text: does society in general have a problem with lesbians/gays or is it just a religious issue? what are yyour thoughts? does it really bother you? heidi religion simply serves to validate homophobic feelings that will naturally arise, especially in men, in a patriarchal, macho society. in general, people find the sexually "deviant" acts of other people disgusting, although they have no problem with the ones they themselves engage in. for example, although both oral and anal sex would be considered deviant according to the bible, most conservative christian males only have a problem with the idea of anal sex because it implies male on male sex, which disgusts them personally because they're not attracted to men. but the idea of oral sex performed on a woman doesn't bother them. and in fact, some of them even engage in anal sex themselves, with women of course, but have no problem criticizing homosexuals who do the same. it's basically a double standard based on personal preferences and rationalized using religion as an excuse.  another way you can tell it's a hypocritical double standard is to look closely at the verses in which the bible appears to forbid sodomy and compare them to verses forbidding other things. for example, although sodomy appears to be forbidden only in the old testament, and is usually only mentioned in the context of another string of perversions as if sodomy alone were not the true problem, divorce and remarriage are forbidden not only in the old testament but in the new testament as well. jesus expressly forbids the separation of two people who have been brought together in marriage in god's name, but he says nothing whatsoever about homosexuality. furthermore, if you look at the book in which the majority of the verses supposedly aimed against sodomy appear, leviticus, you'll notice that it comes down equally as hard on a number of other behaviors which we have not vilified, including talking back to your parents. therefore it's obvious that religious scripture is not the source of homophobia. the true source is a double standard born of personal preference and intolerance and rationalized by selective reading of religious scripture.