As I watched on television the first homo-sexual wedding performed in the state of California, it wasn’t very difficult to notice a crowd of protesters in attendance. Many of them had signs stating bible versus such as “thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind”. Of course partially stating the passage found in Leviticus 18:22 in the Bible.
The Book of Leviticus is the third book in both the Jewish Torah, and The Old Testament in Christian religion. As I understand it, it is a set of rules and laws set out by the Abrahamic God to the children of Israel. It is the book where “an eye for an eye” came from that so many people unwittingly repeat. It includes many restrictions which are archaic, superstitious, and strange. It has specific outlining on topics such as cleanliness after childbirth, circumcision, animals which are acceptable to eat, clipping hair at the corners of your head, stealing, and lying. It is a book that is still followed by the religion of Judaism, and something that is partially followed by Christians. Christians believe many laws to be obsolete because Jesus fulfilled messianic prophecy.
It was a reminder to me how some individuals smorgasbord their religious scripture to reinforce their own hatreds, and bigotry. The same people who feel so compelled to attack other people at their wedding, will go home and have some type of pork product as a meal for dinner. These same people will wake up the following morning and shave their morning stubble. Both of these forbidden in the same book they use as reference why God is unhappy with two adults who wish to get married.
It’s not only the Book of Leviticus. It is the entire canon that so many people believe to be a literal truth. Killing someone who works on Sunday (Exodus 35:2), selling your children into slavery (Exodus 21:7), burning people to death (Leviticus 20:14), and being punished for mixing fabrics (Leviticus 19:19) is not a belief system that I want to follow.
I question why certain gospels that were written hundreds of years after the time of Christ were included in the Bible, while other gospels were omitted. I question the actual construction of the Bible at the Council of Trent by powerful people who were ultimately looking for a way to control the actions of many. I also have doubt in the translation from Hebrew, Aramaic, and some Greek to other languages to a state of equal intention.
I believe in a life filled with positive energy. I believe in being polite to neighbors and strangers. I also believe it is appropriate to remove negative people and influences out of your reality to continue on the most positive path.
Before you proclaim what you believe to be truth, research where it originated. Also ask yourself why you allow yourself to follow one verse, and ignore another verse of the same book. Ask yourself if you want to leave your hatred behind.
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2 comments:
Great Post! Well thought out and it is very true that we should not be hypocritical. Deffinitely something to think about. Thanks for the thought.
You need to post more things. I like that catagory for 400.
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