Bible studies 1 - Sexual Relations

I was privileged to be given the holy bible a few months ago. Untouched books make me itch and as a result, i chose to begin my excursion through these crisp pages written thousands of years ago by a bunch of people who have, to a large extent, steered the social currents of the world.

The copy that I own has a very handy list of subjects at the end that gives the reader the exact location of the Bible's take on a whole array of issues. Oh yeah! God was extremely opinionated!

"Homosexuality" caught my eye. You can blame it on my proclivity for the provocative.

Anyway, as my eyes were hovering over the all the "Do not's" indoctrinated in Leviticus, Ch. 18 caught my eye. "Unlawful Sexual Relations", speaks about everything you must not do with regard to the cravings of your genitals.

I would rather title this passage as the "Beginners guide Incest and more". I definitely admire the guy's creativity at placing a "Do not" before every possible variation of a sexual relation. Son with mother, Father with daughter, nephew and aunt, daughter-in-law with father-in-law, man with man, neighbors wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, animals and humans, amongst others. He seems to have brainstormed this issue thoroughly! It makes me wonder about where the Porn industry might have got most of their brilliant ideas... Interesting!

Those who do experience attraction for someone from within the family or for the same sex is bound to look at these doctrines and say, "God says it is wrong. So, my desire at this point is wrong. That makes me a sinner!". A more pragmatic approach for this person would be, "Great! God says it is wrong. Firstly, why should I trust Leviticus with knowing God's will and secondly, God doesn't bother giving any explanations other than death threats and a very handy reassurance that he is my God".

The first person will land up prostrate in a church begging for forgiveness. The second guy will probably shut the bible and meet a psychologist who will probably tell him that sexual desires are human and natural. However, consider the social system and the biological and psychological impact of an action based on such an instinct before indulging in it.

Homosexuality, for instance, is one of those acts that draws the rage of God. In Leviticus 20:13, it is written "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."

A gruesome end to any inappropriate romance for sure! This death threat has been given profusely through most of this chapter sometimes explicitly mentioning method of inflicting this death as well. Burning these folk and stoning them to death are apparently God's favorite techniques.

In the Romans 1:18-32, I find a logical fallacy culminating to the same damnation of those who give in to their "impure" thoughts. The passage says that in the beginning God made himself quite clearly known to mankind. He damns those who understand and have the opportunity to understand but try to cover it up with their "wickedness". It goes one by asserting that it is God who "gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." "God gave them over to shameful lusts." "he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done".

This makes God sound like an extremely obsessive and substantially retarded bigot. Why?

Firstly, this entire theory is based on the assumption that God made himself adequately clear to mankind. So one has to be either stupid or wicked not to understand his magnificence. Either way, you end up being burnt or stoned for some "shameful" sexual act. If one thinks about it in a little more detail, this sexual act was not done of the victims free will... it was the divine will of God that "gave them over to shameful lusts".

So what have I learned today from the holy gospel?

If I do not recognize God's infinite powers, he will give me over to my base desires leading me to being sexually attracted to one of the many people and animals listed in the Bible after which I should be either burnt to death or pelted with stones until the life drains out of me. Going by this leather bound holy book, this guy (I've always wondered about why God can't be a woman!) called God is a perverted freak! Reminds me of those sadists in some of those porn videos that revolted me as a teenager.

There was more written about Sexual relations in the Bible, but, I've lost my appetite!

Next time, I'll try looking for something less gruesome.