tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post1421124198879309707..comments2023-05-15T08:45:11.289-05:00Comments on Jack Scott's Discussions on Male Sexuality: A Complex RealityJack Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08273576581155029176noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-26615822006261047242011-09-20T20:30:36.092-05:002011-09-20T20:30:36.092-05:00I'd be curious to hear what your friend finds ...I'd be curious to hear what your friend finds in regard to Ocean Grove. I would bet that he already knows something about it. Do ask him to tell you about the tent dwellers who come and stay for the summer. They come from quite a distance each summer, and it's quite interesting. Also ask about the Great Auditorium; it's a landmark building there.<br /><br />I don't mean to sound like a basher of any sort, as I do respect the town and it's people. I'm torn with the way I feel towards the place. It is charming with all it's history and you have to admire anyone's conviction to their faith. Coming from a quite conservative background myself, I can understand the resistance these people feel. It's actually sad to see these well dressed people in dresses and suits as they are coming from services, only to be made a mockery of by the invasion of riff-raff who have little respect for anything.<br /><br />The story of the lesbians was ongoing for over a year. It became obvious that the church was not letting down their guard, and as far as I know, the ceremony never took place.<br /><br />But it hardly seems fair when the town has a fair number of gays living there. They'll accept their money, but not their ways. It also seems odd that in the Great Auditorium, a building well revered in its history with the Methodists, a sacred shrine of sorts, that for the past many years-- they actually book Do-Whop groups, and other rock'n'rollers from the 50s and 60s to perform concerts there. To walk by on a summer evening and hear a crowd cheering for someone singing IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT just doesn't seem possible, but they promote this.<br /><br />Again, it's all about money, which I understand. But it's the same as the Stones playing at the St. Patrick's Cathedral; it just shouldn't happen. Yet when two residents want to hold a wedding ceremony there in a common area of the boardwalk, it's unthinkable. As I said, it's a very curious town, and I'm torn with my feelings toward it. [Google Ocean Grove--there's tons of info on it.]bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04469145500792404484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-22353072085702743832011-09-20T11:12:06.264-05:002011-09-20T11:12:06.264-05:00Bob, I enjoyed hearing about Ocean Grove and Asbur...Bob, I enjoyed hearing about Ocean Grove and Asbury Park. I had never heard of a gated community of Methodists before. One of my best friends is a Methodist minister and quite a history buff. I'll have to see if he knows anything about it.<br /><br />Methodists are much like society at large, there are those who are less tolerant than others, those who are more tolerant than others and those somewhere in the middle.<br /><br />There are Methodist Seminaries throughout the United States. The best known, here in Texas is Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Perkins is known as a very liberal institution. For that reason, probably, Methodists in Texas tend to be more liberal minded.<br /><br />However, it varies by region. In west Texas where I grew up, Methodists are much more conservative than they are here in south Texas.<br /><br />You are correct that Dr. Roe's ideas about sexuality are not mainstream within the hierarchy of the church. The truth is, in many parts of the nation, the membership is ahead of the bishops and elders of the church when it comes to tolerance and acceptance.<br /><br />Here in Texas in the large metropolitan areas Methodist are generally open and tolerant. Here in the Houston area in particular, Bering Memorial United Methodist Church is widely known for its outreach and welcome to the gay community.<br /><br />In my own Methodist congregation, gays are welcomed and each worship service ends with the pastor affirming to the congregation that no matter where you are in your life or what you are, God loves you and accepts you just as you are. <br /><br />So, all in all, I don't think you have much to fear from Methodist. There are some really fine people in their ranks.<br /><br />Jack ScottJack Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08273576581155029176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-67083465840177699442011-09-20T08:06:05.925-05:002011-09-20T08:06:05.925-05:00So looking back on this--Methodists scare me, and ...So looking back on this--Methodists scare me, and yes--sexuality is very complicated--if you're honest about it.bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04469145500792404484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-61676896264513625742011-09-20T08:02:12.642-05:002011-09-20T08:02:12.642-05:00Wow, that's a lot to take in! An entire colle...Wow, that's a lot to take in! An entire college course could be covered here with what Dr. Roe has said. Ironically, I just said how complicated sex is at Gus Like Me.<br /><br />I don't know how you came up with Dr. Roe's statements, but sadly it is not a well known opinion within the Methodist church or followings. For that, I commend his stance.<br /><br />Please don't hate me for it, but yes--I'm from New Jersey. [And NO, we are not well represented from any of the TV shows based in NJ…] But living here, and being within driving distance of the "Jersey Shore" [another tag that I resent] we visit Ocean Grove on a regular basis.<br /><br />Ocean Grove is a very curious place to say the least. It is an old historic town that was founded by the Methodist church, and although they will not admit it openly, the Methodists there are looking more and more prejudice as time goes on.<br /><br />At one time, the town was strictly for Methodists, and it closed itself off from the rest of the surrounding communities. It was gated, and haled as a vacation retreat, based on Methodist teachings. [Driving was prohibited on Sundays until the 1970s] Meanwhile, the old time Methodists started to die out, and the following there as a religious community began to falter. Knowing that the town was dying, they slowly realized that people from the outside would have to step in and inhabit the town. They could take over some of the promising, crumbling, yet charming, Victorian homes that are so trademark of the town. It's very much like a mini Cape May which is so sought after, but it has one fatal flaw. Ocean Grove is part of Neptune Township, and next door to Asbury Park; two towns that people are afraid of, in spite of recent attempts to renew the area.<br /><br />Both Asbury Park and Ocean Grove became quite run down, and like many similar towns, the gays stepped in realizing the potential there. They started buying properties and little by little started establishing gay neighborhood areas. At one point, Ocean Grove was 33 percent gay; I don't know what the count is today. <br /><br />Within the past year or so, a lesbian couple from Ocean Grove wanted to marry at the Gazebo located on the Ocean Grove boardwalk. But the church put their foot down, insisting that this is their town, their property and their right to forbid any gay marriage on their premises, as it goes strictly against their teachings. Meanwhile, the couple had lived there for many years, and were in their mid to late 60s! The story is well documented in the Asbury Park Press, the local newspaper.<br /><br />Ocean Grove is a curious, somewhat bizarre place. It seems to remain about one third Methodist, one third gay, and one third "mixed other". The Methodists there remain quite aloof to all the others who live and visit there, and I'm sure they pray for the day that their special devoted hamlet will return to its proper purpose. I don't believe that will happen.<br /><br />This is my experience with the Methodists, with all due respect to them. But it is because of this that I find Dr. Roe's findings and proclamations so surprising.bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04469145500792404484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-38022841627721987222011-09-20T02:10:43.624-05:002011-09-20T02:10:43.624-05:00Thanks Jack for your posting such a well written a...Thanks Jack for your posting such a well written and compassionate article on Bisexuality. We are all dealing with our sexual identities if we see ourselves as not 100% pure straight or gay, and I believe as the researchers show there are millions of us in this Bi state, maybe in transition from one orientation to another, but mostly is a state of different emotional, and sexual, attractions to different human beings regardless of gender. <br /><br />You are a serious man doing serious work to help us all grapple with what makes us be who we are, and where we can imagine headingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-27394247773670006492011-09-19T22:58:30.531-05:002011-09-19T22:58:30.531-05:00Very good article. It gives a better view of relig...Very good article. It gives a better view of religion in relation to sexuality. Only if more people would broaden their outlook in seeing religion more than just heterosexual and that God is accepting of everyone.dl.mileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02030210295998261369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703298219148864437.post-60445484724970135112011-09-19T19:28:01.789-05:002011-09-19T19:28:01.789-05:00Nice find Jack. I have worked with several leaders...Nice find Jack. I have worked with several leaders of GLBT organizations and they too concur that a lot more work also needs to be done to acknowledge, affirm, and embrace the B and T of GLBT. This post does a nice job a presenting the complexities surrounding sexual identity and sexual practices. Thanks for the informative post.DMGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00854722124138131101noreply@blogger.com