Well does it, or is it another thing taken completely out of context by stupid people?
I really doubt it does, but I want comfirmation of that.
Only thing I know on this subject is Deuteronomy 23:12-14
YMMV
The Great Zamboni, the Bible says anything you want it to. Sort of.
You can make a Bible passage say any number of things if you translate it just so. I think Dave’s passage is the one you were thinking of, and it basically says “don’t leave your shit around so people know you were there”.
Have you been reading the same Star Trek novel I have?
The one in which Amanda recounts Sarek’s discourse with the Fundamentalists, which resulted in him being chased out of town by a mob?
To the best of my knowledge, the claim that the Bible does not allow one to go to the bathroom was a joke on the Simpsons, and never anything more. I’ve never heard anyone cite it as true. In answer to the OP, if someone is trying to use this to discredit the Bible, he is beyond stupid.
A muslim friend of mine say’s that, according to the Koran, it’s a sin to touch your wee-wee when you pee.
There are a lot of similarities in the Koran and the Old Testament. Maybe that’s where the confusion come’s from.
BTW; If you shake it more than three times, you’re playing with it. 
Peace,
mangeorge
There’s a TV show called “The Simpsons” folks.
Their reverend (not Flanders) once said:
“The Bible says a log of things, we’re not even allowed to go to the bathroom.” (Or words to that effect.)
That’s where this comes from.
It’s called a “joke”.
FtG
mangeorge, your friend was either talking out of his ass or else pulling your leg. There is of course no such rule in the Qur’ân. I never cease to be amazed by the neverending amount and variety of crapola people attribute to the “Koran” which isn’t in it.
As a matter of fact, there is a classical Islamic text, The Book of the Mysteries of Purity by al-Ghazzali, which gives instructions on how to perform excretory functions in the proper Islamic manner (and the only content from the Qur’ân is the general statement “Allah loves those who keep themselves clean”). One technique is to shake all the urine drops out. Then wash your dick with water. Wash your hands too.
This passage from the KJV could be misconstrued to fit the Reverend Lovejoy’s interpretation. No doubt it refers to an unexpected bodily discharge, as from an infection.
Leviticus 15
2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. 3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness: 4 "Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.
Or he may have been refering to this incomprehensible passage from the KJV:
Deuteronomy 23
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
Given the close proximaty of the rules cited by Weirddave, could “by reason of uncleanness” refer to a sudden need to “go”?
I believe you can rest assured, Opus 1, that nobody is trying to use a tortured interpretation of some obscure passage to discredit the Bible. That WOULD be beyond stupid. The plain language of more well known passages works so much better.
Jomo Mojo informs me;
Likely the latter. Amjat’s a great kidder. If I see him again, I’ll wring his neck for this little infidelity.
And further;
Especially crapola spread by supposedly devout Muslims.
Salaam,
mangeorge
I too have discussed bathroom issues with a muslim friend. He reported that it is appropiate to perform such functions only with the left hand. More noble activities, such as greeting others and eating, are reserved for the right hand in Middle Eastern culture since pre-Islamic times.
Couldn’t find a cite for this right off the bat, but here’s a discussion about using your right hand for eating.
http://islam.org/dialogue/Q325.HTM
dqa’s quite correct. That’s what my friend told me. He also said that I’m sinful because I’m single.
BTW; What is it with religion and this left hand/right hand thing.
Shalom,
mangeorge
Synergist, the passage becomes comprehensible when you read “bodily discharge” or “uncleanness that chanceth him by night” as ‘seminal emission’. Wet dream. After ejaculation it takes an ablution or bath to regain ritual purity for prayer.
I was going to comment on verses 10-11 of Deutoronomy 23 - and I was going to use one of the more modern translations which says “nocturnal emissions” instead of using the obfuscatory KJV language.
After all, the quotes at the beginning of this article are from a modern translation. The KJV translates verses 12-14 as:
“when thou wilt ease thyself abroad”. Of course, a common modern circumlocution is RESTroom.
Maybe we should retitle it dooty-ronomy …
Looking at chapter 23, that is also the source of this old gem, too:
And:
No dickless wonders in our church!
When I first saw this thread I thought it was about not being able to take a bath. Why don’t you Americans use the correct term ? . It is a toilet ,a lavatory, a loo ,a bog but it is not a bathroom. I once saw a very confused conversation between an American tourist and a local guide at the Parthenon in Athens with the guide wondering why this guy suddenly wanted to take a bath.
I realize this has wandered a bit off the topic, but since I introduced this point, I thought i should answer.
Because a solid majority of people are right-handed, the right hand is associated with strength and power; it is the hand used to wield weapons. From ancient times it has been customary to show or offer the right hand in greeting as a sign of peace, revealing that one not bearing weapons. One who is touched by your right hand or positioned to your right is therefore favored by you, and possibly under your protection. From this springs much of the religious imagery.
Psalms 48:10
As your name deserves, O God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth. Your strong right hand is filled with victory.
Colossians 3:1
Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power
In addition, it is natural to eat or do with your dominant (usually right) hand. And with guests, it would be rude to have offered them your right hand in peace earlier, only to dine with them lefty, your right hand ready to seize a dagger.
If you’re using your right to perform these activities, then the honor of wiping your ass would seem to fall to the left, and it’s something you may want to keep segregated. Likewise with other unpleasant activities, and soon enough the left (Latin sinister) takes on some bad connotations.
Matthew 6:3
When you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.
I cite Biblical passages because these are handy on the web. But the practice was widespread throughout the Middle East, long before these issues were mentioned in the Bible or Quran. I wouldn’t be surprised if Baal, the golden calf, favored his right hoof. Probably as Christianity spread through pagan Europe, some of these practices became less common in everyday life among the Christian population, although lots of references remain in scripture.
Finally, I was struck by the following quote. I’m not sure if this is very representative of Muslims or Malays. At least it returns us to the topic Bathroom Rules Among Monotheists, a slight stretch but snappier title.
http://www.pointpub.com/kampungnet/mores.html
Quoth David Cronan:
Toilet: Those things that a person does upon waking in the morning. This does often include excretion, but also include brushing teeth, showering, etc.
Lavatory: Room for washing. Pretty close in literal meaning to “bathroom”, of course.
I’m not sure of the origin of “loo”, and I’ve never heard the term “bog” used of the Place of the Porcelain Fixtures, but I think it’s safe to say that neither of those is the “correct” term, either. Of course, “water closet”, “washroom”, “little boys’/girls’ room”, “outhouse”, and “privy” are similarly non-descriptive of the actual function of such a chamber.
Seems to me that all these terms are euphemisms, “bathroom” included.
I propose “defecatorium”.
But what if I have to pee? Can I do that in a ‘defecatorium’?