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1418_23 | Gravitational wave
Gravitational waves are detected using a Michelson interferometer with a laser light source. In 2020 there were three Michelson interferometer gravitational wave detectors operational, and a fourth under construction. These Michelson interferometers have arms 4 kilometers in length, set at 90 degree angles to each other, with the light passing through 1 m diameter vacuum tubes running their entire length. A passing gravitational wave will slightly stretch one arm as it shortens the other. This is precisely the motion to which these Michelson interferometers are most sensitive. As of 2020 fifteen gravitational wave events had been observed using these Michelson interferometers.
Harmonic analyzer
In the 1890s Michelson built a mechanical device called the harmonic analyzer, for computing coefficients of Fourier series and drawing graphs of their partial sums. He and S. W. Stratton published a paper about this machine in the American Journal of Science in 1898. |
1418_24 | Michelson in popular culture
In Season 3 Episode 26 of the television series Bonanza ("Look to the Stars", broadcast March 18, 1962), Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) helps the 16-year-old Michelson (portrayed by 25-year-old Douglas Lambert (1936–1986)) obtain an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, despite the opposition of the bigoted town schoolteacher (played by William Schallert). Bonanza was set in and around Virginia City, Nevada, where Michelson lived with his parents prior to leaving for the Naval Academy. In a voice-over at the end of the episode, Greene mentions Michelson's 1907 Nobel Prize.
The home in which Michelson lived as a child in Murphys Camp, California was in the store of his father, first on Main Street, Murphys, CA across from the Sperry & Perry Hotel and after the 1859 fire, in a store next to the hotel. His aunt Bertha Meyers owned a house on Main Street toward the east end of town and Michelson probably visited her family there frequently. |
1418_25 | New Beast Theater Works in collaboration with High Concept Laboratories produced a 'semi-opera' about Michelson, his obsessive working style and its effect on his family life. The production ran from February 11 to February 26, 2011 in Chicago at The Building Stage. Michelson was portrayed by Jon Stutzman. The play was directed by David Maral with music composed by Joshua Dumas.
Norman Fitzroy Maclean wrote an essay "Billiards is a Good Game"; published in The Norman Maclean Reader (ed. O. Alan Weltzien, 2008), it is an appreciation of Michelson from Maclean's vantage point as a graduate student regularly watching him play billiards.
Honors and awards |
1418_26 | 1888 – Rumford Prize
1903 – Matteucci Medal
1907 – Copley Medal
1907 – Nobel Prize in Physics
1912 – Elliott Cresson Medal
1916 – Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences
1922 – Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society.
1923 – Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
1923 – Franklin Medal
Michelson was a member of the Royal Society, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Computer Measurement Group gives an annual A. A. Michelson Award.
See also
List of Jewish Nobel laureates
List of Naval Academy Nobel Laureates
List of Poles
Notes
References
Works
External links |
1418_27 | National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
Michelson's Life and Works from the American Institute of Physics
U.S. Naval Academy and The Navy
USNA Guide to the Albert A. Michelson Collection, 1803–1989
From USNA to Nobel: Albert A. Michelson's Life and Contributions
Michelson House at the University of Chicago
Guide to the Albert A. Michelson Papers 1891-1969 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1907 Recent Advances in Spectroscopy
IMDB: Bonanza episode Look to the Stars
Norman Maclean: "Billiards Is a Good Game": Gamesmanship and America's First Nobel Prize Scientist; reprinted in Lapham's Quarterly
The U.S. Naval Academy Observatory Programs and Times Gone By: A Tale of Two Domes
Nineteenth Century Astronomy at the U.S. Naval Academy |
1418_28 | 1852 births
1931 deaths
Nobel laureates in Physics
American Nobel laureates
Clark University faculty
People from Strzelno
People from the Province of Posen
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
American agnostics
Case Western Reserve University faculty
Experimental physicists
Optical physicists
History of Los Angeles
Recipients of the Copley Medal
United States Naval Academy alumni
United States Navy officers
University of Chicago faculty
Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
American people of German-Jewish descent
Jewish agnostics
Jewish American scientists
Jewish physicists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Honorary Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Lowell High School (San Francisco) alumni
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
20th-century American physicists
Metrologists
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Members of the American Philosophical Society |
1419_0 | The Katamatite Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the small Victorian town of Katamatite.
The club teams currently compete in the Picola & District League.
History
Katamatite's first documented match dates back to June, 1891, when the local team travelled to Dookie and were soundly beaten.
In 1892 and 1893 they played in the Geyde's Victoria Hotel (Cobram) Trophy competition.
In 1894 and 1895, Katamatite played some friendly matches against other local towns, after their application to join the Goulburn Valley Football Association was rejected.
During the mid 1890s, it appears that the local Katamatite footballers, played with the Muckatah Football Club and played some of their home games on the Katamatite ground too.
In May, 1898, a meeting of about 40 locals was held at Allan's Hotel, Katamatite with the view of re-forming the football club and entering the Tungamah or Yarrawonga Football Association. |
1419_1 | In June, 1911 at Lease's Hotel, Katamatite, the Murray Valley Junior Football Association was formed from the following clubs – Barooga, Burramine, Cobram, Katamatite and Muckatah, with the Katamatite "Ramblers" (who wore a maroon jumper) winning the inaugural premiership and were runners up to Muckatah in 1912.
In 1914, Katamatite entered a senior team in the Goulburn Valley Football Association (GVFA) and lost the 1st semi final to the Cobram Football Club.
In 1915, the senior side pulled out of the GVFA, but then entered a junior team in the Katandra Junior Football Association.
At a soldiers recruiting meeting held in Katamatite in July, 1915 and then also shortly afterwards at a friendly football match, a number of local footballers signed their military enlistments cards to come forward and "help their King and country in the hour of need". |
1419_2 | After World War I had finished, Katamatite returned to the GVFA in 1920 and 1921, only to be "outed" in 1922 when the GVFA club delegates decided to have a railway line association, which meant that Katamatite and Benbartha club's were left in limbo just prior to the start of the football season.
In 1924, Katamatite were admitted into the Dookie Football Association and were defeated by the Dookie Football Club in the Preliminary Final.
On Saturday, 20 July 1925 Katamatite – 78.19 – 487 defeated Wattville – 1.3 – 9, in what was a record score in country football at the time. The apparent score and result was deemed as a no result and both club's were charged with unseemly conduct due to deliberately contriving a match result to win the minor premiership. Also in 1925 the club's colours were blue and white.
Katamatite and Dookie were denied the right to play off in the 1925 grand final when club delegate's abandoned the season abruptly for what seems like no real apparent reason. |
1419_3 | In April 1926 the Dookie Football Association was wound up when three of the six clubs we not prepared to reform, which left only Katamatite and Yabba left, which meant Katamatite went into recess for the season.
In 1927, Katamatite joined the Katamatite Dookie Football Association and made the grand final against Yabba, with Yabba winning 9.8 – 62 to 4.11 – 35 played at Dookie.
At the club's 1930 Annual General Meeting, it was decided to change the club's colours to green and gold.
