Also from the same chapter:

Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.

You mean you have carrots and corn in the same garden? You better pray about that.

Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material

That Polyester blend shirt you're wearing is a ticket to hell.

Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard

Dang it! I shaved this morning and trimmed my sideburns. That's one demerit.

Many of the Old Testament laws are there for health and sanitary reasons while others were to help distinguish the Jews as seperate people. For instance the law about not eating pork and shrimp would be good if you weren't always able to cook your food well. You could get trichinosis or hepatitis from these foods which could kill you. There are verses about crop planting and rotation. Relatives you can or can not marry.

Back to the tattoo, I doubt that God wants us to be covered in tattoos, but is this an actual sin? I sort of doubt it, but if it were I'd lean towards this being a verse that indicates that we should make marks on our skin for the dead. I don't think this verse prohibits cutting your skin or getting tattoos. Just don't do it as some memorial for the dead. I'm guessing that this in some reference to a custom people had at that time. If you're in doubt then don't get a tattoo.

Homosexuality I don't believe can be put into the same category.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Lev. 18:22

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; Lev. 20:13

It's not written that a tattoo is an abomination or that you should be put to death for getting a tattoo, however homosexuality seems to be a serious offense that deserves capital punishment.

Take what you want from that.

Originally posted by justamomma
.... Homosexuality *is* found in the animal kingdom naturally but it makes little sense other than to satisfy a desire... beast or rational man? I am not calling you a beast.. PLEASE don't walk away assuming that. I am just telling you WHY this was a law of G.d. It was NOT to condemn you to hell or to be used as a way to make another superior over you.. your brother in law has broken the spirit of the law by trying to make you feel shame when he should have explained to you that the law was merely a way to separate ourselves as rational from the beasts who simply work off desires.

- So easy to say for someone born heterosexual.

Sex between two people in a committed relationship who love each other is not being like a beast or "simply working off desires," no matter what the sex of the lovers. I'm sure you have experienced sex with your husband as an uplifting experience of giving and sharing love. Why do you assume that homosexual sex must be just an animalistic release?

Love between two of the same sex can be as deep, tender and long-lasting as love between two of the opposite sex.

Originally posted by sebarud

And this was 15 years ago? I just have to ask: Where in the world are you from?

Georgia, U.S.
Some churches to this day don't like women wearing pants at church.

I can tell you, Hardly ANY women had tattoos around where I live!
Of course, the 80's started the piercings and some teenagers did it.
I didn't go to church, so I don't know if they wore them in church, but, still tattoos were a no-no.

Just to add my own .02 and another Christian opinion to the mix, I also believe that the whole tattoo and skin marking thing were referring to some memorial of the dead. I myself have a couple of tattoos and plan to get another one soon. The people in my church do not (as far as I know) judge me for my appearance and if they did, I would pray for their forgiveness.
From what I have studied, regardless of how people and religions want to think, there is no difference at all between any sin. Having a lusty thought about your wife's best friend is just as sinful as slaughtering a school full of children. We are the ones who want to make some sins more sinful than others - but I would point out that from my studies (feel free to correct me if I am wrong) the sin most often mentioned by Jesus is judging others. I'm just sayin'.
As for the homosexuality question, Biblically all sex outside of a man-woman marriage is sin. So my having premarital sex with women is no less sinful than homosexual sex. Sodom and Gomorrah were destryed for many different reasons, not just because of gay sex. I will not judge another person for whom they are coupled with, but neither can I go on a gay pride march to support you. I will still be your friend and hang out with you though regardless of what some "Christians" think. Jesus himself shunned the church and hung out with "sinners" did he not?
=Begin rant=
One last thing for good measure. I disagree with most Christians on the whole "going to hell" thing. When you study the Bible, both old and new testament, every word translated into "hell" in the original language meant "grave" or something other than an eternal burning hell. The Hebrew "Sheol", and the Greek "Hades" both are properly translated as "the grave". As in literally where your dead body is."Gehenna" which is the Grecian translation of the Hebrew word for "Valley of Hinnom" was an actual place where they threw out the trash and sewage. This place was kept burning and brimstone was added to it to keep the fires going so all would be consumed in it. When this word was translated into hell, usually as in someone deserving hell, it was meant as a reference to the practice at the time of certain heinous criminals who were put to death and were not afforded a proper burial. Their body was cast into this "Gehenna" to be completely consumed by fire as an additional indignity after their execution. The greek word "Tartaroo" is used once in the new testament and translated as hell in 2 Peter 2:4 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;". Tartaroo is translated as "cast them down to hell" here. Although Tartaroo seems to be a form of the Greek "tartarus" for dark abyss or prison, the context here implies an act instead of a place. The fall of the angels from honor to dishonor.
=end of rant=
Well, gotta get back to work.

