Sodomy

[1][2][3][4] Originally the term sodomy, which is derived from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis,[5][6] was commonly restricted to homosexual anal sex.

The term is derived from the Ecclesiastical Latin peccatum Sodomiticum, "sin of Sodom", which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek word Σόδομα (Sódoma).

Laws prohibiting sodomy were seen frequently in past Jewish, Christian, and Islamic civilizations, but the term has little modern usage outside Africa, Asia, and the United States.

In those languages, the term is also often current vernacular (not just legal, unlike in other cultures) and a formal way of referring to any practice of anal penetration; the word sex is commonly associated with consent and pleasure with regard to all involved parties and often avoids directly mentioning two common aspects of social taboo – human sexuality and the anus – without a shunning or archaic connotation to its use.

While religion and the law have had a fundamental role in the historical definition and punishment of sodomy, sodomitical texts present considerable opportunities for ambiguity and interpretation.

[18] The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology quotes a similar form: "bowgard" (and "bouguer"), but claims that the Bulgarians were heretics "as belonging to the Greek Church, sp.

Webster's Third New International Dictionary gives the only meaning of the word "bugger" as a sodomite "from the adherence of the Bulgarians to the Eastern Church considered heretical".

[5] Some suggest the sinfulness for which Sodom was destroyed might have consisted mainly in the violation of obligations of hospitality, which were important for the original writers of the Biblical account.

In Ezekiel 16, a long comparison is made between Sodom and the kingdom of Judah: "Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they."

(v. 47, NASB) "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.

[22][23] The Book of Wisdom, which is included in the Biblical canon by Orthodox and Catholic Christians, makes reference to the story of Sodom, further emphasizing that their sin had been failing to practice hospitality: And punishments came upon the sinners not without former signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness, insomuch as they used a more hard and hateful behavior toward strangers.

(KJV)[24] The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, Philo (20 BCE – 50 CE), described the inhabitants of Sodom in an extra-biblical account:[5] As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after other women, and defile the marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another, doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature, and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome by violent desire; and so by degrees, the men became accustomed to be treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they also made their souls most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of men, as far as depended on them.The New Testament, like the Old Testament, references Sodom as a place where God's anger against sin was displayed, but the Epistle of Jude provides a certain class of sin as causative of its destruction, the meaning of which is disputed.

The Epistle of Jude in the New Testament echoes the Genesis narrative and potentially adds the sexually immoral aspects of Sodom's sins: "just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire" (v. 7, English Standard Version).

[1] Homosexual intercourse between males was possibly denounced in pre-6th century Jewish and Christian writings, such as the Epistle to the Romans or John Chrysostom's fourth homily on Romans[33] and attributed to Sodom by the Jewish philosopher Philo (20 BCE – 50 CE) and the Christian bishop Methodius of Olympus (260–311)[34] and possible by Flavius Josephus (37–100)[35][36][37] Augustine of Hippo, (354–430)[38] and some pseudepigraphacal texts.

[39][40][41] The first attested applications of the word "sodomy" to male homosexual intercourse were Emperor Justinian I's amendments to his Corpus iuris civilis; novels no.

Three Carolingian capitularies, fabricated under the pseudonym Benedictus Levita, referred to sodomy: Benedictus Levita broadened the meaning for sodomy to all sexual acts not related to procreation that were therefore deemed counter nature (so for instance, even solitary masturbation and anal intercourse between a male and a female were covered), while among these, he still emphasized all interpersonal acts not taking place between human men and women, especially homosexuality.

However, the difficulty of proving that penetration and ejaculation had occurred meant that men were often convicted of the lesser charge of "assault with sodomitical intent", which was not a capital offence.

Records from the Bastille and the police lieutenant d'Argenson, as well as other sources, show that many who were arrested were exiled, sent to a regiment, or imprisoned in places (generally the hospital) associated with moral crimes (such as prostitution).

This does not imply that sodomites necessarily lived in security – specific police agents, for instance, watched the Tuileries, even then a known "cruising area".

[citation needed] In 1730, there was a wave of sodomy trials in the Netherlands; some 250 men were summoned before the authorities; 91 faced decrees of exile for not appearing.

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.Classical Jewish texts are seen by many as not stressing the homosexual aspect of the attitude of the inhabitants of Sodom as much as their cruelty and lack of hospitality to the "stranger".

[76][full citation needed] The 13th-century Jewish scholar, Nachmanides, wrote: "According to our sages, they were notorious for every evil, but their fate was sealed for their persistence in not supporting the poor and the needy."

His contemporary, Rabbenu Yonah, expresses the same view: "Scripture attributes their annihilation to their failure to practice tzedakah [charity or justice].

"[77] Prohibitions on same-sex activities among men (#157) and bestiality (#155–156) are among the 613 commandments as listed by Maimonides in the 12th century; however, their source in Leviticus 18 does not contain the word sodomy.

The idea that homosexual intercourse was involved as at least a part of the evil of Sodom arises from the story in Genesis 19 (KJV): And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night?

[91] Hadith (reports of Muhammad's sayings and deeds from those close to him in his lifetime) on the subject are inconsistent, with different writers interpreting the Prophet in different ways.

[92] Shariah (Islamic law) defines sodomy outside marriage as adultery or fornication or both, and it thus attracts the same penalties as those crimes (flogging or death), although the exact punishment varies with schools and scholars.

[94] Despite the formal disapproval of religious authority, gender segregation in Muslim societies and the strong emphasis on virility leads some adolescents and unmarried young men to seek alternative sexual outlets to women, especially with males younger than themselves.