God condemns homosexuality
Overview
It is often claimed, especially by religious extremists, that God condemns homosexuality.
Reference
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
These are the hurdles which any scriptural argument against homosexuality must clear. It must establish:
- That "God" is an actual being, rather than a mythical/fictional/metaphorical entity
- That God's opinions are accurately represented in one or more of the works in which those opinions appear
- ...and for which specific works this is true
- That those writings unambiguously show that God does in fact advise against practicing or tolerating homosexuality
- ...and why God advises this (so we can determine how best to handle the situation)
- That those opinions have not changed since they were set down (e.g. prior to 722 BC, when the sources for the relevant books of the Bible were first distributed, or prior to the death of Mohammed in 632 AD if the Qur'an is found to be a reliable source), in spite of the lack of any new and unambiguous condemnations in the intervening time
- ...and why those opinions have not changed (since homosexuality has not been shown to be any more harmful than many other condoned activities)
- That God's negative opinion of homosexuality is in humanity's best interests (which is not necessarily the case if God is not omnipotent).
As of this writing, none of these have been established with any credibility, so the claim that God condemns homosexuality is currently unsupportable.
A popular variant of the scriptural argument claims that we, as humans, are somehow obligated to follow God's instructions on the matter regardless of whether we understand them to be in our best interests. This claim supposes that offspring can be held liable for any contracts made by their ancestors, an idea rooted in feudalism and rejected by all enlightened societies.
Another way to look at the scriptural argument is basically this: although the Bible does clearly condemn homosexuality in a few places, this does not explain why we should also do so. Any scripturally-based argument against homosexuality must address this question with a specific chain of reasoning.
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.
to be investigated
From here, comment #52:
I Samuel 18:1, in the Authorized King James Version, tells us that: "... the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him [David] as his own soul."
...I Samuel 18:3,4, in the Byington Translation, says that they: "pledged themselves to each other, in the love that he had for him ..." and "Jonathan stripped off the robe he had on and gave it to David..." This ritualistically represented the establishment of a love covenant relationship between the two men: What's mine is yours, what's yours is mine. From this point on there is no question about their relationship being platonic. This sharing of garments, covering the other, shows it was more than that in context of their culture.