In my last blog post (found here) I began unpacking the controversy of drag performances in society today. In this blog I’ll move the conversation forward by looking at the key Bible passage that is often used to address the issue. But first a story…
The congregation I used to serve was a multi-site church, with one location using a more traditional worship style than the others. Among other things, that meant I wore traditional vestments – a robe, stole, etc. – when leading worship at that site.
A family that exclusively worshipped at one of our more contemporary sites came to the traditional site for a wedding. I was in the lobby before the service began, and greeted them warmly. Their five-year-old son looked puzzled, and then loudly asked, “Why are you wearing a dress?” I knelt down so I could look him in the eye, smiled, and explained, “This isn’t a dress. It is called and alb and sometimes pastors wear these when they lead worship.” He still looked puzzled, turned to his mom and said, “Sure looks like a dress to me!”
Deuteronomy 22:5 says, “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.” (English Standard Version)
That’s pretty clear, right? Men should wear men’s clothing, and women should wear women’s clothing. God hates anything else. So does that mean drag performers are sinning when they dress as the opposite sex? Many Christians believe so. Let’s dig in further and see.
First, the book of Deuteronomy was written by Moses thousands of years ago. It contains the written record of speeches Moses gave to the Children of Israel (the Hebrews) before they entered the Promised Land. The book was written in Hebrew, and a few things stand out as we look at the verse in the original language:
- The first phrase literally says that a woman shall not wear or use “the things of a man.” This would include clothing but could also include tools, weapons, armor, and ornaments or jewelry.
- The word for “man” in this verse is not the normal common word for man, but a word that means “mighty man” or “warrior.”
- The word describing God’s position on these things (translated “abomination”) has a fairly specific meaning in Deuteronomy. More on that later.
It’s also important to note the context of this verse. The verses preceding explain what to do if you find livestock or clothing that belong to another person. The verses after deal with things like being sure not to put a balcony on your house with a low railing lest people fall from it, and not making clothing with different cloth fibers mixed together.
One other “twist” for us to consider: There exist several Egyptian monuments that show the Hebrew people entering into Egypt in the years leading up to their captivity and eventual rescue by God through Moses. In these monuments everyone, men and women alike, are wearing very similar clothing. Some robes worn by men are identical in color and style to those worn by women in the same scene. So what exactly is God saying in Deuteronomy 22:5?
One option suggested by Biblical scholars is that there is a military connotation to this verse: In other words, men should not abandon their weapons and armor and take on the role of women to avoid military service. And women likewise should not put on armor and pretend to be a man to gain access to a military camp (to meet with their spouse, or to serve as a prostitute). This suggestion comes from the “mighty man” or “warrior” translation of the word for “man” in the verse, as well as the broad “the things of a man” that women are not to wear or use.
While this option is possible, it feels like a stretch to me. There is nothing else in all of Deuteronomy about military service, strategy, or rules. One random verse like this doesn’t make a lot of sense. There is a much more likely understanding of this verse, and it centers around the phrase, “whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”
This concept of “abomination” is found 117 times in the Old Testament, and specifically in Deuteronomy it becomes a technical word used to describe pagan worship practices in use in Canaan, the land the Hebrews were about to enter. For example:
“When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13)
Throughout Deuteronomy, when Moses condemns pagan worship practices like making idols (27:15), temple prostitution (23:18), and certain types of animal sacrifice (17:1) each time he calls these things and those who do them “abominations.” So it is entirely possible Deuteronomy 22:5 is dealing with some sort of pagan worship practice as well.
As we dig deeper we find this is exactly the case. We know that many pagan fertility and harvest rituals involved men and women portraying the opposite sex in both dance and sexual interaction. We also know that conquering pagan kings would dress captured soldiers like women and them offer them as sacrifices to their gods.
It seems to me Deuteronomy 22:5 is rooted in avoiding the cultic practices of the day. When we take it out of that context it has little to say to modern clothing styles, or even things like drag shows. At the very least we must recognize we don’t take other parts of the law shared in Deuteronomy literally, otherwise we would be just as concerned about the drag performer who wears a scarf with mixed cloth fibers as we would the fact they are wearing clothing culturally associated with the opposite sex.
I believe we are misusing Scripture when we use Deuteronomy 22:5 to tell women they cannot wear pants (as was done in the 18th century in America and is still being done in some of the African church today), or to condemn drag performers as sinning against God simply because they dress up like the opposite sex.
When Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by the church in 1431, the primary charge brought against her was that she was violating Deuteronomy 22:5 by dressing like a man. At one point they made her sign a confession to this and insisted she wear a dress, which she readily agreed to do. But those who wanted her executed took the dress away and gave her men’s clothing to wear again, and then used that to find her guilty and burn her.
While the charge of violating Deuteronomy 22 was used to condemn Joan of Arc, everyone knows that had nothing to do with her actual execution. It was more about politics and power. Similarly, using Deuteronomy 22 to say that the Bible condemns drag shows and performers only hides the fact that there is something else going on here. We’ll explore that in the next blog post.