Cain, Abel, and Shem...

[ckaratnytsky at nypl.org]

     A late comment on a discussion between Bill Burns and Xferen.  Bill:
     
     >Consider the prohibition of eating pork or shellfish among semitic 
     >tribes--apparently the Phoenicians ate both. Or consider the common 
     >denunciations of homosexuality in the later Old Testament books and 
     >the New Testament. Is this possibly related to the influence of 
     >Hellenism on Hebrews of the period?
     
     Apropos of Bill's remarks re the OT, you may be interested in checking 
     out "Are there any Jews in 'The History of Sexuality'?" by Daniel 
     Boyarin in the Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 5, no. 3.  
     
     Boyarin posits that there is no evidence to support a claim that a 
     system of sexual orientation existed at all, either in the Talmud or 
     in late ancient Jewish culture.  Categories of (homo)sexuality and the 
     prohibitions against (homo)sexual practices, Boyarin says, were the 
     inventions of the modern Euro-American culture.
     
     They rear their ugly heads, again.
     
     Chris