The Path to God is Through Sex | Rice Professor Jeff Kripal
The Hidden Connection Between Sex and Mysticism
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1. Homosexuals have privileged access to God.
2. Orthodox religions (e.g. Christianity, Hinduism) favor sublimated homosexuality over active heterosexuality.
3. Many of the great religious leaders themselves were queer.
These are the surprising claims of my guest, Rice professor Jeff Kripal. Jeff grew up Catholic and went to seminary but had to leave because, as a straight man, he was alienated by the overwhelmingly homoerotic environment.
Jeff then dedicated his early career to investigating the unlikely bedfellows of mysticism and homosexuality and found the same pattern again and again not just in Christianity, but Hinduism, Sufism and every major mystical tradition: whenever a tradition elevates celibacy it attracts homosexuals who would otherwise be persecuted in society. These homosexuals would, in turn, transmute their sublimated homoeroticism into spiritual practice and form the vanguard of the religion. This is Jeff’s reading of not just religious followers but religious leaders like Jesus and Ramakrishna themselves!
While I struggle to get onboard with the extent of Jeff’s conclusions, his explanations helped illuminate a puzzle I’ve been pondering for a long time: what explains the overwhelming creative contributions of homosexuals?
Why does pederasty pop up in every elite culture including our own (Hollywood, SF, British boarding schools)?
Why is this group, less than 3% of society, so dominant in creative fields such as academia, media, and technology?
Why are homosexuals overrepresented in positions of power, while being persecuted in almost every pre-modern society?
Even if I remain unconvinced about the full extent of Jeff’s otherworldly thesis, his arguments have given me great insight into homosexuals’ secular creativity.
What We Cover:
00:00 1. Introduction
11:38 2. Why Mysticism Selects for Same-Sex Desire
21:06 3. A Queer Reading of Jesus
32:47 4. Why a Sexless Jesus Won Out
41:27 5. Jeff’s Encounter with a Hindu Diety
53:30 6. Mysticism as Hedonism
1:04:07 7. Plato on Love, Sex, and Divinity
1:07:40 8. Sex Runs Through the Supernatural