Seeing has how the finished work has exceeded 1000 pages in length, and seeing as how its discourse covers not only the relationship between homosexuality and the Bible, but also pretty much every other major facet of Christian theology, a few suggestions are in order to help you get the most out of this extremely useful tome.  As such, please keep the following tips in mind as you enjoy your perusal thereof …

 

TIP #01] Get ready for one Whale of a Ride!

It must be fairly stated from the outset that this thread was an absolute mess to compile and format … There were four frequent, primary participants (“Lucy”, “Bart”, “Daniel” and myself), one regular participant (Vanessa), one sporadic participant (“Diana”), and several other “minor” participants who popped in every now & then … On top of that, not only were there often dozens of individual responses to each of the thread’s primary points, but sometimes there were a series of sub-responses to those responses – and sometimes even sub-responses to those sub-responses as well …  It was, in Truth, several hundred threads within one thread!

 

And to top it all off, as is almost always the case in such intense discussions, these threads often radically veered away from the main point (which remains: whether or not a gay preacher’s homosexuality is a legitimate excuse to rudely refuse to attend his church service) – and we ended up discussing not only homosexuality’s place in Christianity, but delving deeply into just about every major concept of Christian theology as well.

As such, what we have ended up with is not only an incredibly thorough (and now finally relatively well-organized) exposé of what the Bible actually says about homosexuality (and LGBT people – and gay intimacy – and gay marriage), but also a viable exposé of the entire fundamentalist Christian theology itself – which, in my opinion, actually makes this tome that much more important to share with readers like you …

 

 

 

TIP #02]  Understanding the Structure …

In order to make the reading easier to follow (followable at all, actually), I have divided the main conversation into short chapters – with each major exchange of “Dialogue”, each resulting “Spew” of dogma, and each intermittent “Intermission” receiving its own place of honor in the book’s Table of Contents.  Allow me to explain these divisions a bit further …

 

*First, the 61 “Dialogues” are exactly that – casual exchanges of banter occurring between two or more of the conversation’s participants.  They do not always stick to a single theme, and yet they are comprised of relatively short comments and are thus relatively easy to follow.

 

*Second, the 55 “Spews” (41 of them from Lucy & 14 from Daniel) are bit more intriguing, and require a bit more explanation … A “Spew”  is what I called it when Lucy or Daniel would respond in a particular Dialogue by rattling off massive amounts of meandering, often incoherent, and sometimes fully irrelevant text – making theological claims that had no bearing on the point at hand; quoting or referencing Scripture verses that often had nothing at all to do with what we were actually talking about; &/or even engaging in ad hominem attacks directed at me personally (the most popular being a passive-aggressive hinting that I am an actual agent of Satan!) … I have titled these these monstrously large offerings “Lucy-Spews” when offered by Lucy, and “Daniel-Deluges” when shared by Daniel … Please note that these names are not meant to be derogatory or critical in any way.  Rather, they are simply accurate descriptions of the way Lucy and Daniel regularly communicated with me during this particular conversation, and serve additionally as warnings for the reader that the dialogue is about to become quite convoluted (and quite deep) in quite a hurry.

 

*Finally, the 7 “Intermissions” are succinct summations of the thread’s major points.  They are spaced evenly throughout the length of the conversation, and are primarily inserted to provide timely reprieves to those who choose to read the text straight through from beginning to end.  Of course, for those of you who do not wish to delve into the conversation’s sometimes somewhat arcane theory &/or sometimes somewhat tedious detail, they can also be read as independent essays as well.

 

 

 

TIP #03]  Why the Numbers …

While the thread was live & underway, in order to answer Lucy’s “Spews” & Daniel’s “Deluges” effectively – as well as provide easy-to-access points of reference should anyone else wish to specifically respond to their comments &/or my responses thereto, I ended up not only chopping their larger “Spews” up into their many parts, but also giving each dissected portion its own number (550 of them for Lucy, & 215 for Daniel) … I will admit that this numeration system was rarely if ever used by my “opponents”, and yet it did make the conversation easier to follow and it did make the individual points easier to find and discuss with others.  As such, I have kept this tool alive & viable in this book as well.

