A Good Old
Byzantine Argument!
on Religion & Homosexuality
By: M.J. Rahahleh
Demonstrated by: Ammar [3]
The idea of divine right is profound in each and every religion, whether it was Abrahamic; Abraham (monotheist religions, better known as Islam, Christianity and Judaism) or Dharmic; Dharma (Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and other religions). But the views of each of the two rival fractions differ on many issues, and agree on merely nothing. The thought of religion as a motive force for any society is a well known fact, and that's what religions mostly count on in their daily battle of survival, from the concept of Jihad in Islam, to the ability granted to the Catholic church (as well as other churches) to expel anyone out of the house of Christianity thus be either 'finished' or considered damned, or the medieval religious courts that had the divine right to burn anyone who's convicted of being 'different' on a stick, down to the Jewish believe of superiority, religion sounds like some sort of a ladder for anyone with an already set up goal looking for their 15 minutes of fame, and then thrown into the oblivious past.
As we've said before, the view of a particular religion on a certain issue might differ greatly, while most Dharmic religions, especially Shinto, accept homosexuality and even glorifies it, the other side represented by the Abrahamic religions look critically over the general thought of adultery outside the unpenetratable walls of marriage, and completely abolishes homosexuality as a recognized style of life. Throughout the Torah, the Bible and the Quran, verses that condemn homosexuality and labeling it as a sin are obvious and repeated their argument: it's unnatural and disturbs the harmony of the universe, thus altering the 'intended' life style for us, aka; to work on baby making and increase the numbers of the human race.
The whole story started with Judaism, which stated clearly in the Torah "if a man lies with another man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable, they must be put to death, their blood will be on their own heads" - Leviticus 20:12-14. Secular and Reform Jews now “argue” that Ancient Egyptians and Canaanites used to hold ritualized homosexual ceremonies for fertility in their temples, and that the statement in the Torah came as an abolishment of these pagan ceremonies, not of the homosexual act itself. In Christianity, the situation is less clear, there are no clear statements that considered homosexuality as a punishable act but it was taken as a legacy from the Torah. The biblical cities of Sodom, Gomorrah and Zoar were mentioned more than once in artworks or folklore stories as the cities of the everlasting sin of all, homosexuality, thus 'punished' by God, and that is another “argument” used by heterosexuals. But historical facts show that the Holy Roman Empire as well as the obsolete French Monarchy (both adopted Christianity as an official state religion) imposed taxation on gay prostitution, and held same sex ceremonies in early Medieval Christian churches as a part of adoption of many Germanic and Norse pagan customs.
'The idea of males having sex together
was somehow common in Muslim
societies of all times because of the
separation of both sexes...'
In Islam, the case is clear, many verses in the Q'uran condemned homosexuality directly, labeling it as 'hideous' act "What! Of all creatures do you come unto the males and leave the wives thy Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk" 26th Sura. And of course like their fellow Abrahamic religions, using the good old story of Sodom and Gomorrah again. Although mutual admiration between males was common in Pre-Islamic times as well as in the times of the Abbasid and Umayyad Caliphate, after the capital was moved out of the city of Medina as a newborn movement of secularism, as long as this admiration doesn't exceed its limits of love letters and sweet talk, and some kisses and cuddles every now and then, but absolutely NO penetration. Drawings in Muslim Persia, known now as Iran, depict the son (soon to be Caliph Al-Mutamid) consulting his father, the Caliph in the matters of the heart, concerning other boys. And needless to talk about the famous Arab poet Abu Nuwas, who wrote many poems describing handsome men and how to handle them with the right words so their hearts would soften, and he read his poems in public and it was pretty much popular back then because it represented a mainstream of ideas in the society. In fact, the idea of males having sex together was somehow common in Muslim societies of all times because of the separation of both sexes almost everywhere, the easiest way to let all that sexual energy and curiosity was with another male, mostly a close friend.