— “Buzz” Thomas
The rationale for institutional homophobia is based on the belief that sexuality is a choice. It is a central tenent in most religions: people choose to be gay. It’s okay to discriminate against gay people because they are willful sinners.
Sexuality is not a choice, of course. It’s a natural phenomenon that occurs in dozens of species. “Buzz” Thomas — a minister and a lawyer from Tennessee who is described here as an evangelist for the separation of church and state — has a column up at USA Today, in which he warns Christians and others that they may need to re-read the Bible:
[Why] are so many church leaders (not to mention Orthodox Jewish and Muslim leaders) persisting in their view that homosexuality is wrong despite a growing stream of scientific evidence that is likely to become a torrent in the coming years? The answer is found in Leviticus 18. “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
As a former “the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it” kind of guy, I am sympathetic with any Christian who accepts the Bible at face value. But here’s the catch. Leviticus is filled with laws imposing the death penalty for everything from eating catfish to sassing your parents. If you accept one as the absolute, unequivocal word of God, you must accept them all.
For many of gay America’s loudest critics, the results are unthinkable. First, no more football. At least not without gloves. Handling a pig skin is an abomination. Second, no more Saturday games even if you can get a new ball. Violating the Sabbath is a capital offense according to Leviticus. For the over-40 crowd, approaching the altar of God with a defect in your sight is taboo, but you’ll have plenty of company because those menstruating or with disabilities are also barred.
The truth is that mainstream religion has moved beyond animal sacrifice, slavery and the host of primitive rituals described in Leviticus centuries ago. Selectively hanging onto these ancient proscriptions for gays and lesbians exclusively is unfair according to anybody’s standard of ethics. We lawyers call it “selective enforcement,” and in civil affairs it’s illegal.
A better reading of Scripture starts with the book of Genesis and the grand pronouncement about the world God created and all those who dwelled in it. “And, the Lord saw that it was good.” If God created us and if everything he created is good, how can a gay person be guilty of being anything more than what God created him or her to be?
Turning to the New Testament, the writings of the Apostle Paul at first lend credence to the notion that homosexuality is a sin, until you consider that Paul most likely is referring to the Roman practice of pederasty, a form of pedophilia common in the ancient world. Successful older men often took boys into their homes as concubines, lovers or sexual slaves. Today, such sexual exploitation of minors is no longer tolerated. The point is that the sort of long-term, committed, same-sex relationships that are being debated today are not addressed in the New Testament. It distorts the biblical witness to apply verses written in one historical context (i.e. sexual exploitation of children) to contemporary situations between two monogamous partners of the same sex. Sexual promiscuity is condemned by the Bible whether it’s between gays or straights. Sexual fidelity is not.
A “nice” round-d-round of intellectual patty cake, dancing on the non-existent point of a fantasy world pin….
The observable fact of ALL known religions remains that the shared commonality is the dependence on the the UNOBSERVABLE AND UNPROVABLE EXISTANCE OF A MYTHICAL SUPREME BEING which one way or another RULES THE ADHERENTS THERETO THROUGH THE OFFICES OF THE “VICARS” OF THE “SUPREME-ONE” demanding obedience on earth, with rewards to be tendered in the “promised lands” of the HEREAFTER, THE EXISTANCE OF WHICH REMAINS MOOT AFTER THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF SPECULATION…..
Go for it if you will, but spare me this idiocy, if you please….