More Queer Progress in Church

December 31, 2009 — Terence Weldon

The progress to acceptance in the ECLA and Episcopalian churches is well-known: both were all over the news back in the summer. There is progress across the board though, low-key and incremental rather than large-scale and dramatic – but progress just the same. This is evident even in some evangelical churches, which are usually seen as the harshest foes. We must not allow the fundies’ argument that “Christians” necessarily oppose homoerotic relationships to take hold: it’s just not true. Take a look at these recent news reports:

Evangelical church opens doors fully to gays

DENVER — The auditorium lights turned low, the service begins with the familiar rhythms of church: children singing, hugs and handshakes of greeting, a plea for donations to fix the boiler.

Then the 55-year-old pastor with spiked gray hair and blue jeans launches into his weekly welcome, a poem-like litany that includes the line “queer or straight here, there’s no hate here.”

The Rev. Mark Tidd initially used the word “gay.” But he changed it to “queer” because it’s the preferred term of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people invited to participate fully at Highlands Church.

Tidd is an outlaw pastor of sorts. His community, less than a year old, is an evangelical Christian church guided both by the Apostle’s Creed and the belief that gay people can embrace their sexual orientation as God-given and seek fulfillment in committed same-sex relationships.

(More from Washington Post)

In Michigan, there is an organiZed program by faith-based LGBT Christians to promote inclusion in churches:

Theresa McClellan

Faith-based group GIFT will use $55,000 grant to promote inclusion of gays in churches

A faith-based support group for gays plans to use a $55,000 grant to reach further into West Michigan.

Gays In Faith Together is preparing for a 2012 Gay Christian? Yes! campaign with help from the two-year grant from the Arcus Foundation.

GIFT provides pastoral care, support groups for gay and lesbian youth and their family and friends, and educational seminars, including a workshop last year for gay couples on building healthy relationships.

Cara Oosterhouse, president of GIFT’s board, said the new campaign is geared toward helping local churches learn how they can be more inclusive of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, their family and friends.

(More from MLive.com)

In Ireland, some evangelicals are supporting the proposed granting of near-marriage to same-sex couples:

Evangelical Alliance Ireland urges Christians to support pro-homosexual law

The Evangelical Alliance Ireland has urged Christians to back the Civil Partnership Bill, which would introduce legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the Republic of Ireland.

The Alliance’s stance on the issue is likely to win praise for its courage, as well as criticism from those who expect evangelicals to oppose gay people’s rights.

“We suggest that evangelical Christians should support the basic thrust of the Bill,” said the Evangelical Alliance Ireland in a statement signed by its General Director, Sean Mullan.

It goes on to say, “We may disagree on the detail of the legislation, but as followers of a just and compassionate God we can recognise the justice and fairness of providing some legal protection for the reality of both same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiting relationships”.

The statement is likely to cause surprise in Britain, where many leading evangelical organisations actively campaigned against the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005.

The Irish Civil Partnerships Bill would give same-sex couples tax, pension, inheritance and hospital visitation rights, as for married mixed-sex couples.

(With the Alliance’s stance on the issue, opposition to the Bill is virtually non-existent. The Bill is likely pass into law in December this year with widespread support from opposition parties Fine Gael and Labour as well as the governing coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.)

(More from Ekklesia)

And in Washington, DC, two Baptist pastors explain why they support gay marriage:

Why two black D.C. pastors support gay marriage

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago, we entered the sanctuary at Covenant Baptist Church and took our places in front of the altar, just as we had countless times before in our more than 20 years as partners in ministry. We had been united in holy matrimony ourselves in the same spot where we now stood to unite others.

As the couple walked down the aisle, we recalled the previous evening’s rehearsal, when we commended all the participants for their courage and prayed that God would be in our midst at the ceremony. When we pronounced the couple “partners for life,” we felt our prayers had been answered. It was the same feeling we had experienced so many times before when asking for God’s blessing of the union of a man and a woman. Only this time, the union was of a man and a man.

