Chapter One, In the Beginning—The Ghost of Silence Summary and Analysis

Mel White recalls hearing a young seminarian preach at a church camp he attended when he was twelve. The seminarian explained that masturbation was a gift from God and invited the boys to ask him questions about sex. Mel wondered why he was only attracted to boys but was afraid to ask. In those days, that is, in 1952, no one talked about homosexuality. The Religious Right did not exist, nor did televangelists attack homosexuality as the scourge of society. The forefathers of the Religious Right were like the parents who phoned the camp to have the seminarian sent home. Today, they attack homosexuality based on gross misinterpretations of Scripture, Catholics and Protestants alike.

Nonetheless, Mel White considers himself a child of the Religious...