A. Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5.) Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)
B. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed.(Deut 22:13-21)
C. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)
D. Since marriage is for life, neither the Constitution nor the constitution of any state, nor any federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)
E. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)
F. Any man with a beautiful wife may pass her off as his sister, and have her sleep with a powerful man to his own advantage. (Gen 12:13)
Other silly things the Bible says in the same chapter in which it appears to condemn homosexuality:
Among other things, the Holiness Code of Leviticus 18-20 prohibits:
- Sexual intercourse during a women's menstrual cycle
- Tattoos
- Wearing certain types of jewelry
- Eating certain kinds of meat
- Wearing clothing made from blended textiles (cotton-polyester blends)
- Cross-breeding livestock
- Sowing a field with mixed seed
- Eating or touching the dead flesh of pigs, rabbits, & some forms of seafood (there goes football!)
- Men cutting their hair or shaving their beards
2. Look under "Traditional values." You'll find a whole bunch that ought to make the white-picket-fence bourgeois types a leetle bit uncomfortable. About homosexuality, there's nothing (just like the gospels).
But high on the list we just happen to see:
"The Curse of Sodom":
"This was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride of wealth and food in plenty, comfort and ease, and yet she never helped the poor and the wretched." -- Ezekiel 16:49
The best reply, I think, to all the proof-texting in Leviticus is that God was speaking to the Jews there, not to the whole world. (Just ask them). It's their book, their law.) The question arose in apostolic times whether conversion to Christianity implied submission to the Old Testament law, and the considered, formal decision of the apostles was that it did not. This decision is recorded in Acts 15.
To ask why Leviticus verse y is unimportant when verse x is important, if even for the sake of argument, surrenders needless ground. I'd ask instead whether Acts chapter 15 is in their canon; and if so, what they think it means.
That still leaves us with a few verses from St. Paul to ponder. One can say various things about them, including whether they are correctly translated. I'd wonder why anyone should pick on gays when this writer takes such a dim view of *all* sex and marriage. Demand a single verse in the entire New Testament that justifies an obligation either to marry or to reproduce, or that links marriage to procreation. What did he say that marriage *is* for?
3. Misha Schutt writes: When I googled "leviticus sell daughter slavery" I got several versions of the passage several (if not all) of us had remembered, but I also found a more deadly earnest site:
www.evilbible.com
The compiler of this site probably doesn't have a life, since among other detailes, he (she?) calculates that in the course of the Old Testament, "God kills 371,186 people directly and orders another 1,862,265 people murdered." He also finds a passage where if you beat your slave so heavily that s/he dies, you must be punished, but if the slave dies only after a few days rather than in the course of the beating, you don't get punished. I wonder if the Lubavitchers keep slaves?
4. And finally this classic, Joan Condell writes: Here's a letter to everyone who, like Dr. Laura, uses a few verses of the Bible's Book of Leviticus to lecture homosexuals, when they wouldn't dare lecture anyone about any number of other prohibitions from the very same page of that very same book of the Bible :
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
c/o Premier Radio Networks
15260 Ventura Blvd., 5th Floor
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Dear Dr. Laura,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.
a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?
i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.
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