1. Pastoral Care with the LGBTQI communities
Buddhist Chaplaincy Symposium
October 17, 2015
Sue Taylor

2. Acknowledgements
Slides 3 & 4 are from the Muskie School of Public Service at University of Maine. No author’s name was identified.
Slides 5 – 6 are information gleaned from: Chinula, D.M. (2009). The tasks of oppression-sensitive pastoral care-giving and counseling. In Injustice and the care of souls: taking oppression seriously in pastoral care, S.A. Kujawa-Holbrook & K.B. Montagno (Eds.),
Slide 7 is an overview of handouts for participants.

3. Cycle of Systematic Oppression
Justification for Further Mistreatment
(oppress based on the effects of having oppressed)
Systematic Mistreatment
of Targeted Group
Power
Control
Economics
Misinformation is Generated
(including no information)
Institutions Perpetuate & Enforce
Internalized Dominance
(feeling/acting superior, often unconsciously, to the target group)
Society Accepts
(approves, legitimizes, normalizes)
Internalized Oppression
(believe the misinformation about your own group)

4. Diversity
May create the illusion of participation, when in fact there is no shared power.
Presence means very little without the power of decision making, share of the resources, development of agenda/plans, policies.

5. Oppression sensitive pastoral care
Hyper individualistic pastoral care
Oppressive sensitive pastoral care
Classical Model: Guiding, healing, sustaining, reconciling (pp )
Moving
exclusively from
Reclamation, conciliation, transformation, transcendence (pp ).
Integrating toward

6. Oppression sensitive pastoral care Four tasks
Reclamation, conciliation, transformation, and transcendence.
Reclamation…aims at reclaiming by the oppressed and marginalized their lost legacies at the same time that it promotes healing.
Conciliation…overcoming the hostility of the oppressor.
Transformation…refers to changing the condition, nature, or character of persons and society so that the old is replaced with the new.
Transcendence…focuses on the inexhaustibility of divine reality which infuses the human spirit. (pp )

7. Buddhism: lovingkindness with Individual & society
Metta: The Philosophy and practice of universal love, Acarya Buddharakkhita “The Pali word metta is a multi-significant term meaning lovingkindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness, and non-violence. The Pali commentators define metta as the strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others (parahita-parasukha-kamana). Essentially metta is an altruistic attitude of love and friendliness as distinguished from mere amiability based upon self interest. Through metta one refuses to be offensive and renounces bitterness, resentment and animosity of any kind, devoting instead a mind of friendliness, accommodativeness and benevolence which seeks the well being and happiness of others. True metta is devoid of self interest. It evokes within a warm hearted feeling of fellowship, sympathy and love, which grows boundless with practice and overcomes all social, religious, racial, political and economic barriers. Metta is indeed a universal, unselfish, and all embracing love.”
Satipatthana Samyutta, No. 19 [Protection through the Satipatthana, Nyanaponika Thera])
“ I shall protect myself, in that way the foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana) should be practiced. I shall protect others, in that way the foundations of mindfulness should be practiced. Protecting oneself, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself”
And how does one, in protecting oneself protect others? By repeated and frequent practice of meditation. And how does one, in protecting others protect oneself? By patience and forbearance, by a non-violent and harmless life, by lovingkindness and compassion.”

8. Handouts for pastoral care providers
Introduction Slides;
Selected review of pastoral care literature regarding pastoral care with the LGBTQ community and the points of overlap with the intersection with other marginalized groups;
Selected pastoral resources for working with LGBTQ community;
Identification of selected amicus curiae briefs in Obergefell vs. Hodges related to religious arguments for and against same sex marriage, comparison to Loving vs. Virginia (1967) interracial marriage case, and other older literature on cross issue similarities.