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Product Description
In these times of dramatic social change, when the highly charged issue of homosexuality is undeniably causing controversy in many arenas--religion, marriage, politics, education, the military--Christian de la Huerta, founder and director of Q-Spirit, offers a fresh outlook on gay spirituality and how to assert it. A spiritual awakening is occurring in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, as in much of the world. In this encompassing guidebook, de la Huerta looks at Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, New Thought, New Age, and Earth-based religions, including Native American. Cogently investigating these traditions' attitudes, teachings, and policies toward homosexuality, the author gives the queer reader a foundation from which to begin building a spiritual connection. Coming Out Spiritually also synthesizes ten spiritual roles or archetypes people we now call gay or queer have often assumed and continue to enact today: creators of beauty, consciousness scouts, mediators, shamans, and healers, among others. Drawing on these models while acting as a guide to the queer community, the author shows how to look deeper inside; to reach higher than ever before; to step forth more fully into a rightful self. An impassioned call to action, Coming Out Spiritually alternatively touches, challenges, encourages, and supports the queer community to fully reclaim its spiritual heritage.
Amazon.com Review
Coming Out Spiritually is structured by author Christian de la Huerta's idea that gay people have traditionally assumed 10 spiritual roles or archetypes, and continue to assume them today. These include, among others, "creator of beauty," "mediator," "shaman," and "healer." This understanding of gay people's spirituality draws on a number of religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Sufism, and Taoism. After establishing his theoretical understanding of gay spirituality, de la Huerta suggests spiritual practices (ranging from meditation to healing to Sufi dancing) that can help readers achieve greater spiritual integrity. Perhaps the most interesting passages in the book consider how sex itself can express spiritual devotion. "When we learn to reunite sex and Spirit in our lives, we will experience change and healing beyond our wildest dreams," de la Huerta writes. Coming Out Spiritually describes a mode of spirituality that has previously been explored in the work of Andrew Harvey and Matthew Fox, among others. Christian de la Huerta is equally passionate, and his message--that the coming-out process, when understood in spiritual terms, never ends--is an important one. This book may be a bit confusing to gay people just beginning to come out. (Like Harvey and Fox, de la Huerta sometimes uses jargon that obscures his arguments.) For gay people who have a pretty good sense of who they are, however, Coming Out Spiritually can be an important resource for continuing the process of learning to live honestly with their desires. --Michael Joseph Gross
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