Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance
Sex. Religion. There is no denying that these two subjects are among the most provocative in American public life. Even the constitutional principle of church-state separation seems to give way when it comes to sex: the Supreme Court draws on theology as readily as it draws on case law when rendering decisions that touch on sexuality.\ In this compelling and carefully argued study, Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini examine this powerful and disturbing connection as they explore the reasons...
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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
\ From the Publisher“A brilliant book, one that can move public conversations about sexual, racial, and religious difference beyond present assumptions and impasses. Love the Sin suggests that religion can become the ground for sexual freedom rather than the justification for sexual repression.”\ -Margaret R. Miles,author of Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies\ “Jakobsen and Pellegrini do a nice job of showing how the love-the-sinner/hate-the- sin tradition falls dramatically short of the higher aspiration to tolerance.”\ -Stephen Pomper,Washington Monthly\ “As ambitious, feisty, and exciting as any new passion, Love the Sin takes its readers on a compelling ride across the volatile landscape of religion and sex in American public life. The authors not only provoke and stimulate, guide and elucidate, but they redefine freedom and democracy as values for our sex lives as well as our sexual politics.”\ -Lisa Duggan,coauthor of Sex Wars: Sexual Dissent and Political Culture\ “Gives us vital language to escape both the trap of toleration and the seduction of assimilation. Not afraid to challenge the certainties of the secular left on religion, nor willing to settle for a narrow version of gay and lesbian rights, Love the Sin presents a new vision of American sexual and religious freedom.”\ -Laura Levitt,Director of Jewish Studies, Temple University\ “Jakobsen and Pellegrini argue convincingly that movements for ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual justice would be well served by using the paradigm of religious freedom instead of biological determinism to make the case for social change. Love the Sin is required reading for all the sinners to whom the title euphemistically refers, and for everyone who dreams of a more just society.”\ -Rabbi Rebecca Alpert,author of Like Bread on the Seder Plate\ \ \ \ \ \ 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.\ \
