Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa
Hetero-masculine violence in South Africa continues to be an obstacle to peace. As indicated by crime statistics in South Africa, heterosexual women, heterosexual men and LGBTQI+ community have been victims of murder. Many continue to be victims of sexual violence as a result of hetero-masculine vio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Verbum et Ecclesia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2992 |
| _version_ | 1797289233410424832 |
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| author | Ayanda Mdokwana |
| author_facet | Ayanda Mdokwana |
| author_sort | Ayanda Mdokwana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hetero-masculine violence in South Africa continues to be an obstacle to peace. As indicated by crime statistics in South Africa, heterosexual women, heterosexual men and LGBTQI+ community have been victims of murder. Many continue to be victims of sexual violence as a result of hetero-masculine violence. While some Christian confessional traditions in South Africa have evolved and have become more welcoming to the LGBTQI+ community, this evolution has not made much difference to the public violence the LGBTQI+ community is exposed to in South Africa. Using the intersections of Caputo’s radical ethics and Meiring’s body theology, I propose a new theological framework that will assist and encourage confessional ecclesiological traditions in South Africa to deal with their own internal contradictions influenced by masculinist heterosexist discourse. This is an attempt to meaningfully contribute to the discourse on violence experienced by the LGBTQI+ community in South Africa. This article contends that the intersections of body theology and radical ethics assist ecclesiological traditions to recognise and embrace the fragility of metaphysics even in the face of discomfort. I argue that the exercise of continuously embracing the fragility of metaphysics assists ecclesiological traditions to be open to their own flaws. This gives them an authentic voice to constantly reconstruct and effectively speak out against the rejection of and violence perpetuated against the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This paper draws on conversations from Christian theology, ethics and their engagement with LGBTQI+ and public homophobic violence in South Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:01:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d60a109cba84dfe8aa6b5883877de84 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1609-9982 2074-7705 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:01:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Verbum et Ecclesia |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d60a109cba84dfe8aa6b5883877de842024-03-01T13:28:22ZafrAOSISVerbum et Ecclesia1609-99822074-77052024-02-01451e1e910.4102/ve.v45i1.29921919Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South AfricaAyanda Mdokwana0Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, PretoriaHetero-masculine violence in South Africa continues to be an obstacle to peace. As indicated by crime statistics in South Africa, heterosexual women, heterosexual men and LGBTQI+ community have been victims of murder. Many continue to be victims of sexual violence as a result of hetero-masculine violence. While some Christian confessional traditions in South Africa have evolved and have become more welcoming to the LGBTQI+ community, this evolution has not made much difference to the public violence the LGBTQI+ community is exposed to in South Africa. Using the intersections of Caputo’s radical ethics and Meiring’s body theology, I propose a new theological framework that will assist and encourage confessional ecclesiological traditions in South Africa to deal with their own internal contradictions influenced by masculinist heterosexist discourse. This is an attempt to meaningfully contribute to the discourse on violence experienced by the LGBTQI+ community in South Africa. This article contends that the intersections of body theology and radical ethics assist ecclesiological traditions to recognise and embrace the fragility of metaphysics even in the face of discomfort. I argue that the exercise of continuously embracing the fragility of metaphysics assists ecclesiological traditions to be open to their own flaws. This gives them an authentic voice to constantly reconstruct and effectively speak out against the rejection of and violence perpetuated against the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This paper draws on conversations from Christian theology, ethics and their engagement with LGBTQI+ and public homophobic violence in South Africa.https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2992lgbtqi+metaphysicsecclesiological confessionsradical ethicsbody theologymasculine violencetheological anthropologyethics |
| spellingShingle | Ayanda Mdokwana Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa Verbum et Ecclesia lgbtqi+ metaphysics ecclesiological confessions radical ethics body theology masculine violence theological anthropology ethics |
| title | Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa |
| title_full | Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa |
| title_short | Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa |
| title_sort | towards a grieving church theo ethical considerations for homophobic violence in south africa |
| topic | lgbtqi+ metaphysics ecclesiological confessions radical ethics body theology masculine violence theological anthropology ethics |
| url | https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2992 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ayandamdokwana towardsagrievingchurchtheoethicalconsiderationsforhomophobicviolenceinsouthafrica |