Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed key developments in LGBT history; including the growth of the world's first homosexual organizations and gay and lesbian magazines; as well as an influential community of German sexologists and psychoanalysts. Queer Identities and Politics in Germany describes these events in detail; from vibrant gay social scenes to the Nazi persecution that sent many LGBT people to concentration camps.Clayton J. Whisnant recounts the emergence of various queer identities in Germany from 1880 to 1945 and the political strategies pursued by early homosexual activists. Drawing on recent English and German-language scholarship; he enriches the debate over whether science contributed to social progress or persecution during this period; and he offers new information on the Nazis' preoccupation with homosexuality. The book's epilogue locates remnants of the pre-1945 era in Germany today.
#157502 in Books Chelsea Green Publishing 2006-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.94 x 1.22 x 6.02l; 1.53 #File Name: 193149892X464 pagesShips from Vermont
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A life-changing book!By CustomerA very challenging book to read. However; if one has the mind to put aside preconceptions and read this through; they may find; as I did; a better understanding for why the world is today is in such bad shape.The problems we all face are too deeply rooted in culture and memes we grew up with; so that any attempt to find solutions to the economic and cultural issues today will become impossible without addressing these religious issues first.An excellent read by a sincerely devoted disciple of Hypatia.A life changing book; but only for those willing to read it cover to cover; and more than once.David A. Smith6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Shocking and brilliantBy SageFasten your seatbelts. "Not in His Image by John Lamb Lash" will turn you on your head and shake you hard. This is a paradigm-shifting book about the true nature of gnosticism. For years I had wondered about gnosticism; and nothing I read quite satisfied that wondering. This does.Mr. Lash's book turned me inside out. He reverently offers up the secrets of an ancient; earth-friendly; pre-Christian belief system in Europe. There was powerful information that was new to me. It was material which I felt intuitively and deeply to be true about our ancient history and how the world came into being. This may be one of those books that simply change the world one reader at a time.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A passionate but ultimately futile manifesto to retrieve a Paradise Lost?By Michael James RapsonDrawing upon the Nag Hammadi texts as his primary source material; comparative mythologist; John Lamb Lash; presents an ambitious work to revive a mythology for our time; a mythology that lauds the earth mother culture of the animist/pagan antiquity. The author argues that this world was disrupted by the intervention of a kind of patriarchal pathology; exemplified by the Bible and other religious texts; and that this intervention has been traumatic for the human psyche and also destructive in how we relate to the earth and our fellow entities. Above all else; the author argues that the doctrine of redemption from a "profane earth"; expressed in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic theologies; created an abyss that has separated us from our synergistic relationship with our divine; living planet; while the demented God of the Bible was a minor Canaanite thunder god that an ancient Jewish sect promoted to absentee landlord of the entire universe. Modern "Gaia" theory seems to provide scientific corroboration that the earth is indeed a living; biological organism; although the scientists stop short of attributing self-determination to the planet.I think that the central point Lash is trying to make is that the earth itself is a "Goddess": a stranded aeon; who fell from the pleroma. This idea echoes the work of Caitlin Matthews; who wrote that Sophia; the consort of the Godhead; fell into matter. However; Lash is considerably more erudite than MatthewsI assume that the title of this book signifies that its author; John Lash; is responding to "In His Image" by Brand and Yancey; who argued that the body and spirit of christ and god is expressed within the human physical and emotional being. It would be an understatement indeed to say that Lash vehemently disputes the divinity of Jesus Christ or of the God and theology he advocated for. That argument is bound to raise more than a few hackles; but the author does mount a convincing argument that the salvationist creed attributed to Jesus is a kind of viral mind trap; because; while it claims to preach love; it has actually delivered misogyny; pedophilia; brutality; war and murder. This was certainly true of the anti-witch pogroms; the Papal crusades; the Spanish Inquisition and the conquest of the new world; all delivered under the banner of the cross with appalling violence. This schizophrenic doctrine has made adherents through the ages conflicted on how they should express their faith. Centuries of indoctrination into the toxic redeemer cult has blinded many Christians to the crimes being committed; where it was doctrinaire to brutalize and kill people in order to "redeem" their souls for Jesus; "Prince of Peace". However; I don't think the author places enough importance on the fact that much of this aggressive "evangelism" was a subterfuge for the "big game" of treasure hunting and empire building; using religious conversion merely as a pretext. This anomaly is illustrated when Lash lauds Marcus Aurelius; an empire builder and defender of his empire against the very indigenous 'Europans' he celebrates as salt of the earth people. While Marcus may have expressed the pagan sense of life in his poems; he may not be the best exemplar of quintessential paganism. It's a bit like John Wayne eulogizing the American Indian while acting out their demise.John L. Lash states as the aim of 'Not in HIS Image': "To reclaim Gnostic wisdom for today and merge Mystery teachings with deep ecology." (p.16) Does he succeed? The author gives the deflating and anti-climactic answer himself when he concludes: "Looking around the planet; it does seem that the immense majority of people are still firmly entrenched in patriarchal religion. Perhaps the weakest point in the ethical agenda of deep ecology is this: People are not easily convinced that human nature is essentially good and that we need no exhortation or off-planet moral commandments to make us care about each other and the earth" (p.353). I am being slightly over-scrutinising of the book only because it is so ambitious in what it sets out to achieve. However; I wouldn't class this work as an exercise in futility because "Not in HIS image" is an excellent reference for those who seek a dissenting view to the Abrahamic redemeer/salvationist doctrines; and also it will provide affirmation for those who follow deep ecology and earth-based spiritualities.Finally; while the cause to rescue our battered and foresaken planet; and also the spiritual integrity of humanity; seems a forlorn hope; John L. Lash has succeeded in identifying a vital truth; a truth that has been lost on nearly all of humanity and that identifies a tragic irony: (p.15) "...the divine power ... is here; fully earthbound; providing the matrix in which we live; move; and have our being."
