Sodom & Gomorrah

(Written after seeing "Clash of the Titans" and I can't help but see some similarities between God's relationship with the people in the Bible, and the gods' (like Zeus') relationship with the humans in Greek mythology, i digress once again).
Judging by the title, some of you might be wondering how I am going to approach such an oft-cited moment in biblical history.  But one reason I'm reading the Bible is to determine if, as is often said, there are moments where the Bible has been misused or misinterpreted.  For example, when I was growing up, Sodom & Gomorrah (S&G) represented evil, wicked cities where people had sex with everyone for sport.  This story conjures up images of homosexuals practicing "Sodomy" with reckless abandon...ostensibly against man's and God's laws. 

Sodomy: 

**Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French sodomie, from Late Latin Sodoma Sodom; from the homosexual proclivities of the men of the city in Gen 19:1–11

Date: 13th century

: anal or oral copulation with a member of the same or opposite sex; also : copulation with an animal

And I was taught that because of this behavior, God destroyed these cities. Of course later on I learned that God mainly destroyed these cities because too few righteous people lived there.  Here, I hope to provide a concise and complete summary of the demise of S&G.
First, this story should begin with the omnipresent/omniscient God discussing S&G's demise with Abraham (still known as Abram at this point), "I have heard a great outcry from [S&G], because their sin is so flagrant.  I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard."  Genesis 18:20-21 (why does God have to 'go down' to determine wickedness of S&G? - also, 'going down' reminds me of Clash of Titans, where the gods similarly would often 'go down' to check on human population.  Abraham asks God if He plans on killing the wicked and righteous people alike.  Abraham intercedes on Sodom's behalf, trying to persuade God to spare the righteous (now i see he was not interceding on Sodom's behalf, but on his son's behalf as he knew his son and family resided in Sodom). He starts by asking whether God will still destroy the cities if 50 righteous people are found, and God said he would not.  Abraham chips away at this number, ending up with 10 and the Lord replied, "Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."  Gen. 18:32. 

So, any basic reading of that last scripture reveals that homosexuality is not the issue with respect to the city's destruction.  God decided to destroy the city only if ten righteous people were not found in all of S&G.  But of course we all know God ultimately destroyed S&G, so presumably ten righteous folks could not be found anyway.

And the saga continues, with two angels appearing at the entrance of the city where Lot, Abraham's son, finds them.  Lot invites the angels to his home and they replied, "Oh no, we'll just spend the night out here in the city square."  Gen. 19:1-2.  Lot insisted and they went home with him.  He prepared a feast, they ate well, and before they retired for bed "all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to spend the night with you?  Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!'"  Gen. 19:4-5.  

Wow! Are they serious? Gang raping?  Well, yeah that would be a wicked thing...gang raping a guest of your neighbor!  Hello?  Very few experiences I imagine are more wicked.  They seemed intent on getting some same sex angel booty even when Lot offered his two virgin daughters instead, "Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection."  Gen.19:8.       

This guy is not making a LOT of sense.  I wonder if offering your virgin daughters (if so lucky to have any) was custom in the event a gang of anus-thirsty men came banging on your door to run a train on your male visitors?!!  Odd, I tell you.  Luckily the angels finally decided to use their powers by blinding all the rabid rapists, and they gave up their anal mission.  Lot and company escaped before the cities are burned, of course his wife turned back during the escape, against direct advice, and turned into dust.

But maybe homosexuality was accepted back then, and deemed wicked only a gang raping?  I say this because unbeknownst to me prior to this reading, another similar instance occurred in the book of Judges.  And here again, there is no clear admonishment of the gay lifestyle generally.  This is the story of the Levite and the Concubine, during the days when "Israel had no king and all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes".  Judges 21:25. 

This Levite was living in Ephraim, and he brought home a woman from Bethlehem to be his concubine.  She is angered by him and returns to her father in Bethlehem.  He chases after her, greets and eats with her father for a few days, left with her towards home, and made a pit stop in Gibeah's town (land of the tribe of Benjamin) square.  An older resident saw them and took them to his home to wash their feet, eat and drink.  And then....

"While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, 'Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him.'"  Judges 19:22.  Oddly enough, the old man replies, "No, my brothers, don't do such an evil thing.  For this man is a guest in my house, and such a thing would be shameful. Here, take my virgin daughter and this man's concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you like. But don't do such a shameful thing to this man."  Judges 19:23-24.  Notice also how he didn't ask, but just offered up the Levite's concubine!!
In this story, the willing Levite throws his concubine out and the gang rapes her until the morning. The Levite discovers her dead before they reach home in the afternoon or evening.  "When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine's body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel."  Judges 19:29.  This sparked Israel's war with the tribe of Benjamin, which tribe was soundly defeated, and whose remaining men were provided wives by Israel.  See Judges 21.  (Incidentally, the tribe of Benjamin was allowed, after realizing that 400 virgins was not enough for their men, to lie in wait and kidnap women of Shiloh during an annual festival of the Lord. See Judges 21:10-24).

I think it is safe to say that S&G being described as the cities destroyed because of homosexuality can cease and officially be deemed a misinterpretation.  The story of S&G did not articulate that homosexuality was banned, deemed illegal or even immoral in God's eyes.  The gang raping was deemed wicked in both instances by God and man.  And it's direct evidence that the gang raping happened in other cities, albeit not as pervasively as S&G (notice how in the story in Judges, only "a crowd of troublemakers" were involved, whereas in S&G "all the men of Sodom, young and old" are implicated).

I choose not to fully address the treatment of women in this post, but these stories also illustrate what value is placed on women, as in both cases men volunteered (never was it demanded of them) their virgin daughters and concubines, and urged angry mobs to do whatever they liked with them, all in the name of protecting male overnight guests in town.  In closing, I did not walk away from either of these stories with the feeling that God outlawed homosexuality.  I walked away understanding the punishment of S&G to be more related to the fact that not even 10 righteous people could be found (God didn't demand that Abraham find 10 heterosexuals).  I also walked away with the feeling that homosexuality was a part of life back in those days, and that gang raping, of a woman or a man, was deemed wicked and shameful in the eyes of God and mankind.

My guess is that since this word (sodomy) and story (Sodom & Gomorrah) has been ingrained in our heads for such a long time, at such an early age, most who violently disagree with homosexuality (and base it on this story) tend to subconsciously relate it back to gang raping, anarchy, and generally "evil" lifestyle where even male angels were almost gang raped and cities were destroyed. Actual facts of this story beg to differ.  We just have not been using our heads on this one.  Thanks for reading and I remain open to hearing any interpretations of this story, biblically supported or not, that differ or contradict mine. Feel free to comment.