Sodomy (IPA: /ˈsɒdəmi/) is a term used today predominantly in law (derived from traditional Christian usage) to describe an act of "unnatural" sexual intercourse normally interpreted in religion as referring to both oral sex and anal intercourse, as well as bestiality. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract Oral sex refers to sexual activities involving the use of the Mouth, and may include use of the Tongue, Teeth, and Throat, in order Anal sex most often refers to the sex act involving insertion of the Penis into the Rectum. Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia ^[1] When used in a religious context, it has a negative connotation.

Contents 1 Definitions 2 Bible 2.1 Hebrew references 2.2 New Testament 3 Views prior to the Medieval period 3.1 Jewish views 3.2 First century Christian and Jewish opinions 3.2.1 Modern English translation of Jude 3.2.2 Josephus 3.3 Islamic views 4 Medieval Christianity on sodomy 4.1 Justinian I and Byzantine power politics of late antiquity 4.2 Benedictus Levita and the Pseudo-Isidore 4.3 Medieval Inquisition, hereticism, and witchcraft 5 Sodomy in Europe since the Age of Reason 6 Modern Christian views 7 Sodomy laws in the United States 8 Evolution of the term in other languages 9 Popular use 10 See also 11 References 12 See also 13 External links

Definitions

The term comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin: peccatum Sodomiticum, or "sin of Sodom. Ecclesiastical Latin (sometimes called Church Latin) is the Latin dialect as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church and in its Latin liturgies "

The association of the ancient city of Sodom with sexual depravity is of biblical origin. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin In the book of Genesis (chapters 18-20), the Lord perceives Sodom and Gomorrah as places of grave sinfulness and seeks to discover whether this perception is really true before He destroys the inhabitants. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Two angels (who have the appearance of humans) are sent to find out the reality of life in Sodom. After arriving in the city in the evening, the angels are invited - then urged strongly - by Lot (an upright man) to take refuge with his family for the night. According to the Bible and the Quran, Lot ( Arabic: لوط, Lūṭ |; "Hidden covered" was the Nephew

4 But before they [the angels] lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know^[2] them. 6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. 9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. 10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. 11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

(Genesis 19:4-11, KJV)

To summarise the above account:
The men of the city of Sodom desired that Lot give them the two men so that they may "know them," which has been interpreted either to mean "interrogate" or "to engage in sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract " Lot refuses to hand them over, and offers his two virgin daughters instead which has been interpreted to mean either a compromise to assure the crowd that the two men have no untoward intentions in town or for sexual intercourse. In any event the offer is refused. It is only after the two angels draw Lot back into the house, and then caused blindness to come upon the men of the city, that those within the house are safe. Even in their blinded state, the men outside still try to gain entry to the house and continue until they become wearied. We see here the extent of either their inhospitality or depravity, depending upon how one interprets the verses.

Sodom is subsequently destroyed by a rain of sulfur and fire. Sulfur or sulphur (ˈsʌlfɚ see spelling below) is the Chemical element that has the Atomic number 16 Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. From this biblical narrative the word 'Sodomy' is derived and has henceforth come to be synonymous with anal intercourse (particularly between two males) and sometimes also to describe human-animal sexual intercourse (also known as bestiality or zoophilia);^[3] this is the primary meaning of the cognate German language word Sodomie. Anal sex most often refers to the sex act involving insertion of the Penis into the Rectum. Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.

In current usage, the term is particularly used in law. ^[4] Sodomy laws prohibiting such sexual activity have been a standard feature of codes of sexual morality in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic civilisation as well as many other cultures. A sodomy law is a Law that defines certain Sexual acts as sex crimes. In the various criminal codes of United States of America, the term "sodomy" has generally been replaced by "Deviant sexual intercourse", which is precisely defined by statute. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Deviant sexual intercourse is a legal term for any act of sexual gratification involving the Sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another anus to mouth or involving ^[5] These laws have been under challenge and have in places been found unconstitutional or have been replaced with different acts. ^[6] Some countries, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia retain "sodomy laws" against homosexual acts. Elsewhere, the legal use of the term "sodomy" is restricted to rape cases where an act such as anal penetration has taken place. Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person ^[7] The English term "buggery" is very closely related to sodomy in concept, and often interchangeably used in law and popular speech. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The English term Buggery is very close in meaning to the term Sodomy, and is often used interchangeably in law and popular speech ^[8]In some legal systems the term "buggery" is used rather than "sodomy"; examples include that of Santa Lucia, which despite calls for reform retains a penalty of 25 years in prison for anal intercourse between consenting adults. {fact}

Bible

In the Hebrew Bible, Sodom was a city destroyed by God because of the evil of its inhabitants. Except one mention in Ezekiel, the Bible does not clearly state what sin or sins Sodom was destroyed for.

