black racists, gay homophobes, and the old testament.

My friend’s neighbor’s roommate is one of the funniest black men I have ever met.  He was born in Dominica (not the Dominican Republic) and has a very funny Jamaican accent (don’t make fun of him though! he will punch you).  It’s difficult to figure out what’s funnier, the things he says, or the way he says them.  Anyway, through a bizarre twist of events that happened a few months ago, I ended up going with him and my friend and my roommate to McDonald’s. 

One of the reasons he is so funny is because he jokes about racism and other black people.  Things like one time when my friend asked him if he had his ID, and he said, “Because I’m black I took it?” Anyway, when we were getting dropped off outside our dorm when the trip was over, he said to me, “Lock your door, there’s black people out tonight!”

It’s easy for me to understand why a black man can dislike black people, because I myself do not like gay people.  Seriously- I do not want gay friends.  We are not good people.  (Haha…of coarse I mean “many of us…”  I would never say that about all of us).

The gay people that I’ve met during my life (with only a few exceptions) are not good people, they are people who care about one thing, and I don’t care what their excuses are because I have the same reasons to be messed up and I’m not.  Just yesterday I met exactly the worst kind of gay kid.  The one who doesn’t like religious people, who doesn’t like even gay guys that are religious, the gossip queen, that says things like “I can’t be held accountable for the stupid things I did when I was drunk,” the one who cares about little more then having fun and getting laid.  The one who gives the “gay community” a bad name. 

I would never be mean to someone because of this. I treat him the same way I treat anyone else, that’s my goal.  In fact, I wave and smile every time I see those lesbians that I partied with a few weeks ago.  I’ll still be open minded every time I meet a gay guy or a lesbian, I won’t dismiss every homo based on these accounts.

I’ll just say I have very little faith in the gay community. 

The religious debate still bothers me though. I really don’t want to be the one to write it, since I’m not an expert, but I figure I should address it once so I can get it over with and then anyone who reads it will understand my jusification once and for all.  and since I don’t have anything else to write about today, (Big sigh…) here we go.

Leviticus 18:22: Thou shalt not lie with man, as with woman: it is abomination. (KJV)

There you go.  Proof that homosexuality as it’s known today is ok.  I’m guessing you don’t understand.

I didn’t for years.  It took a butt-ton of reading and bible study and prayer but now I get it.

Let’s start by talking about the laws of the Old Testament, many of which Jesus himself was accused of breaking.  There are three kinds:

a) The moral law.  Examples of these are the Ten Commandments.  These laws reveal the nature of how God expects us to live and get along with other people.  Such a law would never be anything isolated; they are repeated throughout the old testament and emphasized in the new testament (this doesn’t mean if you find an isolated moral law in the bible  that it doesn’t apply, it means you won’t find one, if it’s isolated it’s not a moral law). 

b) The civil law.  An example is: Lev. 19:19: Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee. (KJV).  These were laws like state laws are laws.  Like “no food or drink in the library” is a law.  They don’t apply today.  Only the principles behind the laws apply, meaning civility, submission, and the golden rule are key.

c) The ceremonial law.  Laws like how to prepare a burnt offering.  The only purpose of these laws was to point foreword to the coming of the savior, Jesus Christ.  Therefore, when Jesus was born, these laws were no longer necessary.  Not even Jesus followed them.  The only thing we can get from these laws is that when we want what God promises we have to do whatever God tells us to do.

Because I seem to be neither the author of the Old Testament nor an authority on the subject, I can’t answer the question of which type of law Leviticus 18:22 is with a simple proclamation of “A,” “B,” or “C.”  I’ll therefore have to answer the question in the following way:

First, let’s look at the context of the sexual act between two men.  Prohibitions of certain sexual acts in the Old Testament were intended to be a means of distinguishing worship of the lord from pagan worship of idols.  In pagan cults, homosexual acts were part of idolatrous worship and had everything to do with the satisfaction of lust and nothing to do with love.  Prohibition thereof does not necisarily refer to monogamous same-sex relationships outside the cult that have nothing to do with idol worship.

Second, let’s look at the other part of the verse.  The as with women part.  The first time I read this verse (several years ago) this is the place where I figured a loophole would exist if a loophole did exist.  It turns out one does.  The way man lied with a woman (which I am aware means sex) during the time the old testament was written is definitely not the same way as man lies with a woman today.  Back then, acceptable sex happened only one way: male dominance and female submission.  Such is not the case in marriage today, or is not expected to be the case when a man and woman get married.

Therefore, if Leviticus 18:22 was a moral law, the morals behind it would be not to engage in sexual acts with a man the way sexual acts were performed with a woman (they must be consensual and within a holy union, no dominance and submission), and they must not be lustful acts of idol worship as part of a pagan cult.

If Leviticus 18:22 was a civil law, it would no longer be in affect today because homosexuality is widely accepted by individuals and organizations, and while not every state and country has legalized gay marriage, very few prohibit same-sex relationships and sexual acts, no state in the United States prohibits sexual acts between two people of the same sex.  Basically, no matter what laws their are about marriage licenses, in America it is not illegal to be gay.

And if it were a ceremonial law, it doesn’t apply anymore anyway.

To say that it doesn’t matter what the context was, all that matters is that fact that it says “don’t lie with a man,” is to say that it’s equally wrong to wear clothes made out of two different types of material (good luck without polly-blends!) and planting two different seeds in the same field (that means no one can have a garden in their back yard that grows more then one plant).

I could also mention that there are exactly six places in the bible where homosexuality is mentioned (not condemned, mentioned) and 365 prohibitions of various heterosexual acts.  It’s obvious who needs more supervision.

I don’t like when people say our sexual orientations are our true nature, whether they’re homosexual or heterosexual or whatever.  Our true nature is a sinful nature.  Just look here.  If it was my “true nature” then it would be something I have to overcome, because it would be sinful.  Sexual orientation has nothing to do with “true nature,” rather, it has to do with lust.  Consider for a moment that heterosexual lusts are just as sinful as homosexual lusts.  So, what is a sexual orientation then? If it’s not “true nature?” I guess I can describe it as something not quite as set in stone as your race, but more set in stone then your nationality.  Under certain circumstances it can change, but never for the better and never for the worse.  For the neutral.

I like this quote, “sexual orientations are a gift from God and part of the marvelous diversity of creation.” 

phhiew! writing that was exhausting!  But I had to get it over with.

Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized

Tags: black, college, gay, gay community, gay rights, god, homosexuality, law, leviticus, new testament, old testament, racist, regulations, religion, rules, the bible

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.