The idea that the crime was homosexuality is a bit of an urban legend...SODOM AND GOMORRAH

There are few things to keep in mind.

1) God chose to destroy Sodom before the encounter between the angels and townspeople and Lot tried to talk him out of it. The prophet Ezekiel tells us why God wanted to do this:

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49)

2) What happened in Sodom was in no way a homosexual act. Those who were to be raped were angels, not human beings. Only one reference to Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Jude makes mention to the sexual act, yet its in a passage about angels leaving their heavenly realm and doing unnatural acts with people:

"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh (Greek: hetero sarx), are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

Note the use of the Greek phrase hetero sarx  which literally means "other flesh", but is dynamically translated as "strange flesh". Logically, if this was a condemnation of homosexuality, the phrase used should be "same flesh" - homo sarx. So overlooking the difference in species and focusing on the (apparent) sameness of gender of the participants in the Sodom and Gomorrah story makes absolutely no sense in the context of this passage.

3) The Bible said that "every last man" in the town gathered and demanded to "know" the angels. Sodom was not 100% homosexual.

4) It was intended to be an act of violent gang rape.

5) Lot, the righteous one, offered up his daughters to be raped in their stead. This was refused. So the townspeople didn't want sexual release, they wanted abuse on these angels specifically.

 Mainstream Biblical scholars believe that the townspeople were attempting to violate ancient laws regarding hospitality to strangers. It's very hard for modern people to believe that codes about hospitality would override the prohibition against rape of young women, but in a desert environment denial of hospitality often meant the death of strangers from thirst, starvation and exposure which would have been considered a worse fate.

Many anti-gay Christians are very sloppy with the Bible, particularly the Old Testament but this is the worst example of it...laws set up to criminalise homosexuality should be based on the physical harm it may have done to the individual ir groups and not to use the bible as a cover up, since you also will go to hell fire for commiting fornication...

Any sexual abuse, whether straight or not must be delt with according to laid down laws. But when two consenting adults decides to engage in sexual acts that they happily engage in should be counselled on the negative impact it may have on them and not to criminalise them. Afterall if God *utterly* destroyed sodom and gomorrah for homosexuality then there shouldnt have been any one surviving to have carried on or given birth to homosexuals with the acts till this day. God is God!

Today we do not have giants living amongst us, because God had locked the angels who did sleep with earthly women. Their children being killed in one war or the other.

That said  we still have homosexuals if its so grave a sin, a people who received the greatest genocidal acts from God.

If you have a difference view on this,  free to leave your comments, as i want to learn a thing or two and i know you too have a thing to give out...bar. vivi