Our church is the first and only traditional black church in the District of Columbia to perform same-sex unions. We conducted our first two union ceremonies, one gay and one lesbian, in the summer of 2007. The rapid political developments that followed in our nation and our city have made us optimistic that by the summer of 2010, same-sex nuptials will be not only blessed by churches such as ours, but also sanctioned by law in the District.

After that first ceremony in our church, we were pleased and relieved; many members and guests told us how beautiful the service had been. But not everyone who attended shared this feeling. After most of the guests left, one longtime parishioner approached us, shaking. In a voice filled with rage, she asked how we could desecrate the sanctuary with such an ungodly act. She vowed to no longer be a member of our church.

For us, the courage to perform same-sex unions is in keeping with the proudest traditions of our Baptist and congregational heritage. Within the Baptist tradition of freedom and autonomy, Covenant Baptist Church has a long history of progressive ministry emphasizing social justice, service to the community and inclusion.

(Read the full story at the Washington Post)

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Gay Marriage (and Arrests) – in “The Warm Heart of Africa”

December 30, 2009 — Terence Weldon

Back in the bad old days of Apartheid, White south Africans knew there were few places around the world that would welcome them with open arms – and even fewer in “Black” Africa. One notable exception was Malawi. With few natural resources beyond a beautiful lake and attractive climate, tourism was an obvious choice for economic development – and White South Africans an obvious target market. Fro many years, South Africans were accustomed to tourism advertisements using the slogan “Malawi – the Warm Heart of Africa”.

There was one problem: led by the staunchly conservative Dr Hastings Banda, Malawi imposed strict dress code. The vaunted “warm heart” did not extend to men with long hair or women in trousers, nor o any other social “non-conformists”. Times have changed, Dr Banda is long gone – but there is still no welcome for gay men or lesbians. Like its near neighbours Zimbabwe and Uganda, “homosexuality” is a criminal offence (under colonial era legislation). But the human spirit is strong, and sometimes brave.

Recently, even in the midst of world-wide attention over the proposed death penalty for homosexuality, two men went through a form of wedding in Uganda, fully accepting the publicity that went with it – and the clear associated risk. Now, in Malawi, there has been another gay “wedding” of two men.

When I first came out, back in Johannesburg twenty five years ago, South African society was deeply homophobic. yet I frequently heard, or even read in the newspapers, of male and female couples who were “marrying”, without benefit of legal or church recognition. Today, any SA couple has the choice of a full civil marriage or a civil partnership. In the USA, I frequently read of couples who years ago held private commitments in the absence of legal provisions, and subsequently went through a range o more formal ceremonies as the available options increased or got closer to home: domestic partner registers,stronger civil unions, Canadian or Massachusetts marriage, and finally (for some) home state marriage in Connecticut, Iowa, or Vermont.

It has been correctly stated that the best way to end an unjust law is to break it. In most of the world, same sex marriage has never been illegal – just not recognized. By arranging unrecognized unions, with or without accompanying church blessings, those early pioneers in South Africa, the USA and Europe helped to break down prejudice and paved the way for the advent of formal recognition, now making steady progress in so many countries. In Uganda and Malawi, as in many other countries of Africa and the Middle East, these brave pioneers have a steeper challenge and immeasurably greater risk. They have to overcome not just prejudice, but legislation with harsh penalties, against social attitudes which have become inflamed to outright hostility. They deserve our respect and thanks for what they are doing. As elsewhere, their cause will triumph eventually over injustice. Let us pray (literally) that they will be allowed to live to see it.

LILONGWE (Reuters) – Two Malawian men became the first gay couple to publicly tie the knot, the Nation newspaper reported on Monday, risking arrest in the conservative southern African state where homosexuality is illegal.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were married in a traditional but symbolic ceremony in southern Malawi on Saturday, attracting hundreds of curious onlookers.

