tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511660846316927244.post1032484798322064743..comments2023-04-13T03:51:38.050-07:00Comments on Religion, Legitimacy and Politics : Love, Marriage and HomosexualityReligion, Legitimacy and Politicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17662477474000491980noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511660846316927244.post-10702496548895972432015-02-02T08:34:53.225-08:002015-02-02T08:34:53.225-08:00Jon has just pointed out that the angel statue is ...Jon has just pointed out that the angel statue is most definitely St. Raphael (this church is named for St. Patrick & St. Raphael). Who is definitely masculine. But who cares about facts! The statue itself still seems to me to exude a grave-but-soothing, gentle-but-powerful, combination of gender attributes, and I will continue to see it as neither/nor (or both/and).Ashley Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17534959238757970492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511660846316927244.post-12352273857050109732015-02-01T17:36:18.797-08:002015-02-01T17:36:18.797-08:00Jesus' saying that in heaven people "will...Jesus' saying that in heaven people "will neither marry nor be given in marriage" seems like another of his "everything you think you know is wrong!" statements--along the lines of his "the last shall be first and the first last" paradoxes. I suppose it's his embrace of paradox--his continually opposing worldly, customary, civic virtues to something more radical and mind-blowing, like servants becoming masters, or letting the dead bury their dead--that makes it seem that his principles still apply now, when homosexual relations have gained (and in a really short time, as such political changes go) widespread public support. In other words, I think Jesus' teachings seem more appealing, more applicable, to any given political moment because they were so deliberately out-of-time. The other teachings you cite seem, on the other hand, actually to be trying to weigh in on the practical matters of day-to-day living for their followers. Which necessarily means they'll look dated two thousand or so years later. (This is arguably like the difference between reading Shakespeare and reading some legislative decree from Queen Elizabeth's court.)Ashley Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17534959238757970492noreply@blogger.com