By Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle
RECENTLY I had the opportunity to watch the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture.
This movie follows the stories of three individuals whose life experiences lead them to struggle with questions about whether one could be a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and Christian. This search brings these three individuals together and ultimately leads to this project.
A key part of this journey was to explore how homosexuality found its way into the Bible.
As it happens, the first time the word appears is in the 1946 English translation of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). In developing this edition, the group of 22 white men, chose to combine two words from the original Greek, malakoi and arsinoskoitai, found in 1 Corinthains 6:9-10, to become ‘homosexuality’.
The documentary spends time exploring the potential meaning of the words based on context and other uses. This includes acknowledging that these words are typically used as action words. Thus, translating them into a state of being is problematic. Shortly following the release of the 1946 RSV, a gay seminary student from Quebec raised these questions with the head of the translation team.
Enter the Rev. David Fearon from the United Church of Canada. The documentary team actually found him, living in Vancouver!
He shared how, when reading 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as it appeared in the 1946 version of the RSV, he felt a sense of discord. This did not feel true of his experience of the God who had cured him of his stammering so that he could be a minister and yet had not cured him of his homosexuality. Drawing from his studies, he felt compelled to write to the translation team who were open minded enough to hear what he had to say such that subsequent translations of the RSV and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible have been adjusted to reflect this wisdom.
Unfortunately, the damage was done, in large part because other translations of the Bible simply relied on the work of the RSV team to produce their editions. Some doubled down on the point, adding other places where homosexuality was emphasised as sinful and punishable by death. This included the Living Bible, a favourite of Billy Graham which went on to sell millions of copies and has been one of the most popular editions in the United States.
When this theology intersects with politics, things get even worse for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who become the scapegoats for the ills of society.
“Family values”, that is a very particular version of cis-gender, heterosexual, patriarchal presentation of family, becomes idealised to the point that all those who are outside this framework become villainized.
This gives permission for people to mistreat, devalue, and undermine the lives and loves of the community. It gives permission for family to disown those who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It can even enable the violence done to the community. Thus, the documentary reinforced that congregations, denominations, and other Christian spaces that are public, intentional, and explicit about affirmation and inclusion remain vital to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Following the viewing of the documentary, we had a panel discussion. One of the members was particularly gracious in sharing their story of religious trauma. They shared how this theology impacted their life, undermined their relationships, especially with their mother, and made it difficult to find a faith community in which they felt they belonged.
The feelings associated with the years of trauma continued to surface throughout the conversation. In the end, however, they shared how grateful they were to find a congregation that fully accepted them for who they are and who they love to the point of enabling them to take on a leadership role. Healing can happen, even though the wounds and scars remain.
There is much we, as Church, need to atone for. The spiritual and religious trauma inflicted on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community continues to impact lives in profound ways. We need to continually reflect, learn, and do better. It literally can make the difference between life and death.
To those who think that statement is an exaggeration, let me share one quote from the many resources I have read on spiritual and religious trauma:
“The most interesting thing for me has been that since I have been fully out and in an affirming church, and all that kind of stuff, for the first time in 30 years, I am not suicidal. And that is huge. In some ways, I don’t know a bigger sign of grace than that. It’s nice not to want to kill yourself.”
(Joel Hollier, Shane Clifton, and Jennifer Smith-Merry, ‘Mechanisms of Religious Trauma amongst Queer People in Australia’s Evangelical Churches’, Clinical Social Work Journal 50, no. 3, 2022: 283.)
This is not an isolated sentiment. What we do matters. May we all consider ways to be public, intentional, and explicit in our affirmation and inclusion of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community this Pride month and throughout the year.
Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is a co-chair of SEJH.