The Torah (Five Books of Moses) prohibits men from lying down with other men, referring to such behavior as a toavah, an abomination, something that distances a person from holiness. Orthodox Christians against homosexual relationships cite not only the Torah, but the teachings of Jesus, who sourced heterosexual marriage as the prototypic relationship ideal established at Eden. More recently, Christian gay activists suggest that the biblical source for rejection of homosexual behavior is really based upon what happened at Sodom in the book of Genesis, where the residents of that city greeted visitors with rape, not food and water. Thus it was rape that was meant to be forbidden, not sexual love. Regardless of the biblical citation, religious fundamentalism has been shown to be a predictor of prejudice toward gays and lesbians (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992;Herek, 1987; Laythe, Finkel, & Kilpatrick, 2001), putting parents at odds with their children on account of religious proscription.In a society becoming marginally more affirmative of differences, is family acceptance of homosexuality critical? Research findings indicate that parental support mitigates risk to individuals identifying as homosexual. Increased visibility has led to a rise in illegal, socially sanctioned, physical attacks on gays and lesbians (Comstock, 1991) and sexual minority persons are more vulnerable to psychological distress, high rates of alcoholism, drug abuse,

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Dickinson knew the Bible well. She was profoundly aware of Christian theology and she was writing at a time when comparative religion was extremely popular. This book is the first to consider Dickinson's religious imagery outside the dynamic of her personal faith and doubt. It argues that religious myths and symbols, from the sun-god to the open tomb, are essential to understanding the similetic movement of Dickinson's poetry - the reach for a comparable, though not identical, experience in the struggles and wrongs of Abraham, Jacob and Moses, and the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Linda Freedman situates the poet within the context of American typology, interprets her alongside contemporary and modern theology and makes important connections to Shakespeare and the British Romantics. Dickinson emerges as a deeply troubled thinker who needs to be understood within both religious and Romantic traditions.