Seeking the Straight and Narrow

Seeking the Straight and Narrow PDF Author: Lynne Gerber
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226288137
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Losing weight and changing your sexual orientation are both notoriously difficult to do successfully. Yet many faithful evangelical Christians believe that thinness and heterosexuality are godly ideals—and that God will provide reliable paths toward them for those who fall short. Seeking the Straight and Narrow is a fascinating account of the world of evangelical efforts to alter our strongest bodily desires. Drawing on fieldwork at First Place, a popular Christian weight-loss program, and Exodus International, a network of ex-gay ministries, Lynne Gerber explores why some Christians feel that being fat or gay offends God, what exactly they do to lose weight or go straight, and how they make sense of the program’s results—or, frequently, their lack. Gerber notes the differences and striking parallels between the two programs, and, more broadly, she traces the ways that other social institutions have attempted to contain the excesses associated with fatness and homosexuality. Challenging narratives that place evangelicals in constant opposition to dominant American values, Gerber shows that these programs reflect the often overlooked connection between American cultural obsessions and Christian ones.

Seeking the Straight and Narrow

Seeking the Straight and Narrow PDF Author: Lynne Gerber
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226288137
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book Here

Book Description
Losing weight and changing your sexual orientation are both notoriously difficult to do successfully. Yet many faithful evangelical Christians believe that thinness and heterosexuality are godly ideals—and that God will provide reliable paths toward them for those who fall short. Seeking the Straight and Narrow is a fascinating account of the world of evangelical efforts to alter our strongest bodily desires. Drawing on fieldwork at First Place, a popular Christian weight-loss program, and Exodus International, a network of ex-gay ministries, Lynne Gerber explores why some Christians feel that being fat or gay offends God, what exactly they do to lose weight or go straight, and how they make sense of the program’s results—or, frequently, their lack. Gerber notes the differences and striking parallels between the two programs, and, more broadly, she traces the ways that other social institutions have attempted to contain the excesses associated with fatness and homosexuality. Challenging narratives that place evangelicals in constant opposition to dominant American values, Gerber shows that these programs reflect the often overlooked connection between American cultural obsessions and Christian ones.

Why I Didn't Rebel

Why I Didn't Rebel PDF Author: Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 0718090179
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In this unique combination of personal history, interviews, and social science, a young millennial shares surprising reasons that youthful rebellion isn’t inevitable and points the way for raising healthy, grounded children who love God. Teen rebellion is seen as a cultural norm, but Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach begs to differ. In Why I Didn’t Rebel--based on a viral blog post that has been read by more than 750,000 people--Lindenbach shows how rebellion is neither unavoidable nor completely understood. Based on interviews with her peers and combining the latest research in psychology and social science with stories from her own life, she gives parents a new paradigm for raising kids who don’t go off the rails. Rather than provide step-by-step instructions on how to construct the perfect family, Lindenbach tells her own story and the stories of others as examples of what went right, inviting readers to think differently about parenting. Addressing hot-button issues such as courtship, the purity movement, and spanking--and revealing how some widely-held beliefs in the Christian community may not actually help children--Why I Didn’t Rebel provides an utterly unique, eye-opening vision for raising kids who follow God rather than the world.

A Time to Choose

A Time to Choose PDF Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780877474821
Category : Christian life
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description


Queer Christianities

Queer Christianities PDF Author: Kathleen T. Talvacchia
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479896020
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Queerness and Christianity, often depicted as mutually exclusive, both challenge received notions of the good and the natural. Nowhere is this challenge more visible than in the identities, faiths, and communities that queer Christians have long been creating. As Christians they have staked a claim for a Christianity that is true to their self-understandings. How do queer-identified persons understand their religious lives? And in what ways do the lived experiences of queer Christians respond to traditions and reshape them in contemporary practice? Queer Christianities integrates the perspectives of queer theory, religious studies, and Christian theology into a lively conversation—both transgressive and traditional—about the fundamental questions surrounding the lives of queer Christians. The volume contributes to the emerging scholarly discussion on queer religious experiences as lived both within communities of Christian confession, as well as outside of these established communities. Organized around traditional Christian states of life—celibacy, matrimony, and what is here provocatively conceptualized as promiscuity—this work reflects the ways in which queer Christians continually reconstruct and multiply the forms these states of life take. Queer Christianities challenges received ideas about sexuality and religion, yet remains true to Christian self-understandings that are open to further enquiry and to further queerness.

