Homosexuality bad, slavery good

No, that's not what I believe, so wait just a minute and hear me out!

An email came my way today that included an open letter to Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura is an American radio talk-show personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Paramount Television Group is currently producing a "Dr. Laura" television show (despite widespread protest). Apparently Dr. Laura once cited Leviticus 18:22 (thats the Book of Leviticus from the Old testament for those that don't know) as all the justification she needed for believing that homosexuality is an abomination and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

I think its pretty well established even in recent cases, that, so far, thought crime is not actually a crime in this country. So Dr. Laura is entitled to believe whatever she wants to believe. Just don't go foistering your beliefs on the rest of us okay! It turns out her propensity to express this "homosexuality is an adomination" opinion on air has lead to a threat to censure her under Canadian anti-hate laws.

However such a thing is far less effective than the open letter to Dr Laura, reputedly penned by one Kent Ashcraft. In this letter Kent cites ten other passages from Leviticus and Exodus that clearly show the folly of snatching a single line, out of context, from a book thousands of years old and waving it around as one's justification for believing, doing or not doing anything. The examples he gives include:

• A priest burining a bull at the alter is a nice way to honor The Man upstairs
• Selling your daughter as a servant is just fine and dandy
• Its okay to buy slaves, just so long as they are from overseas
• Its not just bad if you work on the sabbath - you must be put to death for it
• You shouldn't go up to the altar if you have defective vision
• You shouldn't wear clothes made from wool and linen
• etc. etc.

You may think I'm a terrible blasphemer to say these things, if you do you'll have to take me out and stone me if you do. Because that's what you have to do with people who do. But what's that I remember about not casting the first stone if...

Anyway, I think if you ever find yourself in a bible citation battle about what is right and wrong ("Mosquito Coast" has a good example of one) instead of just trying to refute by counter example maybe you should just throw in a Leviticus 25:44 quote and see if they want to agree that taking slaves from foreign countries is okay (albeit in clear contradiction of the fourteenth ammendment). Even if they agree with you, at least you'll know where they stand.

The more astute among you may wondering if that isn't what we're effectively doing with the people of Iraq who are destined to extract oil for us until our debt for invading them is paid. Or to the undocumented immigrant workers in this country. Remember all those workers that many people seem to want to sweep under the carpet and conveniently ignore, while all the time the government is actively pursuing economic policies that endorse seeking labor at the lowest possible cost and with the minimum possible benefits - and its even better if they are employeed overseas, out of sight and out of mind. Just what does that say about our compassion for our fellow humans?