There was a seminar on faith and homosexuality at UGA recently, centering on the majority population (i.e. white Christians), and I realized I’ve never really discussed why I have a problem with people’s use of the Bible to justify condemnation and their own ideas of “morality.” I think that a citation from another website easily sums up my major problem. Here are seven (SEVEN!) different translations of the same passage from the Bible:
- ESV: (English Standard Version): “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is abomination.”
- KJV: (King James Version): “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination”.
- LB: (Living Bible): “Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin”
- Net Bible: “You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act.” 1
- NIV: (New International Version) “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”
- NLT: (New Living Translation): “Do not practice homosexuality; it is a detestable sin.”
- RSV: (Revised Standard Version): “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Okay, almost all of these say different things, but I have ONE thing that can be understood regardless of who translates it to say to the authors (note, I didn’t say translators, because that would be a complete misnomer) of the LB, Net Bible, and NLT: FUCK YOU!! You did not write this passage accurately; you wrote it to suit your own purposes, whether they be to sell more copies of the Bible or to cater to your political tastes in condemnation. Again, in case that wasn’t clear, FUCK YOU!
These translations were taken from http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibh5.htm and are not my property.