The club went into recess between 1933 and 1936, after the Katandra Football Association folded in early 1933. The club officially re-formed in 1936, with the hope of returning to a local competition in 1937.
In May, 1937, Katamatite applied to enter the Benalla Mulwala Football League, but their offer was rejected by club delegates, which once again left the club without a competition to play. |
1419_4 | Katamatite joined the Benalla Tungamah Football League in 1938 and 1939, then moved across to the Murray Football League (MFL) in 1940. Unfortunately the MFL went into recess after the first round of matches was complete (Rd.7), due to World War II.
Katamatite returned to the MFL after World War II in 1946 and 1947, then moved across to the Murray Valley North East Football League in 1948, then unfortunately went into recess in 1949.
From 1950, the club affiliated with the Picola & District Football League (P&DFL) for the first time. In its very first season in the competition Katamatite went top thanks to an 11.17 (83) to 8.5 (53) grand final defeat of Numurkah Seconds. The Tigers again reached the grand final in 1952, but lost to Picola, a result that was repeated two years later. |
1419_5 | In 1956 Katamatite left the P&DFL to compete in the Benalla Tungamah Football League. The club remained in this competition, which dropped the word ‘Benalla’ from its name in 1967, until 1994, winning a single senior grade flag in 1979, with Katamatite: 17.11 – 113 defeating Katandra: 14.15 – 99.
The Tigers’ resumption in the P&DFL in 1995 was not quite as spectacular as their original foray as on this occasion it took them two seasons to procure a premiership. Their victims in the 1996 grand final were Strathmerton, Katamatite winning a dour tussle by 25 points, 7.9 (51) to 3.8 (26). The Bulldogs gained revenge the following year when they downed the Tigers in the grand final by 29 points, 12.12 (84) to 7.13 (55). Matthew Collins was awarded the 'Pearce Medal' as the leagues Fairest & Best player for the year. |
1419_6 | Around the turn of the century Katamatite played off for the PDFL's senior grade flag on three occasions, with a victory over Blighty in 2001 being sandwiched in between losses to the same club in 2000 and to Katandra in 2004.
When the PDFL was divided into North West and South East Divisions in 2009 Katamatite, competing in the latter, struggled initially, and even succumbed to a winless wooden spoon in 2011. However, thereafter their fortunes improved somewhat, and in 2014 they reached the grand final only to lose heavily to Tungamah. Further finals appearances followed in 2015 and 2016.
The 2017 season was a season to forget for the Tigers; failing to reach finals and recording just four wins under co-coaches Tyler Sprunt and Matt Dwyer.
The 2018 pre-season has seen Jedd Wright appointed the senior coach for the coming season.
Football competitions timeline
Katamatite FC have played in the following football competitions – |
1419_7 | Gedye's Victoria Hotel Trophy
1892 & 1893
Katamatite Football Club
1894 to 1897. Club did not play in any official competition, but did play some friendly matches against other local towns.
Yarrawonga & Border Football Association
1898
Katamatite Football Club
1899 & 1900. Club did not play in any official competition, but did play some friendly matches against other local towns.
Federal District Football Association
1901 & 1902.
Katamatite Football Club
1903 to 1905. Club did not play in any official competition, but did play some friendly matches against other local towns.
Goulburn Valley Football Association
1906 to 1909
Katamatite Football Club
1910 Club in recess, but officially supported the Burramine Boosey Football Club in the GVFA.
Murray Valley Junior Football Association
1911 to 1913 – Katamatite Ramblers
Goulburn Valley Football Association
1914
Katandra Junior Football Association
1915
Katamatite Football Club |
1419_8 | 1916 & 1919. Club did not play in any official competition, due to World War I but did play some friendly patriotic fund raising matches against other local towns.
Goulburn Valley Football Association
1920 & 1921
Katamatite Football Club
1922. Club did not play in any official competition, as it was refused entry into the GVFA as the town was not on a railway line.
Dookie Football Association
1923 to 1925.
Katamatite Football Club
1926. Club did not play in any official competition, as the Dookie FA was wound up.
Katamatite Dookie Football Association
1927 to 1928
Katandra Football Association
1929 to 1932
Katamatite Football Club
1933 to 1937. Club in recess & did not play in any official competition, after the Katandra FA was wound up in early 1933.
Benalla Tungamah Football League
1938 & 1939
Murray Football League
1940
Katamatite Football Club
1941 to 1945. Club in recess due to World War II.
Murray Football League
1946 & 1947
Murray Valley & North East Football League |
1419_9 | 1948
Katamatite Football Club
1949. Club in recess.
Picola & District Football League
1950 to 1955
Benalla Tungamah Football League
1956 to 1966
Tungamah Football League
1967 to 1994
Picola & District Football League
1995 to present day |
1419_10 | Football Premierships
Football League Fairest & Best Award Winners
Murray Football League – Fairest & Best Award – O'Dwyer Medal
1947 – Bill Lumsden
Benalla Tungamah Football League – Fairest & Best Award – Lawless Medal
1960 – N Trewin
1967 – T Murphy
1978 – Bernie Londigan
1979 – Andy Alderton
1982 – Andy Alderton
1986 – Gary Cameron
Picola & District Football League – Fairest & Best Award – Pearce Medal
1996 – Matthew Collins
Katamatite FC players who played in the VFL/AFL
The following footballers played with Katamatite FC, prior to playing senior football in the VFL, with the year indicating their VFL debut.
1905 – Rod McGregor – Carlton
1948 – Bill Lumsden – St. Kilda
1981 – Darren Flanigan – Geelong
1984 – Michael Howard – Melbourne
1987 – Gary Cameron – Geelong
2009 – Sam Wright – North Melbourne
2013 – Tom Clurey – Port Adelaide
References
External links
Gameday website
Trove Newspapers - Katamatite FC History
Picola & DFL History |
1419_11 | Picola & District Football League clubs
Australian rules football clubs in Victoria (Australia)
Netball teams in Victoria (Australia) |
1420_0 | Jahbulon or Jabulon () is a word which is allegedly used in some rituals of Royal Arch Masonry, and derivations thereof. It has been found to be speculation or even a European mispronunciation of the name Jehovah.
The word Jabhulon, does not appear in any ritual, approved by Supreme Grand Chapter.
Background
Non-Masonic authors have alleged that "Jahbulon" is a Masonic name for God, and even the name of a unique "Masonic god," despite Freemasonry's officials claim that "There is no separate Masonic God," nor a separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry. In England, no ritual containing the name has been in official Masonic use since February 1989.
