A Movement to Reform and Revitalize Christian Faith
This is the fundamental premise of Queer Virtue. Christianity persistently calls the followers of Jesus to rupture, or queer, false binaries that pit people against each other. Jesus does this when he presses the question "Who is my neighbor?"calling his followers to hit a reset button in their assumptions about who “we” are, who “they” are, and how we are supposed to treat one another.
Queer people navigate this kind of rupturing every day.
Queer people must:
Discern an identity
Tell the truth about it even in the face of material risk
Find others who share this identity
Build community.
LGBTQ community persistently looks to the margins to see who isn’t yet included and decide what we’re going to do about it. This “path” bears remarkable similarity to the path that Christians are called to walk.
Thus queer experience is a lens that can help Christians better understand and navigate an authentic Christian path. Exploring ethical dimensions of queer experience such as Pride, coming out, scandal, and hospitality, Queer Virtue lifts up the queer ethical path as a model for progressive Christian practice, illuminating and potentially vivifying the Christian faith.
Queer Virtue was a finalist for the 2017 Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction.
Reviews of Queer Virtue
Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith and How to Read the Bible
“The once marginalized discipline of Gay Studies is now decidedly back in the curriculum and in the intellectual arena. This book is a sterling example of the best of it, and on a subject – ethics and morality – that is an emerging area of interest in all fields. It will be a little classic, and will be read and argued about for a long time to come.”
The Rev. Emily M.D. Scott, Founding Pastor, St. Lydia's — A Dinner Church
“A breath of fresh, queer, air…With vivacious smarts and a wicked sense of humor, Edman compels her readers to fully embrace our gloriously multifaceted God-given identities. If you’ve wondered if you can be fully queer and fully Christian, the answer is a resounding “yes,” and Edman will show you the way.”
The Rev. Patrick S. Cheng, author of Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology
“Elizabeth Edman’s Queer Virtue is a powerful work of theological and autobiographical reflection that illuminates the deep connections between queerness and Christianity. This book will be a valuable guide for anyone who navigates the liminal spaces between these distinct yet mutually-reinforcing worlds.”
Starred Review in Publishers Weekly
“[Edman’s] tone and personal examples are compelling. By turning the conversation around to show what queerness can tell readers about Christianity, this work provides a striking road map for larger, more productive conversations and community building.”
Jeff Chu, author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?
“Edman writes with the tender hand, approachable intelligence, and wise humility of that super-smart, big-hearted priest you always want yet rarely find. She takes words we think we know—‘scandal,’ ‘pride,’ ‘queerness’—and encourages us to consider them in a new light . . . A vital read.”
Dr. Virginia Mollenkott in Christian Feminism Today
“Every page reverberates with vivid insights and suggestions for outreach...We could begin by handing Queer Virtue to anyone who is open to a joyously inclusive vision.”
Five Films about Queer Virtue
Identity
Whether you are queer, or Christian, or both, knowing who you are is the first step to living a good life, to being the person God created you to be.
4. Adoption
Queer people create communities that, for many of us, become adoptive families. Christian community is supposed to be like that: an inviting home, not an exclusive club.
3. Touch
Love – including divine love -- involves touch that both wounds and heals. Queer people take on this paradox openly, modeling what it means to push past fear and find the love we all need.
5. Scandal
Queer people have long been cast as scandalous, just as Jesus was in his day. Like Jesus, queer people know embracing scandal creates an ethical vision that frees all of us from shame and affirms the dignity of every human being.
2. Risk
Abraham and Sarah left everything they knew to follow God’s call. This kind of risk is the verb form of faith. Queer people live this kind of risk every day, all over the world, simply by being the people God created us to be.
