Free This Book is Gay by James Dawson Page A

down by humans hundreds of years ago and so may have errors or mistranslations or additions. It’s sort of like playing a game of Chinese whispers that’s lasted for centuries – some things are bound to get lost along the way.
    The closest thing I personally have to a prophet is Madonna. Now what if I went around taking everything she said literally?

    Look at the lyrics to ‘Express Yourself’ and ‘Material Girl’… contradictory at best, I’m sure you’ll agree!
    Let’s take a look at the main world religions and examine their traditional views first on homosexuality, then transgenderism.
    1. Hinduism and Buddhism
    Let’s start with the positive. Hinduism and Buddhism are way chilled out about both homosexuality and trans issues. Hindu art depicts various figures engaging in same-sex acts, while the whole point of Buddhism is about being at one with the world, which, in this case, includes us.
    Hurrah for Hinduism and Buddhism!
    2. Christianity
    As you know, there are various branches of the Christian church, and they each take a different stance on homosexuality. Here’s a best-fit guide:
Church of England: Progressive, but resistant. Same-sex marriage is OK for normal folks but not priests.
Catholic Church: Homosexuality is considered a sin.
Methodist Church: Pretty cool comparatively.
Quakers: Mad cool. They’ve been cool for years.
Baptists: They have a huge problem with the gays, I’m afraid.
    So what’s the big problem? Well, it’s all about TRANSLATION and LANGUAGE. There are lots of translations of the Bible (the Christian holy book), and all of them are slightly different. The odd word here and there looks pretty bad for homosexuality. The issues stem from two key parts of the Bible. The quotes below are from the King James Bible, and I’ve put them in a SCARY FONT. No reason …
    â€˜AND THEY CALLED UNTO LOT, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHERE ARE THE MEN WHICH CAME IN TO THEE THIS NIGHT? BRING THEM OUT UNTO US, THAT WE MAY KNOW THEM.’ Genesis 19:5 (In this instance, ‘to know’ is thought to mean ‘to bum’.)
    â€˜EVEN AS SODOM AND GOMORRAH, AND THE CITIES ABOUT THEM IN LIKE MANNER, GIVING THEMSELVES OVER TO FORNICATION, AND GOING AFTER STRANGE FLESH, ARE SET FORTH FOR AN EXAMPLE, SUFFERING THE VENGEANCE OF ETERNAL FIRE.’ Jude 1:7 (‘Strange flesh’ is thought to mean, in this case, ‘bum’.)
    So what’s goin’ on here? In a nutshell, the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah used to be in the Jordan valley until divine judgement was passed and they were destroyed by heavenly fire. Sounds like an awesome episode of Buffy until you realise that people use this story to persecute people.
    In some interpretations of the Hebrew text (versions of this story appear in the Torah, Bible and Quran) it’s thought the behaviour that displeased God so much was homosexuality.
    This is WIDELY open to interpretation as we shall soon discover.
    More eye-roll inducing admonition from the book of Leviticus:
    â€˜THOU SHALT NOT LIE WITH MANKIND, AS WITH WOMANKIND: IT IS ABOMINATION.’ Leviticus 18:22
    â€˜IF A MAN ALSO LIE WITH MANKIND, AS HE LIETH WITH A WOMAN, BOTH OF THEM HAVE COMMITTED AN ABOMINATION: THEY SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH; THEIR BLOOD SHALL BE UPON THEM.’ Leviticus 20:13
    Way harsh.
HOW TO ARGUE WITH A CHRISTIAN
    So if you have the misfortune to stumble onto a literalist, homophobic Christian, how do you go about defending yourself? Knowledge is power, my friend.

Here’s a twist you might not have seen coming:
    There’s some fairly convincing evidence of gay love IN THE BIBLE almost three thousand years prior to Queer as Folk. That’s right. In the book of Second Samuel, besties David and Jonathan may have been a little more than friends! Check it out:
    â€˜I AM DISTRESSED FOR THEE, MY BROTHER JONATHAN: VERY PLEASANT HAS THOU BEEN UNTO ME: THY LOVE TO ME WAS WONDERFUL,