Thursday, May 31, 2012

Is Being Gay A Sin?

Is Being Gay A Sin?
Lots of people are taking the time to read through my blogs, and I'm totally flattered. Thank you to everyone that has sent emails, notes, and words of thanks or encouragement. I sincerely appreciate it. I've even received a couple of texts. But I do realize that they are long, and they are very detailed. So, here is a synopsis or an "overview" for people to have a quick reference guide that links them to the more detailed writing. I've compiled a short list of the scriptures used to describe being gay as a "sin" below and given links to the associated blogs and lexicon references.

Cheers,
#JustBeingMichael

What are the actual scriptures used when people refer to being gay as a sin? Where are they getting this? Why is it such a problem? Well, they are usually just repeating information and paraphrasing sentences given to them by their spiritual leaders, their parents, their friends, or the like. Very few actually know the scriptures for themselves or can even correctly quote the scriptures. And that's not good. And the rebuttals that are given to them are not that great, either. Telling someone that you can't eat shrimp, if I can't be gay, is ludicrous. Neither are sins.

Take that in. Reread that. Calm down, and say it to yourself: Neither. Are. Sins. Read for yourself.
  • Genesis 19:5“Bring them out so we may know them” (KJV)
    "They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." (NIV)
    "and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’" (NRSV)
    • There are so many things that "know" means, but the main definitions from the Lexicon are that "know" is from the Hebrew word "yada" and doesn't always mean "sex". It is used almost 1,000 times in the Old Testament and only about 3 times is it in reference to sex. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, the mob mentality to interrogate, beat, and rape the angels were the sin of Sodom. Not being gay.
    • http://scripturetext.com/genesis/19-5.htm
    • Part Two - Sodom and Gomorrah
  • Leviticus 18:22 – “You shall not lie with a male as those who lie with a female; it is an abomination." (KJV)
    "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (NIV)
    "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." (NRSV)
    • Where to start with this one? Well, let's start with "as one lies" - there are several key points in play.
      • Men can't sleep with other men on a woman's bed. Since women are unclean and it would cause ritual cleanliness issues for the man.
      • Men can't buy male temple prostitutes and sleep with them so that Baal would bless their crops. (Incidently, women were forbidden to buy them also.)
      • The word abomination is translated from the Hebrew word "tow`ebah" and is specific to issues of idolatry and idol worship. (See above in 1 and 2, don't become unclean so you can't go to Temple, and don't buy whores in church from a false god to hedge your agricultural bets.)
    • http://scripturetext.com/leviticus/18-22.htm
    • Part Two - Levitical Law

  • Leviticus 20:13 – “If a man lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination and they shall surely be put to death." (KJV)
    "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." (NIV)
    If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. (NRSV)
    • Okay, the words are very similar to the other Leviticus scripture in 18:22. However, Leviticus 18 is about Idolatry and pagan/heathen/NON-Jewish practices of sexual relations. Chapter 20 is about the PUNISHMENTS for breaking the Jewish Law in Leviticus. There is a very distinct difference. There are still some translation, context, and point of view in an ancient world things happening. 
      • For instance, the word translated as "lie with" is used for resting, resting but with a sexual connotation, and dead, or resting beside a dead body.
      • Again, "abomination" is translated from the Hebrew word "tow`ebah" and is specific to issues of idolatry and idol worship. And again, straight Jewish men were buying male temple whores from different gods and sleeping with them on their altars so that the other gods would bless them. And men were having sex with other men in their marriage beds and where women slept. There are lots of reason that was considered a no-no. Such as women were viewed as lesser beings, women's resting places were considered ritually unclean because of mentration, etc.

  • Romans 1:26-27 – “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions: for their women exchanged the natural use for that which is against nature.  And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural use 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 for their error." (KJV)
    Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations 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. (NIV)
    For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. (NRSV)
    • Besides the entire issue with Paul and the fact that his writings are like listening to one side of a conversation - he wrote Romans from Corinth. There were so many different religions happening at the second largest city of the Roman Empire. It was a cultural crossroads and the idolatry and sexual rituals going on around him were probably quite perverse. However, they are not about two gay boys. They are about straight people having sex with the same sex in pagan rituals and in ways against their nature and not pleasing to the Christian God.

  • I Corinthians 6:9 ­– "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind," (KJV)
    "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders" (NIV)
    "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites," (NRSV)
    • Again, reading Paul is tricky, effeminate and homosexual were not real words at the time the Bible was written, and the words used to translate them are being bastardized. It was still in reference to pagan rituals, and "effeminate" is translated from "soft, vulnerable" not "sissy" or "nelly". "Homosexual" is slung together from "male" and "bed" and not at all clear since it's not used anywhere else in the New Testament. "Sodomite" is not even a real word in reference to sexual acts. The word Paul used is incorrectly translated and should have been a temple prostitute.


  • I Timothy 1:9-10“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;" (KJV)
    "We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine" (NIV)
    "This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave-traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching" (NRSV)
    • Paul is still writing and we only see HIS side of the conversation, but the same is as above: effeminate and homosexual are not real words. They were oddly translated in the 1600's for King James, and the NIV version in 1984 isn't translating the original into it's true words but into an assumed meaning. The word "sodomite" and "sodomy" (from the NRSV) in reference to a sexual action is ridiculous because a "Sodomite" was someon from "Sodom". And to use it in law books and in reference to sex is a breach of separation of Church and State.
    • http://scripturetext.com/1_timothy/1-10.htm
    • Part Two - Oh, Paul... Nobody Likes Prison Rape

That’s it. That’s all. This is the big fuss that has plagued mankind for centuries and caused untold division and grief. And this has been occurring and happening on both side of the argument. When you have time to read and study, please consider reading the full blogs at the links below:

Part One - Why and Introduction
Part Two - Sodom and Gomorrah
Part Two - Levitical Law
Part Two - Romans Road To Salvation
Part Two - Oh, Paul... Nobody Likes Prison Rape
Part Two - Wrapping Up the "Big Six" Scriptures
Part Three - WWJD, Y'all? What Would Jesus Do?
Part Three - Better Run Tell Somebody!
Part Four - Same Sex Activity In The Bible
Part Five - Common Christian Beliefs
Part Five - One Anglican View Against Being Gay
Part Six - Examples of Gay Couples in The Bible
Part Six - David and Jonathan - A Love Story
Part Seven - Conclusions, Recaps, and References

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