Originally posted by archetype_one
If homosexuality is indeed still to be considered a sin according the OT law then anyone who has cursed his parents should also be put to death.

Well, see, this is the problem with trying to get interpretations through the eyes of the christianized world.

Listen.. basically all of this just means that if you act like a beast (meaning you act on desire aka instict aka for self) rather than using the special gift that was given to seperate yourself from the animal world, then you will die like a beast and not a man. Acting on instinct (desires) like an animal defeats the purpose you were designed for and thus, you will die a physical death and there will be nothing more... just like an animal does.

This is what people misunderstand about the Jewish people calling others beasts (I don't... I rather just tell you what the meaning is). It is not meant as an insult or as a condemnation... it just means that one is living like an animal.... they are living purely for self... that is the law of the animals. The law of man uses rationality. The law of G.d uses rationality based on understanding. *shrugs*

One thing to keep in mind when discussing all verses related to sexual activity is that at the time those laws were put into place, it was one tribe against another and every tribe needed as many children as they could get in order to have a large army. By the time that reason was no longer as valid, we had large religious institutions with huge buildings to support and/or many members of the clergy class, and the easiest way to bring new people (and therefore, more support) into the church was to embrace the verses that encourage procreation, and discourage sex outside of procreation. Homosexuality was seen as an "abomination" because there was zero chance it would create new soldiers/tithers (by the way, the biggest lies preached in churches are in regard to the way they mangle the history and intent behind tithing, to turn it into a divine mandate to support the aforementioned buildings and clergy class, but that's another subject), while adultery tended to be winked at more often because in the end it still resulted in the birth of children, who in many cases would still wind up in the church. When you come right down to it, those verses have never been as much about morality as they are about money and power, and perpetuation of the tribe/church, although I will admit they come in handy for those who are simply disgusted by the way someone else chooses to live.

If churchgoers would stop letting preachers jump all around the Bible from verse to verse, and instead require them to read verses in context and then consider to whom those verses were written, by whom they were written, and the circumstances of the time that might inspire such writings - oh, and insist on a complete and accurate translation (which the KJV is NOT, if only because of its age and the limited availability of original sources) - there would be a lot less misuse of the scriptures in this way.

Originally posted by archetype_one
You started out sounding like you agreed with my point, but then did the classic "homosexuality is different...It's a serious sin".

But of course you're right here. There are no levels of sin.

What I was implying is that some of these laws in the O.T. were civil guidelines much like a speed limit sign. We have the same concept today. There are misdemeanors and there are felony crimes. I think the actual laws that outlined an actual sin are intuitive. You don't really believe it's a sin to eat bacon or shrimp do you? What about cooking fish and steak in the same oven. Yes, there are regulations against that in the O.T. as well.

Originally posted by tallcool1
From what I have studied, regardless of how people and religions want to think, there is no difference at all between any sin. Having a lusty thought about your wife's best friend is just as sinful as slaughtering a school full of children. We are the ones who want to make some sins more sinful than others -

Well said . As I'd mentioned in another thread, if only non-sinners were allowed to attend church, the building would be empty. We're all in the same boat, but when you have the choice to be rescued you have that decision to take it or leave it before the rescuer sets sail.

Originally posted by tallcool1
One last thing for good measure. I disagree with most Christians on the whole "going to hell" thing. When you study the Bible, both old and new testament, every word translated into "hell" in the original language meant "grave" or something other than an eternal burning hell.

As tempting as it is, I don't want to deviate the thread from the topic, please feel free to U2U me and I can quote the many verses that describe hell as a place of torment, eternal fire, burning and gnashing of teeth, etc.

[edit on 8-1-2009 by saint4God]

PLEASE, Why would God care if you tattooed your skin or got earrings, Your body is gonna rot anyway! If there is a heaven or hell or whatever, You think you will be in that body there? Man wrote this book to enslave others and have done a real good job of it. No other thing on this planet divides more people than religion. Not race, sex, sexual orientation. So what about getting your ears pierced. I see all women do that. even the ones in church, Guess there all going to hell.

I would start off by saying that the people who call themselves Christians, but don't live like are not Christian.

A follower of Jesus should live like it.

Following the OT law does not save a person. The way to salvation is through the Lord Jesus.

Jesus if the fulfillment of the OT and his death and resurrection mark the new covenant.

I am a Christian and do not have any piercings, tattoos, and I believe homosexuality is a sin and is a chosen lifestyle (not something you are born with) ..... all people are born into sin.

Please read what the NT has to say about piercings, tattoos, and homosexuality and then post again with your findings.