Usages |
1420_1 | Masonic
According to Masonic historian Arturo de Hoyos, the word Jahbulon was first used in the 18th century in early French versions of the Royal Arch degree. It relates a Masonic allegory in which Jabulon was the name of an explorer living during the time of Solomon who discovered the ruins of an ancient temple. Within the ruins he found a gold plate upon which the name of God (YHWH) was engraved. |
1420_2 | In Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, published in the mid-19th century, Malcolm Duncan uses the word as a recognition password in his rendition of the Royal Arch degree, and in a footnote states that the word is a combination of sacred names.<ref group="note">"JEHOVAH. Of the varieties of this sacred name in use among the different nations of the earth, three particularly merit the attention of Royal Arch Masons:1. JAH. This name of God is found in the 68th Psalm, v. 4.2. BAAL OR BEL. This word signifies a lord, master, or possessor, and hence it was applied by many of the nations of the East to denote the Lord of all things, and the Master of the world.3. ON. This was the name by which JEHOVAH was worshipped among the Egyptians.I have made these remarks on the three names of God in Chaldaic, Syriac and Egyptian, Baal, Jah, and On, in the expectation that my Royal Arch Companions will readily recognize them in a corrupted form.--Lexicon. From footnote 226:1 in Royal Arch, Or |
1420_3 | Seventh Degree Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, by Malcolm C. Duncan, 1866</ref> However, there has been controversy regarding Duncan's ritual. According to Turnbull, Everett and Denslow, Duncan has the candidate swear: "I furthermore promise and swear, that I will support the Constitution of the General Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the United States of America..." whereas the General Grand Chapter at the time styled itself: "General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, a subtle but significant difference. Some Masonic authors state that even if Duncan's ritual is authentic, it is either an outdated exposure or that it had been superseded by another explanation. |
1420_4 | Ordo Templi Orientis
According to Francis X. King in The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O., the word is used in two rituals of the Ordo Templi Orientis: the Lodge of Perfection, in which the candidate receives the Fourth Degree (which is called Perfect Magician and Companion of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch); and the Perfect Initiate (or Prince of Jerusalem) degree, which falls between the fourth and fifth degrees. King prints in his book the lyrics of a song that mentions the word "Jahbulon."
Rastafari |
1420_5 | It has been suggested that the Rastafari word for God, Jah, comes from the term Jahbulon, although the name JAH (a shortened version of Jehovah) appears in the King James Version of the Bible, in Psalm 68:4. The term "Jah" also appears throughout the Psalms in other Bible translations, for instance the Darby translation or Young's Literal translation. William David Spencer, in his 1999 Dread Jesus, proposes that Archibald Dunkley and Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert were among the preachers that inspired the Rastafari movement, and that both were members of the "Ancient Mystic Order of Ethiopia", a fraternal order derived from Prince Hall Freemasonry. |
1420_6 | Examples of interpretations of the word based on its syllables
According to The Rev. Canon Richard Tydeman, in an address to the Supreme Grand Chapter of England on 13 November 1985, the word is a compound of three Hebrew terms:
יהּ (Yah, I AM, which indicates eternal existence),
בּעל (b'el, owner, husband, lord ) and
און (on, strength); pronouncing three aspects or qualities of Deity, namely Eternal Existence, Ownership, and Omnipotence and equating to "The Eternal God - Master - Almighty".
According to Walton Hannah, the word is a compound of the names of three gods worshipped in the ancient Middle East.
Jah (= Yahweh)
Baal
On |
1420_7 | Criticisms of the word and its uses
Much of the available material that discusses the word Jahbulon does not address the administrative and jurisdictional distinctions amongst the appendant bodies of Freemasonry. Royal Arch Masonry is an appendant body to Freemasonry. In some areas it forms part of the York Rite, and in others it is an independent body. To be eligible to join one must first be a Master Mason. The administration of the Royal Arch is entirely separate from the administration of Craft Freemasonry. Every Masonic organization is sovereign only in its own jurisdiction, and has no authority in any other jurisdiction. This means that there is no standardization whatsoever with regards to words, signs, grips, or any other Masonic "secrets". |
1420_8 | Walton Hannah stated in his book Darkness Visible that the interpretation that Jabulon was a name for God reportedly disturbed Albert Pike, the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, who, when he first heard the name, called it a "mongrel word" partly composed of an "appellation of the Devil". |
1420_9 | A Church of England report into compatibility of Freemasonry and the Church reached conclusions of objection based on six points. One of these points was Knight's interpretation of Jahbulon; "JAHBULON, the name of description of God which appears in all the rituals is blasphemous because it is an amalgam of pagan deities. In effect, use of the term is taking God's name in vain." The interpretation of the word as discussed by Knight led certain churches to include it in their justification for objections to Freemasonry. These churches state that, conjoined with a number of other aspects of Freemasonry, it demonstrates that Freemasonry is incompatible with their religious philosophies. |
1420_10 | It has been claimed that the "Masonic God" allegations prove that the Royal Arch Degree - and by extension all of Freemasonry - is incompatible with Christianity.Ankerberg, John and John Weldon (1990). The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge, pp. 120-124. Moody Publishers. The Southern Baptist convention has mentioned this as an offensive concept that is incompatible with Christianity.
Certain Christian ministries take the position that Jahbulon is the name of a Masonic Pagan god, and therefore violates the Biblical commandment "You shall have no other gods before me".Kings Ministries Freemasonry and secret societies |
1420_11 | The interpretation by Knight also contributes to an assertion, which emerged in 1987, that there is a link between Freemasonry and the Dajjal, a Muslim equivalent of the Antichrist. A reference by David Misa Pidcock, a British convert, has been widely propagated on the Internet following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The Muslim group, Mission Islam, states on their website that based on Knight's interpretation, "Freemasons secretly worship a Devil-God, known as JAHBULON." |
1420_12 | Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
Aldridge, Alan (2000). Religion in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Introduction, p. 22. Polity Press.
Weir, Rev. Thomas E., Ph.D. (1991) "Masonry and Religion" in Transactions of A. Douglas Smith, Jr. Lodge of Research #1949, AF&AM'', Vol. 2, 1988-1992.
Freemasonry
Freemasonry-related controversies
Magic words |
1421_0 | Emilie Autumn Liddell (born September 22, 1979), better known by her stage name Emilie Autumn, is an American singer-songwriter, poet, author and violinist. Autumn's musical style is described by her as "Fairy Pop", "Fantasy Rock" or "Victoriandustrial". It is influenced by glam rock and from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. Performing with her all-female backup dancers The Bloody Crumpets, Autumn incorporates elements of classical music, cabaret, electronica, and glam rock with theatrics, and burlesque. |
1421_1 | Growing up in Malibu, California, Autumn began learning the violin at the age of four and left regular school five years later with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist; she practiced eight or nine hours a day and read a wide range of literature. Progressing to writing her own music, she studied under various teachers and went to Indiana University, which she left over issues regarding the relationship between classical music and the appearance of the performer. Through her own independent label Traitor Records, Autumn debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, followed by the release in 2003 of her album Enchant. |
1421_2 | Autumn appeared in singer Courtney Love's backing band on her 2004 America's Sweetheart tour and returned to Europe. She released the 2006 album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. In 2007, she released Laced/Unlaced; the re-release of On a Day... appeared as Laced with songs on the electric violin as Unlaced. She later left Trisol to join New York based The End Records in 2009 and release Opheliac in the United States, where previously it had only been available as an import. In 2012, she released the album Fight Like a Girl. She played the role of the Painted Doll in Darren Lynn Bousman's 2012 film The Devil's Carnival, as well as its 2015 sequel, Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival.