“We met at church where we both pray and we have been together for the last five months … I have never been interested in a woman,” Monjeza told The Nation newspaper.

Homosexuality is banned in Malawi and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

“I have just read about it (the marriage) in the press and the law in Malawi does not allow such practice and therefore the law will have to take its course,” Attorney General Jane Ansah told Reuters.

Three years ago the Anglican Church sent pro-gay rights Bishop Nick Henderson to head a diocese in rural Malawi. The congregation did not accept him and protests led to the death of a church member.

See the full report at Reuters

Late UPDATE:

Malawi police arrest couple after gay wedding

Two Malawian men were arrested and charged with public indecency, police said on Tuesday, after becoming the first gay couple to marry in the conservative southern African state where homosexuality is illegal.

“We arrested them last night at their home and charged them with gross public indecency because the practice is against the law,” police spokesman, Dave Chingwalu, told Reuters.

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The Power of Film

December 30, 2009 — Terence Weldon

I seem to be seeing an awful lot of stories of new documentaries on queer faith. This is great- film is a powerful medium, and lends itself well for use in getting discussion going in parish or other faith groups. (Just this morning, I saw a notice on the web publicizing a screening of “Through my eyes” by a church:

Blessed Family of God Church, 829 Gillespie St., will host a movie night on Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. The movie is “Through My Eyes” and is about gay Christians.

When moderate Christians start to listen, think and discuss the issues with an open mind, we see attitudes changing. The use of film in parishes or smaller faith groups is an excellent way to get those discussions going. For queer group, seeing how others have dealt with their struggles in the churches can be a valuable learning experience too.

This is a run down of just some of the films that I have read about recently – and one that I have seen twice, and loved.

Preacher’s Sons

I have just come across this review of “Preacher’s Sons”, which tells the story of the “untraditional” Stewart family: Rev. Greg Stewart, senior minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, his husband Stillman Stewart, a former social worker and now at-home parent, and their five adopted boys:

In one of the opening scenes of the documentary film Preacher’s Sons, Stillman Stewart sits by a Los Angeles pool with his husband, Greg Stewart. The two white men watch their sons, splashing in the water, five boys of color who call out “Papa” and “Daddy” to Stillman and Greg. Stillman laughs, and recounts a conversation he’s just overheard between two older women at the pool who were observing their family. “Uh-oh,” one woman said. “There must be something wrong here.”
Preacher’s Sons follows the untraditional Stewart family for five years, through four cities. Despite what the women by the pool thought, the film depicts the Stewarts as doing something very right—giving permanent, loving homes to at-risk, hard-to-place children lost in the foster care system.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Rev. Greg Stewart, senior minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, and Stillman Stewart, a former social worker and now at-home parent, adopted five sons through the California foster care system. Their story attracted the attention of several television networks, which approached them about filming their family. The Stewarts always refused these requests. Things changed, however, when they were approached by two members of the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, Calif., where Greg was serving as minister of religious education. The Stewarts didn’t believe the networks shared their mission of promoting the adoption of at-risk children. However they trusted fellow church members and husband-and-wife filmmakers Mark Nealey and C Roebuck Reed.

-More from UU World

For Such A Time As This

According to Candace Chellew -Hodge at Religion Dispatches, a filmmaker who has spent three years working on a film to build bridges between evangelical faith leaders and the LGBT community is responsible for Rick Warren’s about turn in making a statement condemning the Uganda hate bill – and her film is not even completed yet.

When Rachel Maddow started talking about Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill, or what Maddow called the “Kill the Gays Bill,” on her nightly MSNBC show late last month, Lisa Darden knew she needed to make a phone call.

Darden, a filmmaker and talent agent, had been interviewing conservative evangelical Christian leaders and getting a behind-the-scenes look at the religious right for the past several years, for her soon to be released movie, For Such a Time as This. The documentary seeks to bridge the gap between anti-gay Christians and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. In her travels, she had become fast friends with A. Larry Ross, who serves as Rick Warren’s publicist.

