official site of Author, Composer, and Poet, David Robertson Miller
September 6, 2020
HEY THERE!
Welcome or welcome back!
You have found the Island Time Books Religion and Science blog. What we discuss here is the conflict that so often exists between Religion (in general, not any particular religion), and Atheistic Science – the more closed minded factions of each. I contend that there is no need for the conflict; frankly, the two have much, much more in common than most people realize or are willing to accept. Much of the animosity arises from archaic and ignorant assumptions each makes about the other, and open-minded consideration on both sides will bear this out. In other words, to both sides I say, SHUT UP AND LISTEN!
OPEN MINDEDNESS
I’ve mentioned a few times here that grasping these concepts requires a bit of open-mindedness. So I thought perhaps I might elaborate on that subject just a bit. In doing so, I’m going to bring up the subject of gay rights
THE STRAIGHT ADVOCATE
Let me begin by saying that I am not gay.
Saying that reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where people somehow thought that Jerry and George were a gay couple. They adamantly denied it, of course, but always followed up with, “not that there’s anything wrong with that…”
So, I say again, I am not gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I have some gay friends who refer to me as a “straight advocate.” I’m not sure where that comes from exactly, but I have since seen it on some bumper stickers.
IT WASN’T ALWAYS THIS WAY
If you knew me, say, 10-15 years ago, you would know that that has not always been my attitude. At that time I truly despised homosexuality. I opposed gay rights, gay marriage, the recognition of domestic relationships, and so on. Even at my most magnanimous moments I would say, “love the sinner, hate the sin.” As though it were my place to judge such things.
Much of this attitude stemmed from hearing people say that it was “against scripture.” The Bible says this and the Bible says that. If the subject came up in conversation, I would confidently aver, “it very clearly says in the Bible…” But somewhere along the way, it occurred to me that, while I had heard all my life that the Bible condemned homosexuality, I believed it because I was told it was there. But that was all second-hand; I had never actually read that anywhere myself. (Don’t get me started on the Constitution!) So, I began to explore.
SODOM AND GOMORAH
The first and most obvious example is Genesis 19. But in this case, the keyword is, “CONTEXT!”
Yes, Lot welcomed the two angels in the guise of young men. And yes, the good folks of Sodom came out to “know” them. Lot offered up his virgin daughters instead (he gets the Father-of-the-year award for that one!) but the townies said no, they wanted the guys. And yes, most people take this as a condemnation of homosexuality.
But let’s take a good look at Sodom, the historical place. In that time, Sodom was pretty much known as a “den of iniquity.” If you take Las Vegas, Rio at Carnival, New Orleans at Mardi Gras, St. Pete’s at Spring Break, wrap them all together and times it by ten, you have some idea of Sodom. There was no licentiousness too vile. Drunken orgies, swapping partners, sex with children, sex with animals!! There was every debauchery you can imagine and some, frankly, I would rather not imagine.
Against that backdrop it is easy to see why they would want to “know” these young men. They could, and probably eventually would, have Lot’s daughters any old time. This was new stuff! It wouldn’t have mattered if the angels were disguised as young men, young girls, or young sheep! This was not about homosexuality; this was about gang-rape! And I’m sorry, I cannot connect the dots between my gay friends, living quiet lives in a quiet neighborhood, who have been together for fifteen years, and freaking GANG RAPE! Sorry, that one doesn’t fly!
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Various passages in Leviticus, Judges, Kings (first and second), etc. condemn homosexuality. But, again, CONTEXT! The Hebrew nation was fairly new, just a few generations away from the Exodus; they had a lot of enemies (they still do!); literally, they were a generation away from extinction! Much of the law code laid out in The Old Testament had to do with one thing: the Numbers, the population, growing the population of the nation. Therefore, anything that interfered with that was considered abomination. Yes, that included homosexuality, but it also included masturbation, sex with a woman on here period, sex with a post-menopausal woman and so on. This is why, for example, if a man died and his widow was of child-bearing age, the man’s brother was required to marry her. (In other portions of the Bible this act is forbidden, which people take as a contradiction. It isn’t; it’s just what was applicable at a different time and place.)
Keep in mind, the same law code that calls homosexuality an “abomination” also calls eating shellfish an “abomination.” I once overheard two guys talking about how the Bible is against “queers.” Where did I hear that? At a crab feast!
Let the irony sink in!
THE NEW TESTAMENT
Romans, Corinthians, Timothy, etc. all have some passages that are interpreted as against homosexuality. Can we say it again? CONTEXT!
Some of these are in Paul’s epistles. When he wrote those, it was the general belief that Jesus was going to return a week from Thursday at the latest. Paul therefore said that ALL sexual acts should be abandoned in order to focus on spiritual matters at hand. He also said at several points that his suggestions were for his followers only, again to devote their lives to the cause. This why he was so unpopular among many men at the time! Besides, any religion that forbids sex better have a damn good recruitment program because they are certainly not growing from within!
SODOMITE
A word that is often interpreted to mean homosexual is “sodomite.” Pray tell, why is it that a Midianite is a person from Midian, an Israelite is someone from Israel, a Kushite is someone from Kush, and a Sodomite is a gay person? Don’t you think what they actually mean is a person from Sodom, or more likely, someone who behaves like they are from Sodom.
See above.
CATAMITE
Another word often translate, “homosexual” is “catamite.” (Ya gotta read those footnotes!) This is from the Greek and literally means a young boy who is the companion of an adult man. It is also used a derogatory term referring to a man who has an intimate relationship with a young boy. In other words, a Child Molester!
Let me tell you this: if you tell me child molesters will go to Hell, all I can say is it’s too bad there’s not a hotter Hell! It is my position not to scoff at anyone’s beliefs, but in this case, I emphatically make an exception!!!
I’M NOT LISTENING!
There are some people I know, some of whom I love dearly, that when presented with any idea they disagree with, automatically say, “I’m not listening to that!” or “I’m not reading that!” To me, this stems from nothing but fear. I wholeheartedly welcome disagreement; if two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary. It makes for livelier discussions. I confess it: I am highly opinionated, on many subjects. But there is a difference between opinionated and closed-
minded. Usually, I can listen to another’s opinion and “agree to disagree agreeably.” But then, every once in a while, I learn new information and alter my views. I’m glad for this. Otherwise, I would have missed out on several very good friendships, with good people who call me their “straight advocate.”
THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO CATCH UP
If you are new or unfamiliar with us, I invite you to catch up by clicking here and following all of the links. (It would help to do them in order.) Or, you can check out some of the specific topics such as Creation, Evolution, Man in God’s Image, the After-life, or the troubling and important question: Why do we suffer? Each is presented and defended from both the Religious and Scientific points of view.
GET (OR KEEP) IN TOUCH
You might agree or disagree with what I’m saying here, or you may have something to add. Either way, I’d love to hear from you. You can leave your good or bad comments below. Then, I will go ahead and put you on my email list (spam-free I promise!) and keep you up to date with what’s going on here. If you’re one of those spoil-sports that doesn’t be on the email list, just tell me so.
I would also like to invite anyone who would like to share a guest post. Just email it to me (in the body please; I’d rather not open an attachment).
See y'all next week!