New book from John J. McNeill: 'Sex as God Intended'

SOURCE:

Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida

www.MiamiHerald.com/gay - For and about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people throughout Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
December 25, 2008
Miami Herald Blog

A new book from John J. McNeill: Sex as God Intended. McNeill will be signing books Jan. 11 at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale. Here's the news release:

Lethe Press is proud to release the latest work from the acclaimed Biblical scholar John J. McNeill.

"Sex as God Intended It will make you think. It will make you question everything you've heard in the media or in church about homosexuals and God. It will make you question the rightness or wrongness of gay marriage. It will make you take a closer look at your faith and your beliefs. It is a book that encourages spiritual and intellectual growth, and a book that all Christians should read, even if your pastor or minister or priest tells you it is evil." -- Jack Gardner, Edge Boston

Noted biblical scholar, moral theologian, and psychotherapist John J. McNeill (The Church and the Homosexual) offers further insight into the portrayal of sex in the Bible and discusses how the original sex positive viewpoints have been twisted by the Church and society over the years. Citing the generally overlooked Biblical book The Songs of Songs, McNeill argues that human sexual activity represents a form of "play" that provides a source of pleasure, joy and love. From the beginning, he says, this is what God intended sex to be, not a cause of judgment, oppression, and resentment.

New York-based psychotherapist and retreat director Ken Page contributed the foreword. This volume also offers a Festschrift celebrating the life and work of John J. McNeill. In a collection of thirteen essays, voices of acclaimed religion scholars, theologians, ministers and teachers such as Mark Jordan, Robert E. Goss, Jim Mitulski, Mary Hunt, Mel White, Daniel Helminiak, and Troy Perry are raised to cite the influence McNeill's studies-and the example of his personal life-have had on their professional research and lives.

This book appears in coordination with the upcoming release of a video documentary about John McNeill, "Uncommon Jesuit," produced by Festschrift contributor Brendan Fay.

You can order at Queerbooks.com or at TLABooks or through Amazon or ask your local bookseller to carry John's latest book.

About John J. McNeill

McNeill is a former Jesuit priest who clashed with Church officials over his compassionate and sex-positive teachings about homosexuality. And this current book continues in that tradition with a chapter on the very timely topic of Gay Marriage. McNeill makes the case that gay people gaining the right to marriage equality promises to improve society's ideas about traditional heterosexual marriage; same sex marriage would be good for everybody, if only because it offers of a model of relationship as equal partnership. Sex as God Intended concisely presents wisdom about sexuality and homosexuality that McNeill has gained over his 83 year life.

McNeill was co-founder of the New York City chapter of Dignity, a group for Catholic gays and lesbians. For over thirty-five years, he has been active in a ministry to gay Christians through retreats, workshops, lectures, publications, etc. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Lifetime Achievement Award.

McNeill is available for interviews and limited speaking engagements. He can be reached at jjmcneill@aol.com.