[Avodah] Pederasty and Homosexuality

[Jay F Shachter]

Micha Berger wrote on Fri Feb 17 14:13:56 2012:

> 
> Pederasy and homosexuality are different things that usually have
> very different etiologies.
> 

Etymologically, pederasty is related to pedophilia, because the
ancient Greeks tolerated male-on-male sexual intercourse only between
a man and a boy.  But I meant that term in the modern English sense --
"anal intercourse (especially with a boy)" -- and, more specifically,
I was just looking for a succinct English word that described
male-on-male sexual intercourse, I had no intention of conveying the
connotations inside the parentheses.  If my use of the term was
misleading, I apologize.  The Hebrew term would have been clearer than
any equally succinct English term, and perhaps that is what I should
have used, but when I am writing in English, I stick to English
whenever possible (and one day, if I live long enough, I will write a
long article about that, I consider linguistic confusion to be a
serious, and dangerous, ill, though few people since Anshei Khnesseth
HaGdola have seen it the way I do -- but that is a topic for another
time).  I would offer to rewrite the article, but it seems that it is
too late for that (I receive Avodah in digest form, so have not yet
seen my article, but since I got a reply to it from you, it must have
already been published, unless you are one of the editors).  If you
think it will help clarify things, you may forward this to the mailing
list -- in fact, I think I will forward this to the mailing list
myself, and leave it to the sound discretion of the editors to decide
whether there is any benefit in posting it.


			Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
			6424 N Whipple St
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				jay at m5.chicago.il.us
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			"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"