My recent post on the increasing use of "queer" as a term of dignity on Catholic college and university campuses, for some LGBT persons and allies, evoked numerous replies. I want to let readers know that an updated statement about the use of "queer" at clubs at Fordham can be found here.
Not just on campus, but in church-talk, too, the way that LGBT persons are characterized matters to an increasing number of Catholics.
Just a few weeks ago, this column by Tom Moran in the (NJ) Star-Ledger occasioned a small avalanche of responses over the next several days. A lifelong Catholic, he reports that he has now become a "spiritual refugee," due, among other reasons, to the way gay life and marriage is being characterized by some Catholic leaders. Moran wrote a followup summarizing initial responses here. Further responses to Moran's column were published here, here, and here.
I try to teach my students, and try to practice myself, that such discussions (as those above) are important material for theological reflection alongside traditional theological sources. Indeed, "ordinary" lived religion/faith/spirituality, such as that expressed in discussions above, should have a special place in theological reflection - as one pathway not only into the meanings of everyday faith, but into the (often obscured) background of all theologically significant texts, concepts and practices.
