Abstract
There’s something disturbing about this book. I suspect that the author intends us to be disturbed. Unfortunately, I found it disturbing because I found it puzzling. The author sets out to explore a fascinating question - whether the disgust we feel in many situations impacts on our spiritual lives. He does this by attempting to create a dialogue between psychology and theology, writing as a psychologist who is a self confessed Christian. For me, the balance between rigorous psychological discourse and theological reflection is not quite right. I was left feeling rather perplexed.
One of the author’s research tools is a table that allows him to list sin and salvation/grace metaphors within the New Testament. I found the mix of embodied and social metaphor rather confusing and would have preferred to see the integrity of the disciplines respected in greater depth before the attempt was made to bring them together. I am not convinced that he has given sufficient space to the full range of human experience and interaction. At one point he explores the ‘Macbeth effect’, that physical cleansing creates moral purity. There is no attempt to contrast that approach with, for instance, the cleansing and healing value that some people find within the sacrament of confession.
The author appears to have an underpinning assumption of heterosexuality, which is surprising in a book that deals to a large extent with issues of sex and sexuality. There is a suggestion that the church is concerned with sexual sin because of the fear of pregnancy but no reference to the many situations when the church appears to be most concerned with anal sex (which, of course, can be used as a form of contraception). Public nakedness and urination are given as examples of situations that might elicit disgust. I would suggest that they might also elicit curiosity or even arousal.
There are other sweeping statements ‘people often feel disgusted when they encounter the handicapped, the elderly, poor hygiene …’. May I suggest that people experience a range of emotions when they encounter people who are physically or mentally different and also that range of responses deserves further study? Beck suggests that disgust has an existential component; there may be some truth in that assertion but there is more to be explored.
There appears to be some confusion between bodily functions and fluids of elimination, and bodily functions that are subject to choice. To suggest that faeces and semen elicit similar disgust responses is a sweeping statement that assumes a universality of response that does not resonate for me.
The value of this book is that is begins a conversation that needs to be explored. Many of the discussions to date about human sexuality have ignored the impact of a disgust reaction on the ways that people respond to those discussions. A more honest recognition of personal response will allow a more honest conversation. For that reason, I am grateful for the contribution this book makes.