Life and career
1979–2000: Beginnings |
1421_3 | Emilie Autumn was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 1979. Autumn grew up in Malibu, California. She has stated that "being surrounded by nature and sea had a lot to do with [her] development as a 'free spirit.'" Her mother worked as a seamstress, and she has said that her father was a German immigrant with whom she did not share a close relationship. While not musicians, her family enjoyed various genres of music. |
1421_4 | When Autumn was four years old, she started learning the violin, and later commented: "I remember asking for a violin, but I don't remember knowing what one was. I might have thought it was a kind of pony for all I know, but I don't remember being disappointed." Four years later, Autumn made her musical debut as a solo violinist performing with an orchestra, and won a competition. At the age of nine or ten, she left regular school with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist. On her time at the school, she remarked, "I hated it anyway, what with the status as 'weird,' 'antisocial,' and the physical threats, there seemed to be no reason to go anymore, so I just didn't." She practiced eight or nine hours a day, had lessons, read a wide range of literature, participated in orchestra practice, and was home-schooled. Growing up, she owned a large CD collection of "violin concertos, symphonies, chamber music, opera, and a little jazz". She began writing her own music and poetry at age |
1421_5 | thirteen or fourteen, though she never planned to sing any of her songs. She studied under various teachers and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, but left after two years there, because she disagreed with the prevailing views on individuality and classical music. She believed that neither the audience nor the original composer would be insulted by the clothing and appearance of the performer. |
1421_6 | While convinced that she would only play violin, eighteen-year-old Autumn decided to sing on one of her songs as a way of demonstrating to a major music producer, who wanted to sign her on a label, how it should sound. She became unhappy with the changes done to her songs, and decided to break away from the label and create her own independent record label, Traitor Records. Through it, she debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, which she recorded in 1997 when she was seventeen years old; its title refers to the fact that the album took only a day to record. It consists of her performing works for the baroque violin accompanied by Roger Lebow on the baroque cello, Edward Murray on harpsichord, and Michael Egan on lute. She considered it "more of a demo despite its length", and released it as "a saleable album" after fans who enjoyed her "rock performances starting asking for a classical album so that they could hear more of the violin." She also debuted |
1421_7 | with her poetry book Across the Sky & Other Poems in 2000, later re-released in 2005 as Your Sugar Sits Untouched with a music-accompanied audiobook. |
1421_8 | 2001–04: Enchant and collaborations
As part of a recording project, Autumn traveled to Chicago, Illinois, in 2001, and decided to stay because she enjoyed the public transportation system and music scene there. She released the 2001 EP Chambermaid while finishing Enchant—she alternatively labeled the musical style on Chambermaid as "fantasy rock" and cabaret—and wrote the 2001 charity single "By the Sword" after the events of September 11, 2001. According to her, the song is about strength, not violence; the act of swearing by the sword represents "an unbreakable promise to right a wrong, to stay true". |
1421_9 | On February 26, 2003, Autumn released her concept album Enchant, which spanned multiple musical styles: "new-age, pop and trip hop chamber music". Written during her late teenage years, Enchant revolved around the supernatural realm and its effect on the modern-day world. Autumn labeled it as "fantasy rock", which dealt with "dreams and stories and ghosts and faeries who'll bite your head off if you dare to touch them". The faery-themed "Enchant Puzzle" appeared on the artwork of the album; her reward for the person who would solve it consisted of faery-related items. Her bandmates consisted of cellist Joey Harvey, drummer Heath Jansen, guitarist Ben Lehl, and bassist Jimmy Vanaria, who also worked on the electronics. At the same time of Enchants release, Autumn had several side projects: Convent, a musical group for which she recorded all four voices; Ravensong, "a classical baroque ensemble" that she formed with friends in California; and The Jane Brooks Project, which she dedicated |
1421_10 | to the real-life, 16th-century Jane Brooks—a woman executed for witchcraft. |
1421_11 | On the night of the Enchant release party, Autumn learned that Courtney Love had invited her to record an album, America's Sweetheart, and embark on the tour to promote it. Contributing violin and vocals, Autumn appeared in Love's backing band The Chelsea— along with Radio Sloan, Dvin Kirakosian, Samantha Maloney, and Lisa Leveridge—on the 2004 tour. Much of Autumn's violin work was ultimately not released on the album; she commented: "This had to do entirely with new producers taking over the project after our little vacation in France, and carefully discarding all of our sessions." She performed live with Love and The Chelsea on Late Show with David Letterman on March 17, 2004, and at Bowery Ballroom the next day. In September 2004, her father died from lung cancer, even though he had quit smoking twenty years earlier. Near the end of 2004, she was filmed for an appearance on an episode of HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast, showing viewers how to create faery wings and sushi-styled |
1421_12 | soap—both products she sold in her online "web design and couture fashion house", WillowTech House. On December 23, 2004, she appeared on the Chicago-based television station WGN as part of the string quartet backing up Billy Corgan and Dennis DeYoung's duet of "We Three Kings". |
1421_13 | 2005–09: Opheliac, Laced/Unlaced, and A Bit o' This & That
Autumn began work on her concept album Opheliac in August 2004, and recorded it at Mad Villain Studios in Chicago. In August 2005, she created the costumes for Corgan's music video for the track "Walking Shade"; she also contributed violin and vocals for the track "DIA" from his 2005 album TheFutureEmbrace. In late 2005, Autumn also recorded vocals and violin for "The Gates of Eternity" from Attrition's 2008 album All Mine Enemys Whispers: The Story of Mary Ann Cotton, a concept album focusing on the Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. Autumn later protested the release of the song, claiming that it was unfinished, "altered without her permission", and had been intended only as a possible collaboration with Martin Bowes. |
1421_14 | In January 2006, Autumn performed a song from the album, "Misery Loves Company", on WGN, before the album's release by the German label Trisol Music Group in September. She released the limited-edition, preview EP Opheliac through her own label, Traitor Records, in spring 2006; while the Opheliac EPs were being shipped, Autumn claimed that her offices had been robbed, causing the delay in the album release and the shipping of the EPs. According to her, Opheliac "was the documentation of a completely life-changing and life-ending experience". At one time, Autumn did have plans to film a music video for her song "Liar", which included "bloody bathtubs". Her song "Opheliac" later appeared on the 2007 albums 13th Street: The Sound of Mystery, Vol. 3, published by ZYX Music, and Fuck the Mainstream, Vol. 1, published by Alfa Matrix on June 19. On October 9, 2006, she appeared on the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse as a guest artist and on the subsequent 2007 album The Dethalbum. November |
1421_15 | 2006 saw the release of the EP Liar/Dead Is the New Alive, which featured remixes of songs from Opheliac and new material. |
1421_16 | Autumn released her instrumental album, Laced/Unlaced in March 2007; it consisted of two discs: Laced, the re-release of On a Day..., and Unlaced, new songs for the electric violin. She decided to re-release On a Day as Laced because she "felt that it made a nice contrast to the metal shredding fiddle album, "Unlaced", and [...] loved that it was the perfect representation of "then" versus "now". She also performed live at the German musical events Wave Gotik Treffen and M'era Luna Festival in 2007. She later released A Bit o' This & That: a rarities album of her covers, including songs from The Beatles and The Smiths, classical pieces, and her own songs. In 2008, she released the EP 4 o'Clock, which contained remixes of songs from Opheliac, new songs, and a reading from her autobiographical novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. She also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun &Bohemian Rhapsody, the same year. A year later, Autumn broke away from Trisol Music Group to |
1421_17 | join The End Records and re-release Opheliac in the United States on October 27, 2009; previously, it was only available there as an import. The re-release included extras such as pictures, bonus tracks, an excerpt from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, and a video. |
1421_18 | In addition to releasing her own material, Autumn collaborated with other musicians. She contributed backing vocals and violin to the track "Dry" by Die Warzau and made an appearance in the band's music video for "Born Again". She played violin on the song "UR A WMN NOW" from OTEP's 2009 album, Smash the Control Machine. Additionally, two of her tracks appeared in film soundtracks: "Organ Grinder" from 4 o'Clock on the European edition of Saw III and a remixed version of "Dead Is The New Alive" from Opheliac on the international version of Saw IV.
