One California college is offering students a one-credit course in which they can learn how to read the Bible through the lens of “queer theory.”
Professors at Ponoma College, based in Claremont, will teach students how to understand Scripture via “queer theory” by examining biblical excerpts “central to prohibitions on homosexuality.” They will also discuss “discourses of heteronormativity,” which are responsible for “homophobic readings of the Bible.”
The course is categorized as a “religious studies” class, according to Campus Reform, and can be used to satisfy the college’s “analyzing difference” requirement, which falls under the general education requirements for every student.
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“We will also look at the ways in which these discourses and the identities they shore up can be ‘queered,’ as well as at biblical texts that can be read as queer friendly,” the course description reads. “This process of queering will allow and require us to approach the biblical text in new ways.”
The controversial course will be taught by Dr. Erin Runions, chair of the religious studies department at Ponoma.
One Ponoma student, Daniel Silverman, told Campus Reform the course “meets a certain demand on campus.”
“The overall socio-political environment among both students and faculty at Pomona lies deep into the left of the political spectrum,” he said. “As I see it, ‘Queer Theory and the Bible,’ and other similar classes related to gender theory, exist because there is a high demand among students to enroll in those courses.”