“I knew this was going to break before it did, so I called Larry and told him what was going on and encouraged him to have Rick Warren make a statement against this law, because the silence from evangelical leaders was deafening. I told him somebody needs to stand up and this was an opportunity for Warren to be in front of the story or get run over by it,” she told Religion Dispatches.

The Bible Tells Me So

Directed by Daniel G. Karslake, this film has been around since 2007. It very cleverly uses the stories of five lesbians and gay men, from a range of denominations and social backgrounds, to explore the impact of standard Christian teaching on the lives of individuals and their families. In all five cases, the families were deeply religious and committed to their churches. by the end of the film, all five families described have been moved by their offsprings’ lives to moderate their earlier hostile views: in some cases, dramatically so. Along the way, it introduces cartoons, live footage from church meetings and news events together with commentary to gently unpack the appropriate understanding of Scripture on sexuality from the bigoted and hypocritical abuse by those who prefer to use it as a weapon.

I have seen this film twice. the first time was at a screening by the London Gay Humanist Society, where the largely gay atheist audience were visibly moved by seeing that there are sincere Christians who are willing to speak and act intelligently and sensitively on the Bible and homosexuality. The second was a screening after our LGBT Mass in Soho, where most of those I spoke to were deeply moved. (The few exceptions felt it was either too “American” or too “Protestant”).

(Watch a trailer on Youtube)

Prodigal Sons

I wrote about this a short while ago, (“Transgendered in Church, Again“) noting a news report on the strong positive reception it had at a screening in a church hall. This is how describes it in The Guardian:

The other week, I saw a film I can’t get out of my head. I’m not sure that it’s especially “good” in the sense of being flawlessly made. But it’s a film about inescapable flaws. Sometimes a movie does the simplest thing film has to offer: it shows us something we have never quite seen or felt before; it shows us something that shocks and alarms us – and that doesn’t have to be an ingredient from a horror picture, or something capable of fictional redemption. Horror can live in the mind of the beholder, and it can be an everyday thing. Let me try to describe Prodigal Sons to you.

It’s a family documentary, made by Kimberley Reed. She’s about 40 now, a tall, striking woman who lives in New York and went to film school. But she was a boy once, the star quarterback on her high-school football team in Montana. So it seems to be a documentary about sexual change – except that Kimberley doesn’t dwell on that experience. With her lover, another woman, she goes home to Montana to work out her family history.

Watch a trailer here:

Through my Eyes

This documentary, by the Gay Christian Network, focuses particularly on younger gay Christians. Two Amazon user reviews give something of its importance:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fruit for Dialog, March 10, 2009
By

“Through My Eyes” is a must-see for all Christians who are serious about living out the Gospel as it paves the way for reflective dialog among those who are seeking to put into practice Christ’s message to “love one another as I have loved you.” In this DVD, over two dozen Christians in their teens and twenties share their stories of what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God, who happen to have been born gay, and who long above all else to worship God with their entire being and desire that His holy and perfect will be done in their lives.

5.0 out of 5 stars A revealing truth…, March 10, 2009
By (Seattle, WA USA) – See all my review

Through My Eyes is the first documentary I’ve seen that’s only agenda is to ask people to listen. There are no “this is what you should think” or “these people are wrong/right because…” statements. It’s just young Christians, who happen to be glbt, sharing their stories. A must see for any Christian!

However, a dissenting view points out that the perspective is specifically that of a fairly conservative, evangelical branch of “Christian”, and so not necessarily relevant to all.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so satisfied
I am a gay Christian and I just finished watching this film. I think the reason I was so underwhelmed with it is because, while it involves interviews with multiple people, it only gives one perspective: that of people who are gay and were raised in a very conservative, fundamentalist tradition. And it doesn’t describe itself in that context!

