ABSTRACT
There is a growing dialogue between Christian theology and BDSM (Bondage-Disciple, Sadomasochism) fetishes. Theological, biblical, and religious book chapters are engaging sadomasochism while the practitioners of SM are describing their experiences with the language of spirituality and have forged bonds of community as deeply engaged with one another as religious communities and orders. This chapter engages in conversation between Christian theology and SM with the hope this will stimulate further exchanges, not just in print but in face to face dialogue and bring out further discussions about the nature of spirituality and its relationship to fetishes. Physical ascetical practices, however, may have eliminated certain desires, but channeled other personal desires into a greater or more profound desire for union with God. The Christian asceticism may use similar, sometimes identical, or even more intense than physical disciplines and psychophysical techniques of leather sadomasochism.