Hebrew references

Many times in the Torah and Prophets, writers use God's destruction of Sodom to demonstrate God's awesome power. Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים "Prophets" is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the This happens in Deuteronomy 29, Isaiah 1, 3, and 13, Jeremiah 49 and 50, Lamentations 4, Amos 4. Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament Isaiah (; Greek:, Ēsaiās; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa; "Salvation of/is YHWH " is Jeremiah ( jirmɛ'jahu; Septuagint Greek: Ἰερεμίας was one of the 'greater prophets ' of the Hebrew Bible. For other uses see Amos; for the programming language see AMOS (programming language. 11, and Zephaniah 2. {For|the prophetic book|Book of Zephaniah} Zephaniah or Tzfanya ( is the name of several people in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh 9. Deuteronomy 32, Jeremiah 23. 14 and Lamentations 4 references the sinfulness of Sodom but does not specify any sin.

In Ezekiel 16, a long comparison is made between Sodom and the Kingdom of Israel. The Kingdom of Israel ( ( KJV Israel in Samaria) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also often called the 'Kingdom of Israel' "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. " (Ezekiel 16. 47 New American Standard Bible)

“

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. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. (Ezekiel 16. 49-50)

”

There is no mention of any sexual sin. While "abomination" is used to describe same-sex sexual activity in Leviticus, it is also use to describe many other sins as well.

New Testament

The New Testament, like the Old Testament, references Sodom as a place of God's anger against sin without specifying the sin. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The only other reference to Sodom is a mention in the Epistle of Jude:

“

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He [God] has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. The brief Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book in the Christian New Testament canon. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. (Jude 6-8, New American Standard Version

”

Jude calls the sin of Sodom simply "gross imorality" and going after "strange flesh. The New American Standard Bible (NASB is an English Translation of the Bible. " "Strange flesh" is the literal translation whereas some modern translations like the NIV insert the interpretation "sexual immorality. The New International Version is an English Translation of the Christian Bible. " "Flesh" in the New Testament occasionally refers to sexuality but more often it does not.

Views prior to the Medieval period

Jewish views

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 this. (16:49-50, KJV).

The thirteenth-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. Nahmanides (1194 &ndash c 1270 was a Catalan Rabbi, philosopher, Physician, Kabbalist and biblical commentator. ” His contemporary Rabbenu Yonah expresses the same view: “Scripture attributes their annihilation to their failure to practice tzedakah [charity or justice]. Tzedakah ( צדקה) is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on a root meaning Justice ” ^[9] The Book of Wisdom, which is included by Orthodox and Roman Catholics, but excluded by modern Jews, Protestants, and other Christian denominations, 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. Book of Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon or simply Wisdom is one of the Deuterocanonical books of the Bible.

For the Sodomites did not receive those, whom they knew not when they came: but these brought friends into bondage, that had well deserved of them. (19:13-14, KJV)

Prohibitions on same-sex activities (# 157-159) and bestiality (#155-156) 613_commandments#Maimonides.27_list 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. See also Mitzvah See also Biblical law in Christianity The 613 Mitzvot ("commandments" (also " 613 Mitzvos See also Mitzvah See also Biblical law in Christianity The 613 Mitzvot ("commandments" (also " 613 Mitzvos Moses Maimonides ( March 30 1135 – December 13 1204) also known as the Rambam, was a Rabbi, Physician, and Leviticus 18 is a chapter of the Biblical book of Leviticus. It narrates part of the instructions given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. The idea that homosexual intercourse was involved as at least a part of the evil of Sodom arises from the story in Genesis 19

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom - both young and old - surrounded the house. 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. "

That is the NIV translation. The Hebrew verb used is to know, which can have a sexual meaning in the Bible, and probably does here, judging from Lot's shocked reaction:

No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. . .