(Watch the trailer on Youtube)

8: The Mormon Proposition

This film, telling the story of the Mormon involvement in California’s battle over gay marriage in Proposition 8, has been widely acclaimed (Huffington Post says it will “knock your socks off“) , and is to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. This mainstream exposure, coupled with the topical subject matter, will bring it the widest and most mainstream audiences of all those discussed here.

(Watch the trailer on Youtube)


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“men who have sex with men” is NOT a good translation of 1 Cor 6:9

December 29, 2009 — Terence Weldon

We in the Catholic Church are too often insufficiently familiar with Scripture, which tends to put us on the defensive and insecure when confronted with the clobber texts. There are some very good Catholic resources we can turn to, both in books and on-line, but it can be helpful lso to draw on the excellent work of our gay colleagues from other backgrounds.

Rick Brentlinger is a “Bible believing conservative evangelical gay Christian”, who blogs at “Gay Evangelical Christian“, and also maintains the impressive and expanding website “Gay Christian 101″ . He has recently published a book with the same title.

I thought that this post on the meaning of the text from 1 Corinthians 6:19, was worth reading and sharing: (more…)

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Creeping Towards Acceptance in Faith: Russian Orthodox Church, Gay Jews

December 28, 2009 — Terence Weldon

The erratic and halting movements towards acceptance that I have remarked on regularly are not limited to the Western Christian churches. Two items from Box Turtle Bulletin that I had missed earlier, remind us that others too(in this case, Russian Orthodox and Orthodox Jewry) are being forced to reconsider some of their past positions.

In Russia, the Orthodox church remains opposed to “homosexuality”, but in an important move, the patriarch has clearly spoken out against discrimination, which is common in Russian society. This is significant progress, and is better than the Catholic Church has managed. (more…)

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Prostitution in the Service of the Lord?

December 27, 2009 — Terence Weldon

From Australia comes a story of a father who allegedly forced his 14 year old son to have sex with a prostitute, because he suspected the boy was gay. There is nothing new in enlisting the services of prostitutes to “cure” gay men: church and state alike have at times encouraged (female) prostitution in the defence of public morals.

“Augustine had argued that prostitution was a necessary evil that the state should tolerate to protect wives and virgins, and Aquinas had endorsed this view in his Summa”.

-L Crompton, “Homosexuality & Civilization“

Backed by the authority of these eminent theologians, fifteenth century Venice licenced the activity, and the church accepted it. Crompton notes that Venice at that time was internationally renowned for its courtesans, and famous for its sexual opportunities. That emphatically did not include same-sex opportunities. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, several hundred men were executed for sexual activities with men, mostly by burning at the stake. At the heart of Venice’s tourist route, the little square in front of beside the Doge’s palace, beside St Mark’s square, was the site of “more executions for sodomy than anywhere else in Europe, before Hitler.” (Crompton)

Burning of Sodomites

Venice was not alone in supporting prostitution while prosecuting “sodomites.” In Florence, where there were far more prosecutions than in Venice, the sentences were at least less severe. They were also more explicit in their support of prostitution as a remedy. Where Venice created a special magistracy to hunt down and prosecute sodomites, the Florence counterpart,which was called the “Office of Decency”, was specifically set up to extirpate the vice of sodomy. But the method was to set up brothels, and to recruit women to work in them. Nearby, in Lucca, similar tactics were adopted, with the dedicated sodomy police specially authorized to promote female prostitution.

These examples show yet again how, in defence of their stand against the supposed “horror” of loving relationships between men, the church , and the secular authorities which relied on its support, were willing to ignore all respect for the dignity of women, and the pretence that sexual relationships could only be approved in marriage, for procreation.

The bigger picture, of the role of the church in the horrific executions of many thousands of men and women for loving relationships, is one I shall return to again.

********************

This is part of the news story that prompted the above. (Read the full report at “The Morning Bulletin”).

