God condemns homosexuality

Overview

It is often claimed, especially by religious extremists, that God condemns homosexuality.

Reference

• Wikipedia: The Bible and homosexuality
• information on homosexuality and the Bible

Specific Religions

Christianity

Christians who oppose homosexuality usually support this argument with various passages in the Bible:

• Leviticus 18:22: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (This of course says nothing regarding lesbianism.) All of Leviticus 18 seems to concern laws regarding sexual relationships. I have been told, however, that the Levitican laws are not to be taken as current law as they are "unfulfilled". Obviously not everyone agrees with that... --Woozle 16:08, 15 April 2007 (EDT)
• 1 Corinthians 6:9,10: "...Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men... will inherit God's kingdom."

Counterpoints

Rational Counterpoints

• There is no real evidence that a being such as God exists, much less that this being's opinions on anything are known, and still less that such opinions are accurately reflected by any of the various monotheistic religious scriptures, much less those condemning homosexuality in particular.
• However: assuming (1) that there is an entity who is arguably God as described in various scriptural works, and (2) that the condemnations of homosexuality in those works are accurate reflections of that entity's opinion at the time of writing:
  • Even if God condemned homosexuality in the past (722 BC or earlier, when the sources for the relevant books of the Bible were first distributed), there is no reason to assume that he has not changed his mind:
    • Homosexuality does not seem especially harmful, so why would God continue to believe that it was sinful?
    • In view of the growing acceptance of homosexuality worldwide, one would expect a God entity as described in the Bible to have issued some new condemnations of homosexuality or perhaps even punishments for tolerating it, if that being truly continued to condemn it.
  • Assuming God continues to condemn homosexuality, regardless of whether this continuance has been made known to us:
    • Why has God not bothered to explain why homosexuality really is bad, so that we can understand why all the contrary evidence should be ignored? The fact that God has not offered such an explanation casts severe doubt on either (a) the idea that God really does condemn it, or (b) that he has the best interests of humanity at heart.
    • In the absence of any such explanation, claiming that we humans must also condemn it because of this is purely an argument from authority.

Doctrinal Counterpoints

It is widely believed that "The Sin of Sodom" was homosexuality; this is not the case. Sodom's sin was actually being "arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49, NIV translation)

See The Bible and homosexuality for many more points to consider.