Religion is the Bane of Mankind
Part 4 God, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and Homosexuality
The God of Moses never condemned homosexuality! Moses, born in the 16th century B.C., is credited as the author of the first five books of the Holy Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This is not exactly true. Moses did not write all of the Book of Leviticus, specifically chapters 17-26.
Then who did write Chapters 17-26?
A zealous priest and reformer in the 6th century B.C. (a thousand years after the time of Moses) wrote or compiled a set of laws for the Israelite people which is known as the Holiness Code.
The zealous priest and author of the Holiness Code disapproved of ritual sex, and homosexual behavior as well, when engaged in by fellow Israelites as part of their cult worship of Baal, because such practices separated Israelites from their own god Yahweh, and defiled their relationship with Yahweh. A close relationship with Yahweh was the essence of the term "holiness," which was impaired, if not destroyed, by cult worship of Baal.
That zealous priest-reformer of the 6th century B.C. had his own agenda when he wrote the Holiness Code. His fellow Israelites worshiped Baal, god of fertility, along with their own god Yahweh, so they adopted practices common to the Canaanites, including homosexual activity, as part of the cult worship of Baal. He found this practice to be ”ritually impure“ for Jews, therefore prohibited for Jews, and Jews only.
For that priest, and fellow priests who agreed with him, homosexual behavior represented an impurity that detracted from their special relationship with Yahweh. Therefore he sanctioned the practice in verse 22 of Lev. 18, where he wrote:
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination;"
and again in Lev. 20:13, where he stressed his opposition with a warning (purely his own concoction):
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them."
The use of the word "abomination" by translators of the King James Version , and other versions, of the Bible has come under scrutiny by modern scholars. The original Hebrew word "toevah" (here transliterated and) translated in Lev. 18:22 and Lev. 20:13 means "something impure or unclean" for Jews, therefore prohibited for Jews only.
Abomination means something loathsome, detestable, disgusting or hateful. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible chose that word to interpret "toevah."
Homosexual behavior was linked by Israelite priests to cult worship of the god of fertility, which was idolatry in their view. Idolatry, which means worship of idols that represent gods, was the first commandment from Moses' god Yahweh: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Ex. 20:3 (KJV).The import of the word abomination is not as serious as present-day clergy would have us believe.
The Hebrew word "
toevah" is less condemnable than another word "zimah" which the author of the Holiness Code could have used if he regarded same-sex behavior as a grave sin, as he did in Lev. 19:29 which condemns adultery, or prostitution in general. "Zimah" applies to something intrinsically wrong, evil and was translated by KJV translators as "wickedness" and by James Moffatt (q.v.) as "foul vice."Yet the Holiness Code author used the less condemnable term "toevah," signifying same-sex activity as
ritually unclean, such as certain creatures that he considered unclean, whose flesh is forbidden to Jews, among them:swine or other animals that are clovenfooted or chew the cud (Lev. 11:7),
crustacean seafood that have no fins and scales (11:10-12),
certain birds (11:13-19),
and all winged insects that creep on all four legs, (except locusts and those with jointed legs above their feet), (11:20-23).
All are considered
abominations, i.e. ritually unclean, but nothing more.Present-day prejudice against homosexuality dwells on the question of sin. Clearly sex between males was thought by the zealous priest to be abominable, abhorrent, especially idolatrous, because it was linked to the cult of the god of fertility. But homosexuality in Lev. 18:22, an abomination (
toevah), was not in the same category as heterosexual prostitution and adultery, described in Lev. 19:29 as wickedness (zimah). (N.B. French and
Spanish editions of the Bible make the same distinction: abomination/ crime [French]; abominacion/ maldad [Spanish].)
The difference between toevah and zimah can be likened to the difference between "sin" and "taboo."
Sin is a violation of God's law; sin is synonymous with crime. Taboo is a restriction imposed by tradition, social or religious custom, to protect a cultural group.Thus toevah designates a taboo, a prohibition established for the protection of a cultural group, in this case the Israelites who were embracing the cult practices of their Canaanite neighbors.
Temple prostitution was classified by the zealous priest as an abomination, idolatry - in short, taboo, but not a sin, because it was not a violation of religious law, it was not an offense against Yahweh (God). This temple ritual gave the zealous priest a feeling of loathing, of hatred, just as it does present-day Christian denominations and Orthodox Jews. But to the followers of Baal, ritual sex was a form of worship to ensure human fertility.What did Jesus say about homosexuality?
Not a word from Jesus has been recorded in the New Testament. Nothing!
But what did Jesus say about two men lying together in one bed?
From the Gospel of Luke 17:verses 30, 34, Jesus said,
"In the day the Son of man is revealed, in that night there shall be two men in one bed, the one shall be taken, and the other left."Now, if Jesus had felt about homosexuality the way that Israelite priest of the 6th century B.C. had felt, do you think he would have used the example of two men lying together in the same bed when he told his disciples who shall be saved in the Hereafter? Jesus knew very well the Scripture in the Five Books of Moses and the difference between the Hebrew terms toevah and zimah. So it is not likely that Jesus would have used that example if he thought homosexuality were a sin against God's law.
And Moses, who is alleged to have written the first sixteen chapters of Leviticus, wrote nothing about homosexuality. In fact it is not even mentioned as one of the Ten Commandments that he received from Yahweh on Mt. Sinai. Adultery is one of the Ten Commandments; homosexuality is not.
What does The Koran say about homosexuality? Muhammad was illiterate so he relied on what he was told from the Book (Bible). He relates Lot's telling the people of Sodom:
Sura 26:160-161, 166-167:
"The people of Lot treated their apostles as liars, when their brother Lot said to them, 'Will you not fear God? What! you will have commerce with men, of all creatures? And you will leave your wives whom your Lord has created for you? Ah! you are an erring people.' " Here, the meaning of "commerce" is apparently intimate sexual relations between men.
Again: Sura 7:78f.:
"We also sent Lot , when he said to his people, do you commit this filthy act in which no creature has gone before you? Do you come to men lustfully, instead of women? You are indeed a people given up to excess."
Muhammad evidently accepted the myth about Lot in Sodom and the alleged reason that the townsmen wanted to see the strangers whom Lot had invited to stay as guests in his house: i.e., to get to "know" them.
As discussed in Chapter 8 of Biblelore (q.v.), the Hebrew verb to know (yada), while it may mean "to engage in sexual coitus," appears more often in the Bible and the Apochrypa in the sense of "to get acquainted with (socially)." It is important to remember that Lot himself was a foreigner among the people of Sodom, who may have been suspicious that Lot, a stranger in the community, would allow other strangers to
stay the night in his house. While the townspeople may have been concerned for their own safety, the moral of the story is inhospitality on their part, not the desire to engage in sodomy with the strangers. Such inhospitality violated a custom common to the people of the region.
In summary, temple prostitution, including homosexual behavior, practiced as part of the Canaanites' religion of fertility, was classified by the 6th century BC zealous priest, not Moses, as an abomination, idolatry - on short, taboo;
it was not a sin, because it was not a violation of religious law, it was not an offense against Yahweh (God). This temple ritual gave that 6th century zealous priest a feeling of loathing, of hatred, just as it does, at least nominally, present-day Christians, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims.