Religion is a fundamental theme in both Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Kushner’s Angel’s in America. Both texts discuss characters’ unfortunate circumstances of belonging to a religion that does not accept their sexuality. However, the repercussions of their “sin” varies greatly between texts. Winterson depicts a loving and forgiving god while Kushner describes a religion focused on eternal damnation. When Jeanette’s church first begins to realize she is attracted to other girls, they react by asking her to repent for her sins. Though, from the point of view of her church, Jeanette has sinned, she is still capable of forgiveness. “The Lord forgives and forgets.” (Winterson, 109)
Meanwhile, Joe fears the consequences of acting on his sexuality. When he finds himself attracted to Louis, he responds, “I’m going to hell for doing this.” (Kushner, 122) There seems to be no opportunity for repentance in Joe’s idea of his religion. He is certain that this act alone is enough to send him to hell. His religion does not have the same opportunity for forgiveness that Jeanette’s seems to allow. Additionally, The Angel explains to Louis that, “HE left…and did not return.” (Kushner, 177) In this quote, a messenger of god describes the way in which god, disappointed by the humanity he created, abandoned it and all the people within it.
Kushner’s god is capable of abandonment, while Winterson’s is loving and faithful to all who are faithful to “Him”. Winterson’s view of god allowed Jeanette to grow up and redefine her religion. It gave her the safety to discover where she fits within her religion with god’s unconditional love as a safety net. However, Kushner’s god responds to any deviance from “His” word with eternal damnation and suffering. This is an immensely poignant way to frame a book centered around gay men during the AIDS epidemic. The characters of Kushner’s novel exist in a world where their sexuality, which they are incapable of changing, will result in eternal suffering following their death, which could come suddenly and unexpectedly for a gay man during the AIDS epidemic. These two texts together show the very contrasting religious views one can hold, and the effects this view can have on you as a person, especially if you are a member of the queer community. Jeanette was able to meld her religion with her identity, while Joe continues to have a painful internal conflict between his sexuality and his religion.
I like how you looked at the two different perspectives and opinions of God in two of our texts. I think this shows that there is ambiguity on the perspective of religion, specifically Christianity, and its opinion on homosexuality. In society, there is a belief that the Christian religion does not approve or accept homosexuality, however, in our texts we see evidence that does and does not support this. For example, Prior, a homosexual male was selected “by God” as a prophet, showing a positive connection. On the other hand, church members in Jeanette’s community labeled her. They used phrases such as “she has the devil inside of her” and other negatives. I think these two books give evidence and ideas that show what happens when homosexuality and Christianity intersect.
I think this is a really interesting point you’ve illuminated. When i read your post, it immediately made me think of contemporary examples of groups of people viewing (a christian) God as an all loving and forgiving figure, such as a pastor at the Carlisle Borough meeting who spoke in favor of the anti- discrimination ordinance; she explained that many things that were common practice in biblical times, are illegal and considered immoral now, thus discrediting the bible’s disapproval of homosexuality. For me, hearing this interpretation of religious text was very refreshing and hopeful. This way of reading the bible through a modern lens reminds me of Jeannette’s way of continuing to be religious, and focusing on the positive aspects it had on her life, rather than feeling like she was going against it. When i think of ways religion can exude hatred, i always think of the Westboro Baptist Church, who parade around with signs that say “God Hates Fags” and “God Hates America”, and tell everyone they meet that they’re going to Hell. Though this is a radical group, i think many people subscribe to a version of this kind of God-fearing religious view, including Joe.
Another thought i had while reading this, was that Jeannette’s mother, and nearly everyone else from her church, act as the God-fearing perspective (i.e. when they lock her in a room with no food or water to make her repent) to Jeannette’s forgiving and all-loving view of God. So i do think that we see eternal damnation inspired fear in both texts.