2010–present: The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls and Fight Like a Girl |
1421_19 | Autumn's debut novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, was self-published in late 2009, with a second edition following in 2010. Because of the book's nature and possible autobiographical sections, she claimed its release was delayed because some did not want it published. The book combines Autumn's own real life journal entries, including those chronicling her time in a psych ward, and the diary of a fictional Victorian-era asylum inmate named "Emily". Autumn has said that the intent of the book was to show "there’s very little difference from asylums for ladies in 1841 and the ones for us now," and that the subject of mental illness remains misunderstood. |
1421_20 | In June 2010, Autumn released the acronym of her upcoming album, F.L.A.G., on her Twitter account, before revealing the full title as Fight Like a Girl. In her words, the meaning behind the title is "about taking all these things that make women the underdogs and using them to your advantage". Based on her novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, the album has been described as "an operatic feminist treatise set inside an insane asylum, wherein the female inmates gradually realize their own strength in numbers". On August 30, 2010, she announced that she would be undergoing jaw surgery, and had to postpone her North American tour dates while she recovered. In September 2011, she posted the full lyrics to the album's title track, "Fight Like a Girl", on her Twitter account. Autumn appeared at the 2011 Harvest Festival in Australia, and had planned to debut two songs from Fight Like a Girl during those performances. On April 11, 2012, Autumn released the single "Fight Like a |
1421_21 | Girl", with the song "Time for Tea" appearing as a B-side. |
1421_22 | On April 16, 2012, Autumn announced her plans to debut a three-hour musical adaptation of her autobiographical novel on London's West End theatre in 2014. According to her interview with Mulatschag, she has plans to play the roles of both protagonists, Emilie and Emily.
In late 2011, a twelve-minute teaser was released for Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich's project The Devil's Carnival, featuring Autumn as The Painted Doll, her first major acting role. The film was released in April 2012. "Bloody Crumpets" members Beth "The Blessed Contessa" Hinderliter and Maggie "Captain Maggot" Lally also appear in the film as Woe-Maidens.
On June 13, 2012, Autumn announced on her blog the release date of Fight Like a Girl, which was on July 24 of the same year. |
1421_23 | In 2013, Autumn produced and starred in her first ever music video, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, for the song "Fight Like a Girl". Also appearing in the video are Autumn's Devil's Carnival co-stars Dayton Callie and Marc Senter, as well as Veronica Varlow, among others.
In 2014, it was announced that Autumn would be appearing at a handful of dates on the 2014 Vans Warped Tour with an installation called "The Asylum Experience", which will include music, burlesque, circus sideshow attractions and theater.
On September 22, 2018, she released The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind the Musical, an album with songs made for her upcoming musical.
On November 3, 2021, Autumn released the single The Passenger, a cover of the song by Iggy Pop, marking her first official release in three years.
Influences and musical style |
1421_24 | Her music encompasses a wide range of styles. Autumn's vocal range is contralto, but also has the ability to perform in the dramatic soprano range. Her vocal work has been compared to Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and The Creatures. She has released two instrumental albums (On a Day... and Laced/Unlaced), and four featuring her vocals: Enchant, Opheliac, A Bit o' This & That, and "Fight Like a Girl". The 2003 album Enchant drew on "new age chamber music, trip hop baroque, and experimental space pop". Autumn layers her voice frequently, and incorporates electronics and electronic effects into her work on Enchant; she also combines strings and piano for some songs, while others feature mainly the piano or violin. The 2006 release Opheliac featured "cabaret, electronic, symphonic, new age, and good ol' rock & roll (and heavy on the theatrical bombast)". |
1421_25 | A classically trained musician, Autumn is influenced by plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. She enjoys the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and husband Robert, and Edgar Allan Poe. She incorporates sounds resembling Victorian machinery such as locomotives, which she noted was "sort of a steampunk thing". While a young Autumn cited Itzhak Perlman as an influence because of the happiness she believed he felt when he played, her main musical influence and inspiration is the English violinist Nigel Kennedy. Her favorite singer is Morrissey from The Smiths. She takes inspiration for her songs from her life experiences and mixes in "layers and layers of references, connections, other stories and metaphors". Autumn has variously described her music and style as "Psychotic Vaudeville Burlesque", "Victoriandustrial'", a term she coined, and glam rock because of her use of glitter onstage. According to Autumn, her music "wasn't meant to be cutesy" and is |
1421_26 | labeled as "industrial" mainly because of her use of drums and yelling. Her adaption of "O Mistress Mine" was praised by author and theater director |
1421_27 | Barry Edelstein as "a ravishing, guaranteed tearjerker". |
1421_28 | For her live performances, which she calls dinner theatre because of her practice of throwing tea and tea-time snacks off of the stage, Autumn makes use of burlesque—"a show that was mainly using humour and sexuality to make a mockery of things that were going on socially and politically"—to counterbalance the more morbid topics discussed in her music, such as abuse, suicide and self-mutilation. Her shows feature handmade costumes, fire tricks, theatrics, and her all-female backing band, The Bloody Crumpets, a group whose members have variously included burlesque performer Veronica Varlow as The Naughty Veronica, performance artist Maggie Lally as Captain Maggot, Jill Evyn as Lady Amalthea (or Moth), actress and performer Beth Hinderliter as The Blessed Contessa, actress Aprella Godfrey Barule as Lady Aprella, German musician Lucina as Little Lucina, cellist Sarah Kim as Lady Joo Hee, German costume designer Vecona as Captain Vecona, Jesselynn Desmond as Little Miss Sugarless, and |
1421_29 | Ulorin Vex. Her intention is for the live shows to be a statement of "anti-repression" and empowerment. |
1421_30 | Personal life
She keeps a ritual of drawing a heart on her cheek as a symbol of protection.
Autumn became vegetarian at age eleven after being unable to rationalize why she should eat farm animals but not her pet dog; in her late-teens, she became vegan. She has stated she believes that there is a link between the treatment of women and animals in society. In August 2014, Autumn said she had developed copper toxicity and was no longer vegan, although still a committed vegetarian.
