On May 22, 2009, at 8:20 AM, SA wrote:
>
> But the Old Testament says for a man to lie with a man ["as with a
> woman"] is an abomination, so it seems these hygiene doctrines were
> in fact very old ideas from human history dressed up in modern garb,
> rather than really owing their existence to modern imperialism and
> such. No?
No. Male cult prostitution was, according to Kings and Chronicles, widespread in ancient Israel (and, accordingly, in the ancient East). It was a rival cult to the Jahwist one, and hence to patronize it was an "abomination" (ie., an insult to the Priests' God). That the Leviticus passage doesn't mention female homoeroticism (never, ever, condemned in any form until that gonif Paul) or even extend its condemnation to passive homosexuality or pederasty proves its specifically cultist purpose.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos