Other Religions and Homosexuality

So as the focus of our chumash blog for the past few days has been gay people, I guess I will write about this very subject. We all have very different opinions in our class regarding the Torah's treatment of gay people. Some of us may think that the Torah is oppressive of gays or perhaps unfair towards them because they cannot control their own feelings. I don't think we realize that Judaism is not the only religion that is ostensibly against gay people. The three primary religions of our time, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all have negative opinions of gays in their main texts. While the reaction ranges from trying to teach the gays to overcome such harmfulness in their lives to punishment by death, both Islam and Christianity do not approve of homosexuality.

In Islam, homosexuality is considered unlawful. The different sects of Islam differ in reactions towards homosexuality, with one sect opting to enforce a physical punishment and another choosing not to inflict pain on gay people. (I have a source if you're curious: http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/homosexuality.htm) Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, a Muslim doctor, of the ISNA, an Islam organization, is quoted to have said that homosexuality is a "moral disorder..a moral disease, a sin and corruption..People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and eduation." And this is beyond crazy - in Afghanistan, the Taliban army has publicly executed 10 people who were accused of performing homosexual acts. Now I know what the justification for this may be: radical Muslims have different standards in regard to society. But nevertheless, I think we can all agree that THIS is oppressive - and the Torah certainly isn't.

Christianity is a little kinder to homosexuals. Many sects accept homosexuals and accept them in their churches. However, the Roman Catholic church views homosexuality as sinful. Also, many American Christians today do not want homosexuality to be an accepted part of society and believe that homosexuality contradicts God's vision for humanity as outlined in the Bible. Christians are sometimes the primary protestors at anti-gay marriage rallies because of their interpretation of the Bible.

The point of this post was not to condemn homosexuality. I just want everyone to see that Judaism is not the only religion that does not approve of homosexuality. Because these three religions originated in ancient times where most people did not accept gays, they each seem to discriminate against gays. Although the punishments vary, both religions, Islam and Christianity, for the most part, look down on homosexuality.

Here's a fun fact: Israel is the only country in the Middle East that does not discriminate against gays, despite the fact that it is the Jewish state.