Eucharist, Prayer and Pacific Mimesis in the Thought of James Alison

Bryce E. Rich
AAR 2009 Annual Meeting
8 November 2009

Over the past couple of decades the Church has been increasingly pulled into the conflict over homosexuality. As Christians rush to take up sides in arguments over scriptural authority, cultural norms, scientific data, and theories of social justice, debates have become increasingly polarized, with both sides engaging in polemic that dehumanizes their opponents and incites some to physical violence. Indeed, not a month goes by without reports of intimidation, assault, and murder of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people caught in the crossfire.[1] Many LGBT Christians have found themselves separated from family, friends and communities of faith.

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Russian Gay Slang

Back when I was thinking about going for a masters degree in Slavic linguistics I put this essay together as a writing sample.  As slang changes very quickly in every culture, I make no claims to current accuracy…


Хочу мальчика, а кругом одни пидарасы…
(I want a boy, but all around there’s nothing but fags…)
Heard nightly at Chance, a Moscow gay club

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Letter from Akademgorodok

On October 2, 1993, I arrived at Sheremetovo-2 in Moscow, headed for a year-long stint in Novosibirsk as the first IREX "E-mail Fellow."  After clearing customs, I met Russian friends on the other side and we left Moscow for Vladimir, a provincial town located some three hours away.  The very next day we saw on television the chaos in the streets of Moscow as tanks fired on the White House and the "October Events" got underway.  During the first hours while the course of events was still uncertain, the Internet started to buzz with information from Russia as people around Moscow began to send messages to teleconferences, giving what information they were able to gather from the media and from outside their windows.  IREX/Moscow used e-mail to locate me in Vladimir and determine that I was alive and well.

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