Every time gays try to gain a little equality in this world, cries of protest arise from the multitudes. The first people to step up to denounce such moves as marriage equality or the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell are Christian conservatives, claiming that God’s Will is being betrayed because the simple existence of gays runs contrary to Christian beliefs.
As proof, they trot out their Bibles and begin spewing from the Scriptures, which they claim condemns homosexuality. But do they? Is homosexuality really a sin?
The first thing we must establish before we have any rational discussion about the Bible is that it is a book that has gone through numerous translations and edits (for instance, the Gospel according to Thomas was left out) before becoming the book many Americans call Holy. If you ever played the game Telephone as a child, you know that a message has a way of deteriorating and becoming something entirely different from the intended message when it goes through so many messengers. This is particularly true when the messengers have their own agendas and purposely put their own “spin” on the message.
But let’s assume for the moment that the Bible as translated in English is exactly what was meant by the original authors (and, just for the record, that strains credibility to its breaking point). Would this allow Christians to justify their gay bashing? Let’s examine the Scriptures people use when condemning homosexuality.
The first story that pops out of people’s mouths when justifying their prejudice against gays is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before we explore this bit of Scripture, let’s start with an obvious, but rarely mentioned, fact: the Old Testament was written long before Jesus ever graced the planet. Therefore, Christians have no basis whatsoever to use these passages (or any Old Testament passage) to legitimize their prejudice. The Old Testament consists of Jewish stories and Jewish law. Jesus broke Jewish law. It was clear that to become a follower of Jesus, one did things in a new way. That’s why Christianity was born. If Jesus hadn’t rebelled against Jewish law, Christianity would not even exist.
And let’s keep in mind that much of the Old Testament is, in fact, stories. Let’s face it – no one was around taking notes when God was creating the Heavens and the Earth. The Creation Story is just that – a story – one chosen among many to be included in a document we call the Bible.
But even given these fragile underpinnings, let’s look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. God was ready to destroy the cities for some undisclosed wickedness (which is never specified as homosexuality). Abraham asked God to spare the city if just ten good men could be found. God agreed and sent two angels to see if ten good men could be found. When the two angels came to Sodom, Lot met them at the gate and invited them into his home. Then, according to Genesis 19:5 (King James version), the following happened:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Now, it's quite a stretch, from this single verse, to say that the men of Sodom were gay, let alone that this is the reason the town was destroyed. Jesus and five Old Testament prophets all speak of the sins that led to the destruction of Sodom – and not one of them mentions homosexuality. Yes, this is the verse that has convinced Christians that God hates gays.
Let's go back to Genesis 19:5. The whole homosexual bent is based on the phrase "to know" - or "ya,da'" as it is written in Hebrew. Ya,da is a Hebrew verb which is commonly translated as "know." Its meaning is ambiguous. It appears 943 times elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Usually it means "to know a fact." In only about a dozen of these cases does it refer to sexual activity; in these instances, the sexual meaning is always obvious. The text generally talks about a man "knowing" a woman and of her conceiving a child as a result of the "knowing." In all instances, such references involve heterosexual relationships.
In Genesis 19:5, the meaning of "ya,da" is ambiguous at best. When using the most common meaning, the verse makes complete sense. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were asking Lot to bring the strangers out so they could make their acquaintance -- just as we use the word "know" today. Given that the usual meaning of the word is nonsexual, it stretches credibility to immediately assume that the meaning was sexual.
Yet, the New International Version of the Bible (translated by people with their own agendas, prejudices and views), takes out all ambiguity:
They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
This smacks of the story that broke recently that conservatives are rewriting the Bible, because they find it "too liberal."
http://www.tabletmag.com/...
Another Old Testament passage that is commonly mentioned is the Holiness Codes in the Book of Leviticus. In two separate texts, we read: You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination. If a man lies with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.”
While this would seem a rather harsh indictment, it becomes less threatening when taken in context. First, it is widely considered that “lying with a man” was not considered something that was intrinsically evil, like rape or theft, but something that was unclean for Jews, like eating pork or engaging in intercourse with a woman while she was menstruating, both of which are forbidden in these same chapters. Yet interestingly, you don’t see today’s Christian Coalition beating the drum against hot dogs.
These Jewish laws appeared at the time when the Jews were settling in Canaan. It appears the prohibition of such acts was mainly for the purpose of unifying and distinguishing the Jewish people from their Palestinian neighbors, whom they now despised. It is almost certain that is wasn’t homosexuality per se that Jews wanted to prohibit, because it is not forbidden for a woman to lie with another woman. It was a widely held belief in those days that it was the male seed alone that was the carrier of the new child. Therefore, the act of men “lying with other men” was likely forbidden because it was a wasteful use of the male seed. As the Jews were fighting for their very survival during this time, it is understandable they would want to “save” the male seed for purposes of procreation. Modern science had not yet caught up with their beliefs. Also, Jewish laws changed often. Before the Babylonian exile, Jews shared many of the sexual mores of their neighbors, which included sexual worship and ceremonial mouth-genital contacts between priests and worshippers. Laws are arbitrary ways of dealing with situations at hand. Laws change as situations change. So it was then; so it has always been.
If Christians cannot justify their prejudice against gays with the Old Testament, do they fare any better in the New Testament? Hardly. Jesus, the man whose teachings Christians allegedly follow, never mentions it. Not once. Jesus did say (as recorded in Matthew 7:1), Judge not lest ye be judged.” It should be obvious to all Christians that the Bible was never meant to be used as a tool of judgment. The only mention of homosexuality in the New Testament comes from the letters of Paul. In his letters to the Corinthians, which contains the single most damning statement against gays, Paul outlines who shall be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven. In later translations of the Bible, “homosexuals” appear as one of the groups to be excluded. This should immediately make one suspicious of the translation, as neither Aramaic (the original language of the Bible) nor Greek (the language most modern translations come from) had a word for “homosexual” as we use it today. Until well into the 20th century, the word translated as “homosexual” in modern translations was interpreted as “one who masturbates.” Since theologians realized masturbation would exclude nearly the entire human race (save Christine O’Donnell) from the Kingdom, a substitute had to be found. Naturally, homosexuals came to mind as they were thought to be a small portion of society. Paul also lists adulterers, the greedy and drunkards as those who will be excluded from the Kingdom. Yet you don’t see Christians refusing to ordain the greedy.
When asked what Commandment was the most important, Jesus answered, “to love the Lord thy God with all your heart mind and soul … and to love thy neighbor as thyself.” One should immediately note that Jesus did not mention any of the Ten Commandments mentioned in the Old Testament as the most important, illustrating that Jesus was not in line with mainstream Judaism.
It is horribly ironic that the followers of a man who preached about loving your neighbor are the first to condemn their neighbor. Jesus was a rebel who came to change the world through loving it.
Unfortunately, most of his disciples have yet to get the message.