Review of 'Straight and Narrow?' by Thomas Schmidt

Review of
Strangers and Friends: A New Exploration of Homosexuality and the Bible
by Michael Vasey
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995)
276 pp pb, £9.99
ISBN 0 340 60814 5

I started reading Vasey’s book with a certain trepidation, conscious of his determined, sometimes fierce, advocacy of the gay Christian 'cause', and his evident conviction that he presents a forceful case from an evangelical standpoint. I have to say, however, that I finished it without being very much clearer as to what that case is, or any great sense of having been challenged in regard to my own views.

This is not to make any criticism of Vasey personally. Indeed, one value of the book is that it conveys both the author's sincerity and his passionate sense of alienation and injustice as a person who, because he is gay, feels himself to be at odds with both the world and the church. However, I do not feel that it is a better book for this. Indeed, its highly personalized stance may be one reason why it is not a very successful book from my point of view.

A particular problem with the book is its lack of focus. Vasey has strongly criticized Thomas Schmidt's work Straight and Narrow?, which I have reviewed previously. However, unlike Schmidt, Vasey seems to have made no clear identification of his target audience or his core subject. If he was writing for evangelicals then he fails to connect, principally because the book does not live up to its subtitle. There is in fact only one chapter out of thirteen on 'What does the Bible say?' and it really adds nothing new to the debate. Moreover, his conclusion at this point is too weak to support the case he wishes to hang on it. Vasey admits, for example, that in all probability 1 Cor 6 contains a condemnation of some form of homosexuality, but suggests it is "likely" that the homosexuality in view "carries those connotations of slavery, idolatry and social dominance that were associated with corrupt Roman society" (p 136). However, in view of the radical shift in Christian perceptions Vasey proposes, this is simply not enough to persuade the sceptical evangelical.

Indeed, Vasey's central thesis seems more designed to appeal to the sociologist rather than the theologian:

"[T]he conventional competitive masculinity of our culture has alienated the 'normal' male both from himself, from other men, and from women. On this view the men who emerge as gay, although perceived as aberrant, are involved in the recovery of a more affectionate and intimate masculinity and a consequent reconciliation with the feminine. [...] [A]lthough sexual activity may be an important part of what it is to be gay, it is not in fact the heart of the gay vocation within the social process of modern society." (P 232)

Here we see both the curious ambivalence about Vasey's case and the passion of his stance. On the one hand, there seems to be an uncertainty throughout the book as to whether 'gayness' is an intrinsic condition or an effect produced by "the distorted masculinity of Western masculine culture" (p 184). Of course this thesis, even if intelligible, has nothing to say about the response to homosexuality found in scripture and therefore is either divorced from, or even undermines, Vasey's earlier argument. On the other hand, we also see here another recurring theme in Vasey's work, which is that of the 'noble gay' (cf p 158). Being gay is a "vocation", part of a
"resistance movement" to the idolatry of the Western worship of Mammon. This outlook probably explains one of the book's major weaknesses which is that, whilst readily criticizing Western culture, the church in general and evangelicals in particular, it consciously eschews any criticism of gay people or culture, partly on the grounds that this would supply ammunition to their opponents!

Another criticism is that Vasey's work seems itself to betray a distorted view of the culture by which he alleges gay people feel so threatened. Gay people are said to be regarded with "horror" and "fear". Western culture is alleged to have no place for "non-competitive intimacy between two unrelated males" (p 231). Yet one seriously wonders at the truth of certainly the first, if not both, of these statements. My experience as a University chaplain is that the only "horror" felt within my part of Western society would be towards my view that homosexual acts are wrong.
And again, depending on what one means by "intimacy", my own life as a heterosexual is far from without significant relationships with other men. Admittedly, hugging and touching do not play a part in this, which may be a weakness, but if they did this would hardly be an argument for homosexual genital acts. Indeed, one wonders again whether Vasey is saying that if such heterosexual intimacy existed, homosexuality would disappear.

Overall, Vasey's work is not sufficiently rigorous (often seeming to clutch at straws), nor does it present anything new in terms of biblical studies or theology. It is, however, a useful work to read for its insight into what it feels like to be a gay Christian at odds with the traditional view on homosexuality. Yet the overall impression is ultimately negative. According to Vasey, neither ancient Israel nor the modern West has found a place for the gay man, and although he insists that male intimacy was once more acceptable in the church, he fails to establish that this
rested on a better theology. The message of the book is that acceptance of the gay outlook by the church would help redeem society. The tone of the book, however, is that there is simply not much joy available in being gay.

John Richardson
Anglican Chaplain to the University of East London

(This review first appeared in New Directions)

Post Script
Michael Vasey, who made his own homosexuality public, died of heart disease in late1998. This review was written earlier that same year.

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Last updated 22 January 1999