HOMOPHOBIA/PART ONE: When one's unconscious anxieties and fears are threatened to be manifested in their nakedness, the result is often anger and aggression...

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL ROOTS AND PAYOFFS OF HOMOPHOBIA

By The Reverend Dr. Jerry Maneker

¨...Internalized and externalized homophobia are both congruent with fear, and are caused by fear; that homophobia (and its manifestations) is, in itself, an instrument or defense mechanism that one uses to minimize the fear and/or shame of one's being Gay, or even used to minimize the generalized fear of the unknown, that resides in the homophobe's own psyche.

As Sigmund Freud asserted, the unconscious is not merely a passive part of our personality. Rather, it is comprised of all sorts of tempestuous forces, often "unspeakable" drives and urges, that one cannot afford to bring to consciousness in order to maintain his/her ego-integrity his/her sense of self.

"In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence our behavior and experience, even though we are unaware of these underlying influences."

These "unacceptable" and "unpleasant" feelings, conflicts, and anxieties that reside in the "Id," the "unconscious," are usually repressed by the psyche. However, when those unpleasant feelings, conflicts, and anxieties threaten to come to consciousness, all sorts of defense mechanisms are used to keep those feelings suppressed, not the least of which is denial; when denial is impossible, anger and aggression (externalized and/or internalized) usually become manifest.

When one's unconscious anxieties and fears are threatened to be manifested in their nakedness, the result is often anger and aggression so as to repress and suppress those anxieties and fears; that repression and suppression cause homophobes to both live inauthentic and self-defeating lives on the one hand, and also fool themselves into believing that they are intact human beings on the other hand.

And, of course, nothing could be further from the truth! One cannot live an inauthentic and/or self-defeating life and also be emotionally intact!

Repression and suppression of sexuality as a price we all pay to live in civil society, as alleged by Freud, is dramatically fueled by religion that seeks to maintain the status quo, and maintain its moral hegemony over others; even over people's self-concept that in reality is not usually in line with the truth of one's tempestuous psyche that screams to get out of its repressed state.

Strident Homophobe Pastor Eddie Long and George W. Bush

And, tragically, it is often "homophobia" (and its manifestations) that is used as a defense mechanism that helps keep the person's frustrations, urges, and other tempestuous forces that reside in the unconscious repressed and suppressed. Hence, the virtual impossibility of educating the strident homophobe into seeing that being Gay is a normal sexual orientation.

Gafcon Anglican/Puritan/Schismatic repression and suppression of sexuality is dramatically fueled by taboo, superstition and fundamentalism 

It seems to me that among many people there is an inordinate need for certainty in this uncertain world, and this phenomenon is no less true when we speak of one's psychic world.

Hence, the seduction of "fundamentalism," be it in religious life or in secular life. HERE

· Thanks to The Reverend Dr. Jerry Maneker
· Thanks to A Christian Voice for LGBT People, sidebar
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing