Most people base their disapproval of homosexuality alleging that the Bible &, therefore, God, states that homosexuality is an abominable sin prohibited by God under penalty of damnation.
The above allegation is a lie.
The Bible has been incorrectly translated and, consequentely, incorrectly interpreted.
The original Bible wasn’t written in English or any modern language. It was written in ancient Hebrew, a form of ancient Greek known as “koine” & some parts in Aramaic.
Many homophobes, including self-anointed fundamentalist preachers who got their title of “reverend” out of a box of Crackerjacks & who don’t know how to speak, write or read any of the original languages of the Bible, quote passages from the Bible containing the English words
“homosexual” or “sodomite.”
However, according to http://www.humanbeing.demon.nl/humanbei ... andall.htm:
“...The term homosexual was introduced in 1869 by a Hungarian physician called Karoly Maria Benkert, who wrote under the pseudonym of K. M. Kertbeny...”
Homophobes like to squawk repetively like autistic parrots the following passage as proof of Bilbical condemnation of homosexuality:
“...I Corinthians 6:9: The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the realm of God."
Author's Note: The Greek words translated "effeminate" and "homosexual" do not mean effeminate or homosexual!
...The English word "homosexual" is a composite word made from a Greek term (homo, "the same") and a Latin term (sexualis , "sex"). The term "homosexual" is of modern origin and was not used until about 100 years ago. There is no word in biblical Greek or Hebrew that is parallel
to the word "homosexual." No Bible before the Revised Standard Version in 1946 used "homosexual" in any Bible translation.
The word translated as "homosexual" or "sexual pervert" or some other similar term is Greek arsenokoites, which was formed from two words meaning "male" and "bed". This word is not found anywhere else in the Bible and has not been found anywhere in the contemporary Greek of
Paul's time. We do not know what it means. The word is obscure and uncertain. It probably refers to male prostitutes with female customers, which was a common practice in the Roman world, as revealed in the excavations at Pompeii and other sites...
The complete version of the above quotes are available at
http://truluck.com/html/six_bible_passages.html.
The King James Version of Deuteronomy 23:17-18 reads:
“...There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel...”
HOWEVER, the original Hebrew reads:
“...i, lo'-thihyeh qedhêshâh mibbenoth yisrâ'êl velo'-yihyeh qâdhêshm ibbenêy yisrâ'êl...”
Take notice of the words “qedhêshâh” & “qâdhêshm” in the above Hebrew passage. “Qedhêshâh” is the femenine noun in Hebrew for temple prostitute & “qâdhêshm” is the masculine noun in Hebrew for temple prostitute.
Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary (http://www.jcsm.org/StudyCenter/kjvstrongs/STRHEB69.htm)
defines “qadesh” as “...qadesh kaw-dashe' - from 'qadash' (6942); a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (technically) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry:-- sodomite, unclean...
Therefore, why did the translators of the original Hebrew mistranslate the male noun “qâdhêshm” as Sodomite instead of male whore when they translated the female noun “qedhêshâh” as whore?
Homophobic discrimination is the answer.
Take note that the Hebrew word for Sodom is S’dom according to
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-he ... 17145.html: “...Sodom (Hebrew: >
S'dom)...”
There are no combinations of letters spelling S’dom or variaition thereof such as Sodomite in the original Hebrew version of Deuteronomy 23: 17-18, therefore, Sodomite is a purposeful mistranslation. Got it? Get it.
Therefore, the correct translation should read:
“There shall be no female temple prostitute of the daughters of Israel nor a male temple prostitute of the sons of Israel...”
The point of all this being, as one who all his life has been speaking, reading & writing in ancient Hebrew, original language of the Bible, 2 Samuel 1: Rabbi Gershon Caudill states
(http://hometown.aol.com/ecorebbe/myhomepage/rant.html):
“...Over the past decade, I have been involved in a study of the so-called anti-homosexual texts of Leviticus in the original Hebrew versions extant, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and with the help of a Catholic Priest and a Protestant Biblical Languages student at Emory University, I have studied translations of the Greek and Latin texts.
This study has involved reviewing Talmudic texts and other materials of a collateral nature to the subject matter being studied; history, anthropology, archaeology, philology, and etymology, to name but a few.
As a result of my research, I am convinced of two things.
1. THE ORIGINAL HEBREW TEXTS HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HOMOSEXUALITY!”
Furthermore, in king David, in his own words recorded for eternity in the inerrant Bible, publicly confesses his homosexual relationship with Jonathan by stating that his love for Jonathan surpassed the love of women.
(1) 1 Samual, Chapter 17,(love at first sight), “1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of
Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
(2) 1 Samuel 20: 30, (father calls son faggot & blames the mother) “...Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the
confusion of thy mother's nakedness?’
(3) 2 Samuel 1: 26 ( I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
I repeat, “PASSING the love of WOMEN.”
Although, there is NOT YET conclusive evidence, there are indications from scientific investigations that homosexuality is genetic, therefore, as what regards natural vs unnatural, freewill & alleged “chosen” lifestyles, when the “gay gene” is, at last, identified, the Church will have a lot to answer for all the physical pain through torture, incarceration & execution
of members of the gay community throughout the centuries as well as the spiritual terrorism it has inflicted on the homosexual community by preaching hell fire & eternal damnation for those who have been biologically programmed to a homosexual orientation.
The Last Judgement will, indeed, be quite a surprise for many a Bible thumping homophobic Pharisee.