Dictionary definition of “clobber passage”

clobber passage

n. a verse of the Bible interpreted as condemning homosexuality. Also clobber text. Subjects: English, Religion, Sex & Sexuality

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Citations: 1990 Don Lattin San Francisco Chronicle (Sept. 19) “Ministries Try to Turn Gays Straight” p. A1: Bailey agreed that all gay Christians struggle with the Bible and what are known as the “clobber passages,” verses in which homosexuality is condemned as a sin and “abomination.” But he said fundamentalists take those few verses out of context, both textually and historically. 1993 [Paul B. Halsall] Usenet: bit.listserv.catholic (July 17) “The Bible is Not a Collection of Clobber Texts”: Reading over recent postings on homosexuality, it has become apparent that some posters have a little resource of 6 to 8 Biblical texts which they use to “clobber” pro-gay posters. The Levitiucs texts and Romans 1 are most prominent, but some posters cannot let go of Genesis 19 [the Sodom story] either. 1995 Mel White Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America (Apr. 1) p. 335: The familiar Old Testament clobber passage had been misused by Robertson, Falwell, and other “selective literalists” to condemn homosexuality, but this Presbyterian literalist was going all the way. 2007 Kay Campbell Huntsville Times (Alabama) (Feb. 2) “Christians called to love, not judge their neighbors”: Gay Christians know the, as they call them, “clobber texts” in the Bible that are trotted out to prove that gay relations are an abomination to the Lord.

Posted 5 Feb 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

I slogged my way through Leviticus once (KJV, usually quite readable) to find these clobber texts.

I was left wondering why I hadn’t ever noticed the abbatoir outside the churches or the wood-fired barbecues inside, since most of it seems to be precise instructions for burnt offerings and other blood sacrifices.

I wondered why only some passages from this book were deemed worthy of literal consideration while the bulk was ignored…

by Ian Mackereth 06 Feb 07, 0957 GMT