Bible on Homosexuality 1: Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 19

1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
...
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
...
24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

In the first of a series on homosexuality and the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah. The homosexual reading of Sodom and Gomorrah has become so common, that is often readily used to condemn homosexuality. 'Sodomy' has even become to designate (illicit) homosexual activity. But is this really the case?

Notice that the story stresses the fact that Lot goes trough much trouble to make these strangers at home. He insists on them staying with him, prepares a meal, and gives his bed to sleep in. He feels so responsible as a host that he offers his own daughters when his wicked neighbors come to sleep with his guests. The latter is of course insane, especially in our contemporary experience. Yet, it clearly shows the thrust of this story: hospitality rather than homosexuality.

Moreover, even if the 'men sleeping with men' is a topic in this story, one could hardly associate this with homosexuality today. In the first place, Lot's guests are not ordinary men, they are angels! In fact, if taken literally, the story does not refer to human intercourse, but 'human-celestial' intercourse. Not unlike the reference in Genesis 6:1-4*, the condemnation is not about homosexuality but about two different species interacting sexually!
Another reason this text is not about homosexuality, can be found in verse 4: all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. Even the gayest city in the world could not boast 100 per cent of its men being gay. In San Francisco for instance, estimates are that 25% of the population are gay, lesbian bi-sexual or trans-sexual. The men that are referred to in this story are (mostly) 'normal' heterosexuals! They, however, exchange their usual sexual behaviour for something new, that is: sex with men, or angels that appear like men. The hype described also seems like a call for an orgy including the whole community.

The incredible immorality demanded by the Sodomites are not contrasted with Lot's heterosexuality, or even sexual identity, but with Lot's hospitality to strangers. This is the core message of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah: one must show hospitality, even to strangers!
During the Old Testament era, the story was also not seen as a message on homosexuality. In Ezekiel 16:49-50, the sin of Sodom is explicitly referred to:

Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

As is clear from this text: Sodom's sin was not homosexuality, but arrogance, a blatant indifference to the poor and needy. To refer to Genesis 19 as a case against homosexuality, is a misreading, perhaps even abuse of the Biblical narrative.

*"When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

homosexuality,Bible,Sodom,sex,hospitality

American Festivals Project

My photographer friends Ross and Matt are starting their tour through the US by a Waste Vegetable Oil-powered truck. Partially funded by National Geographic, they will visit 'small, hidden and bizarre festivals' in 49 states.
For more support and more information visit: www.americanfestivalsproject.com


photography,USA,national geographic,art

Bastards! They Banned Kinder Eggs!

The original Schokoladespielzeugkombinationseier, who - in Europe - didn't grow up with them? What? ... You may better know them as Kinder Surprise, the chocolate eggs containing toy models for assembly. Children´s Commission of the German Parliament (appropriately called Kinder Commission), announced the ban because children might choke on the toys, even when the toys are contained in a plastic capsule.
According to Bild, a German newspaper/tabloid, the ban will be a 'shock to millions of children'. Even serious media such as Die Welt newspaper held a poll to the question whether you think the combination of sweets and toys is dangerous. 97% of the respondents though it was nonsense.

What do you think? Should there be a (Europe-wide) ban?

Kinder,chocolate,Germany,ban,toys

Alma Mater - Bologna

Bologna, city of Dante, city of the oldest university in Europe, city of the political left. Just strolling about in the city where I should have studied... The city is deserted now, as the 100000 students flee from the Bolognese summer heat.
I wonder, what is the oldest university in the world. Bologna claims to be the oldest, but what about Esfahan (Iran), Kairo (Egypt), Fes (Morocco), or the traveling academic concourses in Confucian China? Anyone knows?

universities,Bologna,travel,Italy

Coal Power and China

Voor Nederlands klik hier.
This article was published in Nederlands Dagblad (daily journal) on Monday 28 July 2008.

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Coal Power in China: West Should Set Example

In China every month five new coal powered electricity plants open. That is a worrisome development. Yet, according to Sander Chan the alarming reports in Western media are often motivated sinophobia (fear of China) rather than by a real concern over climate change. The West should give better a better example.

by Sander Chan

China depends for about seventy per cent of its energy supply on coal power, a relatively CO2 intensive energy source. Every month on average five new coal plants open in China. Meanwhile China has overtaken the US as the world's largest CO2 emittor. The developments are gloomy, but alarming reports in Western media often seem to be motivated by sinophobia (fear of China) rather than a genuine concern about climate change. What are China's energy options and how can the West act to limit climate change?

Four out of ten Americans hold China responsible for increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, in spite of the fact that the average American makes many more SUV miles than an average Chinese. Also in Europe, critical voices are heard about China's role in climate change. Yet, average per capitat energy consumption in China is still only a third of Europe's, and a seventh of the average energy consumptionin the US. Moreover, a large part of China's energy use increase is due to industrial production for Western consumers.
Reports that China opens another coal power plant and thereby threatens the future of our planet are exaggerated and tendentious. What is not reported is the fact that China also closes a large number of coal power plants to replace them with more efficient ones. This raises suspicion that news reports are often incomplete and motivated by sinophobia.

