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INTERFAITHINGS FALL 2009
In This Issue...
CHRISTIAN SEX: A CONFESSION Page 3
ALL ACTS OF LOVE
AND PLEASURE
Page 6
CHRISTIANITY AND SEXUALITY Page 8
SATURDAY IN THE CITY
Page 11
HEDY LAMARR AND GOD:
THE DIAGONAL IN THE
COSMIC SQUARE
Page 12
BULLETIN BOARD
Page 18
To Interfaith: To enter into respectful
dialogue regarding beliefs, values, and
practices with adherents of religious world
views other than one’s own.
FALL 2009
Vol. 3, Issue 2
wonders whether our hipsterism and our
deep cool aren’t fig leaves camouflaging
the wounds and confusions we hastily
left behind – not unlike the way, once
upon a time, the Hebrews made a hasty
departure from the land of the pharaohs
only to discover that the mind set of
bondage was not so easily jettisoned.
Nowhere is the mistrust of the erotic
more evident than in the teachings of
our religions (most, not all religions).
Many organized religions – oriental
and occidental alike – house monastic
communities or priesthoods where
celibacy is taken as a valuable, even
necessary tool for attaining optimum
states of spiritual consciousness. And for
women and men not making the top
level commitment, there are countless
proscriptions and prescriptions for
fencing in and “detoxifying” libido.
The original meaning of the word lust
is, after all, simply desire. Even for
those who have departed from the
precincts of formal religion, seeking
more individualized and eclectic avenues
for spiritual expansion, there is often
a struggle to incorporate the uplift
of spiritual discovery and the gifts of
carnality into a single tapestry of mind
and heart.
Whence this long standing tension?
Whence the either/or? In this issue, four
different authors with four different
points of view share their ruminations
on where we are and where we might
be going. Also in this issue: paintings,
collages, a mandala, and a poem that
dance with the essays. We hope you
will find in this, the seventh issue
of Interfaithings, suitable creative
provocation.
The Editor
Sexuality and Spirituality
Quick. Think of a seven letter word,
beginning with the letter “p” that is an
insult. One such word: puritan. No.
Puritan is not nearly as harsh a term of
opprobrium as, say, pederast. But it’s not
a term of endearment either. We live in
a time and place (in Saudi Arabia the
concept would carry different affect)
where the view of sexual fulfillment
as tainted if not sinful is thoroughly
discredited.
On the other hand, one need not be a
sociologist to see that, beneath our “with
it” liberated moxie, the remonstrations
and chastisements (from the same root
as “chastity”) of an earlier era are alive
and well. There have been times in our
motley history where someone painted
in a fig leaf or a drape to conceal the
nudity of an earlier painting. One
Above: Dragonfly by Clara Grace
Art Credits: Biographical and contact information for all of the artists featured in this issue of Interfaithings is listed on page 17.