In 2021, Autumn adopted a Toy Manchester Terrier, who she named Darjeeling.
She has endorsed companies such as Manic Panic and Samson Tech.
Autumn has bipolar disorder, which she has discussed in a number of interviews.
Discography
Studio albums
Enchant (2003)
Opheliac (2006)
Fight Like a Girl (2012)
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind the Musical (2018)
Instrumental albums
On a Day... (2000)
Laced/Unlaced (2007) |
1421_31 | Concert tours
The Asylum Tour - 2007
The Plague Tour - 2008
The Gate Tour - 2008-2009
The Key Tour - 2009
The Door Tour - 2011
The Fight Like a Girl Tour - 2011-2012
Bibliography
Across the Sky & Other Poems (2000)
Your Sugar Sits Untouched (2005)
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (2009)
Filmography
11-11-11 as 11'er in Video (2011) Uncredited
The Devil's Carnival (2012) as Painted Doll
Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival as June / The Painted Doll
Notes
References
External links
Emilie Autumn MetalBlast.net interview, April 17, 2012.
Interview with Emilie Autumn |
1421_32 | 1979 births
21st-century American poets
21st-century American singers
American contraltos
American electronic musicians
American feminists
American harpsichordists
American industrial musicians
American people of German descent
American rock violinists
American women poets
Dark cabaret musicians
Women rock singers
Feminist musicians
Living people
Metropolis Records artists
Singers from California
Singers from Chicago
People with bipolar disorder
American women in electronic music
Writers from California
Writers from Illinois
21st-century American women singers
Electric violinists
21st-century violinists
Women harpsichordists
Steampunk music
Women in punk |
1422_0 | A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugboat or pushed by a towboat.
This is distinguished from a train ferry, which is self-powered.
Historical operations
U.S. East Coast
During the Civil War, Union general Herman Haupt, a civil engineer, used huge barges fitted with tracks to enable military trains to cross the Rappahannock River in support of the Army of the Potomac. |
1422_1 | Beginning in the 1830s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) operated a car float across the Potomac River, just south of Washington, D.C., between Shepherds Landing on the east shore, and Alexandria, Virginia on the west. The ferry operation ended in 1906.
The B&O operated a car float across the Baltimore Inner Harbor until the mid-1890s. It connected trains from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. and points to the west. The operation ended after the opening of the Baltimore Belt Line in 1895.
The Port of New York and New Jersey had many car float operations, which lost ground to the post-World War II expansion of trucking, but held out until the rise of containerization in the 1970s. |
1422_2 | These car floats operated between the Class 1 railroads terminals on the west bank of Hudson River in Hudson County, New Jersey and the numerous online and offline terminals located in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Manhattan. Class 1 railroads in the New York Harbor area providing car float services were:
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Bay Coast Railroad
Central Railroad of New Jersey
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Erie Railroad and Erie Lackawanna Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Long Island Rail Road
New York Central Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
Reading Railroad
As well as the offline terminal railroads:
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal
Bush Terminal/Industry City
Brooklyn Army Terminal
Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad
Jay Street Connecting Railroad
New York Dock Railway
Pouch Terminal
East Jersey Railroad and Terminal Co. |
1422_3 | Car float service was also provided to many pier stations and waterfront warehouse facilities (that did not engage in car floating service directly) by the above-mentioned railroads.
At their peak, the railroads had 3,400 employees operating small fleets totalling 323 car floats, plus 1,094 other barges, towed by 150 tugboats between New Jersey and New York City.
Abandoned float bridges are preserved as part of this history at:
Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens; (former Long Island Railroad),
West 26th Street float bridge (former Baltimore & Ohio) and the only surviving wood Howe truss float bridge in New York Harbor
North River Pier 66a, and 69th Street Transfer Bridge (former New York Central)
Several other abandoned but unrestored float bridges exist in other locations around New York Harbor. A complete list is available at
Surviving Float Bridges of New York Harbor |
1422_4 | Freight cars do not run in the East River Tunnels nor the North River Tunnels (under the Hudson River), in part due to inadequate tunnel clearances of the New York Tunnel Extension.
The Bay Coast Railroad formerly operated a 2-barge car float connecting Virginia's Eastern Shore with the city of Norfolk, Virginia across the Chesapeake Bay.
U.S. Midwest
Between 1912–1936, the Erie Railroad operated a car float service on the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois.
U.S. West Coast
Santa Fe Railroad: San Francisco
Southern Pacific Railroad: (?)
Union Pacific Railroad: (?)
Western Pacific Railroad: San Francisco
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad: Seattle; Tacoma, Washington; Bellingham, Washington; Port Townsend, Washington
Seattle and North Coast Railroad: Seattle; Port Townsend, Washington
Canada |
1422_5 | Various inland lakes of British Columbia (Okanagan, Arrow, Kootenay) (Canadian National Railway and CPR)
Port Maitland, Ontario – Erie, Pennsylvania (TH&B Navigation Company)
Port Burwell, Ontario – Ashtabula, Ohio (CN)
Cobourg, Ontario – Rochester, New York (Ontario Car Ferry Company)
Sarnia, Ontario – Port Huron, Michigan – rail-barge – (CN, until the opening of the Paul Tellier Tunnel). The rail ferries Pere Marquette 12 and Pere Marquette 10 were converted to barges (PM 10 in 1974, PM 12 in the 1980s) and used until 1995 to carry dangerous cargoes and oversize cars.
Windsor, Ontario – Detroit, Michigan (Grand Trunk, CN, CPR, Michigan Central, Wabash, until the 1980s)
BC Rail. until 1955 railcars were barged from North Vancouver to Squamish.
A large number of isolated BC pulp mills had chemicals and freight moved by car floats.
In the Victoria Harbour to Ogden Point
Existing operations
Alaska |
1422_6 | The Alaska Railroad provides the Alaska Rail Marine rail barge service from downtown Seattle to Whittier on the central Alaskan mainland.', CN Rail provided the Aquatrain rail barge service from Prince Rupert, British Columbia to Whittier. Service ended in April 2021.
New York / New Jersey
The only remaining car float service in operation in the Port of New York and New Jersey is operated by New York New Jersey Rail. This company, operated by the bi-state government agency Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is the successor to the New York Cross Harbor Railroad. Car float service operates between 65th Street / Bay Ridge Yard in Brooklyn and Greenville Yard in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Canada
Former
Prince Rupert, British Columbia – Whittier, Alaska (Aquatrain, Service ended in April 2021.)
Current
Delta, British Columbia – Nanaimo (E and N Railway)
Matane – Baie-Comeau (COGEMA) |
1422_7 | See also
Bay Ridge Branch
Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel (proposed)
Ferry slip (includes examples of rail ferry and barge slips)
New York tugboats
Santa Fe Dock and Channel Company
References
External links
Railroad ferry, Hudson River, New York, Andreas Feininger, 1940. Still Photograph Archive, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY.
