A recent Facebook kerfluffle (noun: a hotly contested hyperbole-filled debate) made me confront the entire gay debate once again from my comfortably warm cocoon of trying not to publicly think about it. Debates are like taking the Pepsi Challenge: it’s mildly diverting, but nobody actually changes their mind about what their favorite soda is. I’m not naïve enough to hope that this article will actually change anyone’s mind. I can virtually guarantee that everyone who reads this is firmly set in their opinions and reading mine will not influence them in the slightest. So why should you read this article?

• If you’ve hated a gay person recently, or been thinking about hating one, you should read this article
• If you don’t hate gay people but you believe the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, you should definitely read this article
• If you’re not really sure why some people disapprove of gay people, it’s probably worth reading this article
• If you’re gay, you probably have met some people who hate you. I’m sorry. Try not to be too mad – they’ve usually been trained from a very early age to hate, and in most cases they honestly don’t know any better. And you might derive some value from reading this article

Note: Some people might point out that the reason you shouldn’t hate gays is because the Bible isn’t true. Unfortunately, that argument is thoroughly pointless in any debate with a Christian, and is even less likely to change anyone’s mind. Furthermore, I’ve done quite a bit of research on this subject, and even if you truly believe the Bible is true, I don’t think it actually says homosexuality is a sin, and I don’t think any self-respecting Christian should use it to argue against gay rights, any more than they should use to argue in favor of slavery and racial segregation, or against women’s rights. Let’s try not to forget that all those things already happened.

Like most Christian children, I was indoctrinated from a very early age to be a bigot. Not seeing any reason to believe otherwise, I accepted early on in life that, among other things, homosexuality was a sin and people who believed they were truly homosexual were mentally ill. As I grew older I began questioning and rejecting many of the nuttier beliefs, but I’d retained my belief in the Bible and that left a thorn in my side. I didn’t hate gay people, and I didn’t see any evidence that homosexuality was a choice and a sinful one at that, as so many Christians maintained.

I then found myself in the uncomfortable position that I think many young Christians find themselves in: not willing to air my thoroughly unpopular situation and have people on both sides explain to me why I’m wrong but for completely different reasons. I chose to just ignore the debate entirely and try to love everyone and treat everyone equally. This patented technique works extremely well almost 100% of the time, except when it doesn’t.

If you ask a Christian if they hate gays, most will say they don’t and then explain they believe homosexuality is a sin and sinners go to hell, but since they love everyone, including gays, they want to tell them the Good News so they can repent of their sins and not burn in the agony of Satan’s embrace for all eternity. And they are 100% serious. This cannot be stressed enough. Most modern Christians genuinely have the best of intentions. Except for the Westboro Baptist Church, but they are douchebags.

Christians’ belief that gays are sinners really boils down to two facts:

1. They believe the Bible is true
2. The Bible says homosexuality is a sin

There is a difference between something being true and believing it’s applicable towards how you live your life. The Gettysburg Address is true, insomuch that Lincoln existed and he did give a speech, but whether the contents of that speech contain instructions on how we should live our lives is up to the interpretations of scholars and the individual who reads them. For most Christians, believing in the truthfulness of the Bible coincides with the belief that the Bible contains instructions on how to live a Godly and morally correct life – to some extent. Most Christians do not argue that the pages upon pages of genealogies contain hidden instructions for Godly living. Along the same lines, most Christians do not argue that 1 Samuel 15.2-8 advocates the ethnic cleansing of Canada…although there’s certainly an argument to be made.

Even among modern Christians, there’s a great deal of debate as to what parts of the Bible are actually applicable towards their lives. Most modern Christians reject most or all of the Old Testament, arguing convincingly that the teachings of Jesus made the laws of the Old Testament null and void.

Old Testament Christians

A typical Old Testament Christian will point to the oft-cited passages from Leviticus, which are pretty clear. Just to refresh your memory:

• Leviticus 18.22 – You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. It is an abomination.
• Leviticus 20.13 – If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion.

A strict reading of this passage would lead some to point out that it’s technically impossible to lie with a man as with a woman since men do not have vaginas. An even stricter reading would point out the Bible tacitly endorses lesbianism. Regardless, these verses are the most commonly cited as reasons to hate homosexuality. So when I encounter an Old Testament Christian, I typically ask them four questions:

• Have they ever had sex while the woman was on her period? (Leviticus 20.18)
• Have they executed children who disrespect their parents? (Leviticus 20.9)
• Have they ever eaten shellfish (Leviticus 11.9-10) or pork chops? (Leviticus 11.7)
• Have they ever worn clothing made of two different fabrics? (Leviticus 19.19)

I’ve never met anyone has managed to never sin in at least one of these ways. If I did, and if they seriously believed that all of them were sins, I would ask them why they spent so much time arguing against homosexuals. The average American eats about 48 pounds of pork each year. In 2009, Americans ate 4.833 billion pounds of seafood. Comparatively speaking, these are far bigger problems than homosexuality, and worse, it’s legal, meaning even children can easily fall into sin.

