Leviticus 18

Healthy children, and lots of them, lead to strong tribes.

"Don't live like the people of Egypt where you used to live, and don't live like the people of Canaan where I'm bringing you." Leviticus 18: 3 The Message

I do take Leviticus and it's laws seriously. For example, I adhere to the dietary laws it contains, not because I think eating pork or lobster displeases God, but because I believe there was a reason these animals were not considered fit for consumption. As I have often said, even if there were no God, even if the Bible contained nothing more than human wisdom, it has been around for thousands of years and has been quite a trustworthy source of human tradition, of guidelines that have worked for people for generations.

Which brings us to Leviticus 18, or the chapter laying out sexual ideals. Looking at these purely from a scientific perspective, these laws make sense. If you want the healthiest tribe, inbreeding is to be avoiding, as is sex with animals. If you want the largest tribe, you don't have sex with a woman when she isn't fertile (during her period) or have sex in a same-sex relationship that cannot produce children. You also don't kill your infants (early birth control, offering your newborn up to Molech to be burned.)

So where does that leave us today? Is having sex with relatives okay? How about sex with animals? Sex during menstruation?  Gay sex? Using birth control? Abortion?

In one chapter, Leviticus touches on many hot-button topics we still struggle with today. My conclusion is that while "all things are permissible, not all things are beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12), and, of course, that we no longer function in tribes. The United States, for example, was not a nation built by members of one biological family, but rather by many peoples who shared a common ideology.

There is much to discuss here, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to go into detail about it in this very limited format.  It suffices to say I came to  my own conclusions regarding Leviticus 18, and did in my own life what I felt was best.