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It always amazes me how many people use religion to justify hate. Especially when most people use Bible verses as their sole justification for their bigotry. 99.9% of the people who use Bible verses as justification for their hate and intolerance against homosexuals don't follow many of the other things in the Bible. If you are going to say homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so, then you shouldn't be ignoring the items in the Bible that aren't convenient for you... that makes you a hypocrite; you either: 1) Believe everything in the Bible is the word of God and *try* to follow everything, or 2) You admit to yourself that a book that old that has been reinterpreted many, many times will reflect the bias of those that have rewritten it, therefore everything in it cannot logically be the pure word of God.
Below are a few of the many things the Bible says about how we should live our lives. Of course *some* of the Bible verses can possibly be interpreted differently, however, if you try to argue that all/most of the verses mean something different, well, you're in denial. Lastly, in the interest of full disclosure, these verses are taken from the King James version; feel free to look them up in your preferred version of the Bible (and I encourage you to do so as different versions of the Bible interpret things differently... part of the problem with assuming that everything in the Bible is God's word).
Do not eat beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, shrimp, or various other animals
Leviticus 11:1-11:47
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
Do not wear blended fabric (a lot of clothes are blends)
Deuteronomy 22:11
"Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together."
Leviticus 19:19
"Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee."
Women cannot cut their hair, and men cannot have long hair
1 Corinthians 11:4-11:15
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
Men must never shave/trim their beards
Leviticus 19:27
"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard."
Women should not wear men's clothing, and vise versa (how many women nowadays don't ever wear pants?)
Deuteronomy 22:5
"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
Do not work on Saturday/Sunday (which day depends on which day you consider the Sabbath)
Leviticus 19:30
"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD."
Do not get tattoos or piercings
Leviticus 19:28
"Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD."
Do not mix various seeds when planting
Leviticus 19:19
"Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee."
Deuteronomy 22:9
"Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled."
Slavery is okay (as long as they are foreigners, not Israelites)
Ephesians 6:5
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ"
Leviticus 25:44-25:46
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
Exodus 21:1-21:6
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
1 Timothy 6:1-6:2
"Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort."
It is okay to beat your slaves (as long as the slave doesn't die right away)
Exodus 21:20-21:21
"And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property."
Luke 12:47-12:48
"And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
Anyone who curses their parents should be put to death
Leviticus 20:9
"For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him."
Adulterers should be put to death
Leviticus 20:10
"And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."
Deuteronomy 22:22
"If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel."
Rapists must pay their rape victim's father a penalty, and marry their victim (talk about justice for the victim!)
Deuteronomy 22:28-22:29
"If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days."
Innocent children can be killed to punish their parents
2 Samuel 12:14-12:19
"Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."
Wives are a man's property that God can use to punish man
2 Samuel 12:11
"Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun."
Zechariah 14:2
"For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."
Deuteronomy 21:10-21:14
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
Fathers can sell their daughters into sexual slavery
Exodus 21:7-21:9
(Too long to quote here, click the verse link above to view)
A man having more than one wife is okay; many, many verses mention polygamous husbands (with no condemnation)
Exodus 21:10
"If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish."
2 Samuel 12:8
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."
Of course there are many, many more examples than the ones I shared above. If you are going to be a bigot, don't use the Bible to justify it unless you are willing to hold yourself to all the standards created by the Bible, including the ones above. And if you insist on quoting the Bible, remember Matthew 7:1... "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