Some argue that the Bible calls homosexuality an “abomination”, meaning it’s clearly worse than other things. Unfortunately, the Bible also calls eating shrimp an abomination. Others try to argue that there are fundamental differences among these laws and the law about homosexuality, which simply doesn’t fly. It’s not our business to pick and choose which of God’s laws we get to ignore. And if you think we should be able to pick and choose: great! Pick the law about homosexuality and ignore it as well. There are plenty of laws that everyone can get behind, like laws against murder, rape, and theft.

Either way, the argument is over, and they’ve lost (not that they would admit it). If you’re not willing to adhere to all of the Old Testament laws equally, then you’re saying you’re smarter than God, you’re a hypocrite, and you need to shut up.

New Testament Christians

There are many Christians who have rejected the Old Testament and still believe homosexuality is a sin. Unfortunately, Jesus himself was completely silent on the subject. You’d think the subject of homosexuality would be important enough for the Son of God to weigh in, but apparently our Savior didn’t have a problem with the gays. At any rate, let’s take a look at the two sections where homosexuality is mentioned in the New Testament.

• Romans 1.26-27: For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the women, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Okay, that’s pretty clear, right? The verse does seem to indicate homosexuality is wrong. It explicitly says men left the women, lusted after each other, and committed what is shameful. So is this verse saying that homosexuality in general is a sin, or is it saying that heterosexual men left their wives, lusted after each other, and committed adultery, and that is a sin? Well, we don’t know, since we’re debating the translated words of a guy who wrote them about two thousand years ago.

Incidentally, this passage is by the apostle Paul. Most Christians assume that since it’s in the Bible, it’s infallible – there’s no way Paul could be wrong. I might argue that as a man, Paul is by nature fallible and capable of being wrong, particularly since it doesn’t even say God appeared to him and dictated the letter. Just for funsies, let’s take a look at a couple other passages of Paul’s teachings:

• Titus 2.9: Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try and please them, not to talk back to them.

Okay. So Paul believes slaves should not be freed.

• Corinthians 11.5: But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head was shaved.

So we have two choices here. First, we can unequivocally accept everything Paul says as the unvarnished truth and also agree that slavery is acceptable and we should publicly denounce all Christian women who pray with their heads uncovered and also hate gays…or we can agree that some of what Paul says has to be taken within historical context, has been translated multiple times, and could be influenced by the biases of Paul’s culture and the biases and perceptions of the translators.

• 1st Corinthians 6.9-10: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God.

I’m referring to the King James version here. Modern translations usually replace “abusers of themselves with mankind” with “homosexual”, which didn’t exist in Biblical times or when the King James Bible was being translated. The original Greek word is arsenokoitai, which is a combination of a couple words, one that means “man” and one that means “bed”, often in a sexual way. Men plus bed equals homosexual, right? Maybe. Maybe it means that in the same way that the word “honeymoon” literally refers to honey made on the Moon.

The exact meaning has been hotly debated among scholars. A lot of research points to arsenokoitai actually referring to coercive same-sex prostitution or rape, which I think everyone can agree is wrong. But about the only thing we know with absolutely certainty is that we’re not sure exactly what it means.

That’s it! I’m quite serious. That is the extent of which homosexuality is castigated by the Bible. Let’s do a quick recap:

1. Two verses in the Old Testament as part of a list of rules that no one, not even you, not even the Westboro Baptist Church, follows.
2. Four verses in the New Testament, written by a fallible man who also argues that slavery is okay and women must keep long hair and wear head coverings, seem to argue using words that may or may not refer to homosexual behavior that male on male sex is a bad thing (while continuing to ignore lesbians entirely).

That is the entirety of the argument against homosexuals.

I’m not arguing that anyone should abandon their faith; far from it. What I’m asking is for you to look at the evidence within the Bible itself, and ask yourself, am I really comfortable using this as the entire basis for disapproving and disparaging and denying equal rights for homosexuals? If you logically and clearly look at the actual evidence, and forget what people have been telling you your entire life – because let’s face it, they’re not necessarily right – what does it tell you?

I don’t think the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong. Hopefully, one day, you might agree with me.

Further Reading: This YouTube video (and this written transcript) are excellent.

Note: Feel free to not use the comments section to explain to me, in detail, why my reasoning is faulty. I can assure you, during the research for this article I have read literally every possible Bible-based argument against homosexuality there is. If you would like to politely tell me that I am wrong and you are praying for God to give me wisdom, that’s acceptable.

Note 2: “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” Obviously. If he’d created Adam and Steve the human race would’ve died out pretty quickly, wouldn’t it?

Note 3: “You didn’t mention Sodom and Gomorrah!” This argument is specious at best, and the principal lesson you can draw from it is if people wants to gangrape a houseguest, give the rapist your daughter and ask them to gangrape her instead.