Wind Power
Climate and the environment have steadily become policy priorities in China. The State Environmental Protection Agency has recently been promoted to ministrial level. China is also the first developing country to devise a climate policy plan, while a commission of high officials (with prime minister Wen Jiabao) oversees its implementation. China's renewable energy ambitions are high, even compared to many Western industrialised countries. Meanwhile China has become the fourth largest wind energy producer. Beijing recently raised its midterm objectives for wind-generated electricity from five to ten GW in 2010, because the earlier objective had already been met in 2007.
However, there are still plenty of reasons to worry. In spite of China's renewable energy ambitions, it still remains heavily dependent on coal power. The possibilities to increase the share of renewable energy are limited. Wind energy generation fluctuates, while China's electricity grids are built for a constant coal generated power; only two thirds of wind energy reaches the grid. 'smart grid' that can cope with fluctuating electricity supplies, requires sky high investments. Moreover, water power plants have increasingly become (politically) controversial. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, has raised criticism, both in China and abroad. Dams have devastated natural environment and caused massive evacuations. Since the Sichuan earthquake earlier this year, we know that dams are not as safe as the government claims. Hundreds of millions of Chinese live downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, so China risks unprecedented political disorder with so many stakeholders. For these reasons, it is very likely that coals remain the main electricity source for China on the mid and short terms. Moreover, coal is one of the very few natural sources that China is not short of (although China's production capacity is only slow catching up with its consumption, China has become a nett importer). Moreover millions of Chinese are employed in the coal and related industries. To avoid political unrest Beijing is bound to secure employment.
The high proportion of coal in China's energy mix is also the result of another policy priority: energy security. As China tries to ensure its future energy supplies, it does not only opt for sustainable, renewable options. For instance, China is extracting diesel fuel from coals, a CO2 and water intensive process. China's efforts to secure energy is also an international challenge. Human rights conditions do not hold China at investing vastly in energy rich countries like Sudan.

To Set an Example
What can we do in the West? It is impossible to require that China's quits the construction of coal power plants. Moreover, China's environment problems demand for radical political changes: more democracy and a better implementation of laws - which are matters that are certainly considered home affairs. However, international organisations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, can make the choice for renewable energy more attractive. Also bilateral collaboration can be useful for technological transfer and the dispersion of knowlegde. For instance, the US stimulates the use of captured methane in Chinese coalmines.
It is important to consider that a part of China's energy consumptio is ours. A large part of China's industrial production is for the Western consumer. It is therefore our responsibility to cricically reflect on our own production systems and consumption patterns. It is difficult to argue why China should not enjoy the comforts of an energy intensive society that the western world enjoys. The greatest challenge for western countries is the give a good example and switch over to renewable energy and energy saving. Current ambitions, however, are barely higher than China's. Moreover, countries like the UK and the Netherlands are giving the wrong examples by the construction of more coal power plants.

Sander Chan is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Environmental Studies iN Amsterdam. He is also board member of the ChristenUnie party in Amsterdam.

China,environment,energy,coal,renewable

Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's biography is a page turner. Through the eyes of a little girl, we see a Somalian family's wanderings that brings them to Somalia, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia. Later on her experiences substantiate in a renouncement of Islam and a one-issue political program in Dutch politics The purpose of 'infidel' is more than a biography, it is a feminist statement against Islam as it is today.

After reading the book, I'm left with more sympathy for Ayaan's case, but questions remain. It is not clear what Hirsi Ali blames on religious Islam and what on culture. Indeed, it is difficult to separate the culture from the religion. The cruel practice of female excision, for instance, seems to me more a cultural trait rather than a practice informed by Islam.

As an immigrant, Hirsi Ali knows what to appreciate about the Netherlands, the country she fled to after an arranged marriage. To her the Netherlands represent a beacon of freedom and even morality, which she ascribes to the Dutch enlightenment.
Her move from the labor party to the liberal party is thus motivated by an increasing understanding of Dutch enlightenment as discovery of the value of the individual. This contrasts starkly with the honour based societies, such as the Somalian, where the individual submits to the family, the clan, the people...
So I wonder whether Islam denounces individuality when it requires submission. Is submission the link between many cultures and religion in muslim countries? Hirsi Ali seems to think so, she consistently describes muslim female-male relationships and Allah-follower relationships as one between slave and master.

When translated into the Dutch context, I maybe start to understand the rift and the unease at the level of the Dutch political elite, when Hirsi became a MP to the liberal party. Traditionally, the position of (muslim) immigrants has been viewed as a social issue. Muslim immigrants' bad statistical record (employment, income, education, crime) was understood as a problem that needs social mending, social policy. This fits very well with the more traditional historical materialist idea of social stratification.
Hirsi Ali, however, argues against this historical materialism and rather points at the problems as on of incompatible values, something much more difficult to solve than mere social mending.
This rift between views of society and values runs right through the Dutch left-right spectrum. Some political parties found it easier to adapt to the opened value box of pandora than others. For instance, the Christian democrats already were partly value and religious based. However, the social democrats, and I believe also the liberal party had a much harder time. The social democrats were there to protect the weak, but also a whole strata of weaker groups, not defined by its individual members. The liberals have too long seen themselves as market-making, pro-corporate agents and now all of a sudden they had to decide on issues moral positions (the morality of market-making and entrepreneurship went unchallenged).
This rift through the Dutch political landscape has led to increasing fragmentation, not coincidentally the liberals and social democrats suffered most of emerging populism.

In all of this Hirsi Ali only represented an early push of what was to come anyway; a indepth reflection of what a society stands for, its implied and explicit values. The issue of abused muslim women can well be a breaking iron to this debate. However, it is sad to see the debate being hi-jacked by populist figures like Geert Wilders. Who basically redraw the debate into a left-right debate.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali,feminism,islam,Netherlands,politics