I am of the mindset, and many individuals would agree, that the Bible in general is a crock of shit. If that first sentence offends you, great! You should probably pay attention to the rest of this. The Bible is possibly the most studied and discussed book in history, yet some people fail to see it as just that; a book. It does have some merit. I’m assuming there are many parts of it that were written with good intentions. However, it was written over the span of several hundred years, by many authors, with many points of view. It’s hardly the word of God that many proclaim it to be. There are numbers of contradictory ideas, events, passages and such that give devout individuals the ammunition they need to spread hateful messages and ideas in the “name of God.” One of the most controversial is homosexuality. Gay marriage and homosexuality seems to be one of the most prevalent talking points of religious conservatives, but is it biblically justified? I think not.
As loud as ‘Christians’ scream about homosexuality, you would think that there would be numerous chapters dedicated to it. Hardly. There are only two verses in the Old Testament that explicitly reference sex between a man and a man. Two? There are roughly 27570 verses in the Old Testament, depending on the version, the specific translations, and other things. By my calculations, that would make homosexuality talked about 0.0007% of the time. For something so inherently evil, it sure doesn’t get a lot of airtime. Both of these verses are from Leviticus:
Do not have sex with a man as you would with a woman. It is an abomination. – Leviticus 18:22
If a man has sex with a man in same way as with a woman, they have committed an abomination. They are certainly to be put to death. – Leviticus 20:13
In contrast, lets look at Leviticus as a whole. The first whole 9 chapters of Leviticus are devoted to instructions on how to perform ritualistic animal dismemberment and sacrifice. One would logically assume that animal sacrifices are more important to God than gay sex, correct? To be a stickler for literal translation, isn’t the act of gay sex not the same as what a man would do with a woman? Men don’t have a vagina last time I checked. So a man technically can’t have sex with another man the same way a man does with a women… and death seems a little harsh, right? The most popular method of death in the Bible is usually a good old fashioned stoning. If you consider yourself a true Christian, you must abide by these rules. You can’t pick and choose which word of God you want to follow. So grab a handful of rocks and start stoning the gays, because God wants you to. Many Christians try to exploit a loophole by saying, “Those things are from the Old Testament. I follow the New Testament so I don’t have to stone people, that’s crazy.” Oh really? Let’s take a look at a quote from Matthew:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. – Matthew 5:17
The “I” referenced is Jesus, and the “law” that he is referring to is the Old Testament. So basically Jesus himself supposedly says the Old Testament still stands. In that case, lets take a look at the section in Leviticus that lists the Laws that result in punishment of death:
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.Leviticus 20:9-16
So aside from saying a man can’t have sex with another man, it also says:
- Don’t have sex with other people’s wives or you will die
- Don’t curse your father or mother or you will die
- Don’t have sex with your dad’s wife (your mom?) or you will die
- Don’t have sex with your daughter-in-law or you will die
- Don’t have sex with your wife and her mother or you will die
- Don’t have sex with animals, or you and the animal will die
It seems like a lot of these rules are directed at men; even in biblical times we were trying to bang our wife’s mom. Things haven’t changed much. I think it’s worth pointing out that a lot of these rules are directed toward adulterous relationships, which carry the weight of death as well. It seems that in God’s eyes adultery is a bigger deal then homosexuality since he spends more time addressing the fine details of it. Or he likes to talk dirty. It’s even one of the 10 Commandments: “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Gay sex didn’t make that sacred Top 10 List. So before all the Christian bigots grab their Bible and begin quoting scripture about homosexuality, let’s first take a look at what’s going on in their bedrooms. Every one of them who has cheated on their wife, had sex with someone else’s wife, bad mouthed their parents, had sex with an animal, or had sex with their daughter-in-law should get in a single file line and prepare to have a wall of stones thrown at their face. This would include stoning to death famous Republicans such as Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and countless others because of their adulterous relationships. Adultery seems to be an accepted part of the GOP’s list of family values. However, they are often the outspoken voice of opposition to gay rights and marriage. According to the Old Testament, adultery is as much of a sin as homosexuality. Some people think being gay is a life choice. I disagree. You are born gay but hating gays is a life choice. I think cheating on your spouse is morally a much bigger deal than being sexually attracted to a person of the same gender.
In other words, Christians need to accept the Bible as a whole or accept none of it. If you want to demonize homosexuals, than you need to take a look at your own life and honestly accept all the things that you do in defiance of scripture. You would be shocked to know how much of a sinner you truly are.