 

 

 

 

TIP #04]  Reading around the “Spews” …

In order to properly honor the time & energy that Lucy & Daniel invested in this conversation, it seemed only fair to reproduce their “Spews” in their entirety whenever they occurred … While it might be interesting for you to read them word-for-word when you come to them, it is not necessary for you to do so, seeing as how I almost always directly quote the relevant portions thereof that I discuss individually thereafter.  As such, you can either read them first and my specific responses thereto thereafter, or simply skip right to said responses and read them independently … The choice is yours.

 

 

TIP #05]  Reveling in the Repetition …

Partly due to Lucy’s & Daniel’s frequent decision to not fully read the majority of the responses I offered them, and possibly partly due to their almost fevered clinging to the dogmatic religious beliefs to which they have become so attached, they both ended up repeating many of the same arguments many times over the course of our conversation.  I responded to these repetitions a bit differently every time they arose, and so chose to neither delete the repetitions nor consolidate them.  As such, if you come across a comment or a critique that you have already heard discussed elsewhere, feel free to keep reading anyway – as there are almost certainly fresh nuggets of insight waiting therein.

 

 

TIP #06]  Reading at Random …

Note that it is not at all necessary for this book to be read from start to finish.  Indeed, due to the fact that I wanted the thread to be readable by as many as possible – and partly due to the fact that I absolutely adore the material – almost all of the 765 numbered answers that I give herein can be read as independent “mini-essays”.  This means that it is almost as potent for you to open the book to any random page as it is to read it through from beginning to end.

 

 

TIP #07]  Allowing the Illustrations to Illuminate …

Like the parent-thread that inspired it, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, both beautiful &/or informative (many of which were used to adorn the comments of the original online thread as well) … As these images were all consciously chosen and all purposefully placed, feel free to take your time and consider them earnestly & intently whenever they appear.

 

 

TIP #08]  Empathizing with the Emotions …

Also feel free to immerse yourself in the subtle, emotional undertones of the dialogue as this velvet-gloved conflict weaves and bobs its way to its conclusion … Some of the original thread’s more passive-aggressive phrases have been “gentrified” (to minimize unnecessary distractions for you, the reader), and yet the discordant and sometimes frustrated undertones are still palpable on both sides of the aisle – serving as a purposeful reminder that this is no mere coffee-klatch, but is rather a discussion whose underlying themes have very real, and these days often very painful, consequences for millions of people worldwide.

 

 

And a few final NOTES …

 

That just about covers the introductory material, though there are few more minor notes that you might wish to read before commencing this book’s literary journey &/or engaging its moral mission …

 

*NOTE that even though the overall content of each specific Facebook comment remains intact, I did correct for spelling and grammar … I also slightly altered the chronology of the original thread to make it more readable, but only rarely, and never in a way that altered the context of a comment’s contents.

 

*NOTE as well that the names of almost all the participants in this conversation have been altered (where possible, by switching the actual name of the participant with a – dare I say, relevant – Biblical replacement).

 

*NOTE too that some of the conversation’s smaller, more distracting exchanges and most of its insignificant exclamations (e.g. “Amen!”) have been omitted.

 

*NOTE as well that some of the more general responses I gave in the online thread have been “fleshed out” for the book – leading to the presence of several specifically itemized comments in this book that do not exist in the original conversation.  This was done in the interest of enhanced clarity & thoroughness – and because the online thread would otherwise have never come to a close …

 

*And finally, please NOTE that – for those of you who have had the pleasure of reading &/or participating in the original thread – the numbering sequence applied in this book does not directly correspond to the (often conflicting and confusing) numerations I used during the original four-month Facebook discourse.

 

I think that about covers it … other than to say:  EnJOY!!! … May each of you imbue this work with Great Meaning – by using its contents to find Solace in times of trial, by allowing its words to bring you Peace in times of conflict, &/or by letting its wisdom inspire you to express Compassion in times of fear or anger.

 

Amen – Let it be so!

 

Scaughdt
(March 2016)

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt