Browsing by Author "Phiri, Lilly."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

"Born this way" - a gendered perspective on the intersectionality between same-sex orientation and the Imago Dei : a case study of men who love other men in Lusaka, Zambia.
(2013) Phiri, Lilly.; West, Gerald Oakley.
This study explores how Christian MLM in Lusaka-Zambia understand their sexual orientation and the imago Dei amidst the general teachings of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, Zambia Episcopal Conference and the Council of Churches in Zambia on same-sex orientation and the imago Dei. A plethora of literature about same-sex orientation and the imago Dei reveals that the heterosexism is generally regarded as the authentic image of God while same-sex orientation continues to be regarded as an affront to the image of God. Hence the need to merge the two terms “same-sex orientation” and “imago Dei” in order to deconstruct and reconstruct how sexuality and God are understood within prevailing theologies, using emerging theologies from Zambian Christian Men who Love other Men. This study is framed within postcolonial and queer theories. Focus group discussions were audio-taped and transcribed and field notes taken. Themes are determined, analyzed and interpreted using recurring and unanimously held incipient voices of Christian MLM. Study participants’ views bring to fore that they understand their sexual orientation as being inborn and that they are wonderfully and fearfully created in the image of God. They also view themselves as being the image of God since they love other men, thereby, exhibiting God’s qualities which are love, justice and mercy. The study also found that Christian MLM do not feel welcome in affluent churches, unlike in churches on the outskirts, due to anti-same-sex messages preached in affluent churches. Furthermore, the study discovered that the churches use the Biblical creation accounts to condemn the practice of same-sex orientation and regard persons of same-sex orientation as sinful, satanic and sick. The study concludes that Christian MLM are created in the image of God, and hence recommends revisiting the theology of complementarity and an inculcation of hermeneutics of love in understanding sexuality and God.
“Construction sites”: exploring queer identity and sexuality at the intersections of religion and culture in Zambia.
(2016) Phiri, Lilly.; Nadar, Sarojini.
The purpose of this study was to examine how Queer Christians construct their identities and sexualities within the social contexts of religion and culture. Framed within a qualitative and critical research paradigm, this study sought to interrogate the agency of gay Christians‘ formulation of their identities and sexualities and the role of religion and culture in the construction process. Data was produced from primary sources which utilized focus group discussions, individual interviews and observation of Queer Christians, focusing primarily on gay Christians, in urban Lusaka, Zambia. Findings show that religion and culture, acting independently or together, do inform how the study participants ―self-construct‖ their identities and sexualities. The participants constructed their identities and sexualities amidst ambiguities of regarding the Bible as infallible whilst holding biblical hermeneutics as fallible; belonging and not belonging within Zambian churches, and upholding personal piety over belonging to the institutional Church. To show the influence of global culture in the construction of gay identities and sexualities, participants identified with Christianity‘s motif of creation of humanity in God‘s image and not African Traditional Religions‘ aligning gay identities with the inhabitation of ancestral spirits. In the construction process, silence and discretion are evident, while ambiguities of constructing identities in masculine and feminine rites of passage were highlighted. In relation to gender and sexual roles, the study showed elements of homopatriarchy exhibited through physical violence among some sexual partners, as well as ambiguities of identifying as male, female and woman. This study makes four major arguments, first, that participants are agents in their ―selfconstruction‖ of identities and sexualities. Second, the gender binary model is restrictive in understanding gay identities and sexualities. Third, the ―coming-out‖ model is not suitable for study participants due to personal choice, security reasons and the veiled nature of sexuality discourses. Fourth, the concept of masculinities does not fully capture varieties of identities and sexualities among gay Christians in Zambia.