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[sophiaserpentia]

A couple of times, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written on Beliefnet about homosexuality in the Bible -- declaring that it is a religious sin, and not a moral or ethical sin -- making it just as sinful as, say, eating shellfish.

Basically what this means is that it is not inherently wrong, it is just something that Jews, as they observe the rules and laws of their religious teachings, are supposed to avoid.

This has some interesting ramifications. For example, it may have the effect of making Reform Judaism more tolerant of gays and lesbians in general, but LESS tolerant of gays and lesbians who are practicing Jews.

Secondly, one is tempted to ask what benefit one has from adhering to codes or laws that one knows are "religious" vs. ethical -- IOW if they serve mainly to identify the Jewish community, isn't this an arbitrary and stylized distinction that has little inherent meaning?

Comments

[ladyoscar.livejournal.com]

In the New Testament, Acts 21: 20-26, there's text to the effect that Jewish are supposed to follow Jewish law, but Gentile Christians are only supposed to "abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

So in some fundamentalist churches today, Gentiles who themselves don't follow Jewish law have been known to require converted Jews to do so. Nice.

This also explains why conservative Christians believe why Jewish law relating to homosexuality is relevant to Gentiles and that relating to shellfish is not, as homosexuality qualifies as "fornication", i.e., sexual immorality.

But I don't think it would occur to the average conservative Gentile Christians to have a problem with rare steaks or check to make sure that the chicken that provided the drumsticks wasn't strangled...

Personally I think the prohibition on homosexuality probably originally had to do with discouraging forms of sex that did not produce children within the patriarchal extended family structure, just as many dietary laws appear to have originated for health reasons.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

In the New Testament, Acts 21: 20-26, there's text to the effect that Jewish are supposed to follow Jewish law, but Gentile Christians are only supposed to "abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

In I Corinthians 8 Paul explicitly wrote that there is no deep reason why Christians should avoid eating meat sacrificed to idols, except to avoid upsetting other more sensitive Christians.


So in some fundamentalist churches today, Gentiles who themselves don't follow Jewish law have been known to require converted Jews to do so.

They are probably trying to follow Paul's comment in Galatians 5:2-3 that anyone who is circumsized is a debtor to the whole Law. I wonder what they (fundamentalists) make of the comment that Christ's sacrifice is lost on those who have been circumsized? Hmm, that's a good question for sacred_opinion or challenging_god.


This also explains why conservative Christians believe why Jewish law relating to homosexuality is relevant to Gentiles and that relating to shellfish is not, as homosexuality qualifies as "fornication", i.e., sexual immorality.

Mainly because, I think, of the anti-gay rap in Romans 1.


But I don't think it would occur to the average conservative Gentile Christians to have a problem with rare steaks or check to make sure that the chicken that provided the drumsticks wasn't strangled...

Or to buy their slaves from neighboring nations... I suppose you've seen the wonderful letter to Dr. Laura that's been circulating around the net for years?


Personally I think the prohibition on homosexuality probably originally had to do with discouraging forms of sex that did not produce children within the patriarchal extended family structure, just as many dietary laws appear to have originated for health reasons.

This mirrors my own thoughts, which are that morals tend to reflect the economic needs of a society. I have an old post about that here which I keep referring to:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sophiaserpentia/40326.html