Father ‘forced son into sex with hooker’

A ROCKHAMPTON dad is accused of forcing his son to have sex with a prostitute because he feared the 14-year-old was gay.

During a family barbecue around Christmas time in 2007, the dad allegedly phoned a prostitute and arranged to meet her at a motel on Yaamba Road, North Rockhampton.

The father drove his son to the motel and paid the prostitute in $50 notes.

The prostitute took the boy into a motel room while the father waited on a balcony.

The dad walked in and out of the room to check on his son and told him he wanted to see a used condom as proof that they’d had sex. After the boy and the prostitute had finished the dad took his son home.

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A magistrate yesterday found there was enough evidence against the father for him to stand trial for the rape of his son.

Giving evidence during the committal hearing in Rockhampton Magistrates Court, the boy’s mother testified she questioned the youngster about where his father had taken him.

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The Value of Applying Pressure:Uganda

December 27, 2009 — Terence Weldon

For several long months, criticism from (mostly US) gay groups and bloggers directed at Uganda’s hostile legislation appeared to be hopeless, as church and mainstream rights groups remained silent, and the Ugandan bigots garnered high -profile support from some American evangelical church groups. Instead of halting, the hate started to spread, as Rwanda also announced plans for similar legislation. Gradually though, the message seemed to sink in that hate is not Christian. Slowly, cautiously and ambivalently, various church groups, human rights groups, and various diplomatic representatives put across the message that executing homosexuals is way outside the bounds of global polite society. As the tide of opinion started to shift, so others became more comfortable speaking up. Now, over the last few days, it looks as though the proposed bill is doomed, as opposition mounts inside and outside the party.

  • The Catholic Archbishop has condemned the proposed death penalty – even as he “welcomed” governments attempts to protect the “traditional family”. (Which tradition? The Biblical patriarchal family, where women were treated as the property of fathers or husbands? African polygamy? or the modern western model?).
  • The Ugandan born Archbishop of York, who shamefully refused to speak up for a long time, has finally done so and criticized the bill
  • The Ugandan President has said he opposes the death penalty clause, and will veto the bill
  • The Ugandan opposition has slammed the bill.
  • The bill itself has now been “softened” by the government

We should all note here the sterling contribution of Box Turtle bulletin, which has been assiduous in keeping all aspects of this issue in front of us from the start, from the proposed legislation itself, to the complicity of the US evangelicals who egged them on. Well done, BTB!

The gathering opposition is reaping benefits elsewhere, too.

  • Rwanda has withdrawn its own proposed legislation
  • Lithuania, which had passed legislation back in July outlawing the dissemination of information “promoting” homosexuality, has softened the legislation.

The case of Lithuania is a useful reminder that oppressive legislation is not by any means unique to the developing, non-Western world: quite the reverse. In spite of the claims by Uganda, Zimbabwe and other countries that “homosexuality” was introduced by the colonial powers, history shows the exact opposite is true. What the colonial powers introduce was not homosexual practices, but homosexual repression – often in societies where such practices were previously completely acceptable and respectable. In Uganda, the story of the Ugandan Martyrs shows how missionaries interfered to end homosexual practice within the Royal Court, later resulting in colonial legislation. (Elsewhere in Africa, many other local societies accepted homoerotic relationships and even forms of same-sex unions.) The legislation recently overturned by the Indian courts was of colonial introduction.

Most horrifying of all, was the record in Latin America. Here, the colonial invaders found a wide range of responses to same gender relationships between the different indigenous societies: proscribed in some, celebrated in others. The invading armies however were implacably opposed to “sodomy”, and responded as they did back in Spain, under the guidance of the infamous Spanish Inquisition: by executing the offenders. This was usually, as in Europe, by burning, but in one infamous example from Panama, the Spanish commander Balboa had forty “sodomites” from the royal court “given to his dogs for prey”.

