Pamela Dickey Young, Heather Shipley and Tracy Trothen have edited and contributed to a new book entitled Religion and Sexuality (UBC Press).
What issues arise when religion and sexuality intersect in a variety of different contemporary contexts? The regulation of sexuality within the public arena has been strongly influenced, indeed at times has been controlled by, religious groups and ideologies. In more recent scholarship, however, in-depth consideration of the relationship of religion and sexuality to each other has explored the ways in which various forms of religion and various "non-normative" sexualities do, in fact, coexist, demonstrating that religion and sexuality are not necessarily in opposition to one another. Through examining representations of both religion and sexuality in media, public discourse and legislation, the diversity and complexity of how people develop religious and sexual identities and practices is foregrounded, using analyses from multiple theoretical and methodological approaches.
This volume encompasses scholarship from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, combining academic analysis with interviews, policy analysis, and discourse on topics such as education, economics and same-sex marriage.
This book examines specific sites where religion and sexuality intersect. Members of the general public, who are always interested when sex and religion appear to collide, will find the general topics appealing. Academics will be drawn to the wide range of approaches the book presents to this developing field of study in sex and religion.