Hot Steamy Yaoi! (Part 1)

The mainstream Christian stance on homosexuality has long been (and to a large extent still is) that homosexuality is a Sin. "God Hates Fags", as some might eloquently suggest. Certain modern groups put a gentler, more politically-correct spin on it, talking about "loving the sinner, hating the sin" and stressing that it's "homosexual acts, not homosexual orientation/desires" that is the sin. Pretty wording, just as destructive and sinister when put into practice.

Ask the average self-professing Christian why it's Wrong, and you'll likely get the answer "the Bible says so". Ask them where, and you'll have many people stumped. Que mutterings about "Old Testament" and "Sodom and Gomorrah", or even "Unnatural-ness" and "fallen worlds". I have yet to meet a person who, having been brought up in a Western/Judeo-Christian country, could tell me that they thought homosexuality was absolutely fine until they read it was wrong in the Bible. Always, the opinion comes before the justification.

Two words: Societal Influence.

There are cultures and societies in our world for whom homosexuality and transsexuality are perfectly normal, in fact are an intrinsic part of life (for example, tribes in New Guinea¹). If they don't have some mystic instinct that tells them it's Evil, why do Westerners?

We grow up with the concept of some things being "right" or "wrong" all around us, either implied or outright expounded. A person's take on homosexuality often fits in as part of their fundamental worldviews, which are formed early on in childhood and heavily influenced by those around them (e.g. parents, siblings, teachers)². So we generally perceive homosexuality as either "good" or "bad" before we're of an age to understand what romance and sex even are. Worldviews are very hard to change; they form our core beliefs, how we view our surroundings, our opinions on how life should operate; therefore when we are mature enough to begin considering such subjects as sexuality, we already carry deeply rooted preconceptions and biases.

Hence, it is little wonder this debate is causing so much strife in our world, and people rabidly stand by arguments touting "proof" that endures scrutiny and reason, like a snowman endures a Saharan heatwave.

Proof such as "the Bible says so".

For those who don't know (viz. the majority of people), in the original translations of the Bible, homosexuality is directly mentioned a grand total of zero times. Even different English translations cannot agree, with some including no mention of "homosexual" or "homosexuality" (e.g. the KJV, NCV, the Message, ASV, YLT) and others (e.g. NIV, NKJV, NLT, ESV, NASV) including the word in dubious translations that I shall address later. Interesting to note, however, that those translations that do make direct mention of the term "homosexual" are exclusively modern, (from the latter part of the 1900's, or the start of 2000, often the 1980's or 1990's), whereas translations with no mention of the word include those both old and new. Again, this reeks of societal influence upon the translators.

This, of course, has not stopped people from finding passages in the Bible, from which to construct support for their arguments. The most common of these include the Creation account in Genesis, the Levitical laws, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Paul's letters to the Romans, Corinthians and Timothy.