NYNJ Rail – official site
Industrial & Offline Terminal Railroads of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx & Manhattan
Ship types
Train ferries |
1423_0 | Christian leaders have written about homosexual male–male sexual activities since the first decades of Christianity; female–female sexual behaviour was almost entirely ignored. Throughout the majority of Christian history, most Christian theologians and denominations have considered homosexual behavior as immoral or sinful. |
1423_1 | However, since the second half of 20th century(and the 1970s) some prominent Christian theologians and religious groups have espoused a wide variety of beliefs and practices towards homosexuals, including the establishment of various "open and accepting" Christian churches and denominations that actively support LGBT members, which they consider biblical in light of other rebukes in the New Testament that Christians might gloss over, such as wealth, or covering their heads while praying, and Protestant churches' lack of support for adults who do not want to marry, such as building monasteries, even though New Testament verses speak of the virtues of remaining single, such as the example of 144,000 males who are not to be "defiled" with females before being redeemed in the Apocalypse. |
1423_2 | The first instance of the English word "homosexuals" used in a biblical translation was in the RSV New Testament published from 1946 until 1970, which simultaneously removed most "fornication" admonitions found in the prior ASV (1901) and KJV (1611) Bibles. Historically, the Vulgate contains the Latin stem "fornicat" within 92 verses representing sixteen centuries of Christian tradition on literally wording sexual admonishments, while verses now rebuking homosexuals were described in the Vulgate equivalent to "male-prostitute male-concubines". RSV set a modern trend in literally rebuking "homosexuals".
Several post-World War II translations of the Bible now have one to four verses literally rebuking homosexuals while replacing all mention of fornicators with "the immoral" or "sexual immoral" and leaving ambiguous homosexual or heterosexual immorality.
Early Christianity |
1423_3 | The history of Christianity and homosexuality has been much debated. The Hebrew Bible and its traditional interpretations in Judaism and Christianity have historically affirmed and endorsed a patriarchal and heteronormative approach towards human sexuality, favouring exclusively penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women within the boundaries of marriage over all other forms of human sexual activity, including autoeroticism, masturbation, oral sex, non-penetrative and non-heterosexual sexual intercourse (all of which have been labeled as "sodomy" at various times), believing and teaching that such behaviors are forbidden because they're considered sinful, and further compared to or derived from the behavior of the alleged residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the status of LGBT people in early Christianity is debated. Some maintain that the early Christian churches deplored transgender people and same-sex relationships, while others maintain that they accepted them on |
1423_4 | the level of their heterosexual counterparts. These disagreements concern, in some cases, the translations of certain terms, or the meaning and context of some biblical passages. |
1423_5 | Prior to the rise of Christianity, certain sexual practices that are today considered "homosexual" had existed among certain groups, with some degree of social acceptance in ancient Rome and ancient Greece (e.g. the pederastic relationship of an adult Greek male with a Greek youth, or of a Roman citizen with a slave). Both societies viewed anal sex as an act of dominance by the active (penetrating) partner over the passive (penetrated) partner, representing no distinction from how vaginal sex was viewed. It was considered a sign of weakness and low social status (such as slavery or infamia) for a man to assume the passive role. There was no such stigma against a man who assumed the active role. Derrick Sherwin Bailey and Sarah Ruden both caution that it is anachronistic to project modern understandings of homosexuality onto ancient writings. |
1423_6 | The Judaic prohibitions found in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 address the issue of sex between two men. The latter verse (20:13) says: "And if a man also lies with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." |
1423_7 | In his fourth homily on Romans, John Chrysostom argued in the fourth century that homosexual acts are worse than murder and so degrading that they constitute a kind of punishment in itself, and that enjoyment of such acts actually makes them worse, "for suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body all besmeared with mire, and yet not covering himself, but exulting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing shamefully." He also said: "But nothing can there be more worthless than a man who has pandered himself. For not the soul only, but the body also of one who hath been so treated, is disgraced, and deserves to be driven out everywhere." |
1423_8 | The writings of the early church contain strong condemnations of same-sex acts. Tertullian wrote, "When Paul asserts that males and females changed among themselves the natural use of the creature in that which is unnatural, he validates the natural way". Ambrosiaster wrote, "Paul tells us that these things came about, that a woman should lust after another woman, because God was angry at the human race because of its idolatry. Those who interpret this differently do not understand the force of the argument. For what is it to change the use of nature into a use which is contrary to nature, if not to take away the former and adopt the latter, so that the same part of the body should be used by each of the sexes in a way for which it was not intended?... It is clear that, because they changed the truth of God into a lie, they changed the natural use (of sexuality) into that use by which they were dishonored and condemned". John Chrysostom wrote, "No one can say that it was by being |
1423_9 | prevented from legitimate intercourse that they came to this pass or that it was from having no means to fulfill their desire that they were driven to this monstrous insanity... What is contrary to nature has something irritating and displeasing in it, so that they could not even claim to be getting pleasure out of it. For genuine pleasure comes from following what is according to nature. But when God abandons a person to his own devices, then everything is turned upside down." Cyprian wrote, "If you were able... to direct your eyes into secret places, to unfasten the locked doors of sleeping chambers and to open these hidden recesses to the perception of sight, you would behold that being carried on by the unchaste which a chaste countenance could not behold. You would see that it is in an indignity even to see... Men with frenzied lusts rush against men. Things are done which cannot even give pleasure to those who do them.” |
1423_10 | John Boswell, in his book published in 1994, contends that adelphopoiesis, a Christian rite for uniting two persons of the same sex as "spiritual brothers/sisters", amounted to an approved outlet for romantic and indeed sexual love between couples of the same sex. Boswell also drew attention to Saints Sergius and Bacchus, whose icon depicts the two standing together with Jesus between or behind them, a position he identifies with a pronubus or "best man". Critics of Boswell's views have argued that the union created was more like blood brotherhood; and that this icon is a typical example of an icon depicting two saints who were martyred together, with the usual image of Christ that appears on many religious icons, and therefore that there is no indication that it depicts a "wedding". But Sergius and Bacchus were both referred to as erastai in ancient Greek manuscripts, the same word used to describe lovers (Boswell). |
1423_11 | In her 2010 book Paul Among the People, Sarah Ruden rejects Boswell's interpretation but also argues that Paul the Apostle's writings on homosexuality (such as Romans 1: 26–27) cannot be interpreted as a condemnation of homosexuality as it is understood in modern times. Writing about the context of Greco-Roman culture, she writes: "There were no gay households; there were in fact no gay institutions or gay culture at all." Citing how the society viewed the active and passive roles separately and viewed sex as an act of domination, she concludes that Paul was opposing sexual relations that were, at best, unequal. At worst, they were tantamount by modern standards to male rape and child sexual abuse. |
1423_12 | The 16th Canon of the Council of Ancyra (AD 314) prescribed a penance of at least twenty years' duration for those "who have done the irrational" (alogeuesthai). At the time this was written, it referred to bestiality, not homosexuality. However, later Latin translations translated it to include both.
