Judith Thurman says she reads the Bible--"especially Leviticus"--to prepare herself for election-year arguments. Since she's chary with the details, here's some of what she will have found.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (18:22)
If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (21:10)
The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying; she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed." (12:1-5)
These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. . . . the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew its cud, is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you. (11: 2-3, 7-8)
You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (19:18)
When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (19:33-34)
Republicans will notice that I've skipped around in order to arrange the items in descending order of import.
