Language and Religion

In order to avoid “projecting contemporary understandings back in time,” Judith Halberstam suggests her idea of perverse presentism (Meem, Gibson and Alexander 2). Perverse presentism is imperative when discussing LGBTQI identities, the idea of a “global gay identity” or when approaching any topic because the present meaning(s) of words and ideas change throughout history and culture. 

An example of “projecting contemporary understandings back in time” is performed today in many, not all, Christian churches across the United States and presumably globally. When asked to take a political stance on homosexuality, many church leaders will look to the Bible to find an answer. Based on the translation of the Bible they look to, some may find the word ‘homosexual’ within the text where it had not previously existed because the word homosexual was not even invented until 1869 by Karl Maria Kertbeny (Meem, Gibson and Alexander 46). However, recent translations of the Bible have placed the word homosexual into the text. By using the word homosexual in the Bible, the current meanings, definitions and cultural understandings are ultimately perceived as having existed back when the Bible was written. It “assume[s] that people and groups of the past understood their sexual intimacies the same way we do” which is highly problematic for many reasons and especially for today’s readers of the Bible (Meem, Gibson and Alexander 12). As John D’Emilio mentions in the reading “Capitalism and Gay Identity,” “homosexual behavior is different from homosexual identity” so applying our current understanding of the words homosexual, or gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer to the past creates inaccuracies (D’Emilio 63).

Most notable perhaps of Bible passages, where the word homosexual has been added, is in the addition to the list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9. Where the New Revised Standard Version keeps the words “male prostitutes, sodomites,” the New Living Translation changes “sodomites” to “homosexuals” and the English Standard Version changes both to “men who practice homosexuality.” Unfortunately, the contemporary understanding of homosexuality (as an identity) is often projected into the past understanding of the sexual acts detailed within this Bible verse. Currently, scholars still debate Paul’s “ambiguous” meanings of the Greek words used in 1 Corinthians (Meem, Gibson and Alexander 16). The reading of this verse then leads many, especially those who view the Bible as inerrant, to “condemn [homosexuality] because it is immoral, or decadent, or ungodly” as mentioned in the reading “Should Homosexuals Be Eliminated?” (85). Although the Bible does mention certain sexual acts, it is important to understand those acts within the culture and time that the verse was written and to understand that the changing of “male prostitutes” and “sodomites” to “men who practice homosexuality” transforms the meaning of 1 Corinthians 6:9 by projecting our contemporary meaning into the text. 

Also, it is significant to use perverse presentism to be critical of a “global gay identity.” Since not all words have the same meaning cross-culturally or transnationally a global gay identity does not exist (Meem, Gibson and Alexander 3). The existence of a gay identity, within the United States, did not exist until the industrial revolution and capitalism provided the opportunity for individuals to live outside the family unit. D’Emilio states that “the historical development of capitalism … allowed large numbers of men and women in the late twentieth century to call themselves gay … and to organize politically on the basis of that identity (D’Emilio 61).  However, that gay identity does not transcend the location where it was created and should not be used to describe other cultures or times. In relation to religion, considering that a “gay identity” did not exist until the early 1900s in the United States, the word ‘homosexual’ placed in translations of the Bible cannot and should not be read with our current understanding of what it means to be gay.  Or to use the words of some anti-gay folks, the Bible does not mention anything about a ‘homosexual lifestyle’ because a gay identity did not exist when the Bible was written.    

Ultimately, Halberstam’s idea of perverse presentism is important in not only LGBTQI identity, formation, and understanding but also in other endeavors where a social, historical and cultural perspective is important to its understanding.