Sexual Practices--Mosaic Law and JWs

by blondie 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • blondie
    blondie

    There was a thread by AlmostAtheist illustrating how the WTS could interfere in the sex lives of JWs.

    This is a topic from the 6/1/2006 WT Questions From Readers:

    In the Mosaic Law, why were certain natural sexual functions viewed as making a person "unclean"?

    God created sex...for the enjoyment of married couples...In chapters 12 and 15 of Leviticus, however, we find detailed statutes concerning uncleanness ascribed to...menstruation.

    (Leviticus 15:19-24) 19 "‘And in case a woman is having a running discharge, and her running discharge in her flesh proves to be blood, she should continue seven days in her menstrual impurity, and anyone touching her will be unclean until the evening. 20 And anything upon which she may lie down in her menstrual impurity will be unclean, and everything upon which she may sit will be unclean. 21 And anyone touching her bed should wash his garments, and he must bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. 22 And anyone touching any article upon which she was sitting should wash his garments, and he must bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. 23 And if it was upon the bed or upon another article that she was sitting, by his touching it he will be unclean until the evening. 24 And if a man lies down with her at all and her menstrual impurity comes to be upon him, he must then be unclean seven days, and any bed upon which he might lie down will be unclean.

    Such laws given to ancient Israel fostered a healthy lifestyle, upheld lofty moral values, and stressed the sanctity of blood and the need for atonement for sins.

    The Mosaic Law's requirements concerning sexual functions promoted, among other things, the general health of the Israelite community. The book The Bible and Modern Medicine (1953) states: "The observance of the menstrual cycle with the prescribed period of abstinence from cohabitation proved to be an effective preventive agains certain sexual diseases...and also a definite deterrent in the formation and development of cervical malignancies."...the emotional health of God's people was also involved. By obeying these laws husbands and wives learned to control sexual passion.

    So a woman is unclean during her menstrual cycle and if her husband has sex with her at that time, he becomes unclean. Based on this too, menstruating sisters should stay home from the meetings.

    20 And anything upon which she may lie down in her menstrual impurity will be unclean, and everything upon which she may sit will be unclean

    and for seven days.

    And what happened to Israelites who deliberately disobeyed this law?

    (Leviticus 20:18) 18

    "‘And where a man lies down with a menstruating woman and does lay bare her nakedness, he has exposed her source, and she herself has laid bare the source of her blood. So both of them must be cut off from among their people.

    Does this mean this is a dfing offense? It is so ridiculous for the WTS to apply the Law to Christians.

    Blondie

  • troubled mind
    troubled mind

    ooops....I guess I should have been df'd 26 yrs. ago after my wedding night . Didn't wait one more week.

  • dvw
    dvw

    jeez. god created women this way, and then treats them like they are something shameful.

  • Fe2O3Girl
    Fe2O3Girl

    Thanks for posting this, Blondie.

    Such laws given to ancient Israel fostered a healthy lifestyle, upheld lofty moral values, and stressed the sanctity of blood and the need for atonement for sins.

    I don't see how these laws did any such thing. And I am no further convinced by quotes from a book published 53 years ago. Is that the mosr recent non-WT source they can find to justify this nonsense?

  • Pistoff
    Pistoff

    The article said:
    "Such laws given to ancient Israel fostered a healthy lifestyle, upheld lofty moral values, and stressed the sanctity of blood and the need for atonement for sins."

    OR what it really is saying is that a nomadic tribe was fearful and superstitious about something it did not understand. Note that the source is from 1953; I have read elsewhere that this has been debunked as medical understanding.

  • Pistoff
    Pistoff

    "By obeying these laws husbands and wives learned to control sexual passion."

    ?? This seems like a classic case of imputing something to a practice that the framers never intended.
    Everyday life teaches a person that he must control sexual passion; why single out a woman's cycle?

    WT reasoning makes my head hurt.

    P

  • Crumpet
    Crumpet
    So a woman is unclean during her menstrual cycle and if her husband has sex with her at that time, he becomes unclean. Based on this too, menstruating sisters should stay home from the meetings.

    Blondie - I assume this is your comment and not the Question from Readers comment?

    I had my period when I got baptised - I made the whole pool and baptism brothers unclean! Maybe it wasnt even a proper baptism!

  • blondie
    blondie

    Yes, that is my comment, I tried leaving space to indicate that. Guess, it wasn't clear.

    Shows how the WTS applies some "principles" and not others.

    Blondie

  • AlmostAtheist
    AlmostAtheist

    >>Does this mean this is a dfing offense? It is so ridiculous for the WTS to apply the Law to Christians.

    Lovely! Amazing, isn't it? They say "though Christians are no longer under the Law" -- which absolves them of having to follow anything they don't like -- they go on to say, "there are still principles to be found in the Law that help us to know Jehovah's thinking on matters" -- which gives them carte blanche to lift any little piece they like from it and control the flock with it.

    Absolutely beautiful.

    The Law also mentions a man's "nocturnal emissions", doesn't it? I wonder if couples should abstain from sex for a week after one of those little episodes?

    Great post, Blondie!

    Dave

  • Crumpet
    Crumpet

    and if they did abstain in respect of that particular law on uncleaness then surely future uncleaness would be a matter of cause and effect!

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