The ultimate blasphemy?

Folks, I had hoped to refrain from ranting in Lent, but after seeing the following blog post, I felt it necessary to warn people that this kind of heresy exists and to refute it. I can't bring myself to write about this in Holy Week, so I'll get it over and done with now. Emphasis mine, comments in brackets. I mean no offence in my comments. I am calling to attention the spectacular inaccuracy of this novel's claims, without wishing to offend homosexuals or others.

From "Jesus in Love" blog:

Monday, February 04, 2008

New novel shows Passion of a queer Christ

A queer Christ [A good start, for sure. Heresy doesn't come much worse than this] lives out the Easter story of death and resurrection in my new novel [Fictional: not even heretical academic study, this is deliberate propaganda!] Jesus in Love: At the Cross. The book is being released in time for Ash Wednesday (Feb. 6), which begins the season of Lent when Christians remembering the sufferings of Jesus to prepare for Easter. Jesus commits the ultimate act of love in At the Cross, a fictional autobiography [not only made up, but made up to put words in Christ's mouth!] of a bisexual Christ. [Evidence for this: none. Why then? Reason: heretical propaganda of cafeteria christians who believe they can have the secularist values of a corrupt western society] The dramatic events of Christ’s Passion happen in the context of a gay love story between Jesus and his disciple John. [This is worse than Dan Brown!]The novel covers Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection, ending on Pentecost. Jesus has today’s queer sensibilities [Notice how the dictatorship of relativism works? The key word here is not 'queer', but 'today's'. So often, people assume that if Jesus had been born today, he would have held more 'modern' values. In any age, God knows best!]and psychological sophistication [psychological sophistication? Presumably this means that those disagreeing with the book's contents is to be branded as 'psychologically unsophisticated'?]as he reveals the erotic [Are we talking about the same Jesus?] , mystical experiences that may have led to the first Easter.At the Cross is a sequel to the popular Jesus in Love: A Novel, but there’s no need to read the other book first [Would you want to?]. At the Cross stands alone in its own right.Christ’s story is for everyone, but queer people often feel left out because conservatives use Christian rhetoric to justify hate and discrimination [Let me make myself clear. This is not about hate or discrimination. Homosexuals are every bit as valued by God as anyone else. God does not hate gays. It is not a sin to be gay. It is however, a sin to have sexual relations with another of the same sex, and also to propagate heresy!]. I wrote At the Cross so more people could understand the powerful story of Jesus’ human struggles and how he rose above them. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people can relate to a queer Christ [What's wrong with relating to the real Christ? The real Christ did not come to condemn outcasts, nor did he come to condone sinners, he came to saveus all.] -- and so can many others.The prequel, Jesus in Love, became a surprise hit with more mainstream readers after achieving success in the GLBT community. I receive fan mail from a diverse range of readers -- male and female, queer and straight, ranging from Roman Catholic priests [This is very worrying!] to atheists and Jews. And I get hate mail from conservative Christians, too. Books in the Jesus in Love series follow the Biblical text and standard Christian doctrine [This is standard Christian doctrine?] while speculating on Christ’s erotic inner life [I don't think I even need to say anything here!]. The gay love story between Jesus and John has sparked controversy. Some conservatives labeled me “a hyper-homosexual revisionist.” [I can think of a few other words...] Meanwhile, secular literary critics and progressive Christians affirm the Jesus in Love series as “profound,” “spiritually mature” and “beautifully written.” Gay spirituality author Toby Johnson praises it as “a real tour de force in transforming traditional myth to modern consciousness.”The Bay Area Reporter called it “revolutionary religious fiction” and syndicated book critic Richard Labonte hailed it as “a winsome affirmation of erotic love’s sacred potential [Surely marriage?].”Mel White, founder of Soulforce, says, “Kitt Cherry has broken through the stained-glass barrier. This is not a prurient look at the sex life of Jesus, but a classic re-telling of the greatest story ever told.” [I would beg to differ!] At the Cross grows out of my own spiritual journey and my experiences as a minister in the LGBT community. One of my duties was promoting dialogue on homosexuality at the National Council of Churches (U.S.A.) and the World Council of Churches as National Ecumenical Officer for Metropolitan Community Churches. I wrote At the Cross after Chronic Fatigue Syndrome [Moment of real sympathy; I've had that, its not nice.] forced me into a more contemplative life. My previous books include Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More, [Says it all really.] Equal Rites and Hide and Speak. The New York Times Book Review praised my “very graceful, erudite” writing style.My website, JesusInLove.org, features the growing number of books and art based on the queer Christ. I blog here and edit the Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts.At the Cross (ISBN 1933993421) is published by AndroGyne Press, a new queer studies press in Berkeley, CA. Ingram Book Group distributes it.For more info on At the Cross, visit JesusInLove.org or AndroGyne Press.