Genesis 2
22. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Leviticus 18
22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
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.
11. And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12. And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14. And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
15. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
16. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
17. And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
18. And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19. And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
20. And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21. And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
22. Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. (Fine bunch to be associated with ain't it? ~lik2hunt~)
Although the vast majority of Americans reject homosexuality as normative, morally acceptable, or worthy of protection by custom or legislation, the homosexual rights movement has become increasingly entrenched in recent years. This is the conclusion of Enrique T. Rueda, a Roman Catholic priest who has recently published a monumental book examining this subject which is bound to remain one of the leading reference works on homosexual rights for many years. "Gay rights" ordinances are passed and enforced, in at least one case against a church which sought to discharge an organist when it became known that he was a practicing homosexual. The sympathetic treatment of homosexuality in nationally distributed sex education curricula has been mentioned. Federal agencies and federally funded projects have sought to expand the definition of "sex discrimination" to include what is euphemistically referred to as "sexual preference" or "sexual orientation.
" Advocates of homosexual "marriage" and the right of homosexuals to adopt children are given a serious, and in some quarters a sympathetic, hearing. Homosexual ministers or priest are accepted in some mainline Protestant denominations, which themselves serve as key advocates for the further advancement of homosexual rights and societal influence. The U. S. Army is prohibited from recruiting on the law school campuses of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and other universities because the army does not hire homosexuals. These examples of sexual ethics in public policy indicate that policy has lost touch with grass roots sentiments and beliefs. Once again, the question is, Whose values should be reflected in our law and public policy?
Conclusion. Whether sexual ethics are examined in the context of personal morality, in terms of the proper role of men and women in the church and society, or in regard to current public policy questions, the conclusion is much the same. The traditional answers from Judeo-Christian history, philosophy, and theology are often dismissed without a hearing, and our heritage including the moral roots of our legal and political systems is being exchanged for the views that the enlightened secularists offer in its place. While the biblical values affirmed by evangelicals and other orthodox Christians and Jews may not, ipso facto, be appropriate for legislation, there are numerous instances in which these ancient traditions do offer the best alternative for public affirmation. As Lutheran theologian Richard John Neuhaus has written: "It was thought until very recently, by the cultural leadership of the Western world, that [the source of public values] had been resolved... by excluding religion or religiously-based morality from the public arena.... The idea of the separation of church and state... has by remarkable convolutions of logic and law come to mean in the minds of many people the separation of religiously-based values from public policy. But the period is now past when it was assumed that these issues could be resolved simply by removing one side of the debate from the public square.... We are not talking about imposing a belief system, but rather about resisting the imposition of alien belief systems that impose themselves under the guise of being value-neutral and value-free, when in fact they are laden with all kinds of values which are alien to the beliefs, the dreams, the convictions of the American people."
