| Somehow it seems simply impossible to believe that gays are still considered outcasts; unacknowledged, unappreciated and discriminated against at every turn, asks OutUK columnist L.A.Vess. At least some of the mythology behind gay hatred is largely based in religious misconceptions. Christians and non-Christians alike use the Bible as an excuse to hate us, ignore us and even kill us. | |
| One fact overlooked by those who use biblical quotations as a justification for anti-gay views is that a word for homosexual did not exist in either Old Testament Hebrew or New Testament Greek. Which means that other words, probably not even meaning anything homosexual were later translated as such - probably by people who had personal prejudices against gays. |
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The big stumper though comes in Paul. It is possible to interpret Paul’s statements as being aimed at certain groups of homosexuals, such as those who were not truly homosexual, or those that preyed on others. However, when we consider Paul, let’s consider his other declarations, such as that women should pretty much be unequal citizens as well. If you are going to use Paul to bash gays, then you have to take his statements about women equally to heart - which means a large number of women are probably going to hell too.
Be serious. Another good point is that some of these homosexuals Paul mentions were made into homosexuals by God as a punishment for being vain. Sure, homosexuality would be a vile affection if I were straight and forced to have gay sex, just as it would be vile if a gay person were forced to have straight sex. God also was not in the habit of punishing sinners by giving them more sins, God’s punishments were about stopping sin, not perpetuating it. So that is a strong argument that God did not consider homosexuality as a sin. Then we have Leviticus; “do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.” At first, this seems painfully anti-gay. However, let us first consider the translation issue - some scholars have argued that this passage does not say what it originally said. We may never know what it actually said, but doing some research will turn up some interesting alternative translations. My personal favorite is that it is another anti-adultery pronouncement - that seems to make more sense. Once again, anyone who argues using Leveticus should read up on all the other things that are said to be terrible sins in this chapter. I would argue no one could read it and not find one they have done themselves - and frequently. Anyone who tries to condemn someone for doing one thing, while doing other things considered equally as ‘heinous’ in Leveticus is nothing but a hypocrite. After all, do you know if you have eaten something that has been strangled? Did you know that the Bible also states this as a sin in Acts? Corinthians (and Timothy) are other widely abused Bible passages. These passages give us a list of people who won’t inherent the kingdom of God. Paul uses several words here, none of which actually meant the word ‘homosexuality’, though one does translate into Greek as ‘those who go to bed with men’. The words are more far more likely to mean those who prostitute themselves rather than regular homosexuals. More evidence of mistranslations are common in the bible - as those that rewrote it did so to follow their own personal biases. The word sodomite was often translated from a word that more likely meant ‘whore’ for example - and generally a whore who whored under temple service. Personally, I agree that you shouldn’t have prostitutes at church, geesh. Sodomite is also a word that came about in later translations of the Bible - and probably did not mean homosexual (see above paragraphs). It would be impossible to list all the reasons why the Bible as a weapon against homosexuality is ridiculous. What is important is that us gays be able to show why it is ridiculous. If we as individuals and as a community can gain the knowledge to fight back against these attacks - we will stand a much better chance of gaining equality in this very religious world. In my opinion, every gay person should study what the Bible says - and why it doesn’t actually say what most people tell you it does. This knowledge is a valuable tool to help convince Christians and non-Christians alike that we are normal, natural humans, not evil creatures. It doesn’t matter if you are Christian, I’m not. What matters is that we use fire to fight fire, ignorance will only perpetuate misconceptions and misinformation that has been used to condemn us for centuries. A great place to start on your research is www.Bibble.org. |
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