I have heard that some of the most common arguments condemning homosexuals find their origins in Leviticus. In our assigned chapter “It’s the Purity, Stupid: Reading Leviticus in Context,” Jay Michaelson says that verses used to condemn are often taken out of context. In reading the chapters around Leviticus 18 “reveals an agenda entirely different from those usually proffered today.” I know this is a huge problem and has been for a very long time. People pick and choose verses out of context to meet their agenda. They make these verses seem to mean one thing, while in their original context they can mean something entirely different. Sometimes these verses are eluding to a larger plot and an idea that gets missed and overlooked when you look at pieces independently instead of looking for what their role might be in the bigger picture.
There is also the issue of what we tend to do to make the Bible seem more relevant to us. In some areas we ignore or brush over things that seem to be emphasized and in some we prioritize and highlight others that we think should be more important in today’s climate. Michaelson says “Yet when we clumsily attempt to make the Torah “relevant” to our times, we often import our own biases and agendas into a text that, like it or not, is about ancient cultic purity and the prohibition of foreign actions and mixtures that contaminated it.” This is the reason that so many controversies can be argued from both sides using the Bible. It seems that in the Bible you can always find evidence for what you choose to believe.