How can people discriminate against homosexuals, BASED ON THE BIBLE, in today's society?

Question

Many statements and verses in the bible don’t make any sense in today’s society. Yet many so-called Christians seem to have no trouble “picking and choosing” which verses and ideals to uphold.

Consider these two examples: (amongst hordes of others)

- Exodus 22:19
“Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.”
**Ok, GROSS. But DEATH??? Not gonna fly—at least not in the US.

- Leviticus 19:27
“Ye shall not round off the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”
**Well, there goes pretty much every grown man in the country—including our featless [sic] leader.

Ok, I know, I know, those of you who are insensed by the mere QUESTIONING of such things are going to go ape on me and scream, “Taken out of context!” And, “You’re misinterpreting the verses!”

These are the “words of God” - and I’ve checked several versions and translations. There is no mistake. Please explain.

Now let the RAGING begin!! hehe - have fun!

Answer 1

I agree. I believe that the Bible has to be read in it's entirety for understanding. I also believe that the more common biblical citations attributed to be against homosexuality are in fact misinterpreted because people DO take them out of context.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very much against promiscuous misbehavior and the like...but I don't see that as any more a homosexual behavior than a heterosexual one.

And that's one Baptist's opinion.

Answer 2

Most people have not carefully and prayerfully researched the biblical texts often used to condemn God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children. As you may know, biblical ignorance is an epidemic in the United States. A recent study quoted by Dr. Peter Gomes in The Good Book found that 38 percent of Americans polled were certain the Old Testament was written a few years after Jesus' death. Ten percent believed Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Many even thought the epistles were the wives of the apostles. This same kind of biblical ignorance is all too present around the topic of homosexuality. Often people who love and trust God's Word have never given careful and prayerful attention to what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality. For example, many Christians don't know that: •Jesus says nothing about same-sex behavior. •The Jewish prophets are silent about homosexuality. •Only six or seven of the Bible's one million verses refer to same-sex behavior in any way -- and none of these verses refer to homosexual orientation as it's understood today. Most people who are certain they know what the Bible says about homosexuality don't know where the verses that reference same-sex behavior can be found. They haven't read them, let alone studied them carefully. They don't know the original meaning of the words in Hebrew or Greek. And they haven't tried to understand the historical context in which those words were written. Yet the assumption that the Bible condemns homosexuality is passed down from generation to generation with very little personal study or research. The consequences of this misinformation are disastrous, not only for God's gay and lesbian children, but for the entire church. My note: Ok, This part I can't cite, but there is a part in the Bible that says that a man shal not lie with another man as he does a woman (or something like that). This does not mean anything anti-gay. At that time, women were owned by men by sleeping with them. If a man were to sleep with another man, that means he would be owned by that man, aka: slavery. There are many more of these, but I can't remember all the details.

Answer 3

I tend to think that in SOME cases people that feel the need to hate find some form of perceived protection by hating in the name of god. Of course this is absurd but what do you expect from that type of person? The only thing that has changed in hateful people over the centuries are the groups they persecute. In 50 years some other group of people may be considered evil and don't be suprised if the bible is changed in accordance with that- it has been happening for centuries even in the 1900's when the word homosexual was added to the bible in the stead of masturbation which was used to replace the word soft by Martin Luther when he broke away from catholicisim. It's very easy for people that choose to use one line here or there from a list of "laws" as with leviticus to further their own agenda for what they see as wrong, but ignore all the others that would effect their own lifestyle. We're all familiar enough with all those to not necessitate going over them again. By taking bits and pieces of anything it's pretty easy to twist it to your own designs, unfortunately there are plenty of "smart" people with stupid thoughts that have figured that out and use it to spread hate rather than live by the true spirit of the word the bible is supposed to convey to christians. The bottom line is if they want to use the bible to judge and condemn then those persons had best be in accord with ALL the laws and commandments of the bible- and if they were then they wouldn't judge. It is a bit of a catch-22 for that type of person but live by the sword die by the sword.

Answer 4

I totally agree! The bible was written by man, translated by man, and mostly dreamed up by man! The bible is a great read, a fairly good history lesson(old testament at least), and has some really fun stories. But it is not the "word of god" because it has changed so much over the centuries under the hand of man. The laws in it were fine for back then, but nowdays they just don't fly.

Answer 5

first off, those verses can apply to anyone, not just homosexuals. and second, christians don't live under everything in the old testament. they don't have all the facts. there are certain things in the old testament that we no longer live by as christians. but there is a verse in the new testament that i know off the top of my head that is very clear. Romans 1:26-27.

Answer 6

In the first place you are right that homosexual and lesbian sexual behavior are indeed condemned in the scriptures (see, for instance, Romans 1:26-27). But then so is adultery, theft, and a host of other sins. The Bible does not encourage us to treat homosexual persons with less respect, or as worse sinners, than any other kind of sinner. The old distinction between loving the sinner but not loving the sin is a good one and applies.
We are not called to accept anyone's sinful lifestyle, be they heterosexual or homosexual. In regard to welcoming people into the church, everyone is welcome to come as they are. But no one is welcome to stay as they are.

Jesus calls all of us--all sinners--to change. The church is supposed to be a hospital for sick sinners, not a museum for saints. The New Testament clearly teaches that whatever one's sinful inclinations, God's grace is sufficient to help anyone get beyond temptation and resist sin (see 1 Cor. 10:12-13).

The issue here is not one's inclinations or temptations but one's behavior. The New Testament teaches that one's behavior can be modified with the help of God's grace. Is God's grace powerful enough even to change human nature and its fallen orientations? Yes indeed, and there are numerous authentic testimonies of former gay and lesbian persons as well as former liars, thieves, heterosexual sinners, etc. who make this evident.

Answer 7

The New Testament rejects homoerotic activity(and all sex outside of marriage-and gay"marriage" is not marriage in any historic sense) as sinful also and does not give a death penalty.
There is no way homoerotic activity can be justified by the NT, Mosaic or Christian Tradition or Church teaching. There are plenty of Natural Law and non Judeo-Christian things to base rejection of same-sex sex on without the Bible or Christianity,Judaism or Islam.

Answer 8

Does not nature itself teach you that homosexuality is wrong?
Jesus said, "in the beginning God made them male and female and the two shall become one flesh" MALE and FEMALE
This just proves to most of us what you are doing is SIN. The world is full of sinners, and whether you are a druggie, a hater of mankind or homosexual-you shouldn't be discriminated against. You are just a sinner, not necessarily a terrorist or such, and as such are fully entitled to all human rights.

Answer 9

Just because it doesn't make sense compared to today's societal standards doesn't mean that GOD's standards changed...

The law allows a lot of things that the Bible says should be avoided by followers of Christ. Its that simple.

Answer 10

Since the dawn of religion, people have been doing this. People pray mostly when it suits them, and quote their scriptures for their own purposes. There is no explanation for this except that people are people and people are self-centred and stupid. (Yes, that includes me at times.)