"Killing the Messenger": Religious Black Gay Men's Neutralization of Anti-Gay Religious Messages

I use cognitive dissonance theory as a framework to examine coping strategies used by men endeavoring to maintain a coherent sense of themselves as gay Christians. Using interviews with black gay Christian men, I uncover a strategy used to maintain that identity in the face of stigmatizing religious...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal for the scientific study of religion Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 56 - 72
Main Author Pitt, Richard N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.03.2010
Wiley Subscription Services
Wiley
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
African Americans
Christianity
Christians
Churches
Cognitive dissonance
Contemporary period
Female homosexuality
Gay communities
Gays & lesbians
Gays and lesbians
Gender identity
General subjects
History and sciences of religions
Homosexuality
Homosexuals
Identity
Illegitimacy
Knowledge
Male homosexuality
Males
Men
Morality
Queer theology
Religion
Religious behaviour
Religious Doctrines
Religious identity
Sexual orientation discrimination
Sexuality
Sociological studies
Stigma
Survival strategy
Black church
Christian identity
Homosexuality
Masculine
Rhetorics
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Summary:I use cognitive dissonance theory as a framework to examine coping strategies used by men endeavoring to maintain a coherent sense of themselves as gay Christians. Using interviews with black gay Christian men, I uncover a strategy used to maintain that identity in the face of stigmatizing religious rhetoric. While these men have managed to reconcile their religious and sexual identities, sermons delivered by church leaders disrupt that reconciliation, causing them to have to neutralize these anxiety-inducing attitudes. This study shows that they focus accusations of illegitimacy on the speaker rather than the doctrine by denigrating the speakers' knowledge, morality, focus, and motivations. In this way, they neutralize the sting of churches' negative messages by neutralizing the moral authority of the churches' messengers. These findings offer new insight into how parishioners persist in religious communities in which their sexual behaviors or identities are condemned.
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ArticleID:JSSR1492
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ISSN:0021-8294
1468-5906
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01492.x