First century Christian and Jewish opinions

Modern English translation of Jude

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. The brief Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book in the Christian New Testament canon. 7, English Standard Version). The phrase rendered sexual immorality and unnatural desire is literally translated strange flesh or false flesh, but it is not entirely clear what it refers to.

• The ESV translators situated in the year 2001 supply one plausible paraphrase for "false flesh", arguably influenced by more recent Christian views, in making the phrase refer to alleged illicit sexual activity of the Genesis account (cf. The English Standard Version (ESV is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version. the language of the epistle to the Romans 1:21-32 not specifically referring to Sodom). The Epistle of St Paul the Apostle to the Romans is one of the letters of the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible.
• Another theory is that it is just a reference to the “strange flesh” of the intended rape victims, who were angels, not men. There is a counter-argument which focuses on the fact that the men of Sodom did not know that the strangers were angels.
• A third opinion takes "false flesh" to refer to cannibalism, as such a meaning is used elsewhere in the Mosaic laws, referring to practices of those who lived in Canaan. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement.

Josephus

The Jewish historian Josephus used the term “Sodomites” summarizing the Genesis narrative: “About this time the Sodomites grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth; they became unjust towards men, and impious towards God, in so much that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices” (Antiquities 1. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. 11. 1 [2] — circa A. D. 96). Year 96 was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The final element of his assessment goes beyond the Biblical data, even in the New Testament.

Islamic views

The Qur'an makes a more explicit scriptural connection between homosexual aggression and Sodom. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran The city name ‘Sodom’ does not appear there, but the Sodomites are referred to as “the people of Lut (Lot). Lut redirects here for other uses see Lut (disambiguation See here if you were looking for Computer Science's Lookup tables Lut ” Lot is the nephew of the Hebrew/Arabic patriarch Abraham and, in the Judaic Sodom stories, is head of the only family allowed by God to survive Sodom's destruction. Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: In the Qur'an, he is also the divinely appointed national prophet to his people. Since their national name was unrecorded and “people of Lot” was the only available designation, the Islamic equivalent of ‘sodomy’ has become ‘liwat,’ which could be roughly translated as “lottishness” (see Homosexuality and Islam). Islamic views on homosexuality have always been influenced by the rulings prescribed by the Qur'an and the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammed.

According to Islamic view, homosexuality is not a natural activity and it was initiated under the influence of Satan among the people who dwelled in Sodom and Gomorrah. In order that they should abandon this immorality, Allah had sent to them Lut as a Prophet. The Qur'an relates,

'We also (sent) Lut: he said to his people: "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds". ' - Holy Quran 7:80-81

It is evident from this verse that the sin of the Sodomites was indeed homosexuality (specifically, amongst men) in the Islamic context.

In Islam sodomy (Anal sex) is forbidden whether done with a man or a woman.

Medieval Christianity on sodomy

Justinian I and Byzantine power politics of late antiquity

The primarily sexual meaning of the word sodomia for Christians did not evolve before the 500s AD. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, in his novels no. Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or 77 (dating 538) and no. 141 (dating 559) amended to his Corpus iuris civilis, was the first to declare that Sodom's sin had been specifically same-sex activities and desire for them, in order to create homosexual scapegoats for recent earthquakes and other disasters of his time (see Extreme weather events of 535-536), but most of all to enact anti-homosexual laws that he then used upon personal as well as political opponents in case he could not prove them guilty of anything else. The Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law" is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in Jurisprudence, issued from 529

Justinian's were not the first Roman laws prohibiting homosexual behavior. Earlier such measures had been included in the Lex Scantinia dating from 149 BC and the Lex Julia dating from 17 BC, both constituting the death penalty for homosexual behavior. Lex Scantinia (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Lex Scantia) was an ancient Roman law (named after aedile Scantinius Capitolinus who had lived Lex Julia (or Lex Iulia, plural Leges Juliae / Leges Iuliae) are ancient Roman laws introduced by any member of the Julian family Allegations exist that even before Lex Scantinia such laws existed, but direct evidence of these laws has been lost^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}. While sticking to the death penalty by beheading as punishment for homosexuality, Justinian's legal novels heralded a change in Roman legal paradigm in that he introduced a concept of not only mundane but also divine punishment for homosexual behavior. Individuals might ignore and escape mundane laws, but they could not do the same with divine laws, if Justinian declared his novels to be such.

This is, of course, not to say that early Christians did not denounce same-sex behavior, which for instance St. John Chrysostom in the fourth century regarded as worse than murder in his fourth homily on Romans [3], while Paul the Apostle in the Epistle to the Romans referred to "pederasty" as "shameful lust" accounted for by "due penalty". This article refers to the Christian saint For other uses of the name see Chrysostomos. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Epistle of St Paul the Apostle to the Romans is one of the letters of the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. Just like the Jews, early Christians prior to Justinian I simply did not use the word sodomia for the carnal sin they abhorred, as Justinian's connection of the Genesis account with sexual behavior was still equally unknown to them.

Benedictus Levita and the Pseudo-Isidore

Justinian's interpretation of the story of Sodom would be forgotten today (as it had been along with his law novellizations regarding homosexual behavior immediately after his death) had it not been made use of in fake Charlemagnian capitularies, fabricated by a Frankish monk using the pseudonym Benedictus Levita ("Benedict the Levite") around 850 AD, as part of the Pseudo-Isidore. Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his A capitulary ( Medieval Latin capitularium) was a series of Legislative or administrative acts emanating from the Frankish court of The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group The Pseudo-Isidorean (False Decretals are the most extensive and influential set of forgeries found in medieval Canon law. Benedict's three capitularies particularly dealing with Justinian's interpretation of the story of Sodom were:

• XXI. De diversis malorum flagitiis. ("No. 21: On manifold disgraceful wrongs")
• CXLIII. De sceleribus nefandis ob quae regna percussa sunt, ut penitus caveantur. ("No. 143: On sinful vices due to which empires have crumbled, so that we shall do our best to beware of them")
• CLX. De patratoribus diversorum malorum. ("No. 160: On the perpetrators of manifold evil deeds")

It was in these fake capitularies where Benedictus utilized Justinian's interpretation as a justification for ecclesiastical supremacy over mundane institutions, thereby demanding burning at the stake for carnal sins in the name of Charlemagne himself. Burning had been part of the standard penalty for homosexual behavior particularly common in Germanic protohistory (as according to Germanic folklore, sexual deviance and especially same-sex desire were caused by a form of malevolence or spiritual evil called nith, rendering those people characterized by it as non-human fiends, as nithings), and Benedictus most probably was of the Germanic tribe of the Franks. Protohistory refers to a period between Prehistory and History, during which a Culture or Civilization has not yet developed Writing Níð ( Old Norse) ( Anglo-Saxon nith, Old High German (OHG nid(d, modern German form Neid

Benedict 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.

Benedict's rationale was that the punishment of such acts was in order to protect all Christianity from divine punishments such as natural disasters for carnal sins committed by individuals, but also for heresy, superstition and heathenry. According to Benedictus, this was why all mundane institutions had to be subjected to ecclesiastical power in order to prevent moral as well as religious laxity causing divine wrath.

Medieval Inquisition, hereticism, and witchcraft

For delaying reasons described in the article Pseudo-Isidore but also because his crucial demands for capital punishment had been so unheard of in ecclesiastical history priorly based upon the humane Christian concept of forgiveness and mercy, it took several centuries before Benedict's demands for legal reform began to take tangible shape within larger ecclesiastical initiatives. The Pseudo-Isidorean (False Decretals are the most extensive and influential set of forgeries found in medieval Canon law.

This came about with the Medieval Inquisition in 1184. The Medieval Inquisition is a series of Inquisitions ( Roman Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing Heresy) from around 1184, including the It was then that a convenient target was found in the sects of Cathars and Waldensians, and these heretics were not only persecuted for alleged satanism but hence increasingly accused of fornication and sodomy. General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures When these two sects had been stamped out and new victims were needed, the Inquisition turned to the witch hunts that were also largely connoted with sodomy. "Witch trial" redirects here For the song by Rush, see Fear series.

Persecution of Cathars and the Bogomiles sect in Bulgaria led to the use of a term closely related to sodomy: buggery derives from French bougge­rie, meaning "of Bulgaria". Bogomilism (Богомилство is the Gnostic dualistic Sect, the Synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the Bulgarian Slavonic The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian ^[17]

The association of sodomy with hereticism, satanism, and witchcraft was supported by the Inquisition trials. The resulting infamy of sodomy motivated a continuing discrimination and persecution of homosexuals and sexual deviants in general long after the Medieval period had ended.

The arguably gay Richard I of England was ordered by a priest to keep in mind "the sin of Sodom". In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. Richard I (8 September 1157 &ndash 6 April 1199 was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death

Sodomy in Europe since the Age of Reason

From the Age of Reason onwards, Justinian's claim that sexual sins, if not persecuted yielded epidemics, natural disasters, and downfall of the state found a fruitful reception in pseudo-scientific ideologies of alleged pathology (such as in the popular concept of moral insanity) and mental as well as social and political consequences of sexual deviance. 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach The concept of " moral insanity " as a medical disorder was first described by the English physician J

Examination of trials for rape and sodomy during the eighteenth century at the Old Bailey in London show the treatment of rape to have been lenient, while the treatment of sodomy to have been generally severe. The Central Criminal Court in England, commonly known as the Old Bailey, is a court From the 1780s the number of cases grew. Blackmail for sodomy also increased and was made a capital crime.

In France in the eighteenth century, sodomy was still theoretically a capital crime, and there are a handful of cases where sodomites were executed. However, in several of these, other crimes were involved as well (for instance, one man, Pascal, had supposedly murdered a man who resisted his advances). 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. Of these, a number were involved in prostitution or had approached children, or otherwise gone beyond merely having homosexual relations. Ravaisson (a 19th century writer who edited the Bastille records) suggested that the authorities preferred to handle these cases discreetly, lest public punishments in effect publicize "this vice".

Periodicals of the time sometimes casually named known sodomites, and at one point even suggested that sodomy was increasingly popular. This does not imply that homosexuals necessarily lived in security - specific police agents, for instance, watched the Tuileries, even then a known cruising area. The Palais des Tuileries was a royal Palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed But, as with much sexual behaviour under the Old Regime, discretion was a key concern on all sides (especially since members of prominent families were sometimes implicated) - the law seemed most concerned with those who were the least discreet.

Between 1730 and 1733, the Netherlands experienced a sodomy hysteria, in which 276 men were executed. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Hysteria in its colloquial use describes a state of Mind, one of unmanageable Fear or Emotional excesses

Modern Christian views

Though the etymology of the word sodomy is clear, there is a dispute about what the nature of the sin of Sodom actually was. Within Christendom there are basically two schools of thought. Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon

1. The traditional interpretation, where the primary sin of Sodom is seen as homoerotic sexual acts.
2. Some recent scholars, starting with Derrick Sherwin Bailey, claim that the sins of Sodom were related more to violation of hospitality laws than sexual sins. Derrick Sherwin Bailey (1910 - 1984 was a Christian Theologian, whose 1955 work Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition on Homosexuality Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a Guest and a host and it also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable that is the reception and entertainment

The traditional interpretation claims there is a connection between Sodom and Leviticus 18, which lists various sexual crimes, which, according to verses 27 and 28, would result in the land being “defiled”:

for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled;

otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. Leviticus 18 is a chapter of the Biblical book of Leviticus. It narrates part of the instructions given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. Abomination ( Latin abominatus past participle of abominari "to deprecate as an ill omen" English term used to translate the Biblical term

The more recent re-interpretation claims that the explanation primarily is with the quote from Ezekiel. According to religious texts Ezekiel ((יְחֶזְקֵאל Yehezkel, jəx

Some scholars, such as Per-Axel Sverker, align this passage with the traditional interpretation, claiming that the word abomination refers to sexual misconduct, and that while homoerotic acts were not the only reason Sodom and Gomorrah were condemned, it was a significant part of the picture. Others, such as the aforementioned D. S. Bailey, claim that this passage contradicts the traditional interpretation altogether.

