The officers reported a strong smell of marijuana when they approached. Shortey turned himself in to the Cleveland County Sheriff Thursday and then eluded the media after posting bond. Griffith is one of two pastors for City Pres Church, a progressive Presbyterian Christian congregation in midtown. As soon as I saw that, everything clicked and made sense to me.
I knew. As terrible as that sounds, I knew. Griffith now specializes in the study of fundamentalism as he works toward his Ph. The topic of his research is post-WWII fundamentalism, politics and culture. He explained that American Christian fundamentalism has a strong focus on prohibiting the interaction of men and women except for sex within marriage for procreation.
He said that in the process of trying so hard to prohibit what fundamentalists would characterize as immoral sex, they unintentionally over emphasize it in a negative way.
But an even cross-gender relationship β just human touch β is sexualized. In some cases a pastor may respond to a confession of sexual doubt by shaming the individual and throwing them out of the church. He sees Shortey as being caught in an inner turmoil about his own sexuality with no mechanism for dealing with the feelings. You act out or repress. You just hide who you are on the inside. The pressure to perform in rigid moral ways, matched with the authoritarianism of that tradition does not leave room for exploration or experimentation.
If anyone were to find out that you had a counselor, or a psychologist or a psychiatrist you would be deeply shamed. Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business. Sunday, March 9, Sign in. Forgot your password? Get help. Privacy Statement. Password recovery. Ralph Shortey speaks to a raucous crowd a town hall Feb.
