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    15 March 1972
    Los Angeles Advocate
    Leviticus not a book for all seasons

    In response to their year-end, 11-page treatment of homosexuals, Life Magazine recently printed a sample of the letters people sent. One of these was a simple quote from the Bible, complete with annotated source. It was sent in by a woman from Glendale, and even though I needn't say more, I will anyway. Her much-used-cliche-Bible-verse was taken from Leviticus 18 and reads thus:

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

    Well. Now we know how the American public feels about homosexuality (not to mention the ancient Israelites). My question is, how does the U.S. fishing industry feel about:

      Of all that are in the waters, you may eat these; whatever has fins and scales you may eat. And whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. (Deuteronomy 14:9,10)

    And what would the United Barbers of America say to:

      You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. (Leviticus 19:27)

    And what would the garment district say to:

      . . . nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff. (Leviticus 19:19)

    And what would most Americans say to:

      None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God; for no-one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a defect in his sight, or an itching disease, or scabs, or crushed testicles. (Leviticus 21:17-20)

    And, most obviously, what - I ask you, WHAT - would Farmer John say to:

      And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you. (Leviticus 11:7-8)

    The point is this: How long will people refuse to admit that we are civilized, that we have controls which make any food edible, and that we are overpopulated. In a world so hostile and competitive, nobody has any business denying any expression of love, especially when the only basis of denial is a set of nomadic tribal laws that are over 3000 years old.

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