Religion and homosexuality

[watervole]

I was reading an entry in communicator's journal and it reminded me of a chain of thought that I've had a couple of times recently.

Why is Christianity in some countries so determinedly anti-gay?

After all, the Bible condems many other groups (adulterers, usuers, bearers of false wittness, those who lack generosity to the poor, etc.)

Ah, wait, could it be, says the cynical water vole, that most people see themselves as potentially *part* of those groups?

I forget the exact statistics, but around half the population will probably commit adultery, sex before marriage is so widespread as to be almost the norm, many people lend money (that's what a savings account is).

The richest country in the world has a pretty poor track record when it comes to helping the poor in the third world.

It's a wonder the average Christian dares attend church. But wait! There is still a way to gain virtue, to be better than the next man/woman.

We can go and bash gays!

After all, they're a small enough minority, they aren't like us (and if we're one, well, at least we can hide it and pretend we aren't)

Good, now that's all settled, we can go and ask God to forgive all our other sins. After all, we've done our part.

And hugs to dougs and kerravonsen - I know you two don't take convenient bits of the Bible out of context.

Comments

[temeres.livejournal.com]

I'm hardly an expert on Christianity and even less of one on Judaism, but I suspect Christian homophobia has its roots in the pre-Christian era. Since homosexuality subverts procreation, I can readily imagine it being stigmatised by the religion of a small population with a strong sense of identity and an imperative to maintain its numbers in an adverse environment.

Compare that with, say, the Greeks and Romans, who had the security of empire behind them. Racial extinction wasn't a forseeable possibility, so they could afford to tolerate a homosexual minority.

That's just a rudimentary hypothesis, though.

[kerravonsen]

Well, you'd have to blame it on Moses, since he was the one who wrote down the Law...