Revelers kiss as they celebrate early election returns favoring Washington state Referendum 74, which would legalize gay marriage, during a large impromptu street gathering in Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
If you are like me, you are probably sick and tired of all the political debate involving Tuesday night’s election. Romney lost, Barack Obama won: it is time to move on, folks. So let us get back to a totally non-confrontational, light discussion-based topic like religion.
That was sarcasm, of course.
After my home state, Washington, passed an initiative legalizing same-sex marriage, it got me thinking: Why is this a big deal in America? The answer comes from the good book itself.
The verse that gets Christians and other Bible followers all riled up comes from Leviticus 18:22, as it states, “You shall not lie with a male as you would a woman; it is an abomination.”
That can be kind of a tough line to get past if you want to justify same-sex marriage through the Bible, but it is possible.
I always conclude that one cannot assume texts in the Bible without looking at its context, socially and historically.
The book of Leviticus is part of the first five books in the Bible called the “Books of Moses” or the Pentateuch. It establishes the laws that God gave to Moses in order to build the nation of Israel. Perhaps that might be a first step in interpreting what that verse meant when it was written. Building their nation meant that there had to be large numbers of offspring to keep the nation going, which is not possible with same-sex marriage. Therefore, it is easy to consider that maybe it was a survival method for the Jewish people.
Another point to consider is the word “abomination.” The Hebrew translated word for abomination has a variety of meanings. But the most common relation between English words and Hebrew is that it translates into “unnatural”. At the time in which the Bible was written, sexual relations between two people of the same gender was just that: unnatural. It rarely happened due to social and financial reasons. So here is another case in which the text in the Bible can be open for interpretation
The reason why gay marriage is highlighted in American culture today is purely social. There are numerous other laws such as wearing mixed fabrics and dietary regulations that go virtually unnoticed. But as our nation’s social norms change, the way we interpret will probably change with it.
However, at the end of the day, it is all about your personal beliefs. My advice to you is to study the Bible in an academic sense and make your own conclusions.
