Blessing Same-Sex Unions

The Perils of Queer Romance and the Confusions of Christian Marriage

Browse Return to Previous Page       Related Subjects All Subjects Misc. Religious Studies Queer Theory/Lesbian & Gay studies Religious studies

by Mark D. Jordan

University of Chicago Press

Due/Published May 2005, 256 pages, cloth

ISBN 0226410331

n this incisive work, Jordan shows how carefully selected ideals of Christian marriage have come to dominate recent debates over same-sex unions. Opponents of gay marriage, he reveals, too often confuse simplified ideals of matrimony with historical facts. They suppose, for instance, that there has been a stable Christian tradition of marriage across millennia, when in reality Christians have quarreled among themselves for centuries about even the most basic elements of marital theology, authorizing experiments like polygamy and divorce." Jordan also argues that no matter what the courts do, Christian churches will have to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex unions. No civil compromise can settle the religious questions surrounding gay marriage. And queer Christians, he contends, will have to discover for themselves what they really want out of marriage. If they are not just after legal recognition as a couple or a place at the social table, do they really seek the blessing of God? Or just the garish melodrama of a white wedding? Posing trenchant questions such as these, Blessing Same-Sex Unions will be a must read for both sides of the debate over gay marriage in America today.