Curiosity

So my "bear went over the mountain" curiosity has got me doing some biblical research, sparked by a religious debate a few weeks ago. With the help of a friend I've been learning about the practices of Jehova's witnesses. Aside from being more aggressive evangelists they seem to be of the standard christian mould. I've started to wonder if some people don't confuse them with Hari Chrishnas.

That said, I was reading the Watch Tower online and was fascinated by a reprinted article that was published in the AMA journal. I did not realize Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. It is rather interesting, and with modern medical practices not quite as tricky as it first sounded to me.

I was of course a bit tickled to read the role of wife and husband (turns out God approves of my divorce since adultery was involved). And happy to read that the wife's job was not to stay home and bake pie. And this lead me to the page on their beliefs, which begins with things "God thinks are bad." Pretty standard stuff, and since it mentioned homosexuality (along with bestiality, incest, premarital sex and adultery) and gave biblical citations I decided to blow the dust off my King James and take a peak. Specifically cited was Leviticus 18:6, and that particular verse references not having sex with "kin". Leviticus 18:22 specifically mentions that laying with mankind as you would womankind is a no no.

What I found much more interesting was the preceding and continuing verses against incest. Aside from verse 22 the rest of the chapter, continuing to Chapter 21 is all about not sleeping with relatives. Oh, and one about not having spite sex with your wife's sister. It seems to me that there was a bigger problem than homosexuality in ancient times. I'm all about context, if you hadn't guessed. Moses went to great pains to leave no wiggle room in the can I/can't I debate. Not your mom, not your father's wife who isn't your mom, not your aunt or uncle, not your sister or brother, even if they aren't blood related...and so on.

Also of interest were the punishments for various offenses, most were death, but not all. You get :
Burned if you sleep with your wife and her mother,
Shunned if you sleep with your sister (very specific this one, "his sister, his father's daughter or mothers daughter")
Shunned when sex happens during menstruation (how would people know?)
Childless if you have sex with your uncle's wife or your brother's wife

And apparently there was a time when people had been convinced not to sacrifice their children to false gods, so to keep said gods (or demons) somewhat appeased men would masturbate into the sacrificial fire. This too was a no no, and I imagine a wee bit dangerous. Nothing like hedging your bets I suppose, but considering how difficult some men find it to maintain an erection when drunk I have to wonder how these guys managed to do it over an open flame.

And that is my current musing...I'll keep you posted.