Read the Bible, eh?

A woman in Tennessee said on social media today that all “sins” are equal, and went on to say “homosexuality is the same as murder” at the sin level. I challenged the assumption that love or even attraction could in any way compare to murder. She responded by telling me to read the Bible. My response was probably overly thorough; nevertheless, here is what I said to her:

Where should I start in the bible? Perhaps 1 Timothy 2.12 that says that you as a woman have no business trying to instruct me, a man. Of course, that is the sexism of the culture and times and not a mandate from God, so let's move on.

Should I read the creation myth that has humanity created out of nothingness, or the myth (one page later) that says men were created from dirt and women were created a week later from the man's rib? They can't both be literally factual (neither of them is). Should I read where Cain and Abel took wives (but only their parents had been "created" so far in the tale)? Where'd the wives come from?!! Was God pulling off another creation nearby? Did they hook up with some unmentioned sisters (ick)? Should I read the version that says that Eve was created from Adam, which defies the gender binaries the Christian fundamentalists lift up as sacrosanct.

Perhaps I should read the Sodom and Gomorrah story...a story about angels narrowly escapinig gang rape (which of course is a bad thing but has nothing to do with mutual love or attraction) and continue reading to find Lot (the supposed hero of the story) having incest with his daughters in a cave. Maybe that's not a good story to use for ethical or honorable behavior. 

Maybe I should read about Jephthah who murdered his own daughter because he promised God a human sacrifice. 

Should I read in Ezekiel about a woman's lovers having donkey sized genitals and horse powered emissions? (That's hot, but doesn't support your case). 

Perhaps Ephesians 6.5 ("slaves obey your masters") is a part of the bible you'd recommend (moving on, I'm afraid you wouldn't find anything wrong with that one!). 

What about Deuteronomy 22.28-29 that would force a female victim to marry her rapist? 

Perhaps I should read about the patriarchs like David (who was in love with Jonathan long before he raped Bathsheba and murdered her husband...by the way, his covenantal relationship with Jonathan isn’t the problematic part of his story!), or Solomon with his hundreds of wives and concubines, or Abraham who exploited (to put it mildly) and then abandoned Hagar and their child, but since he sold his wife to a King and was willing to murder his only child, his character was always a bit sketchy. 

You see, I am familiar with the texts, familiar enough to know that same-gender love and mutual attraction are never condemned in scripture (and, even if they were, we'd still have to explore the issue). Rape and exploitation (i.e. Temple prostitution) are condemned (obvs), but love never is. In fact, even Paul (whose condemnation of idolatry in Romans 1 is misused to torment gay people) said that love fulfills the law! Maybe YOU should read the bible, and question it, and wrestle with it, and ask questions of it and about it...and stop using it as a crutch to support your prejudices and superstitions.