I find it remarkable that today — in the year 2016, no less — it is still proving to be unsettlingly common for conservative Christians to incorrectly use the Bible to publicly condemn homosexuals &/or openly damn homosexuality — more often than not making their ignorant proclamations to folks who do not themselves have a working understanding of the Scriptures; to people who do not know what is ACTUALLY in the Bible, and who therefore cannot respond to such bigotry with the factual clarity it merits.

Well I’ve had about enough of it, frankly … Injustice anywhere is an undermining of justice everywhere, so I thought I would compile a series of concise Scripture-based retorts for open-hearted folks everywhere to use when confronted with such close-minded nastiness. That way you can all become forces for Good & champions for Justice in this matter without having to sit down with the Bible and pore through its (often beautiful) mysteries for hours on end …

Fittingly enough, we’ll start with the “Clobber Passages”: the seven most popular passages of Scripture that fundamentalists use to justify their personal prejudice against homosexuals, and we’ll start with the most famous of them all — Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13.

By far the most popular verses conservative Christians use to justify their condemnation of “the gay lifestyle”, these two sections of Leviticus actually do NOT condemn homosexuality or homosexual relationships at all. Instead, they state that, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination … If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death” (Leviticus 18:22 + Leviticus 20:13) … While it might appear as though they denounce homosexuality in geenral, it is important that we understand what these verses ACTUALLY say …

First of all, as disturbingly unjust and alarmingly ignorant as they might be (the death penalty for a victimless sex act?!?! Please!), we would all do well to note that nowhere in either of these verses do we see gay relationships or homosexuals themselves condemned in any shape, form or fashion. What is condemned is homosexual intercourse, and yet these verses clearly do NOT condemn homosexuality itself – or even any intimate, loving, non-sexual expressions thereof …

Secondly, it is helpful to remember the context in which we find these verses – namely, the book of Leviticus; a book that condemns over 70 other sins as well; many of them sexual in nature, and many of them just as “mortal” &/or “abominable”* …

Thirdly & finally, it is important to keep in mind that homosexuality as we understand it today isn’t actually referenced in these verses at all; that – seeing as how innate homosexuality in humans was not recognized at all at the time Leviticus was written – the sin that is being condemned in these verses is the one where two HETEROSEXUAL men choose to have homosexual intercourse!
As such, when we revisit these Scriptures and look at them literally (and in their proper context), we can see that – at least according to the Bible itself – being born homosexual is NOT A SIN, falling in love with a same-sex partner is NOT A SIN, having a same-sex relationship is NOT A SIN, holding hands or hugging or even cuddling with a same-sex partner is NOT A SIN, and marrying a same-sex partner is NOT A SIN … And as such, this means that – according to the Bible, any & all homosexuals who are involved in caring, committed relationships are not sinning — and as such, discriminating against homosexuals in any way merely because they happen to be gay is biblically inexcusable!

Peace to ALL … S

*P.S. Those conservatives obsessing over the word “abomination” in these verses would do well to realize that there are many sins that God finds “abominable” in the Old Testament, not only the sin of homosexual sex … Indeed, God clearly also detests “the sins of men” (see Psalm 14:1 & Psalm 53:1), the sin of believing that one has found the only acceptable way to interpret the Scriptures (i.e. arrogance – see Proverbs 16:5 & Proverbs 6:17), the sin of eating animal flesh (see “hands that shed innocent blood” – also Proverbs 6:17), the sin of fantasizing about causing another harm – even an enemy (see “heart[s] that devise wicked imaginations” – Proverbs 6:18), the sin of accusing others of sins that are not sins (see bearing false witnesses & being “sowers of discord” – Proverbs 6:19), the sin of damning the undeserving to Hell (see “condemners of the just” – Proverbs 17:15), the sin of remarrying former companions (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4), the sin of eating unclean foods (see Isaiah 66:17), the sin of committing adultery (see Ezekiel 18:6-13; including those who fantasize about having sex with anyone other than their spouse – see Matthew 5:27-28), the sin of oppressing the poor &/or the vulnerable (also Ezekiel 18:6-13), the sin of breaking one’s vows &/or lending money with interest &/or having sex with a menstruating woman (also Ezekiel 18:6-13), the sin of committing any basic injustice (like meting out an infinite punishment for a finite sin – also Ezekiel 18:6-13), &/or the sin of having a hardened Heart (like callously dismissing the damnation of homosexuals, because they “had their chance” – again Ezekiel 18:6-13) … and this, just to name a few!

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt