Devilthinking.com - What the Bible says

Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

Truth: On its face, it looks like case closed. There it is in Black and white. But the truth is that the translation of this verse has been debated on many levels. The term "arsenokoite" has been translated as "male prostitute," or refers to any premarital or extramarital sex. Yet the very next verse, 1 Corinthians 6:11, says that: And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." So I guess if you are a "Christian Homosexual" you CAN get into the Kingdom of god. Case not so closed is it!

Bible verse: Genesis 18 and 19. This is the verse that the Religious Right uses to make their case against Homosexuals. This passage essentially states that God had decided to kill all of the citizens of Sodom, the "Sodomites", for their immoral, HOMOSEXUAL, lives. That means all men, women, children, infants, and newborns, were to be killed because of this.

Truth: This passage is ambiguous and is open to interpretation. If you break down the word "Sodomite", you will find that "ite" means: "native", "resident", or "descendant", of a place. So "Sodomite" means the native or resident of the city of Sodom. Only later was Sodomite made a term, both social and legal, to mean homosexual.

God's plan was to kill everyone in the city including all men, women, children, infants, and newborns. What would be the justification for killing the infants and children? Surely they weren't indulging in this "lifestyle." And didn't God "just create" these infants and newborns? Why would he kill them?

Lot, the person who the angels came to warn of God's displeasure, offered his daughters to the mob to be raped for the safe passage of the angels. If all of the people in the city were "homosexuals", why would that offer have been made? Gay men want from women the same thing that Gay women want from them ... NOTHING!

The word "knowing" also has many meanings. Some say it means "to have sex with by force, meaning rape." Some say it simple means that the "Sodomites" were going to kill the angels.

Lastly, many people say that the stories in the bible are there for "moral purposes", meaning they are there to act as examples of how we should live. It that vein, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of "Hospitality." That we are to treat strangers invited into our house BETTER than our own family.

Bible verse: Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

Truth: This passage states that "MEN" shouldn't lie with other men. It doesn't say that a WOMAN can't lie with another WOMAN. So you can leave LESBIANS the hell alone!

In the attempts to include Lesbians, the Religious Right tries to "imply" what God meant. But by seeking to "imply" they are taking the figurative and trying to make it literal. If the bible "speaks for itself" you can't pick and choose which parts of the bible to re-interpret. It's either all or nothing!

Leviticus 18:6-21 talks about sins, incest, cleanliness, and idolatry. Many of the issues raised here pertain to Pagan rituals and actions. So if we were to interpret those issues in that context, we could say that God was talking about those things that happen while Pagans were "worshipping a false idol" and not what happens in a RELATIONSHIP between two people whether gay or straight.

Bible verse: Leviticus 20:13 - "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

Truth: Again, there is no mention of WOMEN in this passage, so I guess Lesbians get a pass here. And this passage taken in the context in which it was written, means that this was meant for those people worshipping a false idol during their Pagan rituals.

Bible verse: Romans 1:26-27 - "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."

Truth: This is the ONLY bible verse that speaks about Women on Women sex and Same Sex sexual relationships. It has also been used to justify their reasoning that homosexuality is wrong. Again, this verse is taken out of context.

Paul was talking about the citizens of Rome who by all accounts had turned it into a place where "everything goes." The Greeks were doing "unnatural things" in the place of worship and that is what Paul was talking about. The passage speaks about Pagan beliefs, words, and actions. That is the context of this passage related to Paul and Romans 1:26-27.

Paul talks about HETEROSEXUALS doing what is "unnatural to them." But it doesn't say anything about true HOMOSEXUALS being made to do what is "unnatural to them" meaning, being HETEROSEXUALS. There is no mention of SAME SEX COUPLES in Romans at all. Again, this passage was talking about a group of Christians who left the church and took up Paganism.

Lastly, the part of the passage that the Religious Right seems to forget is that Paul also warns Christians about "judging others." I know you have SELECTIVE AMNESIA about that part of the verse!

Bible verse: Genesis 29 and 30. The story of Jacob and his MANY WIVES! This bible passage speaks of how Jacob came to have 2 wives (and 2 slave "wives") and their 13 children. This "version" of marriage is rarely spoken in the pulpit.

Truth: The bible speaks of at least 8 different "marriage" types including: monogany, poligamy, a man, his wife, and his concubines; a soldier and his female prisoner, a brother and his sister-in-law, a RAPIST and his VICTIM, a man and his female slave, a man and his female property. These "marriages" are all listed in the bible. So when people claim they are just following the "bible's version of marriage," we need to ask them, "Which version are you talking about!"