TBMs and Fundamentalist Christians who condemn the “homosexual lifestyle” are fond of quoting Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

“God said it, I believe it. End of discussion,” they say.

Ask their advice on some of these other Old Testament laws and how to follow them today. And don't forget to thank them again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? She’s 18 and starting college. Will the slave buyer continue to pay for her education by law?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should this be a neighborhood improvement project?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? Would contact lenses help ?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev. 24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

As a gay man this one really bothered me. Particulary when asked about it by a friend who was struggling with his sexuality. After a lot of thought I realized that I had never thought of any of my partners as a woman. Therefore, I had never violated the Levitical prohibition.

Great point. It does say don't lie with mankind as with womankind. Well, I'm guessing that would be impossible. Men don't have a vagina ;-) (I apologize in advance for any offense taken to my humor)

hahaha!

Hey, you cherry-picker you, this is a well-written piece. Nicely done!

Why would anyone want to worship that psychopath?

Hehehehehehehehe! Nicely done! A mid-day chuckle (with a point or points) helps the work day along!

For starters, when I lay with a man, it is as a man. I make not pretense as to being a woman.

Second, anyone that judges me by the OT should be ready to be judged by it as well.

What's really bothering with the old testament homophobia, and most ancient homophobia and much of the modern too actually, is that it is deeply rooted in misogony. It's more okay to sexually objectify women because they are not men. Getting fucked both literally and figuratively is an insult to the 'male dignity' as that is supposedly a female role. Basically the old testament view about sex boils down to - Thau shalt not play with another guys godgiven sex toy, and god forbid treating a man, a 'real person', as one of those lesser sex toy material women.

This is the sentiment that bothers me most and that sadly seems to still persist all over the place.

and a smart person like Baura might weigh in,

In Roman times it was common for men to take a young boy as a lover. The Hebrew word for men in Leviticus referred to young men, ie don't go after those young boys.

Just what I heard.

It was a couple of the New Testament references that may refer to adult/child relationships.

Leviticus laid out purity requirements for priests. There is an article here that lays out the possible reasoning behind the abominations:
http://kodu.ut.ee/~cect/teoreetilised%20seminarid_2011/teoreetiline%20seminar%2015.03.2011/Douglas.pdf

Basically, abstaining from blokes was a requirement for priests while they were on duty (they rotated apparently). And the purpose probably had more to do with avoiding practices that were part of the cult rituals of other peoples (male priests of some of the female fertility goddesses would take on the persona of the goddess and bonk worshippers). That practice clearly has absolutely nothing to do with modern gay life. The cult priests the worshippers were bonking were not specifically gay anyway. It would be quite a stretch to extrapolate ethics from leviticus at all.

Anyway, Fundies who claim there is some sort of difference between the sleeping with men law and the laws against mixing materials and eating certain foods are hugely mistaken.

When I was coming out, I searched every reference in the Scriptures. Not once in the Gospels, Book of Mormon, D&C and PGP does God mention homosexuality.

He talks a lot about hypocrisy, greed, pride, lying and even condemns polygamy, but not one mention of homosexuality.

You have to look early in the OT, and in the Pauline verses to find any mention of gays.

For such an issue that consumes the LDS Church and Evangelicals, why is it so hard to find scriptures about it? Why did Jesus and Joseph Smith not talk about it themselves?

And David and Jonathan loved each other, even exchanging their clothes.
David said to Jonathan, "very pleasant hast thou been unto me, thy love to me was wonderful, passiing the love of women" (2 Sam 1:26, 1 Sam 20:3, 11, 17, 23, 26, 30, 41-42, 1 Sam 18:1-4)

Is this the same David that annihilated entire Philistine villages, men women and children?