On May 9th, 2012 the President of The United States of America gave his support of marriage for same gender loving people. While many have cheered, the cries that President Barack Obama is turning America into Sodom 2012 have been greater.

Growing up, I was told of a dark and evil place called Sodom. It was a party town where gays partied all night long. Sounds of disco music could be heard from miles away. A nice man named Lot moved his entire family to Sodom; the land was cheap.

All was well until two good looking angels dropped by to see Lot. Ooh chile, this stirred up the gay men of Sodom honey. All the men of Sodom, both young and old, made their way to Lot’s house to get a glimpse of those blond hair blue eyed hunks. They couldn’t control their gayness as they made their way to Lot’s door. Running full speed they charged at Lot’s door and screamed for the hunky hunks to come out so they could ravish their bodies.

Lot pleaded with the gays not to do such a disgusting thing but the gays were too full of lust to listen. So Lot doing what any man of honor of that time would do, offered his daughters to the gay men. The gay men didn’t want to share beauty tips with Lot’s daughters, they wanted the hunks.     According to the Prophet Ezekiel, the sins of Sodom were their greed, their arrogance and their refusal to help the poor and needy. In that case, we are living in Sodom 2012.

Ooh chile, you should have seen all the men of Sodom both young and old lusting after those fine angels. Built up with lust, the men of Sodom knocked the front door of Lot’s house down. The men and boys of Sodom, who were all gay, were surprised when the two hunky angels sent fire balls down burning up gay Sodom.

Although I took my own liberties with the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 19, my rendition of the story is not far off from what many Christians believe and teach today. They teach that Sodom was full of gay men running sexually rampant throughout the city. They teach that Sodom was destroyed because of this, their grave sin.

Where is this stated in scripture?

Where do we see that homosexuality was the sin of Sodom?

We see the first mention of Sodom in Genesis 18 starting with verse 16 when The Lord began to reveal to Abraham what was planned for Sodom. At that time The Lord explains to Abraham the sins of Sodom were grave however; the reader is not told what these sins were.

How did we get to the point where homosexuality was seen as the grave sin of Sodom?

Could the answer be the attempted gang rape of the angels?

Male rape was a custom of that time period, especially during times of war. During times of war, the conquering army’s general would rape the defeated general or military leader. It had nothing to do with a person’s sexual orientation or attractions. This practice was about power and humiliation and Sodom was no different. They were a venerable city built at the foot of mountains. With no natural protection from their enemies, Sodom became a fortified city as they built their own protection. Along with being fortified, Sodom was also known as a treacherous city as they raided many other cities.

How did we get to the point where homosexuality was seen as the grave sin of Sodom when there is no evidence of this?

That is another article within itself.

There is evidence of what the grave sins of Sodom were.

Ezekiel 16:49-50:

49“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. 50“Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.

 

According to the Prophet Ezekiel, the sins of Sodom were their greed, their arrogance and their refusal to help the poor and needy. In that case, we are living in Sodom 2012.

We live in a time where corporate greed triggered the Financial Collapse of 2008.

We live in a time and a place where the families of workers of bankrupt companies are left with nothing as the CEO of the company leaves with millions.

We are living in Sodom.

We live in a time where multi millionaire clergy serve congregations in which the majority of the members are living in poverty.

We live in a time where greed led these same clergy members to invite con-artists into their pulpits to financially victimize their congregants in God’s name.

When many declare that marriage equality and homosexuality will lead America to Sodom status, we must tell them that America and the rest of the world are already there.

Our greed, our sexism, our racism, our heterosexism, our religious based homophobia, and our lack of compassion for others have put us here.

We are living in Sodom.

Reverend Gerald Palmer, MSW is the founder of Word for the Soul Ministries, an urban ministry created to win souls for Christ by breaking down the barriers of homophobia, poverty, blame, shame and pain. Rev. Palmer has a vast background in ministry, HIV/AIDS, abuse, social work, social service, broadcasting and public speaking. He is a member of Crossroads Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Palmer is an HIV Certified Trainer with the American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City, and HIV Educator and holds both a Bachelors of Social Work from Avila University and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is married to a wonderful and beautiful woman of God, and the father of three great children.