The Narrow Door

The Narrow Door PDF Author: Paul Lisicky
Publisher: Graywolf Press
ISBN: 1555979211
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
In The Narrow Door, Paul Lisicky creates a compelling collage of scenes and images drawn from two long-term relationships, one with a woman novelist and the other with his ex-husband, a poet. The contours of these relationships shift constantly. Denise and Paul, stretched by the demands of their writing lives, drift apart, and Paul's romance begins to falter. And the world around them is frail: environmental catastrophes like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, and local disturbances make an unsettling backdrop to the pressing concerns of Denise's cancer diagnosis and Paul's impending breakup. Lisicky's compassionate heart and resilience seem all the stronger in the face of such searing losses. His survival--hard-won, unsentimental, authentic--proves that in turning toward loss, we embrace life.

Pursuing Sexual Wholeness

Pursuing Sexual Wholeness PDF Author: Andrew Comiskey
Publisher: Charisma Media
ISBN: 0884192598
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
Real help for Christians who struggle with homosexuality and for those who minister to them. "This book is a product of author Andrew Comiskey's Living Waters program...Pursuing Sexual Wholeness and its companion guidebook present Comiskey's teaching to the church at large."

Thoughts from the Mount Of Blessing

Thoughts from the Mount Of Blessing PDF Author: Ellen Gould White
Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
ISBN: 3849646254
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
In this little volume of 200 pages we have a series of dissertations on spiritual subjects, addressed especially to Christians, including thoughts on the Mountain Sermon, the Beatitudes, the Spirituality of the Law, the True Motive in Service, the Lord's Prayer, and on Not Judging but Doing. It is an earnest and affectionate plea for a higher plane of Christian living, and a more thorough and consistent Christian life and character. The writer's style is clear and simple, hut full of that eloquence and warmth of heart which is sure to reach the heart of the reader and plant there its own convictions. It is one of those books which cannot be read with indifference. It is full of an affectionate persuasiveness which is sure to make itself felt.

Judaism Straight Up

Judaism Straight Up PDF Author: Moshe Koppel
Publisher: Maggid
ISBN: 9781592645572
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Am I There Yet?

Am I There Yet? PDF Author: Mari Andrew
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
ISBN: 1524761435
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This on-point guide to growing up by Instagram sensation Mari Andrew features “achingly vulnerable and completely relatable watercolor illustrations about relationships, heartbreak and the struggles of urban life” (The Washington Post). In the journey toward adulthood, it is easy to find yourself treading the path of those who came before you; the path often appears straight and narrow, with a few bumps in the road and a little scenery to keep you inspired. But what if you don’t want to walk a worn path? What if you want to wander? What if there is no map to guide you through the detours life throws your way? From creating a home in a new city to understanding the link between a good hair dryer and good self-esteem to dealing with the depths of heartache and loss, these tales of the twentysomething document a road less traveled—a road that sometimes is just the way you’re meant to go. Praise for Am I There Yet? “Equal parts memoir and illustrated guidebook, it chronicles Andrew’s journey through adulthood as she navigates love and heartbreak, professional indecision and success, and personal struggles.”—Refinery29 “Using her artistic skills to illustrate thought-provoking essays, Andrew inspires readers to take the path less traveled in life.”—CNN “The illustrations . . . are often packed with truths about dating, self-care, careers, and all the secret thoughts you never say out loud.”—Elle “This uplifting book is filled with essays and illustrations that will fill you with so much hope as you move forward with any big life change.”—Bustle “Her illustrations will resonate with anyone who has ever had a crush, went on a date, or felt the sting of heartbreak.”—The Independent

Christians under Covers

Christians under Covers PDF Author: Kelsy Burke
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520961587
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Christians under Covers shifts how scholars and popular media talk about religious conservatives and sex. Moving away from debates over homosexuality, premarital sex, and other perceived sexual sins, Kelsy Burke examines Christian sexuality websites to show how some evangelical Christians use digital media to promote the idea that God wants married, heterosexual couples to have satisfying sex lives. These evangelicals maintain their religious beliefs while incorporating feminist and queer language into their talk of sexuality—encouraging sexual knowledge, emphasizing women’s pleasure, and justifying marginal sexual practices within Christian marriages. This illuminating ethnography complicates the boundaries between normal and subversive, empowered and oppressed, and sacred and profane.