Need We Still Ask Why? Theodical Futurism and the Sinthomosexual God

Abstract

Need We Still Ask Why?: Theodical Futurism and the Sinthomosexual God Samuel B. Davis Sinthomosexual ‐ Coined by Lee Edelman in his book No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive (2004), the term refers to either a person or state of being that intentionally takes up a position outside of and opposed to traditional social and moral norms for the purpose of disrupting them. Introduction On August 3, 2019, twenty‐one‐year‐old Patrick Crusius entered a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and opened fire, killing twenty‐two people and injuring another twenty‐four. Directly after the attack, Crusius drove to a nearby intersection and turned himself into the police, identified himself as the shooter, and admitted to targeting Mexicans. Thirteen hours later, Connor Betts opened fire in downtown Dayton, OH, killing nine people, including his sister, before he was shot to death by local police officers. In this case, at least initially, the shooter left authorities very little clue to his motive, let alone a racially motivated one. In fact, newspapers have pointed out his being a registered democrat and self‐proclaimed “leftist” “antifacist.” Mere hours later, Ohio Republican State Representative Candice Keller took to Facebook to share her thoughts on who should take responsibility for such tragedies. “Why not place the blame where it belongs?” Keller says before providing a long list of reasons why someone would commit such acts of violence. Beginning with the “breakdown of the traditional American family” thanks to transgender folks, same‐sex marriage, and “drag queen advocates,” she touches on a wide variety of political issues, from kneeling during the national anthem to open borders and lax child discipline, to point out what she sees as a cultural demoralization. To Keller, the “culture” liberals advocate “totally ignores the importance of God and the church,” inevitably resulting in mass violence.,, There is no denying the political significance of the conversation sparked by Keller. Much of the media discussion since the El Paso shooting, including statements from the majority of Democratic presidential candidates, has been dominated by the question of whether President Donald Trump has encouraged (through rhetoric similar to Keller's) these acts of violence. In an all‐to‐familiar tone, the El Paso shooter himself states in his manifesto that his views predate Trump and his campaign, using the phrase “fake news” to describe any attempt to blame Trump for the massacre. In his book, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, Lee Edelman discusses at length the politics of opposition, arguing that the right vs left dualism creates and recreates what he calls “reproductive futurism,” the shared goal of an infinitely safe and recognizable future which will always inevitably exclude someone. In identifying this concept, Edelman seeks to address the societal problem of marginalizing that which threatens what Jacques Lacan calls “the symbolic” or “the symbolic order,” that which superimposes meaning and morality for any person born within a society. For many, like Candice Keller and Patrick Crusius, the symbolic carries a shared desire for a “native” and “traditionally moral” culture, to which open borders, “drag queen advocacy,” same‐sex marriage, and a lack of Christian faith are all imminent threats. Edelman's point is that this devotion to an absolute “good” targets and isolates people, often those already pushed to the margin, the most intense examples in this case being Hispanics, Muslims, and the LGBTQ+ community. Edelman's answer is for the marginalized person (“the Queer”) to embrace its societal position. Rather than attempt to blend with the existing culture, Edelman suggests the radical opposite, introducing what he calls, the “Sinthomosexual,” the figure who questions the validity of preponderant notions of morality. In order to address the continuing insistence that the only “good” society is a Christian society, this paper takes a close look at the biblical narrative of Job, a story known for its unique style and content. In this paper, I will be arguing that the book of Job, the poetic book of the Hebrew Bible, provides a space of theological understanding and even sympathy of Edelman's conception of the sinthomosexual in regard to his notion of the “good.” Focusing on the theological differences between the prose...