Author: Julie Gardiner
Gardiner, Julie, 2024 Diabolical Dialogue: An Investigation into Obstacles and Opportunities in the LGBTQIA+ Discourse within Baptist Churches in South Australia., Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Abstract
This research project originated in a personal dilemma. As a heterosexual, cisgender Baptist pastor in South Australia, I felt ill-equipped to facilitate the LGBTQIA+ discourse in my church and community. The advice from fellow Baptists was homogenous, lacking depth for meaningful dialoguing perspectives fundamental to people’s identity and faith. Therefore, this study explores the hindrances and opportunities for the LGBTQIA+ discourse in Baptist churches. This grounded research, based on semi-structured interviews and narratives, includes experiences from Baptists and non-Baptists, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, familiar with the LGBTQIA+ discourse in Baptist churches.
The study found that the prevailing silence towards the LGBTQIA+ discourse within the Baptist community obstructs dialogue. This lack of dialogue is harming LGBTQIA+ individuals and their families. The research uses concepts from dialogue theorists Buber, Gadamer, Bakhtin, Bohm, Said, and Volf and from Theory U and Dadirri—the Aboriginal method of deep listening. It shows that shifting from a subject- or ethics- based discourse to a person-centred approach can change dialogue from talking about to talking to another person. However, dialoguing over differences leads to clashes in perspectives and forces a choice: towards absence or presence in the dialogue, which entails an uncomfortable sense of liminality. The influence of Scriptural interpretations and the power modes operating in the LGBTQIA+ discourse in Baptist churches contributed to the discussions being described as monologues rather than dialogue. The research also considers occasions when participants fostered an empathic open LGBTQIA+ discourse. The opportunities and hindrances located through this research inform the recommendations for LGBTQIA+ discourse within Baptist churches.
Keywords: religion, sexuality, gender, LGBTQAI+, cisgender, Baptists, South Australia, dialogue theory, discourse, Buber, Gadamer, Bakhtin, Bohm, Edward Said, Volf, Theory U, Dadirri.
Subject: Theology thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2024
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Tanya Wittwer