Apparently Marjorie Taylor Greene had a couple of affairs, including one relationship with a guy who is being called a "tantric sex guru." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9246917/Marjorie-Taylor-Green-openly-cheated-husband-men-gym.html

Here's the thing: while "Conservative Christian lawmaker has extramarital affair with tantric sex guru" makes for a super-clickable headline, it's really problematic.

As I tell my students: Tantra is a lot of things, but it's *not* weird sex stuff. (Yes, there are some sexual acts that can be associated with tantra, but that's, like, 0.00001% of what tantra is.)

So what is tantra? I'm so glad you asked!

"Tantra" is a Sanskrit word. It literally means "loom" or "warp" (like in weaving). It comes from the root "tan", which means "to stretch" (like the stretched out warp on a loom), or "to spread." Over time, this word came to mean "to compose" (as in, to compose a religious text).

Eventually, this weaving metaphor came to be associated with religious textual traditions and practices, so that tantra came to mean a set of teachings and traditions that are all woven together. So in essence, tantra refers to complex, interwoven systems of beliefs & practices.

Over a long period of time, tantra came to refer to certain esoteric practices in South Asian religious traditions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism. But tantric practices & ideas can also be found in Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Bön (an indigenous Tibetan tradition), & elsewhere.

Tantra is not a single monolithic thing; it means different things in different religious traditions. And even within the same religious tradition, there are different tantras, each with their own rituals, practices, and philosophies.

So what, if anything, do all of these different tantric traditions have in common? (Hint: it's not weird sex stuff!)

Tantra can involve certain kinds of ritual practices, like deity worship, meditation, visualization, yoga, or chanting. It's involved with a number of philosophical concepts, including (but not limited to) non-duality, union with the divine, emptiness, and spiritual liberation.

Sometimes - but not always - tantric practices involve deliberately transgressing social norms (doing things like eating meat, drinking alcohol, or engaging in ritualized sexual practices). But many, many other tantric practices do *not* involve these kinds of activities.

Over time, colonizers in Asia saw some of these practices, and got worked up about the aspects of tantra that involved the cultural transgressions -- the meat, and the alcohol, and the sex. But they completely overlooked all of the other complex aspects of tantra.

Today, popular European & North American conceptions of tantra immediately turn to "weird sex stuff." There are places all over where you can pay a "guru" a lot of money to go on a "tantric sex retreat."

These so-called gurus talk about "elevating your consciousness," "worshipping your yoni," or learning how to connect better with your sexual partners, but this is not tantra. And it's disrespectful to call it tantra.

Tantra is deeply embedded in certain Asian religious traditions. It's impossible to remove tantric ideas or practices from their broader religious contexts. And when white people go around claiming to be practicing "tantric sex," it denigrates centuries of religious traditions.

Look. I have no problem with whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to do with her sexual partners (as long as it's all consensual). But please, stop calling weird sexual stuff that white folks do "tantra." It's not. And it's gross.

(Oh! Also, I'll just add in here: Thanks to @Sacred_Writes for helping me learn how to be #smartinpublic)