God Loves Lesbians

Covington provided a link to a racist, homophobic nut. I'd imagine that anyone reading this will agree that all views expressed are idiotic but there's one that's completely without basis--the notion that the Bible condemns "women laying down with women."

I can't recite the Bible forward and back but the concept of "gays and lesbians" is not found there. Yes, there are many references to "Sodomites" and "men who lay down with men," but, despite the nut case's claim, there is no corresponding "women who lay down with women." (Paul's letter to Romans, Chapter 1, verse 26, condemns women who lust for women but every Christian denomination other than the Shakers see a difference between lust, love, and sex.) In Biblical times, same sex relations between women was not viewed the same way as it was between men.

This isn't because the Bible forgot about women and sexuality (understatement of the year). Biblical law doesn't neglect women when it comes to dress, behavior, family duties, or virtually anything else but lesbianism is not addressed. Leviticus even sets down more severe punishments for women committing acts of bestiality than for similarly perverted men (with women, the human and animal are both killed; with men, they let the sheep off with a warning...seriously).

The belief that the Bible forbids "same sex" relations is entirely modern, as is the idea that lesbians are the same as gay men. (If King Solomon wasn't able to satisfy all his 600 wives, the ones left over could do what they pleased. Is there a man among us who, given 600 wives, would forbid girl on girl action? I can believe the parting of the Red Sea but even my credibility has its limits.)

Some hard-line Christians will argue that Greek and Hebrews words that have been understood as "male homosexual" for centuries, should now be translated "male and female." There is no linguistic, anthropological, or theological basis for this reading. In fact this flies in the face of their own protests again gender-neutral Bibles that include phrases like "sons and daughters of Christ" and "Brothers and sisters in faith."

Many liberal theologians argue that the Bible doesn't even condemn homosexual men--rival religions sometimes engaged in ritualistic sex between men (the Manson family did the same thing). The Bible verses against "sodomy" could be viewed as forbidding other types of worship, not the behavior itself. I have a hard time accepting this but it is a possibility. Bible-based condemnation of lesbians is not.

Whenever I argue this point, I ask "If you believe God is male and that He can see everything, how can you expect him not to love lesbians?"

I never get a straight answer.