Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance
In this powerful and timely book, Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini make a solid case for loving the sinner and the sin. Rejecting both religious conservatives' arguments for sexual regulation and liberal views that advocate tolerance, the authors argue for and realistically envision true sexual and religious freedom in this country. With a new preface addressing recent events, Love the Sin provides activists and others with a strong tool to use in their fight for freedom.
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If freedom is such an important value in American life, ask Jakobsen (women's studies, Barnard College) and Pellegrini (religious studies and performance studies, New York U.), then why is advocating sexual freedom considered radical, extremist, or even un-American. The main text, published in a 2003 clothbound edition by New York University Press, discusses at length the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick US Supreme Court ruling; a new preface here adds perspectives from the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling, which reversed it. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Library Journal The authors of this short but succinct study explore the connection between the traditions of Christianity and the political and social regulation of sexuality in America. They conclude that legal restriction on the practices of gays and lesbians is religious domination by another name. Jakobsen (director, Ctr. for Research on Women, Barnard Coll.) and Pellegrini (drama, Univ. of California, Irvine) contend that gays will never achieve the full rights of citizenship as long as they couch their arguments in terms of tolerance for their lifestyles. Instead, the authors believe that sexuality should be held as a protected freedom like speech, association, or-for that matter-religion. While their argument is for the most part convincing, some readers might be put off by the obvious ideological agenda of this book. Far from being an obsolete concept, tolerance, particularly in the face of strongly held views on both sides, seems more important today than ever. This book is accessible to the general reader, although some may have difficulty with the writers' use of academic jargon. Recommended for larger public libraries.-Andrew Brodie Smith, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lib., Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Preface: The More Things Change: Sexual Freedom after Lawrence v. TexasAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Why Religion, Why Sex?11Getting Religion192What's Wrong with Tolerance?453Not Born That Way754The Free Exercise of Sex1035Valuing Sex127Conclusion: Open Endings, Dreaming America149Notes153Index169
\ Library JournalThe authors of this short but succinct study explore the connection between the traditions of Christianity and the political and social regulation of sexuality in America. They conclude that legal restriction on the practices of gays and lesbians is religious domination by another name. Jakobsen (director, Ctr. for Research on Women, Barnard Coll.) and Pellegrini (drama, Univ. of California, Irvine) contend that gays will never achieve the full rights of citizenship as long as they couch their arguments in terms of tolerance for their lifestyles. Instead, the authors believe that sexuality should be held as a protected freedom like speech, association, or-for that matter-religion. While their argument is for the most part convincing, some readers might be put off by the obvious ideological agenda of this book. Far from being an obsolete concept, tolerance, particularly in the face of strongly held views on both sides, seems more important today than ever. This book is accessible to the general reader, although some may have difficulty with the writers' use of academic jargon. Recommended for larger public libraries.-Andrew Brodie Smith, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lib., Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \
