Page 93 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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Sodomy Laws
The primary interpretation of the sin of sodomy is homoerotic sexual acts. It is connecting the Sodom narrative
with Leviticus 18, which lists various sexual crimes, which according to verses 27 and 28 would result in the land
being “defiled.” The primary word for sex is the Hebrew word yâda‛ used as “know” or the word “lie” used in
Leviticus. Scholars disagree on what “know” is referring to. However, most of conservative Christianity interprets
it to mean “sexual intercourse.” Supporting this argument is the use of yâda‛ denoting sex in Genesis. According to
God there were additional sins in Sodom other then sodomy. It was not helping the poor and the needy.

Ezekiel 16:48-49 “As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not
done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her
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daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.”

On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck or overturned the Texas
same-sex sodomy law. It was ruled that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the
due process clause of the United States Constitution. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion argued
that it violated “equal protection” a right under the Constitution's 14th Amendment. This decision invalidated all
state sodomy laws insofar as they applied to conduct in private between consenting adults. It also overturned the
1986 ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick which upheld Georgia's sodomy law. In the 1950s, all states had some form of
law criminalizing sodomy. It was in 1986 the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United
States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy. Nevertheless, state legislators and state courts had
started to repeal their sodomy laws. This repeal began with Illinois in 1961 and by 2003 only 10 states had laws
prohibiting sodomy. Isaiah 5:20 says “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light...”

Sharia Law
Sharia Law is a complex Islamic system of moral codes that governs all aspects of Muslim life. More than just a
set of laws, it is also the methodology through which Muslims live their daily lives by and search for the divine
will of Allah. For devout Muslims, Sharia governs everything from the way they eat to how they treat animals and
protect the environment, to how they do business, how they marry and how their estate is distributed after death.
Sharia in its current modern day manifestation is a source of legislation or actual state law in many Muslim
countries. The dictionary defined Sharia Law – “the code of law derived from the Quran (Koran) and from the teachings and
example of Mohammed; under Islamic law there is no separation of church and state.”
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Sharia is for Muslims a divine law - the Law of Allah. But, it takes scholarly study of the Quran to articulate and
elaborate that divine law in the form of legal rules. Those legal rules are called “fiqh” crafted by religious legal
scholars with a self-conscious awareness of their own human fallibility. As a result, there are many “fiqh” schools
of law. According to Islamic legal theory, no “fiqh” rule can demand obedience because every such rule is the
product of human beings. Therefore, it is open to fallible interpretation. The concept of justice embodied in
Sharia is different from that of secular Western law. Muslims believe the Sharia Law has been revealed by Allah.
In Islam, the laws that govern human affairs are just one facet of a universal set of laws governing nature itself.
Violations of Islamic law are offenses against God and nature, including one's own human nature. Crime in Islam
is considered sin. Whatever crime is committed and whatever punishment is prescribed for that crime in this
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world, one must ultimately answer to God on the Day of Judgment.

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New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Eze 16:48–49). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
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The Dictionary, by Farlex, also found in the Encyclopedia and Wikipedia
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Islamic Law – Legal Literature And Institutions, Jurisprudence: The "Sources" of the Law, The Modern Period