- Connect
- Login
- Print Subscription
|
Welcome,
| |
| |
- Most Commented
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- Most Emailed
- Popular
- Popular
« Opinion
The problem with Leviticus
The problem with Leviticus
EDITOR:
I was deeply disturbed to read the June 14 letter from a Boardman resident who claimed that “the Bible ... clearly defines [the gay] lifestyle as deviant.” I have news for this woman: being a Christian does not mean you can’t support equal rights for others.
If you think that being gay is Biblically wrong, then you better not wear cotton-poly blend: after all, Leviticus says that wearing a garment made from two different fabrics is a sin. So is eating shellfish, sacrificing the wrong kind of pigeon, and working on Sunday. Are you willing to follow these Biblical commands? No? Then hush up, and remember that even St. Paul said that “love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom. 13:10)
My husband is currently attending seminary to become an Episcopal priest, and as a lifelong Christian, I am annoyed that this woman would take it upon herself to try and speak for Christianity as a whole. Jesus said, “Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 2:37-40) If Jesus really cared about the gender of the people you love, don’t you think he would have mentioned it?
The letter writer spoke of a “vast majority” who believe that being gay is wrong. Really? Perhaps she didn’t know that 46 percent of American adults feel that gay people should be permitted to marry; 54 percent believe that civil unions should occur. Seven out of 10 adults believe that gays should be permitted to serve in the military.
Instead of worrying about other people’s sex lives, maybe we Christians ought to educate ourselves about the issues.
PHILOSOPHY WALKER
Youngstown
- Requires free registration.
Comments
Some Christians "pick and choose" what parts of Leviticus they will honor. They say "We have to keep the moral laws, but we're not responsible for the cultural and health laws", in effect. That it's ok to eat bacon cheeseburgers or wear linen and wool together, but it's not ok to "lay with a man as with a woman". Remember, Leviticus 11:13-19 says that a bat is a bird, and Isaiah 11:12 speaks of "four corners" or "four quarters" of the earth (look what grief that caused Columbus!)
As a gentile, these laws are not binding on me, Paul made that clear and even disputed it with Peter.
I would also add that a committed, monogamous same-sex couple is more moral than much of what goes on in churches today, with ministers having affairs with parishioners (I know of several cases), members leaving their spouse for a different church member (again, I know several cases), adultery, spouse abuse, and the like.
If they want to make a case for the sanctity of marriage, why are there so many divorces within the church? And why do they want to disparage a relationship that may well be healthier than their own marriage?
Here's a quote you all might find interesting:
"The conclusive objection to (blank) is that it would weaken and finally break up and destroy the Christian family ... The family has already been much weakened and is fast disappearing ... and when the family goes, the nation goes too, or ceases to be worth preserving."
So what goes in the blank? What was so dangerous to the Christian family that a New England politician and activist felt compelled to write this dire warning to Americans? Gay marriage? Abortion? Nuclear war? Nope. Try, "the political enfranchisement of women."
This quote was taken from a speech given in 1873 in opposition to women's suffrage. The line that follows reads, "Extend to women suffrage and eligibility, give them the right to vote and be voted for, and what remains of the family unit will soon be dissolved." Dire predictions, and widespread and convincing enough that it took another 47 years for the 19th amendment to pass.
I have no doubt that 100 years from now, our descendants will look on the same-sex marriage debate with the same sad amusement at the discriminatory beliefs of our society as we look on poor, pitiful Orestes Brownson and his legion of like-minded believers who were Biblically convinced that giving women the right to vote was wrong.
As far as I know, Leviticus is in the Old Testament. And, as we all know, Christians are not bound by Levitican laws.
People who are Godless will find it very difficult to justify themselves and their actions when standing before God for their judgement. A day will come when you will bow before Him whether you want to believe it or not. God does not interfere with your choices in life but you will have to answer for them. May God have mercy on your soul. If you do not believe in God now in life, you will when you die.
CCADTI: Let me remind you of John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
That doesn't talk about conduct. That talks about clinging to, trusting in, and relying on. Jesus also said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27, paraphrased).
The problem with many Christians is they equate "hating what they think God hates" with "Loving God", and therefore they think it gives them a pass on "Loving your neighbor as yourself". Either that, or there's an awful lot of Christians that don't think very well of themselves, either.
Northsideperson-
They disparage healthy same-sex relationships because it makes their broken heterosexual ones look bad. So now we have "Christian" couples who so firmly believe that being homosexual is hateful to God, but yet they drag their own marriages into the ground with infidelity, domestic violence, and so on.. All of THOSE things are hateful to God, but I guess because they're not gay everything is fine and God will give them a pass in the end. *insert eye roll here*