On the wing of abominations.
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. - Leviticus 18:22
"Here are they that keep the commandments of God,
Yes, I like to refer to that sort of thing as “the Leviticus Buffet.” You get to pick the stuff you like, and leave the rest for someone else. Like when Rev. Reed said that that his church has to terminate its charter with Boy Scout Troop 542 because theBSA lifted its ban on openly gay youths. As he said, "it's not a hate thing, it’s a "moral stance we must take as a Southern Baptist Church, “because "God's word explicitly says homosexuality is a choice, a sin." And some use "God's word" as their authority in this matter, most often pointing to the Bible's book of Leviticus at Chapter 18, Verse 22, or Leviticus 20:13; "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
So, fair question: Which verses of the Bible should guide our morals today, and which should not anymore?
Maybe the verse in the Book of Deuteronomy that says if a man marries a woman and finds that she is not a virgin, and if her family cannot prove that she was a virgin before her marriage, "she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death?” Or maybe the verse that says that if found to be in an adulterous relationship, both the man and the woman are to be taken to the city gates and also stoned to death. Or perhaps it's the verse that says that only certain people are welcome in God's. If you happen to be a child born out of wedlock, or the great-great-great-grandchild of a person born out of wedlock, God says you may not set foot inside a church. The Bible makes this very clear. It says that no illegitimate child, "nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord,
even down to the tenth generation."
And did you know this? If a certain part of a man's body happens to be injured in an accident or as a result of war, he may likewise not join with other worshippers of God in a House of the Lord. The Bible says: "If a man's testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be included in the assembly of the Lord."
Yes, these are words right out of the Bible. Turn to Deuteronomy 23:1-2, New Living Translation. "Oh," you might say, "one of those
modern Bibles." Yes. The King James Version has it this way: "He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord," but it means the same thing.
And the Bible has some startling news for women who take some of those self-defense classes that are offered these days. They can find themselves in a lot of trouble because of some of what they might learn in those classes. The Bible says: "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."
God's Word also provides us clear guidance on what to do about children who don't obey their parents. These are probably not thoughts that many mothers would have -- maybe even not Southern Baptist mothers, but we have no choice but to obey. As Rev. Reed would say, "God's word explicitly tells us" how we are to respond. And what does God's Word instruct us to do with rebellious children?
Kill them.
Now you might not believe that, but it's right there, plain as day, and you can't deny God's Word: "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death.
You must purge the evil from among you."
I guess that would do it, all right...
Now, do you still wonder why I am not totally convinced that humanity's infallible answers will be found in the Bible? Because I’m betting, neither do you.