GUEST POST, EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: 'Losing Faith' by Scotty Cade
Title: Losing Faith
Author: Scotty Cade
Published: June 10, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 200 Pages
Tags: M/M; Gay; First Time; Coming Out; Religion/Faith; HEA; Giveaway
BLURB:
Father Cullen Kiley, a gay Episcopal priest on hiatus from the church, decides to take his boat, T-Time, from Provincetown, Massachusetts, to Southport, North Carolina, a place that holds an abundance of bittersweet memories for him. While on a run his first day in Southport, Cullen comes upon a man sitting on a park bench staring out over the Cape Fear River with his Bible in hand. The man’s body language reeks of defeat and desperation, and unable to ignore his compassion for his fellow man, Cullen stops to offer a helping hand.
Southport Baptist Church’s Associate Pastor, Abel Weston, has a hard time managing his demons. When they get too overwhelming, he retreats to Southport’s Historic Riverwalk with his Bible in hand and stares out over the water, praying for help and guidance that never seem to come. But Abel soon discovers that help and guidance come in many forms.
An unexpected friendship develops between the two men, and as Cullen helps Abel begin to confront his doubts and fears , he comes face-to-face with his own reality, threatening both their futures.
Hi All,
Scotty Cade here. First I’d like to thank Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter for allowing me to spend a little time with you and bending your ear, or eyes in this case, with news of my latest release, “Losing Faith,” coming on June 10th. This book is very near and dear to my heart and was inspired by a true life incident which stayed with me for almost a year, so much so that I just had to pen this book to right a personal wrong.
I hope you enjoy hearing a little about how this book came to be and discussing the many topics affiliated with this book. I’m a guest on ten or so blogs so I’ll be covering a lot of information. If your interested in the others, you can find all the dates at www.dreamspinnerpress.com. Later in this posts you can read an excerpt and I’ll tell you how you can win a book of your choice from my backlist.
So without further delay, I have to start by telling you this story deals with religion, faith, and the power of our dreams. Now before you roll your eyes and move on to the next post, I want you to know I tried to handle the topics with all the dignity they deserved. Religion and faith are always tough topics because they are so personal to all of us and I did my best to be diplomatic, accurate and respectful. Dreams are a little easier, but can still be tricky. Many believe that dreams can be signs or visions about the future or the past. Some also think dreams are portals to another place and time, while others think dreams are just our subconscious mind at work while we sleep.
Today I’m going to talk about the religious aspect of the story. This book focuses on two very different religions. The Episcopal Church and the Southern Baptist Church. I did a lot of research on both, and apart from their mutual love of the Gospel, they have very little in common. Their interpretations of the Word are very different to say the least. The Episcopalians welcome everyone to worship. They even ordain women and gay men as priests and bishops, while on the other hand, the Southern Baptists do not believe in women as ordained ministers and believe homosexuality is a grave sin. In fact, if you are gay, you will only be welcomed into the church if you denounce your homosexual desires and seek their help to change your sexual orientation through prayer, fellowship and whatever other methods they see as fit.
Now this is generalizing the religions, and the last thing I want to do is offend, but for the record, I got ninety-nine percent of my information from the Southern Baptist Convention’s official website at http://www.sbc.net/ and the Episcopal Church’s official website at http://www.episcopalchurch.org and their beliefs are clearly written there, and all you need to do is Google either to see what I mean.
I wanted to start off with the formal statements on homosexuality from both the Baptist Convention and the Episcopal Church so you can see how they differ.
Southern Baptist Church: “We affirm God’s plan for marriage and sexual intimacy—one man, and one woman, for life. Homosexuality is not a “valid alternative lifestyle.” The Bible condemns it as sin. It is not, however, unforgivable sin. The same redemption available to all sinners is available to homosexuals. They, too, may become new creations in Christ.”
The Episcopal Church: “The Episcopal Church declared that homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.”
I also wanted to talk about a couple of the bible versus quoted when people defend or denounce homosexuality. The two most popular are Leviticus 18:22 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah:
Leviticus 18:22. ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.’
Let’s talk about this one for a second. What I found in my research is that the two verses above have historically been interpreted by Jews and Christians as clear blanket prohibitions against homosexual acts. But more recent interpretations focus on its context as part of the Holiness Code, a code of purity meant to distinguish the behavior of Israelites from the Canaanites, not to condemn homosexuality.
And what about Sodom and Gomorrah?
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent a couple of angels disguised as men to Sodom, where the men of Sodom threatened to gang rape them. The angels blinded the men, and then God destroyed the city. For centuries this story has been interpreted as God’s judgment on homosexuality. But gang rape was the only form of same-sex behavior that was threatened. The recap of the story found in Ezekial 16:49 highlights what many believe is the real point of the story. ‘Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.’ So in other words, everyone using this story as evidence of the sin of homosexuality, in the opinion of many is missing the point entirely.
