@eshusplayground you said it!
Not only is Jenna Jacobs (the character in the green coat) partaking in homophobia, but the other character, President Josiah Bartlet (and as a consequence, The West Wing’s writers), are unintentionally partaking in a form of anti-semitism - anti-Judaism.
This is because Bartlet is making it out as though the Torah (The Jewish holy book often called the “Old Testament”) is an archaic and cruel manuscript, which often leads to the even worse assumption of “if the Torah is evil and Jews follow the Torah, then Jews must be evil”. Ideas like that have previously lead to countless pogroms and even a Holocaust - which is why anti-Judaism is so harmful.
Let’s debunk Jacobs’ claims and answer Bartlet’s questions though:
Ancient Hebrew is a difficult-to-interpret language. As a result, there is a wide variety of Jewish interpretations of this verse - many Jews do believe that Leviticus 18:22 states that homosexual acts (differing from homosexuality) is an abomination, but many don’t - see an in-depth study of the text from this point of view here.
As Jacobs is so obviously taking a Xian interpretation of the text, I’d also recommend gaychristian101.com for info on the Xian New Testament’s supposed anti-homosexual verses as well if you’re interested in that.
Exodus 21:7 does tolerate female indentured servitude (not slavery), and we know that servitude can be one of the most unequal institution on Earth; Yet to Jews this tolerance is so obviously about the redistribution of wealth and in an ironic way, using that very institution to achieve equality that it’s almost funny other groups could interpret it any other way. Think of it like this:
In ancient times, if you were a woman who’s parents couldn’t afford to pay a dowry, you couldn’t find a husband, and in such a patriarchal society that was practically a death sentence. So the Torah came up with a solution. It allowed impoverished parents to send their daughters to work for wealthy families and in return for her work, after 6 years she could marry her master or one of her master’s sons (Exodus 21:9-10 makes it clear that at this point she is to be treated equally as a wife, and not as a indentured servant); If there was any objection to the marriage, she can be redeemed for a lower sum of money and either way, the cycle of poverty is discontinued and a social construct is changed. See here for a better in-depth study.
According to the Talmud (A secondary Jewish holy text) there are 39 categories of work. According to Exodus 34:21 it is prohibited to perform these 39 tasks on the Sabbath (which is a Saturday, not a Sunday like many believe) and Numbers 15:32-36 does designate this prohibition a capital crime; But what many don’t realise is that the Talmud also has a ridiculously complex list of requirements for the death penalty to actually be carried out, which you can see here. The list actually makes it so hard to impose this punishment that commentators for centuries have concluded that the death penalty is only designated as a punishment to warn against the severity of the crime, not to actually be carried out.
The Torah prohibition against crossbreeding things, including seeds, is called Kil’ayim. The Talmud dedicates no less than 77 Mishnahs (work of rabbinic literature) to the discussion of Kil’ayim and why it’s prohibited. Like many things in Judaism, no one is 100% sure why it’s prohibited but some commentators have suggested that it’s because when we crossbreed we are being arrogant as we are implying that G-d didn’t create all necessary things already. It isn’t forbidden to benefit from crossbreeding however.
See point 3 for info on capital punishment.
Sha’atnez, the mixing of linen and wool in garments, is a subcategory of Kil’ayim, meaning we aren’t 100% sure what it’s rationale is, but we can guess; One common explanation is that mixing a thread from an animal (wool) and a thread from a plant (linen) constitutes a form of witchcraft, which is prohibited for a myriad of reasons, including the fact that superstition when taken too far can be dangerous and because it can imply that one has a god complex.
Again, see point 3 for info on capital punishment.
So please, to the WW writers, OP and all who liked and reblogged this, think about how you may be doing as much harm as cherry picking Bible bashers when you spread this flawed theology, would you?