Beware Religious Homophobia

(by Chris Masterson)

For several years, I have studied people who suffer from homophobia. Beware. They can be the nicest people until the subject of homosexuality! If a condition makes a person transform from one personality to a complete 180-degree opposite; said person suffers from said condition. The very term means: A person who suffers from a specific phobia; the fear of homosexuals. And this has nothing to do with religious beliefs, so beware.

Claustrophobia (the fear of enclosed spaces), Arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), Acrophobia (the fear of high places), Bacteriophobia (the fear of germs and/or bacteria), Keraunophobia (the fear of thunder and lightening), Xenophobia (the fear of strangers and/or foreigners), Necrophobia (the fear of death and/or corpses) and a host of others are all medical conditions with treatments; not religious conditions. Why do we think Homophobia is different? And beware, it comes in more than one variety. There are those who suffer from an actual medical condition (a small minority). Then there are those who are influenced by misinformation about homosexuals (the vast majority)!

Be On The Look Out!
You really want to beware of a third breed; those who suffer from religious homophobia. Truth be told, these are people who simply hate homosexuals. Period! Some might even consider them bigots. And they justify their bigotry by misquoting and taking out-of-context a myriad of Bible verses. Beware. They go to great lengths to dig up any scripture that can be twisted into condemning homosexuality. As long as they can convince other people “God hates homosexuals” they can openly express their bigotry. Unbeknownst to most, the scriptures they dig up refer to all kinds of things; none of which are our current definition of a homosexual: a law abiding individual who is sexually attracted to his/her same sex.

On the contrary, if I dug up every Bible verse that condemned: (1) a man sexually assaulting a woman; (2) a man forcing a woman into prostitution; (3) a man forcing a child to have sex; (4) a man purchasing a female sex-slave; and (5) a man having sex with another man’s wife; then wrap all of these unrelated issues together and label the package, "Heterosexuality," then suggest "God hates heterosexuals" backed up by the story where God destroyed heterosexuals via flood; it would be obvious I suffer from a condition that requires professional help! This is exactly what religious homophobes do! Beware. There is such a thing as heterosexuals who sexually assault other heterosexuals. All homophobia aside, THIS is the type of behavior the Bible considers, “wicked.”

Homosexual Rape?
“Homosexual Rape” is an expression I came across; used by homophobes in religion. They interpret certain biblical text to mean; a heterosexual male(s) is/was sexually assaulted by a homosexual male(s). Ergo, the out of control homosexual rapist wants the poor defenseless heterosexual male to suffer! Now, let’s stop and think. It’s OK to think, you know! Is this the typical behavior we see in homosexuals, today? No! It is the behavior we see in some heterosexuals! Beware. Religious homophobia covers up the fact that some heterosexuals sexually assault other heterosexuals! But this type of assault is not about the lust for sex; it is about the lust for power and control over the other person! Unbeknownst to most, this was a common practice in the American south during slavery. Masta did not always use his bullwhip to set an example!

The first biblical text used … or misused ... is found in Genesis 9:20-27. But I’ll just high-light the main points:

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Their interpretation: Noah’s son, Ham, saw his father’s nakedness while he (Noah) was sloppy drunk passed out; then had anal sex with him. Noah awoke from his drunken stupor and knew what Ham had done to him; then condemned all black people to a life of slavery. Why? Because Ham was a black man; considered to be the father of all black people. Beware. The bigotry is not limited to homosexuals! I won’t go entirely into what exactly happened in this story. But I do recommend reading a rather fascinating book that does: Faithful Army (of) God (by Chris Masterson).

The Explanation
Beware. If Ham had raped his father would he have told his two brothers about it? And would they have been so nonchalant? Rape is a cowardly act done when no one else is around to interfere or prevent said suffering! Ham’s brothers were just outside the tent. If such an assault occurred, they would’ve heard something. But whatever happened (and I recommend reading the aforementioned title), Noah’s response was to curse an uninvolved party; Canaan. Who, by the way, was the youngest of FOUR sons! [Genesis 10:6] He couldn't possibly represent ALL black people! And the Israelites, led by Moses, made sure they exterminated all the Canaanite tribes living on their promised land. The same logic colonial Christians used to exterminate Native American tribes. Canaanites are extinct and the Bible is used to justify any religious misbehavior!

Be that as it may, was this the response of a person who had just been raped? And if Noah was so aware, why didn't he put up a struggle to make sure his other two sons heard something? Beware. Human nature would be to punish the rapist; not his children! Because of the negativity they can imply, religious homophobia openly acknowledges; Ham and Canaan were black. But through some twisted logic that defies all science, biology and genetics, Noah (Ham’s father and Canaan’s grandfather) was a white guy! At times you have to turn off your brain for it to make any sense.

The City of Sodom
The next incident is recorded in Genesis 19; two male visitors enter the city of Sodom and are attacked by a mob. But I’ll just focus on verses 4-8:

Before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young ... And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

First off, the "men of Sodom" are specified because the city was also full of women. However, it is suggested the mob consisted of homosexuals because they wanted to have sex with two males and they declined Lot’s offer to substitute his two daughters. On the contrary, this mob consisted of heterosexual men! Think about it! Would Lot have offered them his daughters, otherwise? If it was common knowledge the city was full of homosexuals, why did Lot move there with his family? Do heterosexual men frequent gay bars or other gay hangouts? Beware. This story is about heterosexual men who wanted to gang rape (sexually assault) Lot’s two male guests! And this was not their first time … it was their last! Religious homophobia also ignores the similar story told in Judges 19, where the mob did sexually abuse at least one of the two females they were offered in the place of the (male) Levite they wanted to rape!

The Underlying Motive
Beware. What religious homophobia conveniently overlooks (or is too anxious to notice) is the part of the above verse 4 (underlined) that identifies the “old and young.” This text describes a practice (still common today) called, PEDERASTY! It is the sexual relationship between an older man and a young man. Howbeit, the older man is heterosexual (typically having a wife, children and position of authority) and the young man is typically single, effeminate and submissive. IT’S A POWER TRIP on the part of the older heterosexual alpha male! Talk about a mid-life crisis! THIS is the behavior constantly condemned throughout the Old and New Testaments that the uninformed suggest is homosexuality. Howbeit, this is also the behavior (sexual preference) suffered among some older religious authorities and the younger choir boys (and boys in the confessional).

Beware. All those Bible verses religious homophobia constantly purports condemn homosexuals actually condemns heterosexuals who practice pederasty (and male prostitution)! The mob of Sodom displayed the same behavior that is commonly suffered today in penitentiaries/prisons around the globe. A new inmate can expect to be sexually assaulted by a mob of veteran inmates comprised of wicked heterosexual men who use anal rape to establish the order-of-hierarchy! One might also find this behavior in some street gang initiations, fraternity initiations and among established politicians and religious authorities! Is there no wonder the people in power go to great lengths to assign all the biblical condemnation to homosexuals?

Beware. We must now ask ourselves; is the religious homophobe so anxious to condemn homosexuals to keep everyone's attention off his own behavior (that involves pederasty)?

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS ARTICLE, YOU WILL ALSO ENJOY READING, "Faithful Army (of) God" ...

Throughout the ages, repressive means prevented the spread of information considered dangerous; ancient knowledge that encouraged people to think for themselves! The masses were convinced to blindly accept English translations as absolute truth! These omitted most famous people in the Bible were gay.

Privileged groups decided they had exclusive rights to such knowledge. They spoon fed information to the masses at their own discretion and let the chips of deceit, misinterpretation, discrimination and intimidation fall where they may. We can now change all of this; one reader at a time!