Why does the Old Testament say that GAYS or HOMOSEXUALS should be KILLED ?

Question

"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."---- Leviticus 20:13:

Answer 1

It also says things like:

that disobeying your parents is punishable by death. It also forbids one to eat animals who have not been killed by hand, and it also gives a 6 year limit on owning slaves.

In other words, there are LOTS of things in the bible that we don't follow or believe in today's world.

Hate mongers like to take specific passages out of the bible as proof that they aren't bigots and only following God's will, when it's really just a smokescreen for hatred.

In many cultures thousands of years ago homosexuality was not socially tolerated. But then most people also kept slaves, and treated women like property. We as intelligent compassionate human beings have an obligation to use our brains and decide what is right and what is wrong, having evolved and matured significantly in the thousands of years that have passed.

Answer 2

Because the Old Testament was the primitive, patriarchal male ego writ large.

Males saw homosexuals or lesbians as a threat to their ability to mate. They were wrong, but we are talking primitive patriarchal minds here. It was about killing men and women and children in other villages, anyone different was a threat, bloodlines were dreadfully, life-threateningly important, enough to kill for, or write about . The primitive male mind rose again in recent times, Hitler wanted what his insecure and primitive mindset thought of as 'perfect' men and women, and not the 'diseased' Jews and homosexuals who threatened the bloodlines of the Fatherland and had to be destroyed. The Taliban too. Women and homosexuals in primitive Islamic cultures are still under the yoke of primitive male thought and are still murdered today.

That kind of jealous, unthinking, tyrannical macho stuff is a primal and brutal throwback, no matter how it is dressed up.

Answer 3

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, God gives Moses a long list of rules for the Israelites. Some of these are rules we still follow today; others we don't. The most famous of all is in 18:22, which says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman" (NIV). The NIV translation follows this with, "that is detestable," but the more famous version is the King James Version, which reads, "It is abomination."

Now before you start freaking out or thinking God hates you, please understand that "abomination" in Hebrew refers to anything forbidden for the Israelites. For instance, Leviticus 11 says that eagles are an abomination, and so are owls, storks, various types of water creatures, "and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth," just to name a few. Locusts, by the way, aren't abominations.

Still, abomination or not, the prohibition of male-male sex is pretty straightforward. And at the beginning of the passage, God tells us why He's giving these rules - because He wants to keep the Israelites pure and separate from the polytheistic cultures surrounding them (Lev. 18:1-4). This helps explain why the Israelites are forbidden to shave (Lev. 19:27), get tattoos (Lev. 19:28), wear clothing made of mixed fabrics (Lev. 19:19), or have sex during a woman's period (Lev. 18:19). It also helps explain the rather strange comments about things like sacrificing children to Molech (Lev. 18:21) and eating fruit too quickly from a tree (Lev. 19:23); and why the Israelites are forbidden to have sex with a woman and her daughter (Lev. 18:17) but nothing at all is said about sex outside of marriage or having multiple sexual partners. Outside of the context of keeping the Israelites separate, it would be a very odd collection of rules.

I've heard people quote Leviticus to forbid homosexuality and tattoos, but other than that, people generally don't turn to Leviticus for moral guidance. There's something very haphazard about that approach to the Bible, picking and choosing passages like side dishes at a buffet.

Answer 4

It is not Kill , it is put to death, and only God can decide who shall die or who shall live. Some homosexuals repent and god knows who will and who will not, but no man knows that. So if a person kills a homosexual it is sin and also it is something a man can be put to death for.

Answer 5

Nura's answer is very good and explains the meaning of abomination. You also need to know that the section of Leviticus where this passage is found deals with ritual purity and not morals. Bestiality is also forbidden but it is described in moral terms as being wrong as opposed to making one impure. We cannot assume that the men referred to in Leviticus were what we would understand as gay. Homosexuality was often associated with idol worship in the ancient world. Even in cultures where male homosexuality was tolerated, it was still understood that a man would marry and have children for the good of society. It is highly unlikely that any of the often cited passages in the bible regarding homosexuality refer to gay people as we understand them today. Sexual morality is far more important than one's sexual orientation.

Answer 6

~~ this was in the old testament and the job back then
was to repopulate the earth. two men or two women can not do this.
the bible also says it causes confusion.
and confusion is not a work of God.
i feel it is a situation we must make some
peace with.
you can love the sinner but hate
the sin.
most are friendly people and great at designing
both home and clothes.
the term death has two meanings.....
one is death of the flesh and the other is
death of the soul. for Jesus said, 'fear not
man for he can kill the body, but God can kill both the body and the soul.
we forget that to believe in Jesus as our savior
we recieve life everlasting. to ignore His call
gives us death everlasting!
a dead body and a dead soul, leaves us with nothing
in eternity.
so as Jesus said, choose you this day, whom
you will serve. ~~

Answer 7

If you read your bible there is a lot of outdated thoughts and ideals that surely we have to disregard. I am a non believer of any religion, if we followed its teachings by the letter There's a lot of us would be in for the chop. Its just one big story book that has been exaggerated over thousands of years i am a doubting Thomas, when god or Jesus shows me the light, until that happens IL just live my life on the basis that i respect all others whilst i live on this earth without bias or prejudice.

Answer 8

considered socially destructive,unnatural and an abomination that defiles the ritual community

The New Testament also condemns homoerotic activity butdoes not have death penalties for such behavior.

Answer 9

God considers that to be wicked.Because they are doing that which God did not intend when he created man and woman. He created woman to be a helpmate and for them to replenish the earth. How can a man and a man do this or even a woman and a woman.

Answer 10

I normally don't break character, but I make exceptions for questions like this:

As an atheist, I can only say that passages in the Bible like this are some of the strongest reasons I can think of to leave religion. Christians claim that Christianity is the finest moral code ever devised, but the Bible is full of outmoded, immoral, and irrational ideas -- like homophobia. It is long past the time when human beings should leave religion behind and embrace reason and true, rational compassion for all other humans.