pathology

PATHology: The Intersection of Identity and Spirituality

by Michael Mallory (Spring 2010)

This curriculum is designed for the person who identifies both as a member of the body of Christ and a member of the queer community in all of its diversity—more specifically, in the context of Metropolitan Community Churches. The MCC is recognized as a church with a primary mission to the lesbian and gay community. Although MCC is dominantly a Christian denomination, the church welcomes and tends to accommodate other faith traditions. This curriculum is limited in that it explicitly employs Christian scripture and discipline. Yet, the general structure and intent can be applicable to a variety of groups and traditions.

The alienation of the body from the spirit has led the Church away from a healthy attitude regarding sexuality and gender. Thus, men and women who do not fit within the societal norms of gender or sex are categorized as deviant—or pathological. The gospel of Christ no longer holds the positive message of faith, mercy, and love for Christians who are queer. Instead, fear, hate and disease are preached with bullhorns and banners that read, “God hates fags!” from people who claim authority of God’s judgment. These anti-gospel Christians have buried underneath the cacophony of hate the central message of healing and reconciliation of the Gospel. This curriculum is intentionally Christian in nature because it is meant to be confrontational and transformational. The Christian message as a way of life is still a beautiful and noble path to God.

The name of the workshop—PATHology—is meant to illustrate many layers of meaning. The most common association with this word is the study of disease and of deviation from the norm. A pathological person is someone who deviates from the norm—such as a pathological criminal. Many of the members of MCC would identify with this pejorative and wounding characterization. These wounds cut very deep into the soul of an individual and can manifest as self-hate and low self-esteem. The curriculum would remind the participant of God’s healing love and the strength and courage we have in Christ Jesus. To bear the cross does not mean to hold onto our wounds but to sacrifice them in the Crucifixion and to wait for the Resurrection of new life and confidence.

The etymology of pathology comes from the Greek words pathos and logos—suffering and word. The New Testament always uses the word pathos in a negative sense, whereas the word for the Greeks could have a positive connotation. There are only three verses that use this word including Romans 1:26. This verse in Romans is one of some verses that are used to justify the vilification of queer people. The alternate word for suffering in the New Testament is the word paschō which is the suffering of Christ in Luke 9:22 which says that “The Son of Man must suffer many things.” It is also the same word in 1 Corinthians 12:26 where Paul writes, “If one member suffers, all suffer together.” Understanding suffering as a Christian draws us into the mystery of Christ and nearer to the presence of God. Logos is the word. In the gospel of John it is the word made flesh—Jesus the Christ. Logos, then, is the story—of ourselves, our community and the whole people of God.

The word pathology in the first sense—as a disease—contributes to the way that we fashion our identity. Pathology in the second sense has a significant amount of spiritual and theological meaning. PATHology in the sense of the title of the workshop is a synthesis of these two meanings—the intersection of our identity and spirituality along our path. The objective of this curriculum is to bring awareness to those scenes in our lives that enforce this oppressive state of identity. The methodology consists of concepts from Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal and their pedagogies relating to the oppressed and a ten-week devotional workbook for Lesbian and Gay Christians by Michal Anne Pepper.

The devotional workbook is designed to acknowledge and heal the deep pain that the Christian tradition and doctrines have caused gay and lesbian people. The process is nine-weeks of devotional exercises, emphasis on theological themes and spiritual practices. Pepper acknowledges that “this workbook can bring old emotional issues to the surface.” It is by bringing to the surface these wounds that healing can occur. The participants will have an opportunity to reflect and talk about their own relationship with oppression. This workbook will help the participants to get in touch with their individual and collective history as a people of God, introduce them to fresh interpretations of Christian values, and help them to recognize themselves as worthy children of God—and as children, heirs to the Eternal Dominion of God.

The main objective of this workshop, however, is to engage our stories in theatrical interpretation using the structure and form of the Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal. Boal describes the traditional theater as analogous to the separation between the oppressed and oppressor. The audience does not participate in the scripting of the performance. The spectacle is a finished product for the consumption of those who can afford to watch. In a similar vein, is the concept of banking education according to Paulo Freire: “Implicit in the banking concept is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world… the individual is spectator, not re-creator” (75). The stages outlined in the book Theatre of the Oppressed will facilitate a dialogical approach to this curriculum. The scenarios and conflicts necessary for the dramaturgical interpretation can be drawn from the devotional exercises.