In the year AD 342, the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans decreed the death penalty for any male who "marries [a man] as a woman... [a situation in which] gender has lost its place". In the year AD 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I and Arcadius denounced males "acting the part of a woman", condemning those who were guilty of such acts to be publicly burned.
The Middle Ages |
1423_13 | John Boswell, in his essay The Church and the Homosexual, attributes Christianity's denunciations of "homosexuality" to an alleged rising intolerance in Europe throughout the 12th century, which he claims was also reflected in other ways. His premise is that when sodomy was not being explicitly and "officially" denounced, it was therefore being "tolerated". Historian R. W. Southern disagreed with Boswell's claims and wrote in 1990 that "the only relevant generalization which emerges from the penitential codes down to the eleventh century is that sodomy was treated on about the same level as copulation with animals." Southern further notes that "Boswell thinks that the omission of sodomy from the stringent new code of clerical celibacy issued by the Roman Council of 1059 implies a degree of tolerance. Countering this is the argument that the Council of 1059 had more urgent business on hand; and in any case, sodomy had been condemned by Leo IX at Rheims in 1049." Similarly, Pierre |
1423_14 | Payer asserted in 1984 that Boswell's thesis (as outlined in his Christianity, Homosexuality and Social Tolerance) ignores an alleged wealth of condemnations found in the penitential literature prior to the 12th century. More recently, historian Allan Tulchin wrote in 2007 in the Journal of Modern History that, "It is impossible to prove either way and probably also somewhat irrelevant to understanding their way of thinking. They loved each other, and the community accepted that." |
1423_15 | Peter Damian wrote the Liber Gomorrhianus, an extended attack on both homosexuality and masturbation. He portrayed homosexuality as a counter-rational force undermining morality, religion, and society itself, and in need of strong suppression lest it spread even and especially among clergy. Damian reports that even Otto III was intimate with many men (sharing the bed and bath). |
1423_16 | Hildegard of Bingen reported seeing visions and recorded them in Scivias (short for Scito vias Domini, "Know the Ways of the Lord"). In Book II Vision Six, she quotes God as condemning same-sex intercourse, including lesbianism; "a woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight, and so is she who subjects herself to such a one in this evil deed".
Her younger contemporary Alain de Lille personified the theme of sexual sin in opposition to nature in The Complaint of Nature by having Nature herself denounce sexual immorality and especially homosexuality as rebellion against her direction, terming it confusion between masculine and feminine and between subject and object. The Complaint also includes a striking description of the neglect of womanhood: |
1423_17 | In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas argued that not all things to which a person might be inclined are "natural" in the morally relevant sense; rather, only the inclination to the full and proper expression of the human nature, and inclinations which align with that inclination, are natural.
Contrary inclinations are perversions of the natural in the sense that they do seek a good, but in a way destructive of good. |
1423_18 | This view points from the natural to the Divine, because (following Aristotle) he said all people seek happiness; but according to Aquinas, happiness can only finally be attained through the Beatific Vision.
Therefore, all sins are also against the natural law. But the natural law of many aspects of life is knowable apart from special revelation by examining the forms and purposes of those aspects. It is in this sense that Aquinas considered homosexuality unnatural, since it involves a kind of partner other than the kind to which the purpose of sexuality points. He considered it comparable to heterosexual sex for pleasure (rather than reproduction). |
1423_19 | The tone of the denunciations often indicate a more than theoretical concern.
Archbishop Ralph of Tours had his lover John installed as Bishop of Orléans with agreement of both the King of France and Pope Urban II. In 1395 there was a transvestite homosexual prostitute arrested in London with some records surviving, and the Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards included the denunciation of priestly celibacy as a cause of sodomy.
The Reformation and Counter-Reformation
Martin Luther's view of homosexuality is recorded in Plass's What Luther Says:
Diverging opinions in modern era |
1423_20 | Historically, Christian churches have regarded homosexual sex as sinful, based on the Catholic understanding of the natural law and traditional interpretations of certain passages in the Bible. This position is today affirmed by groups representing most Christians, including the Catholic Church (1.1 billion members), Orthodox Church (250 million members), and some Protestant denominations, especially most Pentecostal churches,Evangelical churches such as the Southern Baptist Convention (16.3 million members) and the United Methodist Church (12 million members). Restorationist churches such as the LDS Church (13 million members) also view homosexual sex as sinful. |
1423_21 | However, a minority interpret biblical passages differently and argue that homosexuality can be seen as morally acceptable. This approach has been taken by a number of denominations in North America, notably the United Church of Canada (2.8 million members), the United Church of Christ (1.1 million members), the Moravian Church (825,000 members), the Anglican Episcopal church, the Anglican Church of Canada (800,000 members), the Liberal Catholic Church, Friends General Conference, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1.9 million members), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (3.9 million members) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Relatively many denominations had taken this approach in Europe including united, reformed and Lutheran churches: the Evangelical Church in Germany (24.5 million members), Church of Sweden (6.6 million members), Church of Norway, Church of Denmark, Protestant Church of the Netherlands (3.9 million members), Church of Iceland, United |
1423_22 | Protestant Church in Belgium, United Protestant Church of France, Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, Methodist Church of Great Britain (330,000 members) and Church of Scotland. |
1423_23 | A new denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church (40,000 members), has also come into existence specifically to serve the Christian LGBT community. However, individual Christians maintain a variety of beliefs on this subject that may or may not correspond to their official church doctrines. Some mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have also removed language in their bylaws which suggest that homosexuality is a sinful state of being. The Book of Order used by the PCUSA reflects this change. Similar modifications in position can also be seen in the Lutheran ELCA and Disciples of Christ. Although acceptance of sexually active LGBT laity has increased in terms of actual practice and in terms of church law, some of these denominations continue to limit leadership and clergy roles for LGBT persons. A number of denominations, like the aforementioned United Methodists, remain divided over the issues relating to homosexuality, with a large number of members pushing for |
1423_24 | changes in the church's Book of Discipline to allow for full inclusion of LGBT persons in the life of the church. |
1423_25 | In 1989, The Evangelical Network was formed with LGBT Evangelical Christians. It is a network of churches, ministries and Christian workers.
See also
Gay bishops
LGBT-affirming religious groups
Queer theology
Unitarian Universalism and LGBTQ persons
Christian saints sometimes identified as homosexual:
Sergius and Bacchus (4th century martyrs)
Aelred of Rievaulx (12th century monk)
References
Further reading |
1423_26 | Early Teachings on Homosexuality
Summa Theologiae – online version
Hildegard of Bingen, "Scivias," Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, translators; New York: Paulist Press, 1990
The Church & the Homosexual
John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980
Christian Passage On St. Serge & St. Bacchus
Claude Courouve, L'homosexualité masculine dans les textes grecs et latins de l'Antiquité et du Moyen-Âge
Debate: St. Augustine's Sexuality
Johansson, Warren 'Whosoever Shall Say To His Brother, Racha.' Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 212–214
Smith, Morton "Clement of Alexandria and Secret Mark: The Score at the End of the First Decade." Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 295–307 |
1423_27 | Mader, Donald "The Entimos Pais of Matthew 8:5–13 and Luke 7:1–10" Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 223–235. |
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