Religion and Homosexuality in Judaism and Christianity

If someone in the early years of the United States had brought up the idea of two men or two women getting married to each other, the surrounding society's reaction would have probably been one of shock that they had even mentioned the idea out loud. This is because in those days, the majority of the population was Protestant, and talk about homosexuality was very unpopular. It was not like today, with so many gay rights activists and unions around. There was hardly any acceptance of homosexuals, and doctors even tried to find ways of curing this, "disease" and making sure children would not contract it. Today, gay acceptance has increased drastically, and can be attributed to the rise of many different religions and denominations. This paper will focus on Christianity and Judaism, and figure out what side the denominations are taking on this issue.

While researching the views of marriage and sexuality of Christianity and Judaism, it's easy to see that it causes a pattern of division in both religions. It's also interesting to note that not all denominations of the same religion are on the same side of this issue. It's important to recognize that certain churches in specific denominations do not carry the same opinions on homosexual rights and marriage. The same can be said for the different types of Judaism. Thus, the question that begs to be answered is, "why do different denominations of a religion that obey the same God and read the same scripture have such different mindsets about an issue?" Such issues have been penned, "in-house issues," and this paper will explain the different views of both religions and their denominations, and determine why this is such a controversial topic.

The scriptures of both religions are very similar in origin. Christians use the Bible, which is basically a collection of books with many different authors. The Bible is made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Old being books written before the time of Jesus, and the New is the books after. However, Judaism only uses the first five books of the Old Testament, which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five are called the Torah, and were written by Moses through what Jews believe to have been God's inspiration.

The opinion of how much these scriptures actually say about homosexuality varies. There are some who believe that both scriptures say absolutely nothing about the idea of homosexuality being a sin, while others believe they are very clear on God's position... In Leviticus 20:13, the Torah reads, "A man shall not lie with another man as he would a woman; the two of them have done a toevah; they shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them." Additionally, the same verse of the King James Version of the Bible has, "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" (KJV).

Many theologians and students from both religions believe that these verses are very clear that God does not permit homosexual acts and thoughts. One example is the Southern Baptist Church, the biggest Christian denomination in the country today. The SBC has taken a very strong stand against gay marriage, and has denounced homosexual acts or thoughts as evil and sinful. They believe that gays and lesbians have chosen their orientation, and that it's not something you can be born with. Because of this, homosexuality is looked at as a deliberate form of rebellion against God.
However, even in this denomination there are churches that still vary in opinion. For example, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in New Hampshire believe that homosexuals should be included in their worship services and welcomes them with open arms. Gays and lesbians are even given opportunities to serve the church and their community just like any heterosexual member. On the other hand, the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas takes a much stronger position against gays than most of the SBC. The church is very open about their hatred towards gays and lesbians, and run GodHatesFags.com, a website that helps express these feelings. The church also believes that homosexuality is an, "unpardonable sin," which means that there is no way for God to save people if they are gay.

The Orthodox branch of Judaism is in similar agreement with the SBC. Although there are different types of Orthodox Judaism, the general consensus is that they are against any form of homosexual behavior. Though there is some agreement on this issue, there is also disagreement on which acts should be considered homosexual. As with the SBC, they believe being homosexual is a choice or a disease, and that it can also be cured.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are also Christian and Jewish denominations that do not believe in the condemnation of gays and lesbians, but openly accept them into their places of worship and opportunities of ministry. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a good example of this. They currently allow the ordination of openly gay pastors, but insist they remain celibate. However, much like the SBC, there are certain groups like the Solid Rock Lutherans fighting to limit any homosexual's activity within the Lutheran denomination.

Reform Judaism, the biggest Jewish denomination in North America today, is in agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They take the complete opposite side of the Orthodox Jewish group, and believe gays and lesbians should be treated as equally as any other Jew, regardless of their sexual orientation. However, on the issue of marriage, Reform Jews take a different approach from any of the other denominations. They claim that there is a difference between marriage recognized in religion and marriage recognized by the government. The Reform Jews are for civil rights and marriages for homosexuals, but say they cannot acknowledge the marriages in a religious sense because there is nothing in the scriptures that allows them to do so.
The Jewish denomination that is referred to as the Conservative, or Masorti branch, also fits underneath this category. Just recently, on December 6th of last year, the Conservative (Masorti) Judaism denomination decided to ease many of the previous restrictions it had against the homosexual community. This has allowed many Jewish temples to ordain homosexuals who had previously wanted to become rabbis. However, the Masorti stand against same-sex marriage remains firm. Lifting the restrictions against homosexuals was seen as expected from the Conservative Jewish group because they believe that Jewish Law needs to be continually updated to keep up with the changing times.

Something that distinguishes the Conservatives from the other two Jewish denominations is that the rules they are required to follow are determined by the CJLS (Committee on Jewish Law and Standards). There are certain issues that are discussed, and then are voted upon by the committee. This is comparable to the elected Churchwide Assembly that makes up the higher form of "government," of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Even though the act to lift the homosexual restrictions passed by the CJLS, it was only by a thirteen out of twenty-five person vote. In protest, four members of the committee stepped down because they thought lifting the restrictions was not in the best interests of the denomination. This is just another example of how there can be splitting and conflict within every religious denomination.

The pattern of splitting continues to go on and on in the smaller denominations of Judaism as well as many other Christian ones. This research has made it clear that even though a certain church or temple is associated with a denomination, it will not always follow every belief the denomination does. Though gay rights and marriage are relatively new topics, maybe people can one day come to a consensus and begin to fill the rift the issue has created between denominations in Christianity, Judaism, and many other world religions.