Let's Talk About Sex... Listen up, Oedi

Leviticus 18

If Jake Gittes had read Leviticus 18, Chinatown might have been a much shorter film. So, I guess, I'm kinda glad he didn't.

In this chapter, God lays out all laws concerning sexual activity. If followed correctly, these laws will make for a much less bawdy family reunion. If you're planning an amorous evening, don't read this post until tomorrow. You'll thank me later.

Do not have sex with your mom (it will dishonor your father and... she's your mom. God seems to almost be saying, come on people... she's your mom!). No sex with dad's wife- so step mom's are right out too. Forget about your sister- half or full sister. Even if she didn't grow up in your home. Sex with your grand daughter would dishonor you. No sex with aunts, daughters-in-law, or sisters-in-law.

Don't have sex with both a woman and her daughter- or a woman and her grand-daughter. Don't take your wife's sister as a rival wife- don't have sex with your wife's sister while your wife is living. Don't approach a woman for sex while she is on her period. No sex with the neighbor's wife.

And then in the middle of it all: Don't give your children to be sacrificed to Molech. I'm assuming that there was something sexual that was part of the sacrificial process. Not that God would be okay with it otherwise- it just seems out of place in this passage if sex wasn't involved in some way.

Don't lie with a man as one lies with a woman. No sex with animals. The sex with animals is the first of these laws to specifically address women. Women can't present themselves for sex with animals either.

I would assume that the female equivalent of these other laws would, however, also be true- I think that the lack of specificity says more about a stifling patriarchy in that culture than allowable female promiscuity.

God frames these laws around the idea of being different from surrounding nations. Don't be like Egypt, don't be like Canaan. If you defile this land it will vomit you out like it did the former inhabitants.

It's easy to write this chapter off as disgusting and obvious. Only the most depraved would... fill in the blank. But post-flood, sexual partners would have been at a minimum, especially in a culture that allowed polygamy. And even as the population grew, in a time before cars, telephones, or even singles.com- how much more difficult would it have been to meet someone who wasn't related to you in some way?

Maybe God is saying- this kind of thing was never ideal. Enough generations have gone by...stop it.