There is an ongoing exegetic and hermeneutic debate on this issue, including many other nuances in the text, and the scholarly world is far from consensus. Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts

Sodomy laws in the United States

Main article: Sodomy laws in the United States

From the earliest times in the United States, sodomy (variously defined) was prohibited, although some historians suggest that early sodomy laws were mainly used to address issues of non-consensual behavior, or public behavior. Sodomy laws in the United States, laws primarily intended to outlaw Gay sex, were historically pervasive but have been invalidated by the 2003 Supreme Court decision The earliest known United States law journal article dealing with sodomy was in 1905 in West Virginia. Attorney E. D. Leach argued that "perverted sexual natures" were related to crime. "Sodomy, rape, lust-murder, bodily injury, theft, robbery, torture of animals, injury to property and many other crimes may be committed under these conditions. " 18th and 19th century judges often editorialized about the act of sodomy as they handed down their rulings. "That most detestable sin", the "horrid act", "the horrible crime", "that which is unfit to be named among Christians" characterized some of the language used by British and American jurists when punishing sodomites. Emphasis is usually on the notion that the act of anal penetration is so offensive "to God almighty" that the term Sodomy (literally, that which occurred in Sodom) is the only appropriate way of designating the activity. In other words, it was understood that when reference was made to "an unspeakable act" having occurred, it was clear that the act in question was none other than anal penetration. Some say, however, that the "Sin of Sodom" accurately referred not to anal penetration but rather to the agglomeration of ALL the unholy activities said to have occurred in Sodom and that it is thus inaccurate to imply a one-to-one relationship.

In the 1950s, all states had some form of law criminalizing sodomy, and in 1986 the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy. However, state legislators and state courts had started to repeal or overturn their sodomy laws, beginning with Illinois in 1961, and thus in 2003, only 10 states had laws prohibiting all sodomy, with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years imprisonment. Additionally, four other states had laws that specifically prohibited same-sex sodomy. That year the United States Supreme Court reversed its 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick ruling and in Lawrence v. Texas, invalidated these laws as being an unconstitutional violation of privacy, with Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Bowers v Hardwick,, was a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia Sodomy law that criminalized Lawrence v Texas, 539 US 558 ( 2003) was a landmark United States Supreme Court case Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist. See Sodomy law. A sodomy law is a Law that defines certain Sexual acts as sex crimes.

In the U.S. military, the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the Lawrence v. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States Texas decision applies to Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the statute banning sodomy. The Uniform Code of Military Justice ( UCMJ,,) is the foundation of Military law in the United States. In both United States v. Stirewalt and United States v. Marcum, the court ruled that the "conduct falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court. "^[18] However, the court went on to say that despite Lawrence's application to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment" which would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty interest recognized in Lawrence. "^[19] Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline.

United States v. Meno and United States v. Bullock are two known cases in which consensual sodomy convictions have been overturned in military courts under the Lawrence precedent. ^[20]

Evolution of the term in other languages

In modern French, the word “sodomie” (and in modern Spanish, the word “sodomía”) is used exclusively for penetrative anal sex (where the penetration is performed with a penis or a substitute of similar shape such as a dildo, possibly a strap-on dildo, thus any gender can be on the giving or receiving end). French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The matching French verb is "sodomiser" (Spanish "sodomizar"). In modern German, the word “Sodomie” has no connotation of anal or oral sex, and refers specifically to zoophilia. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia (See Paragraph 175 StGB, version of June 28, 1935. Paragraph 175 (known formally as §175 StGB; also known as Section 175 in English) was a provision ) The same goes for the Norwegian word “sodomi” and the Polish "sodomia". Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland “Sodomy”, therefore, can be considered a 'false friend,' a word that English speakers will think they know the meaning of, but which actually holds a different, though in this case related, meaning. False friends (or faux amis) are pairs of Words in two Languages or Dialects (or letters in two alphabets that look and/or sound similar but differ Responsible for this was the broadening of the term sodomia by Benedictus Levita (see above).

Popular use

• The word "sod", a noun used as an insult, derives from sodomite. ^[21][3] It is a general-purpose insult term for anyone the speaker dislikes or despises, without specific reference to their sexual behaviour. Sod is used often in everyday language in the UK and Commonwealth and is only mildly offensive.

See also

• Anal sex
• Anal rape
• Buggery
• Homosexuality and Christianity
• Prison rape
• Human sexual behavior
• Religion and sexuality
• The Bible and Homosexuality

References

See also

• Robert Purks Maccubbin (Ed. ), 'Tis Nature's Fault: Unauthorized Sexuality During the Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 1988)
• Mark D. Jordan, The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998).
• Richard B. Hays (2004), The Moral Vision of the New Testament (London: Continuum). pg. 381

External links

• Sodomy laws around the world
• Sodomy by Prof. Eugene F. Rice

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