Bible literalists are very fond of quoting various lines from scripture to support their homophobic viewpoints. The following are some of the passages typically quoted:
- Lev 18:22-23 "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
- Lev 20:13 "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death."
- 1 Cor 6:9 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals"
- 1 Tim 1:9-10 "realizing the fact that (civil) law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals"
- Rom 1:26-27 "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."
Now, if you were a bible literalist, you'd say that it's a rather open and shut case. The bible is quite clear on homosexuality (interestingly though, the original languages in which the bible was written (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) had no word for 'homosexual'. This particular word is obviously a more recent addition).
One of the biggest problems I have with a literalist interpretation of the bible is the blatant 'passage picking' that goes on. They choose passages to support their bigotry, yet disregard so many more. Let me give a few examples:
- Lev 11:7-8 "And the swine; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat"
- Lev 11:10 "And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, they shall be an abomination unto you"
- Deu 22:11 "Thou shalt not wear a garment of diverse sorts, as of woollen and linen together."
- Tim 6:1 “All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.”
- Tim 2:11-12 – “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.”
- Exo 35:2 – ” For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.”
- Deu 21:18-21 – “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father, all the men of his town shall stone him to death."
This list is by no means exhaustive. I could fill pages and pages with quotes such as these. To summarise:
You cannot eat pork or shellfish; clothing made of more than one material is out. Slaves must respect their masters, and women must be quiet and submissive. Work on Sunday, and you die, and you better do what your farther says or else.
I don't know about you, but I can't really picture someone screaming at someone else for the horrible sin of eating a prawn. Over time, as society and morals have evolved, we have abandoned much of the more absurd instruction from the bible. My point in including the above quotes is to simply demonstrate that there are many things that society has deemed to be unacceptable or unworkable in today's world. We no longer accept slavery, beating wives for being disrespectful, and I don't think society has too much of a problem with prawns and pork.
So why cling to homophobia? Why disregard so much, yet maintain the prejudice against gay people? If you're claiming a 'literalist' interpretation of the bible, you're demonstrating the most blatant hypocrisy imaginable.
We would all agree that the idea of murdering children for being disrespectful and the 'abomination' of eating shellfish is preposterous. So why do so many people still cling to the idea that homosexuality is wrong simply because the bible says so?
I believe it has more to do with fear and ignorance than scripture. We 'understand' slavery is wrong, so society will not allow it. Many people do not 'understand' homosexuality. Lack of understanding breeds ignorance which breeds fear. People typically fear what they don't understand, especially when they perceive it as a threat. Sadly, and through ignorance, many men are fearful of homosexuality, seeing it as a threat to their own perceived masculinity. I know this is a generalisation, and there are many straight men out there who are not threatened by homosexuality. Sadly, though, there are many who are. And from this fear and ignorance comes hate and violence.
So the bible and the scriptures it contains are little more than a crutch. Something bigots can use to justify their homophobia. To prop up their hatred and ignorance.
Religion is the breeding ground for prejudice and hatred. Over time, thankfully, secular society has been able to overcome much of this hatred and ignorance.
Sadly, homosexuality is perhaps the last great prejudice we have to overcome. As long as homophobia is institutionalized in our laws, we will never overcome it. It is still acceptable to make jokes at the expense of gay people, it is still acceptable to ridicule and make fun of.
I think part of the reason for this persistent homophobia comes down to the popular perception that sexuality is somehow a choice. Jesus freaks telling us constantly that we can be 'saved', along with the so-called 'ex-gay' ministries in the U.S that 'covert' gay people to a life of god-fearing heterosexuality, only propagate this myth. The implication seems to be that we're doing it just to piss off jesus.
Right...as if my life as a teenager growing up in a red-neck country town wasn't difficult enough. I'm gonna stick it to the man and be queer. Because I just love being bullied, harassed, beaten up and made fun of.
Honestly, who would choose to be gay? Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud of my sexuality, but it's taken me a long time to get here. Sadly, many people don't. Many people live life as a lie, staying in the closet in sham marriages, living miserable, unfulfilled lives. Ever wonder why the youth suicide rate is so high? Homosexuality may play a bigger role in young people ending their lives than many of us realise. And all because someone decided to take an isolated passage from a very old story book, twist it to suit their own bigoted beliefs, and then thrust those beliefs onto all of us.
As Christopher Hitchens says, religion poisons everything. My one hope in life is for a tsunami of reason and logic to wash over society.
When this happens, I'll finally be able to walk down the street holding my partners hand without fear of abuse, ridicule and beer bottles.
I somehow think I'll be waiting a long time.
