Our leftovers are an abomination!

         As a gay man who subscribes to all manner of LGBTQ blogs, RSS feeds, facebbok pages, websites and the like, I hear a great deal about people who hate our community.  Under the heading of 'know your enemy' I am aware of the scripture passages so often used as battering devices to force us into a  submission of will that will help us out our stubborn and sinful lifestyle. We are an abomination!

          How many times is the word abomination used in scriptures and to what else besides 'men sleeping with men as with a woman' is the word ascribed to? The word abomination though comes to us from several different Hebrew words and often do not accurately elicit the tense, sense or true meaning of what an abomination would be. In any event, there are so many things that are an abomination that it might border on the absurd if we were to take it literally. Foods , sex, prostitution, lying and a whole range of cheating to child sacrifice. Question: Does eating shrimp and child prostitution merit the same word of abomination and with it a similar penalty? We just had a shrimp, feta and spinach dish for dinner, are we to be stoned?  What punishment should be meted out for those who cheat in business dealings which is also an abomination.

          But I have gone on a bit of a tear here because the original line that caught my sensibilities was that leftovers (the third day) was also an abomination. If my previous arguments didn't sway you as to the lunacy of how everything seems to be an abomination, what will we do with our leftovers? What will become of our diets?  Must we eat everything on our plate? Wait, would we then be guilty of gluttony? Is that an abomination ( Phillippians 3:19 ? ). So much for killing the fatted pig. Stone the fat man! I think we might want to revisit some of our literal translations, translation for a designed purpose, cherry picking passages and looking into some kind of intent or cultural contexts.

           Meanwhile, I am going to give myself at least a double whammy. The big gay man is going to heartily dine on leftovers tomorrow. Amen  and Yummo!

Leviticus 19:1-18

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.

When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable in your behalf. It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

You shall not defraud your neighbour; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

You shall not render an unjust judgement; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbour. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbour: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbour, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.