Why does religion hate us?
The religions which don’t condemn homosexuality are few and far between. It seems
like religion is the place to turn if you want to have an excuse for homophobia. But are
homophobes pulled towards religion or does religion produce homophobes? And why is
it that institutions which base themselves on peace and love are inextricably linked with
hate?
Religion is not only the prime source of homophobia in the world, but also perpetuates
dangerous ideas and instigates the physical and mental abuse of LGBTs around the world.
Children are rejected, men are beaten and in eight countries in the world, people are
legally killed for their sexuality. And it is all in the name of religion.
Extreme views seem to breed within the walls of religious institutions and while there
are of course moderates and liberals within every religion, there is also a fair share of
those who use their religion to fuel a very personal hate. But where does the religious
justification for hate come from?
An early idea came from psychologist William James. Writing in a time before
‘homosexuality’ was even a concept, he described how the majority of heterosexual people
found the idea of having sex with somebody of the same gender as ‘disgusting’. His views
sound very prejudice today, but a refinement of this idea could be true. Certainly it
works the other way around too and many gay people are equally revolted by the idea
of having sex with somebody of the opposite gender.
But James’ point was that when the majority of people are heterosexual and
don’t like the idea of having sex with somebody of the same gender, it is
easy for any institution to leap on this idea and ‘win points’ for
their team. In short, it could be that religions have played
upon this disgust to attract followers.
Historically, this idea may have some support. Before Christianity came the Roman,
Greek and Egyptian empires. Largely pagan, there is evidence that homosexuality was not
only acceptable to some extent but even encouraged, especially between elder and younger
men. In ancient Israel itself, where Christianity is said to have begun, it was thought that
sexual acts of all descriptions were in fact part of many traditional rituals and offerings.
Homosexuality was certainly a big part of that and there are paintings that seem to depict
male on male sex as an important part of pleasing the fertility gods.
So if you were trying to attract people to a new religion, it would seem sensible to tout
your views as different to the existing ones. It would be a good idea to set yourself up as
the ‘pure’ religion by condemning the acts of all the others. Many experts today feel this
could explain the few Bible verses which condemn homosexuality. For example, the most
cited verse, Leviticus 22, sits among a large list of other restrictions which it was thought
was actually a direct message to Israelites of the time, a call for them to ‘clean their act
up’ and be different from the heathens of the past.
Other major religions have a similar story. The Islamic opposition to
homosexuality harks from a time homosexuality was used for
religious acts. In pre-Islamic Arabia, sex
within the genders was mostly associated
with the rich and high ranking in society
and was in fact a mark of wealth and
opulence. Islam condemned many of
the ‘excessive ways’ of the old order,
including homosexuality.
But in the modern world, many of
the old ideas of being ‘pure’ have
fallen by the wayside. Certainly
being a virgin is no longer a
requirement of a bride for most grooms!
But religion is still used as a platform for
prejudice. And often it comes down to a few
lines in a book that was written thousands of
years ago, in a vastly different historical context,
which has passed through several translations.
However, there is some hope. More and more religious
organisations now have branches or groups who accept
homosexuality. In the UK, there are LGBT groups for almost all
religions. And as the majority of the Western world wake up to the idea
that being gay is not evil or unnatural, so more and more pressure will be
put on the countries that still use belief as an excuse for their prejudice.
WINTER 2015
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