I was struck by this picture that Andrew Sullivan posted last week. The man wearing this tattoo is friends with a guy who allegedly beat a gay man because he was 'coming onto him'. Video here. In case you cannot read the skin-art, the tat reads:Thou shalt not lie with a male as one does with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22
More striking yet is the response that Sullivan got from a reader -- who happens to be a pastor:Too bad the guy with the passage from Leviticus tattooed on his arm didn’t read the next chapter:
This is the problem with religion (any religion): It can be co-opted to justify anything that the believer wants... no matter how absurd. The problem is that so many of these 'believers' conveniently skip over any details that do not serve their agenda.You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you; I am the LORD
Or in the King James Version:Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
Of course since when is the Bible applied to oneself. It is apparently only to be applied to others, as an excuse for abuse.
I'm in the midst of a big post on religion, so you'll be seeing more of this stuff in the near future.
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19 October 2009
The Bible As Justification For Violence
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