I asked that question in another thread, but it went unanswered, and so I thought I’d bring it into its own discussion.
I would appreciate it if legalists could come up with something besides “the Bible says so”. First off, it doesn’t. Second, Jesus spent His whole ministry battling misinterpretations of scripture, and I have no reason to assume that your interpretations are superior. Third, you cherry pick as you please whatever Leviticus passages suit you and disregard the rest, making your whole case suspect.
I want to hear logic. It doesn’t have to be a formal modal tableau or anything. I just want to know why sucking a penis is a sin, but sucking a lollipop isn’t.
Is it because the penis sucker is gratifying his desires? Well, then the lollipop sucker is doing the same thing. So what’s the problem? Is God just unreasonable in your view?
I have read the entire Bible. Could you provide the passage or passages that condem penis sucking, please? “Fellatio” doesn’t seem to be in my Cruden’s Complete Concordance.
If you’re speaking of the passages that condemn “men lying with men as a man lies with a woman”, well, obviously, those are talking about anal sex, not fellatio.
Not a literalist, but…
whenever I’ve heard that come up, the basis of the claim was in Genesis 38. According to the claimants, one of Onan’s sins was wasting his seed, letting it go to a place other than somewhere it could be used for procreation.
Since sucking on a penis often results in sperm ending up somewhere that’s useless as far as procreation goes, it is a sin.
This is different than sucking on a lollipop, as finding the center of a tootsie pop usually doesn’t end in the spilling of semen, (of course, YMMV) hence - not a sin.
Ah, but Onan spilled his seed on the ground. In order for this to count as “penis sucking”, you would have to stipulate that he pulled out of whoever’s mouth just in time and ejaculated on the ground.
Seriously, though, Onan’s sin was in refusing to get his brother’s widow pregnant, not in “wasting his seed” or even in masturbating.
I never read this story without feeling deeply sorry for Tamar, as bearing sons was very important to Bible Times Women, and Onan was being a complete Bible Times Shit. “Amen!” I mutter at the end of the story.
My one experience with coitus interuptus (long before I was married) suggested that it is extremely cruel and selfish for the man to deny the pleasure that an orgasmic penis can offer a woman particularly when she has been brought to the brink. The woman in this particular case certainly seemed to wish evil to befall me.
—If you’re speaking of the passages that condemn “men lying with men as a man lies with a woman”, well, obviously, those are talking about anal sex, not fellatio.—
Or maybe just spooning?
I also remember this passage being a little ambiguous about the “lying” bit perhaps meaning “lying in the bed of a woman.”
Along the lines of what Duck Duck Goose said, I have heard the interpretation of Genesis 38 as God putting Onan to death for disobedience, since not only did Onan disobey his father,but the law at the time required him to fulfill that obligation as his brother. Sounds like a reasonable interpretation, but who’s to say who’s right?
Well, yeah. Or at least, I think the sin was a combination of direct disobediance, trying to thwart the prophecy of God, etc.
But that’s the reasoning I’ve heard when I’ve asked what the reasoning was. (It also isn’t very “literal” as it involves a whole lot of reading between the lines to get from that story to fellatio).
I’ve never been able to figure out what, exactly to think of Tamar. Getting passed around from one brother to the next is bad. But then, her solution to the problem has always struck me as kind of icky.
