In chapter four of her book, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, Dr Joy Ladin introduces the term, “gender surveillance.” While I didn’t integrate that section into OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation, it strikes me as a really important concept.
In Sunday’s LGBT Bible podcast, Brian Murphy and Fr Shannon Kearns take a look at Colossians 3:1-11. While this section isn’t one of the primary “clobber passages” around sexual orientation, the mention of “sexual immorality” does tend to get thrown around a lot.
In addition, Colossians 3:11 is one of those verses, like Galatians 3:28, that lists (and transcends) a bunch of identity binaries. I look at Galatians 3:28 specifically in chapter 22 of OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook to Transgender Liberation. The list in Colossians goes like this: Continue reading “Sexual Immorality, 2019”
In addition to How the Bible Works (2019), Peter Enns previously wrote The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It (2014). I actually cited The Bible Tells Me So in OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation, though only briefly.
In The Bible Tells Me So, Enns similarly tackles the biblical tradition in a thoughtful, irreverent, and self-deprecating manner. He shares about the collapse of his childhood understanding of the Bible and how facing up to the challenge of the Bible and allow it to change how he experiences God and tradition. Continue reading “The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It, 2014”
Austen Hartke is a transgender Christian who wrote the book, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians (2018). But Hartke is actually a prolific member of the YouTube generation. Before the book, Austen made a name for himself with his “Transgender and Christian” series of videos on YouTube:
Another book that I like to recommend is Austen Hartke‘s 2018 Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians. Whereas OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation is unapologetic and mostly follows a trail of scripture references, Hartke’s book has a softer touch and wonderfully weaves in the personal faith experiences of several transgender Christians.
For allies who want or need to hear more about the struggles and experiences of transgender Christians, Hartke’s book is a great one-stop option that combines stories, with biblical and theological reflection. Continue reading “Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians, 2018”
Appendix C of OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation is titled “Christendom, White Bullshit, and the Power of Colonial Imagination.” This topic didn’t flow directly into the themes of OtherWise Christian in terms of dealing with gender–which is why the content is relegated to an appendix. However, these themes are critical adjacent issues in terms of talking about colonization, empire, white supremacy, and Christian supremacy–which is why I included them.
The content for Appendix C references (and quotes) the opening panel of the “Christianity and White Supremacy: Heresy and Hope” conference (#XWS19) at Princeton University. The opening panel (“The Tradition is a Problem“) and the closing panel (“The Tradition is an Answer“) were recorded and are still available from Princeton University’s media resource. Continue reading “Christendom, White Bullshit, and the Power of Colonial Imagination, 2019”
This concept is relegated to Appendix C in OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation, but on a day like this it feels important to highlight “white bullshit.”
As I write this blog post, we are still processing assassinations in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. The assassins were, no doubt, white. The assassins were men. The assassins were well-armed. The El Paso assassin had a written manifesto and details out of Dayton are still forthcoming.
The connections between these assaults on innocent civilians and white nationalism/toxic masculinity in our highest government offices is self-evident. Yet, the conversations about mental illness, and childhood influences have already begun.
Continue reading “White Bullshit”
OtherWise Christian Ambassadors are transgender (or OtherWise) Christians who are available in your local area to share both OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Liberation and their own stories and testimonies. I believe that books are important, but our communities also need the opportunity to be in real-life community with folk who can tell their own stories.
The Rev Debra Hopkins is based in Charlotte, NC and is authorized to sell copies of OtherWise Christian! I hope you’ll reach out and invite her into your community conversations. You’ll be supporting me, the book, and the ministry of Rev Debra Hopkins.
Don’t forget to compensate her for her time with you, if she’s leading an event or preaching in your congregation. Her time and expertise are valuable. Continue reading “OtherWise Ambassador: Rev Debra Hopkins, Charlotte, NC”
Ok, so for those of you who have read OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation. Maybe you’ve even told me that you love OtherWise Christian! Would you also consider taking a few moments to write a book review for the book?
NEW! The first five reviews on any of these sites can contact me to get free access to the OtherWise Self-Defense audio archives (also email reminders and additional content). If you find another site where you can post, then I will add it to the list here!
Updated by Mx Chris Paige on September 9, 2019.
Note: This blog is intended to be an on-going work in progress. Please contact us if you have corrections or are able to contribute further context or reflections.
No, it doesn’t exist yet. YES WE HAVE ONE!
But this question was raised at one of the book launch conversations last week. I would love to do this!
Continue reading “OtherWise Christian Study Guide(s)?! [UPDATED]”
OtherWise Christian 