Thedarkryte on the subreddit Christianity asked: I’ve been seeing on some TV shows that “The Bible says homosexuality is an abomination”, and I’ve never actually read the Bible because I don’t really read the bible. But does it actually state in any of its passages that “homosexuality is an abomination”? There are two verses in Leviticus that say if a man lies with a man as with a woman, that is an abomination, and one of those two verses even says the offender should be executed.
The word translated as abomination may mean something that is forbidden by society, which is not the same thing as being morally wrong. But we need to remember (1) the passage is probably talking about the way men mistreat women, using them for sex work or being rough with their wives or sexually assaulting women…the idea of two men being in love and living happily together probably never entered the writer’s mind.
So don’t lie with a man as with a woman probably means don’t rape or buy sexual favors from another man. In fact, every verse people use to shame same-gender loving people is always in the context of manipulation, exploitation, or violence.
Love is never condemned. (Secondly), Homosexuality isn’t what the ancient language says – it says men lying together as with a woman. And anyway, who cares what someone said 2 or 3 thousand years ago in another culture? They weren’t talking to or about any of us. And (#3), you ignore most of Leviticus anyway.
Why try to act like two verses mean something when you don’t follow any of the other Levitical rules? If you eat pork or shellfish, wear clothes of mixed fabrics, have tattoos, don’t expect women to sequester when they menstruate or right after they’ve had children…you’ve already tossed out big chunks of Leviticus.
There is no reason to act like homophobic interpretations of 2 isolated verses are any more authoritative than any of the many verses you already dismiss out of hand.
