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Nashville’s Only ‘Transqueer Latinx Neurodivergent Public Theologian’
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper. Most journalists are leftists, but you might think that perhaps a religion writer for a southern newspaper might be an exception. Or, perhaps not. Last April, Mr. Adams published an article that began with the following remarkable paragraphs:
Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is the only Nashville-based transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologian that they know.
“I don’t know anybody like me,” Henderson-Espinoza, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said in an interview.
Yet, it was only recently when Henderson-Espinoza, 45, got to know their self better, such as the diagnosis that they are on the autism spectrum.
I know what you’re thinking: “C’mon – Nashville is known for its musicians, its nightlife, and its transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologians. What’s the big deal?
Me, however – I was a bit more skeptical. Dazzled, actually. I didn’t know that it was possible for one person to be that diverse. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong. Robyn seems to be the culmination of decades of, um, work – all leading to a magnificent specimen of diversity that is so magnificent that it warrants this paragraph (I refer you to your well-thumbed copy of LGBTQ Religious Archives Network):
Biography:
Robyn is a lifelong Baptist who has been involved in LGBTQ justice work since college. Having been the only queer and gender nonconforming person in their college classroom, Robyn has always spoken from margin to center. As a mixed-raced Latinx, Robyn has been bridging together both anti-racism with LGBTQ advocacy for two decades. As an out Transqueer person who studied theology, Robyn found that the institutional church to not be a place where they flourished. Leaving the institutional church to do faith-rooted justice work meant that Robyn continued in their theological training, culminating in a PhD in Constructive philosophical theology. Robyn has been trained by Baptists, Roman Catholics, and Methodist scholars and holds three degrees in theology with an emphasis in queer theory and Latinx studies. For the last ten years, Robyn has been vigilant in naming the culture of whiteness of the LGBT movement. In particular, the ways that the institutional church has focused so acutely on their welcome & affirming stances has allowed Robyn to name the culture of dominance, which has been expressed in & thru whiteness. In an effort to decenter whiteness and intentionally widen the circle of Movement work to include people of color and other marginalized folks, Robyn is devoted to participating & curating an assemblage of Movement work that is grounded in the politics of radical difference.
(This biographical statement provided by Robyn Henderson-Espinoza.)
So you may think that he/she/it is just another Nashville transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologian, but I think it’s clear that this is the GOAT in its field. A Ph.D. in Constructive Philosophical Theology who decenters whiteness and intentionally widens the circle of Movement work. Holy mackerel.
Robyn (previously Roberto) is a consulting faculty member of Duke Divinity School. From Duke’s website:
Roberto Henderson-Espinoza, Ph.D. has been described in a myriad of ways: a scholar-activist, scholar-leader, thought-leader, teacher, public theologian, ethicist, poet of moral reason, and word artist. Among these ways of describing Dr. Henderson-Espinoza, they are also a visionary thinker who has spent two decades working in the borderlands of church, academy, and movements seeking to not only disrupt but dismantle supremacy culture by focusing his Ph.D. studies on new concepts of being and becoming, decolonizing knowledge production, and bridging with radical difference.
…
Dr. Henderson-Espinoza was named one of 10 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress in 2018. As a scholar-activist, Dr. Henderson-Espinoza is committed to translating theory to action, so that our work in the borderlands reflect the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world.
Check out that last sentence. Where are “the borderlands”? What exactly is, “the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world”? Does all that mean going to places that don’t practice your faith of transsexualism and convincing them to worship the way you do? Is that evangelizing?
Note the girl looking at the book reader the same way I look at transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologians.
Perhaps I’m misreading this. I really don’t understand. But I think that’s what it means.
A lot of my atheist friends say that they don’t mind Christians believing in a God that obviously doesn’t exist. But they are very critical of evangelistic Christians, because they try to convince others that this God exists. They say that the silly beliefs of Christians go from goofy to dangerous when they start trying to convince others to see things their way.
And then those same people generally accept and even assist evangelical transsexuals. These people pretend to take their pronouns seriously. They invite them to speak at their children’s library. They appoint them to prominent positions, to create a façade of legitimacy, and then challenge anyone to risk public ostracism by resisting their efforts to spread their gospel.
