{"id":1893,"date":"2011-09-03T17:54:50","date_gmt":"2011-09-03T21:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/sj\/?page_id=1893"},"modified":"2011-09-03T22:07:57","modified_gmt":"2011-09-04T02:07:57","slug":"leviticussing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/leviticussing\/","title":{"rendered":"Leviticussing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drawn from examples: ATQ<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Dear [expert on social norms]:<\/p>\n

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend [something abominable], for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus clearly states it to be an abomination… end of debate.<\/p>\n

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.<\/p>\n

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?<\/p>\n

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?<\/p>\n

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev. 15:19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.<\/p>\n

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev. 1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?<\/p>\n

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. \u00a0Exodus 35:2 suggests he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?<\/p>\n

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?<\/p>\n

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20\/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?<\/p>\n

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?<\/p>\n

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I play football if I wear gloves?<\/p>\n

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton\/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with those who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)<\/p>\n

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.<\/p>\n

Your devoted fan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drawn from examples: ATQ Dear [expert on social norms]: Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend [something abominable], for example, I simply remind them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1202,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1893","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7iVvB-ux","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1895,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1893\/revisions\/1895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}