Also on this website: Toby Johnson's books: GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe SECRET MATTER, GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE PLAGUE: A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING.     Articles and Excerpts: The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate Shame on the American People  The cause of homosexuality What Jesus said about Gay Rights The purpose of homosexuality Varieties of Gay Spirituality Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality as Artistic Medium "It's Always About You" The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara You're Not A Wave Curious Bodies What Toby Johnson Believes The Joseph Campbell Connection, The Nature of Religion Being Gay is a Blessing Freedom of Religion  "The Evolution of Gay Identity" "St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul." Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.  Eckhart's Eye  Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil Allah Hu: "God is present here"   Adam and Steve Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery" Seeing with Different Eyes The mystical experience at the Servites'  Castle in Riverside The Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis The Techniques Of The World Saviors Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection Part 4: A Course in Miracles The Secret of the Clear Light Understanding the Clear Light Mobius Strip Finding YourTiger Face How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta. The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the  "Statement of Spirituality"

Anti-gay forces say there is a "gay agenda" to undermine normal society, overthrow the Churches and institute devil worship, break up marriages and sell all the children into homosexual prostitution. There is no such agenda. But, of course, there is a gay agenda if by that weighted term you mean a dream of how the world could and should be. And that agenda is more modern and sensible than the very weighty Fundamentalist agenda with its dream of reimposing theocracy on modern society. The gay agenda is mostly a call for human freedom and respect for diversity and otherness, a call for compassion. It is amazingly egalitarian. The Movement, often even to its own detriment, embraces the demands of all other minorities calling for justice and opportunity. Gay rights includes all other rights. Gay people can’t be free till all are free. Gay men and lesbians can’t be saved till all human beings are saved. (Sounds like the Bodhisattva Vow, doesn't it?) The gay agenda is the American agenda, the essence of democracy and personal freedom. It is idealism at its very best, a demonstration of what a modern enlightened morality and religious attitude ought to be, a remarkable demonstration of what Jesus was actually talking about. Why Gay Spirituality As we heard from E.M. Forster at the outset of our discussion: "...there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent the true human tradition, the one queer victory of our race over cruelty and chaos." Not all of us are called to the roles of kindness and generosity. Not all are called to be saints, bodhisattvas and world-transformers. But we participate in the collective transformation of consciousness whether we mean to or not. It is not so much the behavior of individual gay people, as it is the appearance of gay identification itself, that conveys the message. Any of us can become aware of what we are doing in planetary evolution. And we can choose to live our lives according to these metaphors. In so doing, we change the world. We ease the suffering in the world by putting out our good gay vibes. We ease our own suffering by recognizing eternity in every moment. This book began with the question "Why gay spirituality?" The answer is that gay people are in the vanguard of a transformation in consciousness. We participate in waking up the planet by calling attention to important spiritual, psychological and ecological issues. We help reveal the workings of Gaia. We test religion and we help redefine God. We stand on the ledge of the world's weird wall. We are oracles. We are guides. We put out good intentions. We radiate good vibes. We are moved by spirits true. And we are spirits true. This essay is excerpted from the book Gay Spirituality The essay is preceded by a section titled Being Gay is a Blessing and Freedom of Religion Toby Johnson, PhD is author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality. In addition to the novels featured elsewhere in this web site, Johnson is author of IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD and THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET (Revised edition): AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL. Johnson's Lammy Award winning book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness was published in 2000. His Lammy-nominated book  GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe was published by Alyson in 2003.