Welcome to Resiliency Within and part 2 of my discussion with the Rev. Dr. Keith Menhinick of Emory Univesity's Candler School of Theology. Part 1 aired on July 3, 2023. Today's show will explore Queer Theology. Rev. Dr. Keith Menhinick will discuss his views about Queer theology, and the course he teaches at Emory University. Sexuality and spirituality are often pitted against each other in religious community and doctrine. In sociological and psychological research on LGBTQ+ folks, religion is often cited in terms of stigma and risk factor for a variety of poor health outcomes. How might we understand LGBTQ+ spirituality beyond an association with stigma, trauma, and exclusion? Can we imagine a world in which sexuality and spirituality are not opposed, but rather intimately interrelated? It would be a world in which we are not asked to diminish parts of ourselves, but rather bring the fullness of our lives (our bodies, dreams, longings, and loves) to explore questions of gender, sexuality, and faith formation together in community. Queer theology is about questioning what is considered “normal” for humans and “orthodox” for religion. By historicizing and politicizing the labels we use to understand ourselves and the divine, queer theology exposes the power relations at the heart of the ways that we claim identities, organize society, and do theology. We learn from both queer theology and resilience studies that there is more freedom, justice, and compassion than we have yet to live into.