As with the rest of the country, I have been horrified and grieved by the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by a very disturbed few of our military personnel. While the appalling actions of the prison guards were of a sexual nature, perpetrated by both men and women, any reasonable person can discern that these actions were without a doubt an assertion of power over the prisoners and were solely for the purpose of abusing and humiliating the prisoners.
Sadly, the actions taken against the Iraqi prisoners are strikingly similar to the setting of the biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah. In this story, the Sodom/Gomorrah townsmen are angered when a non-native resident, Lot, obeys the hospitality customs of the day and invites traveling foreign guests into his home. The mob demanded that Lot give the foreigners over to them to be sexually assaulted. Incredulously, Lot begs the mob to take and abuse his virgin daughters who were considered his property instead of humiliating his male guests. As with the Iraqi scenario, this story is a depiction of the assertion of power over others through sexual abuse and humiliation.
One thing strikes me as odd, though. The Sodom and Gomorrah story is rarely told emphasizing the lessons of intolerance and abuse of others who are different, and therefore feared, but rather as an example of God’s wrath against homosexuals. One would be hard pressed to argue that the perpetrators of this modern day atrocity were homosexual. My hope is that some of the individuals who liken their gay/lesbian friends, family and co-workers to the Sodom townsmen might be able to take a fresh look at this scripture as lesson about the violent potential of human nature and mob mentality rather than a condemnation of their homosexual neighbors.
Wouldn’t it have been better if we could have learned from history and practiced respecting all people and thereby possibly have avoided this atrocity of humiliation against the Iraqi people altogether instead of misusing scripture to justify our own fears of what is different?
Cheri Briar
Woodinville
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