An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 22: Scapegoats, and why homosexuals, blood transfusions, naked uncles and rounding the corners of your head are all bad things. Actually, there is no "why". They Just Are Okay (Leviticus 16-20)
Leviticus 16-20
But anyway, the rest of this chapter is a smorgasbord of miscellaneous rules, some that strike me as good (don’t be cruel to deaf and blind people), some as esoteric (don’t wear clothing of mixed linen and wool) and some just plain odd (“thou shalt not round the corners of thy head”).
Scapegoats, and why homosexuals, blood transfusions, naked uncles and rounding the corners of your head are all bad things. Actually, there is no "why". They Just Are Okay.
Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores
Sacred Texts (Bible version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through
the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as
literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP
And now:
Leviticus 16
“But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat,
shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and
to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.”
More instructions from God for sacrifices and rituals that
Aaron must perform – the implication is that this is to atone for Aaron’s sons
making the wrong kind of sacrifice previously, although I’m not certain on that
point. Predominantly this chapter is again a very detailed description of the
steps of the ritual, involving sacrifice and incense and purifications, but of
interest is the role of the scapegoat, which I’m pretty sure isn’t mentioned
before.
The priest recites all of the sins of his congregation
over the scapegoat, which is then sent to bear the sins away into the
wilderness. And then there is a statute to perform this yearly, on the tenth
day of the seventh month.
Again you can see where some of the imagery of
Christianity stems from, with Christ standing in for the scapegoat and carrying
off the sins of the people. Given the cultural heritage it would seem likely
that this ritual is the root of that idea, but the concept of a person or
animal being given the sins or bad luck or curses or even the spirit of a dying
fertility god is a widespread one – this version is unusual in that it deals
with more personal salvation than cosmic forces, but it’s interesting
nonetheless.
Leviticus 17
“And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto
devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever
unto them throughout their generations.”
Normally I quote a verse that tends to be a synecdoche of
the chapter as a whole, but this one is not so representative. Rather I put it
up there because it’s another wonderful mad street preacher line. Just imagine
standing on a street corner shouting that at strangers.
Actually the chapter has a two-fold set of instructions. First,
related to the quoted verse, if you sacrifice an animal you’d better make sure
you do it at the tabernacle lest you be thought to be whoring after devils.
Secondly, eat no blood, for “the life of the flesh is in the blood”. Another
tiny bit of phrasing that has led to problems – I believe it’s this concept
that makes Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusion. And it’s one of those
expressions, much like the “leprosy” we saw last time, which is probably meant
more metaphorically than it comes across. In a way, biologically speaking, it’s
kind of correct, but like the blotchy walls causing blotchy skin thing, it’s
also just wrong enough, based on an incomplete understanding, as to be a
dangerous tenet upon which to base your life.
Also, of course, the reason for kosher butchery about
which I have mixed opinions. Not based on animal welfare, more on logical
grounds. On the one hand, I can understand that all these strictures serve to
help define a belief system and culture this giving one a sense of identity and
belonging. On the other hand, you really aren’t going to completely
exsanguinate an animal even using sanctioned methods of slaughter, so it’s kind
of an unachievable goal.
Leviticus 18
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is
abomination.”
Yeah, I thought that one was around here somewhere, yet
another short little verse that has caused so many people so much misery. Of
course, if you’re going to be the kind of person that uses Leviticus to justify
your prejudices, you’d better make sure that you treat all of it with equal
weight lest you seem a hypocrite. Ever eaten prawns? A juicy burger? You’re
also an abomination. Got a spot on your face? Hope you kept yourself apart from
everyone for seven days.
Not to dwell on this for too long, but I’m pretty sure
from what I remember of the NT that Jesus’ message is basically “forget all the
rules of the old tradition and be nice to each other”. Of which going around
accusing people of being an abomination based on their sexuality is not being
nice.
Anyway, the bulk of this chapter is basically a long list
of people that you shouldn’t see naked, mainly your relatives. I dunno, this
doesn’t tally with the early chapters of Genesis where God becomes angry with
Adam and Eve for being ashamed of their nakedness. Maybe He carries a grudge
from that first “disobedience”. I’ve since heard that possibly “seeing them
naked” is a euphemism for “having sex with”, which makes more sense, but up
until now the Bible has quite happily used “to know” and “to enter into” as
euphemisms for sex, why add another?
Leviticus 19
“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the
children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am
the LORD.”
Y’see, this is confusing now. What if your neighbour is homosexual?
Actually, ooh, ooh, I know this one, it’s “hate the sin and love the sinner” isn’t
it? Yes, the old “they just need to be healed of their incorrect attitude”
argument. Feh to that. Religious beliefs are fine until they start to
negatively impinge on the lives of others (although, of course, the insidious
thing is that these people that try to “fix” homosexuality really do believe
they are doing it for a good cause).
But anyway, the rest of this chapter is a smorgasbord of miscellaneous rules, some that strike me as good (don’t be cruel to deaf and blind people), some as esoteric (don’t wear clothing of mixed linen and wool) and some just plain odd (“thou shalt not round the corners of thy head”).
Things forbidden: tattoos, self-harming, prostituting
your daughter, using dishonest weights and measures, consulting magicians.
Things you should do: honour old people, treat everyone fairly, fear your
parents.
One interesting proscription is to leave some unharvested
grain – once again I go back to The Golden Bough with old harvest legends where
it was believed that the god of the harvest would be gradually driven out of
the field by harvesting grain, and would reside in the last sheathe of wheat to
be harvested. I wonder if this stems from a similar tradition. Also quite nice,
there is a similar proscription to leave some grapes on the vine, for any
hungry passers-by.
Leviticus 20
“Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel,
Whosoever he
be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in
Israel, that giveth of his seed unto
Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him
with stones.”
I looked this one up, assuming that Molech (or Moloch)
was some kind of deity. Turns out to have been a Canaanite god worshipped with
child sacrifice; I’ve had my disagreements with Leviticus but I’ll give it that
one, it’s probably not a good practice to pursue.
This chapter deals with punishments relating mainly to
previous proscriptions, which are either death (for bestiality, homosexuality,
adultery, keeping a familiar and cursing your parents) or being cast as unclean
(for sex during menstruation, touching unclean beasts and seeing family members
naked). Actually that last suggest perhaps it is merely seeing them naked, and
not any kind of incest, as I’d assume that this would be a death penalty if
adultery or insulting your parents are.
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