Homosexuality is a Sin

Hell is other people.

 -- Jean Paul Sarte

Nothing gets things going here at Western Hero like a good theological debate, or better yet, a poor one.  

I admit that I am ill-equipped to discuss deep theological matters. I have done quite a bit of study, and I read The Bible every day, but when a religious throwdown breaks out, I must rely on the arguments of scholars, because I don't have the depth.

 
Mention homosexuality, or some other hot-button issue, and the relativists move in, demanding that all Christianity change its millennia-old beliefs that came from God. Even worse, some will posit the ridiculous notion that homosexuality is not a sin under Jewish and Christian law!  

No scholarship, no reasoned debate based in biblical exegesis or historical hermeneutics, not even a link to a cogent argument. Just a post-modern stamp of the feet:  Because I say so!

Well... I'm here to help.

The "Homosexuality is OK" Argument

Like the anti-homosexual argument, it starts with Leviticus:

22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. (Leviticus 18:22)

13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. (Leviticus 20:13)

Reverend Timothy Shirley takes the Levitical argument against homosexuality and turns it on it's head in a short, well-written piece. Here is his conclusion:

Bottom line -- the arguments suggesting and concerning homosexuality in Leviticus as well as in all of scripture, must be treated equally. The Bible is not a cafeteria, there can be no picking and choosing! The rules of interpretation must be consistent across the board. Therefore, the Leviticus text must be critiqued as a whole, and not willy-nilly in order to defend or condemn a particular point of view. A verse taken out of its context is never an appropriate rule of measure for doing biblical exegesis and interpretation with integrity. This is especially so with the Book of Leviticus. A little common sense never hurt either! (Leviticus and Homosexuality)

A further argument along this same line says that if you agree with it, you must agree with all of it, including the execution of people who commit homosexual acts.

For a treasure trove of thoughtful Christian writing that ministers to gay Christians, see Whosoever Magazine.

The "Homosexuality is a Sin" Argument

Reverend Shirley is right; we cannot pick and choose what we like and don't like from the scriptures. Where the Levitical argument breaks down though, is that Christian objection to homosexuality does not rest solely upon that book.

Paul condemns homosexuality in the book of Romans:

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1, 24-27)

He speaks harshly of it again in 1 Corinthians:

9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6, 9-10)

Again in his first letter to Timothy:

9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1, 9-11)

So it is an absurdity to say homosexual acts are compatible with Christianity.

The Old Testament Condemns Homosexuality

The other problem with the Levitical argument is that other parts of the Old Testament reinforce the book's admonition against homosexual acts.

While the Old Testament’s ceremonial requirements are no longer binding, its moral requirements are. God may issue different ceremonies for use in different times and cultures, but his moral requirements are eternal and are binding on all cultures. (Catholic Answers - Homosexuality)

This long excerpt from the same source explains it well. Taking all passages and commentary as a whole, it is clear that the Old Testament condemns homosexual acts:

The rejection of homosexual behavior that is found in the Old Testament is well known. In Genesis 19, two angels in disguise visit the city of Sodom and are offered hospitality and shelter by Lot. During the night, the men of Sodom demand that Lot hand over his guests for homosexual intercourse. Lot refuses, and the angels blind the men of Sodom. Lot and his household escape, and the town is destroyed by fire "because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord" (Gen. 19:13).

Throughout history, Jewish and Christian scholars have recognized that one of the chief sins involved in God’s destruction of Sodom was its people’s homosexual behavior. But today, certain homosexual activists promote the idea that the sin of Sodom was merely a lack of hospitality. Although inhospitality is a sin, it is clearly the homosexual behavior of the Sodomites that is singled out for special criticism in the account of their city’s destruction. We must look to Scripture’s own interpretation of the sin of Sodom.

Jude 7 records that Sodom and Gomorrah "acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust." Ezekiel says that Sodom committed "abominable things" (Ezek. 16:50), which could refer to homosexual and heterosexual acts of sin. Lot even offered his two virgin daughters in place of his guests, but the men of Sodom rejected the offer, preferring homosexual sex over heterosexual sex (Gen. 19:8–9). Ezekiel does allude to a lack of hospitality in saying that Sodom "did not aid the poor and needy" (Ezek. 16:49). So homosexual acts and a lack of hospitality both contributed to the destruction of Sodom, with the former being the far greater sin, the "abominable thing" that set off God’s wrath.
(Source: Catholic Answers - Homosexuality)

While I appreciate studies and arguments that are controversial but grounded in historical analysis and educated study, I have no patience for off-the-cuff comments ungrounded in any scholarship whatsoever, especially when they mischaracterize God's word.

So while snarky comments about not eating BLTs or wives leaving the house during their period in conformance with Leviticus are funny, they all deal in false equivalence and a superficial understanding of the scriptures.

You can argue that Christianity itself is wrong in declaring homosexuality immoral, you can reject its teachings, but you cannot argue that the two are in any way compatible. A clear reading of the Bible shows that idea to be the absurdity that it is.

Catholic Catechism on Homosexuality
Christian and American
Catholic Bible 101 - Homsexuality