Balboa Feeds Indian Sodomites to his Dogs (Engraving, Theodore de Bry, 1590)

Louis Crompton, in “Homosexuality and Civilization“, observes:

“Spanish authority in the New World suppressed human sacrifices to native deities but instituted its own blood sacrifices to religious amd sexual orthodoxy. Observing these holocausts, Protestant Europe looked with horror on the “Black Legend” of Spanish cruelty in the Americas but accepted as a matter of course the burning of sodomites sanctioned by its own Biblical traditions.”

Is it any surprise that the major Western churches have been so slow to respond appropriately to the proposed death penalty in African countries, when these countries are doing no more than follow the even more horrifying examples of the former colonial masters at the behest of the Christian churches (both Catholic and Protestant) – an example the churches have still never apologized for?

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The See of St Peter: Compare & Contrast

December 26, 2009 — Terence Weldon

Watching news coverage of the attack on B16 during Midnight Mass, I was struck by the magnificence of the interior of St Peter’s. It is central the the theory of the papacy that is stands in a direct line of succession to St Peter, and thus to Christ himself. The obvious thought then, for this time of year, was to compare the surroundings of our modern popes

with those of the one he says he represents:

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Gay King Wenceslas

December 25, 2009 — Terence Weldon

Kittredge atJesus in Love Blog has a Christmas treat for the followers of the queer saints that she and I both like to explore: “Gay King Wenceslas“. In a notable achievement, she is drawing on some unpublished research, and also has a great image of the famously “good” king – and his page. I don’t want to detract from Kitt’s work, so to see the picture, you will hvae to follow the link above and read it for yourself. Jus t ofr starters, I give you only the standard, soppy picture – and a teaser from the fascinating text:

Good King Wenceslas

There’s good reason to believe that Good King Wenceslas was gay. Yes, the king in the Christmas carol.

Saint Wenceslaus I (907–935) was duke of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). The carol is based on a legend about Wenceslaus and his loyal page Podiven. According to the story, it was a bitterly cold night when they went out to give alms to the poor on the Feast of St. Stephen, Dec. 26. Podiven could not walk any farther on his bare, frozen feet, so Wenceslas urged him to follow in his footsteps. His footprints in the snow stayed miraculously warm, allowing the pair to continue safely together.

Many details in the Christmas carol are pious fiction, but the king and his page are both grounded in historical truth. Dennis O’Neill, author of “Passionate Holiness,” shared with this blog his unpublished research about the loving relationship between Wenceslaus and Podiven.

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O Little Town of Bethlehem

December 24, 2009 — Terence Weldon

As a corrective to the sentimental, emasculated “Baby Jesus” take on Christmas, I offer instead this remarkably adult advent hymn which we used at the end of our LGBT Soho Mass last Sunday:

Neapolitan creche

Recessional: We cannot tell (The Londonderry Air )

We cannot tell how Bethlehem , Christ’s birthplace,

where bombs explode and deadly missiles fall,

may speak to all the leaders of the nations

out of the shadows of a concrete wall.

But this we know, that all God’s pilgrim people

who live in hope that one day wars will cease,

must join to build a highway through the desert,

a road where all may come and go in peace.

We cannot tell how we can end the conflict,

where walls divide and many faiths compete,
or make of Bethlehem , the town of David

a House of Bread where open hearts may meet.

But this we know, God shepherds all the people,

seeking to guide us with a righteous hand,

and calls us all to pray and work for justice

in Bethlehem and all the Holy Land .

We cannot tell how those who have been wounded

by hate and fear passed down throughout the years

may hope to reap a harvest of rejoicing

from seeds once sown in bitterness or tears.

But this we pray, O God of love and mercy,

that in your strength and guided by your grace,

with all your people, we may find forgiveness,

and make this world your holy dwelling place.

(UPDATE: In the comments thread, a reader who likes this post led me to take a look at his own site, focussing on hymns, whihc has some great commentary on soppy, sentimental hymns and the Bishop of Croydon’s objections. Take a look at “Conjubilant With Song“)

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