19 thoughts on “Asexuality x Christianity: Accepted or Not?”
I appreciate your sharing of what Bible said about asexuality, since we learned many texts, interpretation, and re-interpretation of what those authoritative source said. You also brought up the idea of ‘platonic marriage’ which I found interesting, since it’s quite prevalent in China. The persona experience is really thoughtful, because those judgements that these characters are facing are exactly what people would face in real life.
I loved that you discussed labels, variety, and history regarding asexuality. I think it is important to debunk myths surrounding asexuality, such as the myth that asexual people cannot feel romantic attraction or do not want romantic relationships. I also really enjoyed the biblical examples that you discussed in your presentation: it was interesting to see what the Bible said and what different interpretations of these can be. It was very cool that you explored this topic through different personas; it was a great way to discuss the topic in “real-world” examples. When it came to your case studies, I totally understand why you focused on white cisgender people, but it also would have been interesting to explore more variety in identities and asexuality (which of course, would have had to include more research and consideration). I also loved that you talked about Angela Chen’s book because it is a great source to learn about asexuality, and maybe people in class can go to that book to learn more.
If I had more time I would’ve loved to get more into the intersectionality of it (like how Black aces can face a lot of hypersexualization, challenges disabled aces face trying to be accepted in the disability community and the ace community, trans aces, etc) and I’d definitely recommend reading more of Ace by Angela Chen if you haven’t cause she interviews a lot of different aces throughout it.
I appreciated the exampled used to illustrate different personas and asexual variations. Your point on how it would seem that asexuality would be completely supported by the church given the entire celibacy movement was a interesting perspective and I think it makes a lot of sense. Along that view I would be curious on how an asexual priest in Catholicism would be treated if they were ‘out’.
I thought the potential identities/hypothetical situations were really interesting and a great way to portray the possible outcomes of asexuality. I didn’t realize that conservative christians were so concerned about the benefits of marriage! Definitely poses some interesting questions.
I thought creating the hypothetical personas was a really unique way to explore your topic! It did a great job demonstrating how an asexual identity might intersect with a Christian identity. It’s kind of ironic how a far right Christian today might cite asexuality as a convolution of what’s Biblically correct, while Paul and other early church figures likely would have been okay with it because it avoided sexual sin. This was super informative!
This is such a cool topic to broach because of Christianity’s ascetic culture and historical emphasis on chastity. It would seem like Asexuality should be the goal of a Christian, but I also understand how there’s an element of struggle which made abstinence a holy endeavor. I was also interested to learn that some modern Christian groups put such an emphasis on having children, because I had thought that that was a big difference between Judaism and Christianity.
I really enjoyed seeing the different asexual, religious personas you created. It was interesting to see the diverse forms of asexuality and the potential reactions Christianity may have towards them. I thought it was funny how you included a nun who is unmarried and celibate since that would seemingly be appealing in the Christian world yet she’d most likely be scrutinized for being open about her sexual orientation.
The creation of personas and hypothetical situations was such a creative way to display your research – I honestly knew very little about the experiences of asexual Christians and this was a great way to make your presentation engaging and digestible. I learned so much from this project, thank you for teaching us about this topic!
The personas were so unique! I loved how it both showed the diversity on the ace spectrum as well as the diversity of potential issues/pushback from religion. The transition from more traditional Christianity essentially supporting and uplifting asexuality under the guise of celibacy to some modern day Christians being adamantly anti asexuality is extremely interesting and raises questions for me about if the grouping of asexuals into the larger LGBTQ+ community fuels much of the anti asexuality rhetoric.
I want to start off by saying that I loved how creative your personas were. They were so interesting to see the diverse characteristics each persona had and how that could be a potential problem in Christianity. I took this semester GSWS 215 LGBTQ History and Culture, and we discussed asexuality, but never how it can correlate with Christianity. We also read excerpts from Ace by Angela Chen and I have to agree with you they were amazing pieces of work.
