In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Rev Richard Emmanuel about Pope Francis’ comment that the Catholic Church is ‘obsessed’ with gays, abortion and birth control. Emmanuel is the founder of The Church an experimental religious organization in East Gloucester, Massachusetts dedicated to raising individual and collective consciousness by increasing personal spiritual awareness. Richard’s journey began with an epiphany while attending The Catholic University of America where through comparative religious studies Richard withdrew from the dogma of Roman Catholicism and Judeo/Christian belief. We talked to Richard about this, Russia’s anti gay laws, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and his spin on our LGBT issues.
When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Emmanuel stated, “This issue is a civil rights issue. It’s not about whether you’re gay, lesbian, transgender or black, white or Hindu or whatever religion. It’s always about humanity’s respect for one another. We are all one and that is why we can get ourselves into trouble when we become obsessed about our position and that we don’t see it as a human condition. I mean this idea of straights are normal because they’re in the majority, well, the numbers don’t mean anything. It’s one way of oppressiveness of one majority group oppressing a minority group and this has nothing to do with anything but a person’s rights. Humanity has evolved to this stage in which our rights as people are being challenged on a number of levels. Where are we taking this IT industry? Where is this information technology taking us? And this social networking, is it going to liberate us or force us into new constraints or a new tyranny of technology? I’m amazed at the number of people walking around not even in real space, texting on their smart phones. They’re not in the real world. I find this very disturbing.”
Currently Emmanuel is advocating for future public understanding of religious scientific, and social beliefs. His work is a “visual experience” and explores new forms of social language, belief structures, symbols and icons of our society and the transformation of cultural perception. He continues to find great inspiration in the history of human storytelling and applies this knowledge in advanced imaging for the ever-expanding “Information Age.”
For More Info: thechurch.org
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