Religion's Role in Homosexuality

The population of homosexuals have rapidly increased over the years and yet there are still some countries that do not allow any homosexuals to enter mainly because homosexuality goes against their religious beliefs. Everyone says justifies their actions and reasons by saying things like 'our religion forbids this' and 'our religion doesn't believe in this' and even things like 'this is not what is written in our religious texts'. It is not so much what scriptures say about issues like homosexuality that has dominated western thinking, as what they were interpreted to mean. When reciting verses from religious texts, people tend to interpret the religious readings to support their point of view on an issue. There are three main religions that were and still are against the concept of homosexuality; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

In Christianity, the Bible contains twelve mentions on homosexual acts but only four of them directly forbid homosexuality. These four mentioning are a factor to how much a person believes that homosexuality is not a sin. These four mentioning's are:

Lev. 18:22, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
Lev. 20:13, " If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a women, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them."
1 Cor. 6:9-10, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived  neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves  nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Rom. 1:26-28, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural functions for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the women and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper."

In Judaism,  the Torah has one mentioning that is directly pointed towards the belief that homosexuality is a sin. That mentioning is: 

Lev. 18:22, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."

 In Islam, there is one Surah in The Holy Qu'ran that had forbid any homosexual activities between two individuals of the same sex. It is Surah Al-'A'raf and it states:

[7:80-82] - Lot when he said to his people, "Do you commit such immortality as no one has preceded you with from among the world? Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people." His people responded by saying, "Evict them from your town. They are people who wish to be pure."

Christianity, Judaism and Islam are three religions that are pretty similar when it comes to certain believes and values. When it comes to the issue of homosexuality,  all three religions have strong beliefs and values that consider homosexuality as a sin. The only difference between the three religions is their reason as to why they believe homosexuality is wrong. In both Christianity and Judaism, they believe that homosexuality is an 'abomination' which translate to 'disgrace'.

But the difference between these two religions is that Reform Jews are now a bit more open to the concept of homosexuality because they believe that they should stand up by people who are being unfairly treated and if they do not, they believe that they are committing a sin. On the other hand, Conservative Christians and Orthodox Jews are completely against homosexuality because they value and abide by old fashion values and they believe that homosexuality is unnatural and it is not what God would have wanted. My interpretation of what Islam believes about homosexuality is  that; God finds the acts of homosexuality to be a misrepresentation of Islam. I believe that in Islam, homosexuality itself is not condemn but sodomy is condemned, either between two males, two females or a male and female.

After reading all of these religious texts, one probably wonders why, for example, only some Christians, Jews, or Muslims support homosexuality and why some do not. I believe that this is influenced by the amount of belief you have in your religion. If you are a hardcore believer in your religion, meaning, if you abide by every single word in your religious books then I believe that your beliefs will abide by whatever your religious texts say. Your opinion on topics such as homosexuality, are based on how strongly you believe in your religion and faith.




Citations:
Slick, M. (n.d.). The Bible and homosexuality? | gay | bible | lesbian | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. CARM - Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://carm.org/bible-homosexuality

Surat Al-'A`raf [7:80-82] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم. (n.d.).The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://quran.com/7/80-82

Bullough, V. L. (1979). Religion and Homosexuality. Homosexuality, a history(pp. 17-30). New York: New American Library.