The Sins of Sodom
Traditionally, Christianity is the religion most hostile to homosexuals, usually citing Genesis 19: 1-11 to prove that God found homosexuality so abhorrent that he destroyed Sodom for it.
Most people fail to read the full text of Genesis 19 because they are so sure that they know what it means or they don't want to be confused with the other biblical facts contained in the rest of the chapter.
The Basic Story
God confides in Abraham about his plans to discover what is happening in the city of Sodom because the 'outcry against Sodom is so great and their sin is grave'. He didn't mention any crime specifically but said He would 'go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me'.
He sends two divine messengers who are met at the city gates by Lot, a citizen of the city, and he offers them hospitality.
Lot's guests enter his house and he prepares them a feast. As they are getting ready for sleep, the men of the city, every one of them from the youngest to the oldest surrounds Lot's house and demand that Lot surrenders his guests so that they may 'know' them.
The subsequent riot and the demand to 'know' the visitors ~ probably accurately interpreted as a wish to sexually abuse them ~ is taken as "proof" the the special sin of Sodom was homosexuality. It may be fair to assume that some of the men in the crowd had a sexual interest in the strangers, but it's difficult to imagine that every man in the city was a homosexual. The text is clear though ~ the men of Sodom gathered 'to the last man'.
An Abuse of Hospitality
It's long been well known and documented that anal penetration, or the threat of it, has been used as an act of subjugation by heterosexual males in many cultures for thousands of years, so there's nothing to support the contention that all the men of Sodom were homosexuals. It does, however, say a lot about their treatment of strangers.
Lot's guests were aliens in a strange city, subject to the will of it's citizens. The city could befriend or abuse stangers, making them subject to the citizens' will, giving or refusing their protection and demonstating the visitors' weakness and vulnerability and the strength and power of the people in the city.
A popular way to insult a stranger was to force him to act out the female role in the sex act ~ at that time women were seen as the property of men ~ and nothing was more insulting to a man as being forced in to the womans role. Probably only a few of the men would perform sexually, maybe being gay, while the others looked on cheering, legitimizing the act through patriotism and mob violence.
Back To The Story
Genesis 19:3-7 "And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned unto him, and entered the house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round , both young and old, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him. And said I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly."
This is where most people stop reading, having assured themselves that God finds homosexuality was the sin and that those found guilty of that sin deserve divine wrath.
Genesis 19:8 "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not knowm man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore they come under the shadow of my roof."
Later on in the story, after Sodom has been burned and Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, Lot's daughters commit incest with their father, resulting in them both becoming pregnant.
This seems a very odd story for Christians to use as proof that the bible condemns homosexuals.
The biblical text suggests approval of Lot's use of his virgin daughters to placate an angry mob by satisfing the mobs sexual demands. It also suggests incest as a legitimate practice. Remember, God considered Lot to be a righteous man, that's why he was spared.
Another important issue raised by the story is that of the mens' intention to commit gang rape.
Lot seemed to think that homosexual gang rape was evil, especially as it violated the Middle Eastern law of hospitality ~ for the men "came under the shadow of my roof", but, since no laws of hospitality would be broken, a heterosexual gang-rape of his daughters would be acceptable.
Rape of any kind is totally unacceptable, but the condemnation of homosexual gang rape can not be equated to a condemnation of homosexuality per se.
Christian fundamentalists who like to present issues in black and white view Sodom's destruction as God's judgement on homosexuals although reading the passage in full shows that it is God's judgement on inhospitality.
In Luke, Jesus compares the times of Noah,the times of Sodom and the end times. The only implied sexual activity is of a heterosexual nature.
Luke 17 26-29 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, thet bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But the same day Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed them all."
Interestingly, Jesus never mentions homosexuality as being a sin. Nor is it mentioned in any of the four Gospels. Either He didn't think it was one or the people who wrote down His words didn't think it was important enough to note.
Several of the prophets have remarked that the sins of Jerusalem were as the sins of Sodom, or worse.
Isaiah "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judas is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, the hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves."
Jeremiah 23:14 "I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants of Gomorrah."
Does this mean that the sins of Jerusalem was homosexual activity, or is it a case of reading into the text the message you want to find there?
Abominations to God
Many people quote Leviticus 18:22 ~ "you shall not lie with a male as with a woman" to prove that God hates gays but if they are going to live by that archaic text they should be sure to note what else Leviticus considers sinful.
- 21:7 "you shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband.
- 20:10 "If a man commits adultery, both the adulterer and adulteress shall be put to death."
- 19:19 ~ "you shall not let you cattle breed with with a different kind."
- 19:19 ~ "you shall never wear a garment of cloth made of two different kinds of material."
- 19:31 ~ "do not turn to mediums or be defiled by them."
They should also check Proverbs 6:16-19
"These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethen.
In Ezekiel 16:48-49, God Himself even spells out the sins of Sodom. Homosexuality is not on His list. This seems an odd oversight if God really does hate homosexuals.
16:48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Leviticus condemns homosexuality twice, in 18:22 and 20:13. It's part of the Mosaic law, a long list of foods and acts that were considered unclean, from eating shellfish to cursing your father.
One of the big themes of the New Testament is that Christians are not bound by Mosaic law. If the Bible is infallibly true, then Christians may use their own judgment in choosing whether to follow the Mosaic law, and shouldn't bother about those who choose differently.
In the first chapter of Romans Paul describes people who worship idols instead of God,
"wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness,"
and they turned to homosexuality and a long list of other wrongs running the gamut from murder and deceit to whispering. Why is it that all those who condemn others never quote this passage all the way to its punch line:
"Therefore art thou inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself."
Paul isn't telling this story to condemn the homosexuals: He's condemning the people who condemn the homosexuals.
Read Romans all the way through and its hard to miss Paul's point: He's writing to a group of Jewish Christians who have been criticising gentile Christians for not keeping the Mosaic law, and Paul is telling them, politely but firmly, to knock it off. If the Bible is infallibly true, it's wrong to use Leviticus or the story of Sodom as a basis for condemning homosexuals.