Faith community is integral to the healthy masculinity movement

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/faith-community-is-integral-to-the-healthy-masculinity-movement/2012/11/02/8cb3856a-253a-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_blog.html


Posted at 06:43 PM ET, 11/02/2012
Faith community is integral to the healthy masculinity movement
By Jared Watkins

The Rev. Reverend Rob Keithan of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice began his address at the Healthy Masculinity Summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 19, with a quote from musician Butch Hancock: “Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: one is that God loves you and you’re going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love.” The quote brought raucous laughter to the room of 200 students and professionals, but it also reflected a view held by many progressive people and organizations that faith and organized religion are antagonistic of a forward-moving society.

I’m sure many in the room were wondering how a movement based on rejecting traditional notions of masculinity for a healthier masculinity based on nonviolence, respect for all people, and social-emotional intelligence could be reconciled with religions that seem to hold onto traditional masculinity with all their energy.

The summit, co-hosted by Men Can Stop Rape and the Verizon Foundation, was the kick-off of the Healthy Masculinity Action Project (HMAP), a two-year initiative to mobilize men and women around the country to spread the value of healthy, nonviolent masculinity. Organizers reached out to faith-based organizations to act as allies, including Jewish Women International, the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, and K-Life Ministries, groups that work toward economic and social justice for historically underrepresented populations with little fanfare and very little mainstream media attention.

The work of those groups better represent my own experiences with faith and religion than the faith groups that dominate mainstream conversation. This might seem strange since my hometown, Farmington, N.M., has much in common with Lubbock. It’s a conservative, oil and gas town where the Planned Parenthood doesn’t even perform abortions but is still plagued by picketers and where even wedding ceremonies aren’t immune to pastoral lectures on the evils of evolution.

more at link