I have a question. I was interested to read in the Bible (New Testament mostly) where it mentions homosexuality. I found a couple of passages. First, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 — “Did you know know that the wicked will not inherit the kindgom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexally immoral nor idolaters nor adulters nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kindgom of God.” Ok. So I kept reading (while I was at it…) and found in 7:10-11 “To the married I give this command (not I but the Lord): A wife must not seperate from her husband. But if she does, she mst remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husand must not divorce his wife.”
My question is why are the religious people who are so vehement about “protecting marriage” not trying to outlaw divorce? Why are there not ballot measures, petitions, signs, rallies, and a movment to outlaw divorce? It is God’s command to never divorce, just as it is not to commit homosexual acts. Now I know most religious people try not to get a divorce (especially Mormons) but we can’t say “well I don’t believe in divorce so I wont get one” and then NOT say “well I don’t believe in homosexuality so I wont be one.
” So why the push to outlaw homosexuality but not divorce?
Then I kept reading. 1 Corinthians is an interesting book! I further found this passage in 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 “And every woman who prays or prophesises with her head uncovered dishonors her head – it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.”
I am, of course, wondering why Christians do not cover their heads when they pray? Why is there not a movment in the religious world to cover our heads as Muslims do? Perhaps not on the global scale, such as changing constitutions, but shouldn’t those who are quick to judge the lives of others be certain they are at least doing what the Bible says themselves? So why do you work against the rights of homosexuals, but you do not cover your head, or shave it, for prayer purposes as it is clearly ordered in the Bible?
I moved on to Romans where I found the support for the condemnation of homosexuality here in Romans 1:26-27 “Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relatiosn for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” I read onward just a few verses, to 2:1-3 “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgmet on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”
Now this sounds a lot to me like we are all being told NOT TO JUDGE. That we are all sinners, and God will be the one to judge our sins in His own time. So how can you justify your judgment of one thing, when you are guilty yourself of sin?
Now for fun, let’s go to Leviticus 18:22 “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable.” and 20:13 “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
However, if one reads Leviticus, we find that we are not allowed to do lots of things. Such as: have sex while menstruating (Lev. 18:19), while harvesting we are not permitted to reap to the edges of our land, go over our vineyard twice, or pick up anything that has fallen to the ground (Lev. 19:9-10), we must pay our employees immediatly, not wait to pay him for even one day, he must not wait for his pay overnight (Lev. 19:13), we cannot mate different kinds of animals (I’d guess the whole horse-donkey thing applies here… Lev. 19:19), we must not plant 2 kinds of seeds in our field (a garden I’d assume carries the same law. Lev. 19:19), We cannot wear clothing woven of two kinds of material (cotten blend anyone? Lev. 19:19), We cannot eat any meat with the blood still in it (no rare, medium rare, medium steaks!!! Lev. 19:26), We cannot cut our hair at the sides of our heads or clip the edges of our beard (Lev. 19:27), No tattoos (Lev. 19:28), We are to rise in the presence of the aged (Lev. 19:32). The final word of this chapter is “Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:37).
Now. That’a a lot. And it certainly makes me question – why the outrage for homosexuality and not all these other things??? Why are we not making issues out of ALL OF THESE THINGS? Why do we wear clothing that is made of 2 kinds of material, why do we cut our hair, trim our beards, eat our steak however we please, wait 2 weeks for our paychecks, all without any kind of outrage at all, even though all of these things are outlawed specifically by God?
I am hoping someone can help me understand how one goes about deciding which of God’s laws are worth fighting over and which are not. I am hoping someone can help me get why it is okay to judge homosexuals with the same mouth that we eat bloody meat with, during which we are probably making signs while wearing a cotten blend and after we have had our hair cut but before we have prayed with our uncovered head.
I wish for honest discussion, I am not trying to be snarky or mean spirited and I hope this does not come across as such.
Thank you.
My Organized Chaos 