Your project was super interesting and creative, I really liked how you showed “real-life” examples of how asexual people’s life could lead them within Christianity. As you mentioned, asexuality is positively viewed in Christianity but only in certain ways, so it is very interesting how in certain situations (the nun) would one’s religion accept a women living a celibate life while in others one’s religion would be used to question their faith (Fran).
I really liked this presentation because I feel like it would be super educational to people from different backgrounds in understanding different queer identities. I also find it super interesting how sex before marriage is prohibited but sex after marriage is mandatory and how deniying either condemns you to be doing wrong in the eyes of the lord.
Sarah, you did a great job discussing the presence of Asexuality in Christianity! Asexuality is an identity that so often is overlooked or ignored, and you did a great job of providing background info and definitions that allowed everyone to truly understand your work! Your slides are beautiful and easy to understand, and I think that your coverage of this topic was wonderful! The different personas you used to illustrate how asexuality might be treated today were fascinating, and I am really grateful that you had such a lovely presentation! Great job!
I thought that your project was very well done and informative! One of my favorite parts of your presentation was the different personas you created. They truly highlight how contradictory religion can be on who is considered a sinner or not.
I thought that your project was very well done and informative! One of my favorite parts of your presentation was the different personas you created. They truly highlight how contradictory religion can be on who is considered a sinner or not.
I enjoyed how you added hypothetical situations to your presentation because it made me reflect on how I view certain situations as well as enlightened me on how different cultures view marriage in terms of relating to sex and sexuality. Your presentation was holistic and added a lot of elements besides just plain information that added to the educational nature of it.
Thank you for shedding light on a topic that doesn’t get talked about as much. People tend to not really include asexuality in these conversations. I also agree with your statement that theoretically, asexuality should be completely fine but again, you never know because religion (mostly people) has a really bad habit of picking and choosing what they want to include in their beliefs. Focusing on those who aren’t accepting really makes the people focus on the issue at hand. Having 5 hypothetical examples is a great way to show the variety of asexuality and the examples are so realistic that it can happen to be people. What someone might consider “normal” by their standard is something you weren’t expecting. Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate your sharing of what Bible said about asexuality, since we learned many texts, interpretation, and re-interpretation of what those authoritative source said. You also brought up the idea of ‘platonic marriage’ which I found interesting, since it’s quite prevalent in China. The persona experience is really thoughtful, because those judgements that these characters are facing are exactly what people would face in real life.
That’s so interesting to learn platonic marriages are common in China!
I loved that you discussed labels, variety, and history regarding asexuality. I think it is important to debunk myths surrounding asexuality, such as the myth that asexual people cannot feel romantic attraction or do not want romantic relationships. I also really enjoyed the biblical examples that you discussed in your presentation: it was interesting to see what the Bible said and what different interpretations of these can be. It was very cool that you explored this topic through different personas; it was a great way to discuss the topic in “real-world” examples. When it came to your case studies, I totally understand why you focused on white cisgender people, but it also would have been interesting to explore more variety in identities and asexuality (which of course, would have had to include more research and consideration). I also loved that you talked about Angela Chen’s book because it is a great source to learn about asexuality, and maybe people in class can go to that book to learn more.
If I had more time I would’ve loved to get more into the intersectionality of it (like how Black aces can face a lot of hypersexualization, challenges disabled aces face trying to be accepted in the disability community and the ace community, trans aces, etc) and I’d definitely recommend reading more of Ace by Angela Chen if you haven’t cause she interviews a lot of different aces throughout it.
I appreciated the exampled used to illustrate different personas and asexual variations. Your point on how it would seem that asexuality would be completely supported by the church given the entire celibacy movement was a interesting perspective and I think it makes a lot of sense. Along that view I would be curious on how an asexual priest in Catholicism would be treated if they were ‘out’.
I thought the potential identities/hypothetical situations were really interesting and a great way to portray the possible outcomes of asexuality. I didn’t realize that conservative christians were so concerned about the benefits of marriage! Definitely poses some interesting questions.
