Question: Is This Really a Problem?

I've got to tell ya, I had forgotten just how ridiculous most of the Book of Leviticus is! The first half of the book fixates on the disease of leprosy and all the various histrionics people have to go through to be judged "clean." The heavenly one also seems to be a bit grossed out by even the thought of a woman's menstrual cycle. Sounds like a typical man, doesn't it?

But then I ran across a verse that seeks to deal with a problem that I don't think I've ever heard of! To wit,

Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. (Leviticus 18:23)

Now, it's not unknown for lonely farm boys to experiment with farm animals. Ya know, syphilis began as a disease of sheep! But I'm not aware of any cases that I've heard about that involve farm girls and farm or wild animals.

We live in an age in which every wacky story one could think of gets plastered all over the internet. A year or so ago, I read about a guy who died while doing strange things with a horse. I simply can't remember a time when I have read about a woman attempting to copulate with a badger, llama or elephant. (Woman seem to have far more sense than their male counterparts.)

Yet, despite the fact this issue doesn't seem to be a problem of any kind, we find it spelled out explicitly as a directive from God to Moses. What's up with that? How could a person read such dribble and take a religion based upon it seriously?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.