As we all know, the term "sodomy" comes from the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities that God supposedly struck down because they were rampant with sin.
The question of course, is this: what was their sin? Was it homosexuality? Was it anal penetration? Was it any kind of sex at all?
The story, which occurs in Genesis, actually isn't quite clear on the precise reason for the destruction of the towns. A little bit later, though, the Bible brings it up again.
Ezekiel 16:49 (NIV) 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."
Ezekiel says absolutely nothing about any sort of sexual practice. Although the story in Genesis does use the phrase "to know," there are a couple of things wrong with the standard interpretation:
1)The original word very rarely means "to know" in the sexual sense, at least in the context of the entire Bible. It is used very often in other books with no sexual connotation.
2)If it does refer to sexual activity, then it is likely a case of gang rape, not homosexuality, given the context of the story and the behavior of the townspeople.
It is quite unfortunate that the Christian view of homosexuality is often derived from a misinterpreted story. When it entered our language a few hundred years ago, it meant any sort of "wickedness." Since then, it has been twisted and perverted to the meaning it has now, improperly relating a private, consensual act between two people with brazen destructiveness that supposedly brought on God's wrath.