I thought creating the hypothetical personas was a really unique way to explore your topic! It did a great job demonstrating how an asexual identity might intersect with a Christian identity. It’s kind of ironic how a far right Christian today might cite asexuality as a convolution of what’s Biblically correct, while Paul and other early church figures likely would have been okay with it because it avoided sexual sin. This was super informative!
This is such a cool topic to broach because of Christianity’s ascetic culture and historical emphasis on chastity. It would seem like Asexuality should be the goal of a Christian, but I also understand how there’s an element of struggle which made abstinence a holy endeavor. I was also interested to learn that some modern Christian groups put such an emphasis on having children, because I had thought that that was a big difference between Judaism and Christianity.
I really enjoyed seeing the different asexual, religious personas you created. It was interesting to see the diverse forms of asexuality and the potential reactions Christianity may have towards them. I thought it was funny how you included a nun who is unmarried and celibate since that would seemingly be appealing in the Christian world yet she’d most likely be scrutinized for being open about her sexual orientation.
The creation of personas and hypothetical situations was such a creative way to display your research – I honestly knew very little about the experiences of asexual Christians and this was a great way to make your presentation engaging and digestible. I learned so much from this project, thank you for teaching us about this topic!
The personas were so unique! I loved how it both showed the diversity on the ace spectrum as well as the diversity of potential issues/pushback from religion. The transition from more traditional Christianity essentially supporting and uplifting asexuality under the guise of celibacy to some modern day Christians being adamantly anti asexuality is extremely interesting and raises questions for me about if the grouping of asexuals into the larger LGBTQ+ community fuels much of the anti asexuality rhetoric.
I want to start off by saying that I loved how creative your personas were. They were so interesting to see the diverse characteristics each persona had and how that could be a potential problem in Christianity. I took this semester GSWS 215 LGBTQ History and Culture, and we discussed asexuality, but never how it can correlate with Christianity. We also read excerpts from Ace by Angela Chen and I have to agree with you they were amazing pieces of work.
Your project was super interesting and creative, I really liked how you showed “real-life” examples of how asexual people’s life could lead them within Christianity. As you mentioned, asexuality is positively viewed in Christianity but only in certain ways, so it is very interesting how in certain situations (the nun) would one’s religion accept a women living a celibate life while in others one’s religion would be used to question their faith (Fran).
I really liked this presentation because I feel like it would be super educational to people from different backgrounds in understanding different queer identities. I also find it super interesting how sex before marriage is prohibited but sex after marriage is mandatory and how deniying either condemns you to be doing wrong in the eyes of the lord.
Sarah, you did a great job discussing the presence of Asexuality in Christianity! Asexuality is an identity that so often is overlooked or ignored, and you did a great job of providing background info and definitions that allowed everyone to truly understand your work! Your slides are beautiful and easy to understand, and I think that your coverage of this topic was wonderful! The different personas you used to illustrate how asexuality might be treated today were fascinating, and I am really grateful that you had such a lovely presentation! Great job!
I thought that your project was very well done and informative! One of my favorite parts of your presentation was the different personas you created. They truly highlight how contradictory religion can be on who is considered a sinner or not.
I thought that your project was very well done and informative! One of my favorite parts of your presentation was the different personas you created. They truly highlight how contradictory religion can be on who is considered a sinner or not.
I enjoyed how you added hypothetical situations to your presentation because it made me reflect on how I view certain situations as well as enlightened me on how different cultures view marriage in terms of relating to sex and sexuality. Your presentation was holistic and added a lot of elements besides just plain information that added to the educational nature of it.
Thank you for shedding light on a topic that doesn’t get talked about as much. People tend to not really include asexuality in these conversations. I also agree with your statement that theoretically, asexuality should be completely fine but again, you never know because religion (mostly people) has a really bad habit of picking and choosing what they want to include in their beliefs. Focusing on those who aren’t accepting really makes the people focus on the issue at hand. Having 5 hypothetical examples is a great way to show the variety of asexuality and the examples are so realistic that it can happen to be people. What someone might consider “normal” by their standard is something you weren’t expecting. Thank you for sharing!