Q&A: The Problem of Wasting Seed According to Those Who Permit Male Homosexual Intercourse
The Problem of Wasting Seed According to Those Who Permit Male Homosexual Intercourse
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi,
According to those who permit male homosexual intercourse (who maintain that the prohibition applies only to straight men), how do they solve the problem of the prohibition of wasting seed, or perhaps even promiscuous intercourse (relations outside the framework of marriage)? And is there any theoretical solution to these problems at all?
With blessings,
Answer
I’m not familiar with such an approach. It’s a suggestion I raised as a possibility, and I’m not aware of anyone who actually endorses it in practice.
If such relations are permitted, there may perhaps be room to compare them to intercourse during a woman’s non-fertile days. But it really isn’t simple.
Discussion on Answer
None of these are difficulties. Even if you’re right, at most it would be like the stubborn and rebellious son, who never was and never will be. In general, death penalties are not really workable, because what fool would receive prior warning and say, “Yes, and on that basis I am doing it”?! And even if you do find such a person, he would be one of the insane, who are exempt from punishment.
But even on the substance of the matter, I don’t think you’re right. It is possible to know about someone that he has such a tendency, and there are also presumptions to rely on (we stone and burn based on legal presumptions).
Two comments on your suggestion:
A. Wasn’t it said about such a case, “If so, you have made your rulings dependent on individual discretion,” meaning that anyone could say he has such a tendency?
B. How could he ever become liable to the death penalty? Maybe he was born that way, and even if he admits he wasn’t, a person cannot render himself wicked by his own admission. And if we follow the majority (do we follow the majority in capital cases?), then in truth it would be forbidden for everyone.