October 21st, 2009
5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
The rest of Deuteronomy 22 is filled with silly laws, and this one certainly counts as silly. It is clear from the texts that if a man wears woman’s clothing or a woman wears a man’s, then they are an abomination. I can’t help but wonder about the nature of culture and how fashions differ from one culture to the next.
Would God consider a Scotsman an abomination for wearing a kilt? Would he consider all women who wear pants as abominations? Granted, the kilt is intended to be worn by a man, and pants can be styled for a woman. It then seems that clothing made with a specific gender in mind should be worn by only that gender.
How, then, should we consider clothing that is made for men but designed to make them appear to be women? In that case, is it the intention to appear to be a member of the opposite sex the thing that would cause you to become an abomination? If that is indeed the case, then why would anyone care? What harm does being a cross-dresser cause? It seems to me that such a law was written by men who had reached up a skirt only to be surprised by what they found, not by a just god.