this is certainly the first time I have blogged about the Torah

You go clicking on links in your internet perusal, and somehow you end up reading Orthodoxy Today. This article is mainly arguing that homosexuality is wrong, but the reason the article is otherwise interesting is the chunk of history it offers regarding global sex practices prior to Judaism.

I was well aware (from my liberal arts education and a senior philosophy seminar on Foucault) that, among the ancient Greeks as well as in many cultures today, the idea of homosexuality did not exist or was not at issue; the real concern was (or is) who is active and who is passive. For instance, the ancient Greeks had no problem with sex between men, provided that the older man or higher-status man was the active partner. Many liberal thinkers cite this as proof that same-sex desire is universal and that certain sex practices have not always been stigmatized.

This writer, somewhat novelly, openly agrees that homosexuality has historically been widespread and accepted; the argument is then that "When Judaism demanded that all sexual activity be channeled into marriage, it changed the world. The Torah's prohibition of non-marital sex quite simply made the creation of Western civilization possible."

Oh, is that all?

After a lascivious breakdown of all the freak-nasty orgy fun the rest of the world was having, the author continues:

"Among the consequences of the unchanneled sex drive is the sexualization of everything -- including religion. Unless the sex drive is appropriately harnessed (not squelched -- which leads to its own destructive consequences), higher religion could not have developed. Thus, the first thing Judaism did was to de-sexualize God: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" by his will, not through any sexual behavior. This was an utterly radical break with all other religions, and it alone changed human history."

Of course, there's plenty of "men are beasts and women are monogamous" kind of thinking going on here, even with all the discussions of sanctioned prostitution in other religions and perhaps other evidence of Ancient Ladies Gone Wild. But still, it is interesting to hear an Orthodox thinker argue that "the family is not a natural unit" but rather a brilliant invention that needs to be "cultivated." In keeping with the "invention" theme, the idea of improving upon nature, the author concludes:

Asked what is the single greatest revelation I have derived from all my researches, I always respond, "That there had to have been divine revelation to produce the Torah." The Torah was simply too different from the rest of the world, too against man's nature, to have been solely man-made.

I am reminded of reading Locke for the first time and thinking "Obviously. So?" Same with John Stuart Mill. When ideas have become so deeply ingrained in our culture, it is difficult to imagine a time in which they were revolutionary. And that is the impetus for this post.