It bugs me that those who promote sexual practices that are discouraged by The Bible attempt to use the authority of The Bible to lend legitimacy to their message. They’re using the church to move people away from Christian teaching.
Note that I don’t care what anyone does in their own bedroom, or in their personal life. That’s between them and God. I probably have habits that transsexuals wouldn’t care for, which is fine, as long as we stay out of one another’s business. This is private stuff, after all.
Suppose I like Ohio State football, and don’t care for Michigan football. That’s fine. Until I become a preacher or a theologian and claim that my preferences are found in The Bible, and start “work in the borderlands reflect the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world.” That’s when we have a problem.
I like to think that a transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologian would agree with that. But for some reason, I don’t believe he would. Or possibly she. I’m not sure. I really don’t understand this stuff. And I’m fine with that. I don’t understand Michigan fans, either, but we’re great friends. It’d be boring if we all thought the same thing. I’m fascinated by our differences, and I celebrate them.
But don’t make yourself so diverse that you’re untouchable and then pressure me to validate your faith. That’s when your intolerance of western culture and Christian faith goes from goofy to dangerous. That’s when we have a problem.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbor. Not tolerate our neighbor. No — we should love our neighbor. Please, Robyn, love me even if you disagree with some of my views, just as I love you. We’re all just doing the best we can here. I wish you the best. I really do. I hope you find your path, wherever it leads you. And I hope that you encourage me in the same way.
I love you, even if I don’t practice your faith.
Please extend the same love to me. Just love me the way I am.
The intolerance of the left is getting scary. If they view anyone who disagrees with them about anything as deplorables who need to be fundamentally transformed, then this is going to get worse and worse.
I hope Robyn can see that someday.
Hopefully someday very soon.
This is getting scary.
Published in General
Depends how good looking you are.I think the latter is probably better for one, though people often end up in some combination of the two.In that case totally the former. The young man opened a door in a gay bath house and instead of the TV lounge he found himself in some version of Underhill populated by Incubi….
Like philosophy? Wanna use youtube? Make a ton of money? You know I’ve often tried to think of a unique detective to be protagonist. We’ve had every type of detective from OCD, to wheelchair bound, to doctors, to ex-cons, to bunglers, to lawyers, to gentlemen, to housewives, to obese, to gourmands and orchid growers. Even the “defective detective”.
Have we ever had a philosopher-detective who solves each crime using the thinking of a different philosopher? Write the stories, read then on youtube, and rake in the bucks.
That’s actually a really good idea.
Yeah, I think so, too. I’d look forward to your spinning the first chapter of the first story and posting it here on Ricochet.
I doubt I can write in that genre.
But I’m not ruling it out.
What genre do you feel most comfortable writing?
I’m guessing… philosophy?
I really meant fiction genre.
Set it in Pakistan. That’s your twist.
For one book, sure. And Hong Kong as well. And Texas, too.
Oh I think Pakistan’s big enough to be good for a few in the series. Mix it up with Lahore/Karachi/Quetta – and please, please, please include a culinary aspect.
Whatever genre is the non-fiction of C. S. Lewis. I guess.
Philosophical dialogues.
But I have dabbled in sci-fi.
I wrote a fun story about a spaceship that traveled back in time, and the protagonist learns that the location of Hell is 5 mintues ago.
And intersecting . . .
Come on Man! Don’t you think we should try to bend reality to our (fleeting & fickle) will rather than seek happiness by embracing the Truth….do you think God really knows what is best for us better than we ourselves? (TIC)
Hawt.
But would all the the elves and half-orcs of noble heritage rally to my campaign against the demon lord if I spent half the time debasing myself with Incubi?
And Max Headroom is 20 minutes into the future!
Maybe they could be convinced?
Thank goodness someone put in the right and proper Dead Milkmen reference.
Kyrie eleison.
As I have been told (Hi, @flicker) that’s the phrase that was originally used by the crowd to shout to the victorious king to get him to throw some of the loot and plunder our way.
Lord have mercy.
The connotations seem to have shifted a little on being brought into the liturgy, but maybe not a lot.