So you see, there will always be people who interpret the bible to support their own beliefs or agenda and I guess it is written as such.
However, now that you’re read this post and will hopefully read the book, you’ll keep in mind that I fault no religions, as everyone has their beliefs, which may not match mine, but all are entitled to their own opinions.
Now. If you read this blog post and feel comfortable posting a response, I’d love to hear about any religious experiences you’ve had where people have debated on either side of homosexuality and how you’ve felt about it.
Everyone who posts below will be entered into a drawing to win a book of their choice from my backlist, so please take a minute and share your story. Maybe it will help someone else who might be struggling with something similar.
Contest Ends: June 17th
Now on to the excerpt. This excerpt deals with what we’ve been discussing today. I hope you enjoy the two different perspectives. Oh and I almost forgot, before you read the excerpt, here’s where you can find me and “Losing Faith”, as well as my other stories.
Excerpt:
“Please, don’t go.” Abel said it so low Cullen almost didn’t hear him.
“Abel.” Cullen sighed.
Abel took another sip of his coffee.
Cullen did the same and waited patiently.
“Last night at Bible study….” Abel’s voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat. “We were debating homosexuality and the Bible. Pastor Williams argued against it, of course, and I was appointed to argue on its behalf. And by the end of the night, he had a bunch of the attendees about to get pitchforks, light torches, and drive the bad homosexuals out of town.”
Cullen chuckled as the scene unfolded in his head.
But Abel stood and started pacing in front of the park bench. “Leviticus 18:22. ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.’ And 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. ‘Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.’”
“These were just a couple of the verses he used. Can you believe the Bible lumps homosexuals in with thieves, adulterers, prostitutes, and alcoholics? Not to mention slanderers and swindlers. And don’t get me started on what they said about Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you know the formal statement on homosexuality from the Southern Baptist Convention?”
“I don’t,” Cullen said.
“I do. Because I was forced to memorize it. ‘We affirm God’s plan for marriage and sexual intimacy—one man, and one woman, for life. Homosexuality is not a “valid alternative lifestyle.” The Bible condemns it as sin. It is not, however, unforgivable sin. The same redemption available to all sinners is available to homosexuals. They, too, may become new creations in Christ.’”
“Sit, Abel.” Cullen stood and took Abel by the shoulders. “In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent a couple of angels disguised as men to Sodom, where the men of Sodom threatened to gang rape them. The angels blinded the men, and then God destroyed the city. Abel, for centuries this story has been interpreted as God’s judgment on homosexuality. But gang rape was the only form of same-sex behavior that was threatened.”
Abel sat with an expression of surprise on his face.
“Furthermore,” Cullen continued. “The recap of the story found in Ezekial 16:49 highlights what I believe is the real point of the story. ‘Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.’ So in other words, everyone using this story as evidence of the sin of homosexuality, in my opinion, is missing the point entirely.”
Cullen sat down again and looked at Abel.
When their eyes met, Abel said, “Wow, I sure wish I’d had you with me last night.”
“Come on, Abel. You know as well as I do the Bible contradicts itself over and over. For every verse that can be used against homosexuality, there are two verses that dispute that claim or contradict the original verse. Anyone arguing on behalf or against anything can find all the ammunition they need, all in one place. And in my opinion,” Cullen said, “God wrote the Bible to be an all-inclusive word that can be interpreted in many different ways. The only problem with that is everyone seems to interpret it to suit their immediate needs.”
“But can’t they say the same about homosexuals?”
Touché! A reluctant smiled tugged at the corner of Cullen’s mouth. “Sure they can.” Cullen looked out over the water and blinked against the sun reflecting off of the rippling waves. “Two years ago I would have told you that my God loves everyone. He made us all the way we are, and no one has the right to judge anyone else for who they are or who they choose to love.”
“And now?” Abel asked.
Cullen stared at a sailboat idling along the river, fighting the current, its large white sails luffing in the light breeze. “I still believe God made us who we are, and I also still believe that none of us have a right to judge another.”
Abel sighed. “But you no longer believe that your God loves everyone?”
“No. I guess not.” Cullen looked down into his lap. “But”—he looked at Abel and held up his index finger—“not because of their sexuality or who they love.”
Scotty Cade left Corporate America and twenty-five years of Marketing and Public Relations behind to buy an Inn & Restaurant on the island of Martha’s Vineyard with his partner of over twenty years. He started writing stories as soon as he could read, but just five years ago for publication. When not at the Inn, you can find him on the bow of his boat writing gay romance novels with his Shetland sheepdog Mavis at his side. Being from the south and a lover of commitment and fidelity, most of his characters find their way to long healthy relationships, however long it takes them to get there. He believes that in the end, the boy should always get the boy.
