As I indicated in an earlier post, I am deeply devoted to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible. And I strongly believe that the "Christian Right" has most of their teaching wrong and in actual opposition to what Jesus taught. In this diary I want to tackle the subject of Gay marriage from a Biblical view. I applauded the Supreme Court's decision to let stand all of the lower court decisions which declared laws denying same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Those of you who do not find the Bible useful to your lives may wish to leave now. But for every one else, please continue reading.
The scriptures typically used to contemn homosexual activity do not actually say what the Christian right wants them to say. Here I will examine some key scriptures from the Bible:
First, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19:1-8, New Living Translation (NLT):
That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. The he welcomed them and bowed to the ground..... v3 But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them... v4 But before they retired for the night, all of the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you. Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them" v6 So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. "Please my brothers," he begged, "don't do such a wicked thing.... v8 But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection"
This passage is where the term Sodomy comes from. But please note, this does not have anything to do with consensual homosexual activity. This is gang rape. These men wanted to rape Lot's guests. And rape, especially gang rape, is a horrible thing, whether done by men on men or by men on women.
In the ancient middle east, hospitality was a life or death issue. A traveler walking between towns in the arid wilderness could die of thrust if he could not find hospitality in the next town he/she traveled to, and allowed to drink from that town's water supply. Lot was practicing hospitality. The other men in Sodom where being aggressively non-hospitable, and that is why they were condemned. The sex had nothing to do with the issue.
In Luke 10, Jesus referred to Sodom when he sent his disciples out to evangelize. See verses 10-12 "
But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say: 'We wipe even the dust from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this -- the kingdom of God is near'. I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgement day"
Now why would Jesus compare a city who didn't accept his disciples to Sodom? There was no sex involved. There was only the issue of in-hospitality. Jesus was saying that such a town would be judged as being in-hospitable, just as Sodom was in-hospitable. Again, there is nothing sexual involved here.
Now compare these two verses from Leviticus:
Chapter 18:22:
"Thou salt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination"
Chapter 11 verse 12:
"Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination to you" In other words, eating shrimp or lobster was an abomination to God in the Old Testament."
Ok, so for all of those who say homosexual sex is an abomination, then you have to accept that eating lobster at your local Red Lobster restaurant is an abomination. The same word is used for both activities.
Leviticus gives hundreds of different laws, most of which are marginalized today, and if you tried to keep all of them, you would quickly find it to be an impossible task. That is the point of the entire book of Leviticus. It is impossible to be made right with God by keeping a bunch of laws. Paul says it this way in Romans 5:15 (NLT)
"For the law always brings punishment to those who try to obey it. The only way to avoid breaking a law, is to have no law to break!"
The last scripture I want to address is in Romans 1:26-27 (NLT)
That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other"
Many use these verses to condemn homosexual activity. But I have two problems with this:
1. If you use these verses to condemn people you know nothing about, then what Paul says in Romans 2:1 applies to you "
You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things"
2. All scripture was written in a historical context. In the Roman empire, there were thousands of temples to fertility gods and godesses, and if you went into one of those temples, it was your religious duty to have sex with someone. And it did not matter much whether that someone was a man or a woman. I really believe that Paul was speaking against this loveless misuse of sex. I do not see anything here that condemns two men or two women who live together in an "until death do us part" relationship, where each one lives for the good of the other.
In Malachi, God says that he hates divorce. Yet when we see two men in a loving, committed relationship and tell them they have to break up with each other, are we not in effect commanding them to divorce? I know the pain of divorce. I would not want to wish this pain on anyone.
The bottom line: We are called to love each other. That means we are called to live for each other's good. So if we see two men or two women in a committed loving relationship, it is our role to encourage them to love each other even more. It is NOT our role to break them up.
May all who read my message be immeasurably blessed by God, even if you do not agree with me.