UCC Pastor Defends Pornography, Citing Jesus’ Baptism and King David’s Dancing naked.
Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale, a fully ordained Christian Minister and the founder of the Incarnation Institute for Sex & Faith, has developed her own ministry which challenges the traditional Christian teachings about sexuality, the body and sexual pleasure.
Dale has described her work as helping people of faith to move away from shame-based approaches to the body and toward what she labeled as a more “pleasure-centered” understanding of Christianity. Her ministry and teaching includes discussions about pornography, masturbation, sexual diversity and BDSM. Her organization also features a video which specifically addressed whether people of faith can watch pornography.
On her official website, Dale stated that the Bible does not contain a simple prohibition or forbidden against sensual pleasure. She also discusses erotic images and pornography while challenging what she considers overly restrictive Christian teachings about sexuality.
Her approach or teaching has attracted attention because it differs sharply from the sexual ethics which is commonly taught in many conservative Christian churches. Instead of treating discussions about sexuality primarily through the framework of prohibition, Dale focuses on bodily autonomy, pleasure, consent and what she calls “body justice.”
Dale has served as clergy-in-residence at United Christian Church in Levittown, Pennsylvania, and has a background in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The church identifies itself as a progressive Christian community focused on justice, inclusion and radical hospitality.
FINALIZING; Her teachings have therefore become part of a broader debate over how Christianity should approach sexuality, pornography and the human body, and whether traditional teachings should be maintained, reinterpreted or rejected.