The goal of this workshop is manifold. On one hand, it is an engagement with Christianity and the blessings and abuses this entails. It is also an opportunity to develop a sense of personal and communal history. The goal of the theatrical exercises is to bring to the surface and bear witness the intricate ways our stories relate to our community and the world.The intended result is a deeper understanding of our role in society as people who are on the fringe and also part of the body of Christ. Freire writes, “The oppressed are regarded as the pathology of the healthy society” (74). He claims a truth when he states that marginal people are not living outside of society, but have always been on the inside. “The solution,” he contends, “is not to ‘integrate’ them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become ‘beings for themselves” (74). So, then, this is not a path of integration, but a path of transformation. This has always been the central message of the Christian tradition. We are called to forge a new consciousness, a new awareness—not to continue in the same rut of worn out ideas and impositions.

Structure and Format

This curriculum can be modified in various ways to incorporate other communities, faith traditions, and social concerns. The overarching structure is two-fold. The first part is about engaging identity and spirituality by using spiritual exercise, text, and fellowship. The second part is about integrating our experiences in a creative and transformational way. This structure helps accommodate different learning styles and employs alternative ways of communication via the arts. The group must be a closed group that commits to a ten week process. Suggestion: Every Saturday for ten weeks from 10AM to 3PM, lunch included. The morning is dedicated to the devotional workbook and the afternoon is dedicated to theatre games and skits. For a finale, the group could perform their scenes in front of the congregation.

A good format for the space would be chairs around a table for the morning devotional and a circle of chairs around a large space for the theater section.

Content

The morning devotional time is a chance for the group to come together to discuss the progress they are making in their private spiritual exercises. The book used is Reconciling Journey. A Devotional Workbook for Lesbian and Gay Christians by Michal Anne Pepper.

WEEK 0: Introductions. Intention and process. Materials. Expectations and covenant. This first meeting will be an introduction to the workshop and a chance to express the covenantal nature of the group and the importance of commitment to the entire process.

WEEK 1: MY FAITH STORY. The participants gather this week to discuss what they have worked on during the week. The themes that will be discussed are faith, devotion, relationships, and a map of their spiritual journey. The structure of each daily devotional engages the participant in a piece of scripture, asks the participant to reflect on questions that are related to the theme, and offers a visual for meditation. For example, day one asks you to read Hebrews 11:1-3 and then asks , “To what (or whom) are you devoted?” and “How does Jesus’ endurance of the cross and its shame support your faith?” For the meditation, she writes: “Close your eyes and imagine the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ surrounding you as you ‘run with perserverance the race that is set before’ you” (3).

The participants would have already spent some time during the week to think of major life events, important persons, cultural context, values and images of God that have affected them in their lives. Already a repertoire of stories and events are being collected and considered. The dialogue of the group will most likely illicit common themes and difficult tensions. This material will be important as the group progresses through the various stages of the Theatre of the Oppressed.

The themes for the following weeks for the devotional are: Images of God, Reconciled in Jesus Christ, The Inspired and Inspiring Word, Making Ourselves Available to God, We Learn to Hear God, Members of the Body of Christ, Our Witness to Living in Christ, Witness Inspired by the Holy Spirit. The devotional is meant to be a guide. The group should not feel bound to the format of the book, but take and add what is appropriate for their needs. It would be important to be flexible and allow the group the maximum capacity of creativity using the dialogical method encouraged by Paulo Freire.

The devotional workbook and group discussion is designed for a particular kind of learning; whereas, the following dramaturgical method encourages embodiment and opportunities to discover and weave together the common threads of the unfolding stories. The format as outlined in Augusto Boal book Theatre of the Oppressed is an excellent example of the pedagogy developed by Paulo Freire. Boal insists on tearing down the walls that separate theatre from the real world—spectator from actor.

The Theatre of the Oppressed is, by itself, a complete pedagogy that intends to lead to transformation and reconciliation. The stories and conversations discussed in the devotional session are available as material, but the following activities are not necessarily dependent on these formulations. This activity can be attended by a larger, fluid audience from the corresponding community. This is in contrast to the devotional sessions which should be smaller and committed to set period of time. In other words, the Theatre of the Oppressed consists of the small group(s) of the devotional session and anybody else from the church that wishes to participate. This is not a spectator activity, however, and the intent, according to Boal, is to “transfer to the people the means of production in the theater so that the people themselves may utilize them” (122).