Sodom and Gomorrah

Every morning I read the Scriptures suggested by the authors of the Revised Common Lectionary. They are supposed to be preparation for the Sunday readings (Thursday through Saturday), or reflections on them (Monday through Wednesday). This morning's reading from the Hebrew Scriptures was Genesis 19:1-29, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I read the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) text in my Oxford study Bible.

I don't see the relationship between this text and Sunday's reading, which was the story of Jesus' walking on the sea of Galilee and Peter's partly successful effort to join him. I looked at the Oxford notes, hoping for some clue. All I got was the suggestion that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was punishment for the sexual excesses, specifically sodomy, of the residents of the town.

This is a text that is used by conservatives to condemn me and my people. Many contemporary critics see the text as a condemnation of the inhospitability of the people of Sodom, rather than a condemnation of our sexuality. The New
Interpreter's Bible is somewhat more helpful than Oxford in seeing the sin as social, the threat of gang rape rather than individual, a private sexual act.

So what am I to make of this text? It is surely, as Rev. Edgard Danielsen-Morales calls it, a text of terror. I have to think about it carefully to avoid feeling that the Bible is condemning me. I do think it is the threat of rape, not homosexuality, that is being condemned.

We give out stickers every year at the Pride Parade that say "God Made Me Queer." I believe that absolutely. My queerness has caused me a lot of pain, pain that I did not deliberately choose. God made me queer so that I would grow as a human being. God didn't make me queer to punish me. Why would God make me queer then condemn me? The God of my head (still working on my heart) loves me because of who I am, not despite who I am.

Here's a comment my conservative friends won't like: we have to be careful not to confuse the Bible with God. The Bible is a cultural construct, written by humans to reflect their understanding of God at the time they were writing. It was not dictated by God. My understanding of God as a loving God is not the understanding that the author of the Sodom story had. And I think my understanding is closer to the truth of who I AM is.