Quote from: Lori Dee on August 07, 2025, 11:53:24 PMI wish these churches would spend their time studying their Bible.
They point to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as "proof" that God was angry about homosexual sex. If that were true, San Francisco would have become an ash heap long ago.
The story, as it is told in the Bible, is that an angel was visiting Lot and his wife. The men of the town shouted to Lot to send the angel out so they could do things to him.
Under Jewish Law, visitors are to be treated kindly as guests. They are to be offered comfort, food, drink, and shelter. The people of the town did the exact opposite, and that is why the city was destroyed.
The story of the destruction of Sodom is told in Genesis 19. The background is told in Genesis 18. God and two angels were visiting Abraham. This was on the mountains sort of near Sodom, at least you could see from the mountains the area of Sodom, but not the actual city. God told Abraham he had resolved to destroy the city because of the horrible things he had heard about the city. The angels were going to investigate, if the reports were true the city was done. Abraham negotiated with God to not destroy the city if fifty innocent people could be found there. When God agreed to spare the city for fifty innocent people, then Abraham negotiated this down to ten. At that point God was done speaking to Abraham.
The angels arrived in Sodom late in the afternoon. They had one singular mission -- to find ten innocent people (some translations read righteous men). Lot didn't know they were angels, but he did know the people in the city -- so he invited the angels to stay under the protection of his home. When it was dark all of the men of the city from least to greatest gathered around Lot's house wanting to know the men who had come to the city. At this point language plays tricks on us. The Hebrew word rendered know has two meanings, much like the English word intercourse. It can refer to something sexual or it can refer to a conversation. In that case the conversation would not have been cordial, so Lot tried to protect the men visiting (angels).
At this point the angels assigned task was complete. They could not find any innocent to stand beside Lot, so the city was done. The took Lot and his immediate family away from the destruction to come. The scripture does not say what the specific sin was in Genesis. Later the prophets recorded much what Lori said. Here in Genesis the law had not been given.
A really similar story is repeated in Judges 19 about Gibeah of Benjamin. This was a sexual situation. All involved were Israelites. By this point the law had been given. The city was not utterly destroyed, but there was a bloody civil war. This story better suits the sexual narrative -- but it does not support the anti-LGBTQ agenda of the far right.
Long reply, but the "gotcha" passages the right love to cling to need more light.
Erin
