NOTE: This post isn't going to discuss the science behind any of it, just what the bible actually says on the topic.
We all know that christians, jews and muslim believe that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of homosexuality. Sadly, this seems to be just a false reading of the bible.
Before I go on, I must make you aware that the term "to know" is used 943 times in the Old Testament. Of these times, more than 800 of them blatantly refer to knowing a person as in the normal non-sexual way. There are only about 12 references that directly relate to sex. The rest are up for interpretation. I'll probably make a separate thread for this topic.
Neither city uses its original name in the bible. Sodom was derived from the Hebrew word "S'dom," which means "burnt." Gomorrah is derived from the Hebrew word "'Amorah," which means "a ruined heap." Why is it that we are told that the bible is an accurate written copy of the precise oral tradition when they can't even remember the actual names of the 2 cities?!
We also have to remember that there are countless translation errors in the bible. As an example, "qadesh" literally means male temple prostitute, but is often translated as simply "homosexual". Obviously, it never occurred to the writers of the bible that women also partake of male prostitutes. I guess they never heard of gigolos back then.
Genesis 18 tells us that god had already decided to kill everyone in Sodom & Gomorrah. Abraham bartered with god, to save the city if he could find 10 righteous men. No angel rape or homosexuality is even mentioned yet.
Genesis 19 says that the male inhabitants of Sodom gathered around Lot's house and demanded that he bring them out so they could "know" them. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing exactly what "know" means in this situation. It could mean sex, but it could just as easily refer to meeting them. You have to remember that this was a war-torn region and they were distrusting of strangers.
The homosexual sex/rape argument does not make any sense. Firstly, we have to consider that the bible says that all of the male inhabitants, from the very youngest to the very oldest, wanted to know the strangers. There are places in the bible that freak out about people having sex with small children, but that wasn't made a big deal of. Secondly, why would Lot even think to offer his virgin daughters up to a group of gay males? What use would they have with a couple of girls? We also know that Lot's daughters were engaged to young men of Sodom, so they must at least be bisexual. Of course, we know what incestuous sluts Lot's daughters turn out to be, but that's a good thing apparently.
We also learn that Sodom & Gomorrah aren't the only 2 cities destroyed that night from reading the rest of the bible. Five other cities met the same fate. Deuteronomy 29 also lists Admah and Zeboim as being destroyed that night. That's 7 cities in all that were wiped out that night, yet only the inhabitants of Sodom were supposedly gay angel rapers.
No where does it say what the sex of the angels are, even if "know" is supposed to be translated as meaning sex. So even here we can't be completely sure if it was hetero or homo sex.
We also have another important translation error here. The original hebrew that is transliterated as "anshei ha'ir, anshei S'dom" means "the people of the city, the people of Sodom." However, it has been mistranslated to "the men of the city, even the men of Sodom." This is an extremely important distinction. Since it's both males and females involved, how can it be deemed, homosexual? At least some of it had to be heterosexual.
The National Gay Pentecostal Alliance comments: "This alone tells us that the traditionalists were wrong about the intent of this mob: If you are planning a homosexual orgy, you don't invite the wife and kids!"
As a final note on this section, why didn't Abraham or his wife Sarah see or hear anything that night?! They lived on a hill that was surrounded by the 7 cities that were destroyed. You'd think that with all the fire and brimstone raining down around them they would have known something was going on. Yet they only knew about it the next morning.
Isaiah 1 says that Judah shares in the sins of Sodom & Gomorrah. However, there is not a single mention of homosexuality. It does list things like; not treating strangers well, greed, murder, watering down the wine, growing cucumbers in the wine vineyards, wearing mixed blend fabrics, etc, etc, etc.
Jeremiah 23 repeats a similar theme and does not mention homosexuality as one of the sins. Probably the biggest sin listed is farmers not giving up their land to the shepherds and their flocks. Does anyone remember Cain and Able?
Ezekeiel 16:49 says "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." Again, no mention of homosexuality.
Matthew 10:14-15 is a quote from Jesus, saying "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city." So even Jesus didn't link homosexuality to Sodom & Gomorrah.
Luke 10:10-12 is a reworded version of Matthew 10:14-15. It too does not mention homosexuality.
2 Peter 2:6-22 makes no mention of homosexuality
