Aelred and Sworn Brotherhood

Friendship seems to be a subject that is not often talked about in church and, even if talked about, it is usually in the context of providing support for single Christians or those struggling with same-sex attraction. Ironically, such an approach exposes the deep flaws, particularly within Protestantism, due to the neglect of the vocation of celibacy as well as the rich resource on friendship within the Christian and cultural tradition. Retrieving from Aelred’s theology of friendship, together with the idea of sworn brotherhood in Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this article seeks to show the promise of theological retrieval for the life of the church. It argues that while Aelred’s theology provides a helpful way of thinking theologically about friendship, the portrayal of sworn brotherhood in Luo’s novel provides the embodiment of such friendship. Ultimately, it is through this process of retrieval that the church can convincingly put forth spiritual friendship to those who are single or samesex-attracted as an optionthat is no less viable than marriage.

Mathew and Me: A Musical Performance Autoethnography Exploring Same-Sex Attraction in Sport

Mathew and Me is a musical performance autoethnography that explores embodied experiences of same-sex attraction between men within heteronormative sport cultures. The performance comprises a layering of original songs, performance poetry, and personal narrative. Songwriting is used as a critical arts-based methodology to discover, interrogate, and communicate fragmentary, sensory, and embodied remembrances of lived experience. Alongside a textual representation of the performance, reflections are offered on the two methodological issues: first, the challenges of sharing music and songs within conventional academic publication and, second, the possibilities and nuances of songwriting as a methodology for critical qualitative inquiry.

When the Starting Place Is Lived Experience: The Pastoral and Therapeutic Implications of John Paul II’s Account of the Person

The aim of this article1 is to provide insight into the anthropological framework that could inform the pastoral and therapeutic care of those we encounter, professionally or in our personal lives, who experience same-sex attraction (SSA). Our question here is not whether or not persons are free to ignore the natural order but to consider how to minister to those who wish to engage in the struggle to conform themselves to it—or those whom we hope to persuade to do so. Since entering into such conversations often requires a starting place in experience, we need an approach that will permit us to integrate human experience into a fuller account of the human person. The thesis of this article is that the account of the human person proposed by Pope St. John Paul II, as the philosopher Karol Wojtyła provides the answers we need. I demonstrate that his approach permits us to acknowledge the experience of actual existing persons without compromising the more properly “ontological” framework that we know reveals the unchanging truth about human personhood.2 I show that his account gives us the foothold we are seeking in our efforts to help those struggling with SSA.

Communication and Motivation Coming Out Gay as Self Identity in Indonesia

Many gays in Indonesia dare to admit and open themselves that they are gay. Gay who has come out (coming out) usually realizes that he likes the same sex or often called SSA (Same Sex Attraction). The term coming out refers to how a gay person opens himself up to his sexual orientation. Gay openness about his sexual orientation (coming out) to the family, community, and community is preceded by the process of coming in, namely the process of self-acceptance that he has a sexual orientation that likes same-sex. or community only. If he fails to come in, then he will become an SSA (Same Sex Attraction) but tries to suppress his behavior so he does not become gay. The purpose of this study is to determine the motivations that cause gays to become gay coming out as self-identity in Indonesia. The research method uses a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques include in-depth interviews, observation, FGD, and literature study. Data analysis uses the Miles Huberman Interactive Model. The results showed that there are 15 reasons for a person to become gay in 3 (three) contexts of the formation of gay self-identity in this study, namely family, psychological trauma, and social environment.