bracket anyone? When I am not depressed I even take care over my appearance (but still less than the average "metrosexual" young man, in love with his own reflection and, therefore, the idea of the erect phallus)! In terms of the legal status of homosexuality, sin or crime, I would say: keep the sin behind closed curtains, but go ahead and sin. Neither confirm nor deny; but never be seen at the tail end of a "gay pride" march.
So what of the Church? I said some months ago that I intended on being received into the Greek Orthodox Church. As you might expect, I have done nothing about it. I am just lazy. Maybe I just need some quiet months to reflect, or something? I would say "let the LORD look to it," but at the risk of putting Him to the test I'll promise to at least try to incline myself to do something.
Pardon me for asking, bu how exactly does the advice 'go ahead and sin' fit into the Christian tradition that you aspire to uphold?
ReplyDeleteI don't really see how stating this on a blog viewable to the public is any different from joining a Gay Pride march.
Martin Luther said something similar if my memory has not wholly failed me, vis-a-vis justification by faith alone. I do not hold with that model of justification because I am not a Protestant. I would say, however, that the body has needs and other bodies sometimes serve them - that is inevitable as human beings are sexual creatures. For myself, I don't enjoy sex and have consequently entirely given it up.
DeleteI do not represent the gay community and neither do they represent me. I once went to a gay pride event in London and was horrified at what I saw. My comment about two men committing sodomy, "go ahead and sin," is simply an admission that the vice happens. I do not think that, done behind closed doors, it is necessarily subversive of society or religion. The point is that seeking out the society of other men on the basis of a sexual perversion for the purposes of anything other than sex is not a bit weird.
I appreciate your clarification.
DeleteI do think it vital, however, that as Christians we proclaim that private sins can be as grave an offence to God as public sins.
Quite right.
DeleteA little conversation on the Men's Long Hair Hyperboard (http://www.mlhh.org/) has some interesting conversation on the gay world - not a longhair in sight! The hairstyles seem to get uglier and uglier - long on top and shaven up the back and sides. Ugly like everything else in the pathocratic society!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with being asexual. It usually happens when we get older, but we don't have to. There are other things to do in life, even when we care about other people and their welfare. But it needs to be something you live peacefully and serenely without any notion of repression.
Churches need to be less obsessed about sex and more concerned with the liturgical and contemplative life, from which a moral and ascetic life flows. The wrong message has been put over since humanae vitae - that coupled with the many scandals involving priests abusing children and adolescents.
I would say that you do well to keep away from the "gay scene" and find healthy cultural references and social company.
Metrosexual? A new term for me, meaning dapper and gay. Live and let live. It's certainly not my style!
You might say that I live an ascetic life, in a sense, being cut off from both liturgy (save a few quick glances in a breviary now and then) and contemplation, except I'm lazy and prefer my own company anyway. I could not live on top of a pillar for very long, though.
DeleteI am not asexual. I just don't relish sexual intercourse and have found that compulsive masturbation fits just as well.
To fit in with the modern gay community you have to be liberal, an atheist and follow the crowd. How humiliating it must be to be at the tail end of a march! Do men have no minds of their own? And they all have some sob story; it could be that their parents disowned them or their friends are HIV positive or they were asked to leave a bed and breakfast because the inn keeper felt uncomfortable with two promiscuous fags sharing a bed under his roof. Gay men (I cannot speak for lesbians but I expect it applies to them too, with the added bonus of their having an host of women's troubles) like nothing better than to whinge about some problem. Someone said to me once, "Patrick, I know many gays and you are the only one who isn't happy." That struck me as very odd considering that most of them must be very hurt, insecure people. I think that their "gaiety" is a mask.
Is that you in the picture?
ReplyDeleteNo. My hair is frizzy and mouse-coloured. There is a photo of me on my Blogger profile.
Delete'I am not asexual. I just don't relish sexual intercourse and have found that compulsive masturbation fits just as well.'
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh.