Leviticus for Skeptics

I wouldn't read Leviticus if I were you. No one else does.

Instead, I'll summarize it for you: Get an animal, kill it, sprinkle the blood around, cut the dead animal into pieces, and burn it for a "sweet savor unto the Lord."

Here are the gory details:

• Moses puts blood on Aaron's right ear, thumb, and big toe. 8:23-24

• God kills Aaron's sons for offering "strange fire before the Lord." 10:1-2

• Hares are unclean since they chew the cud. 11:6

• Bats are just unclean birds. 11:13,19

• Four-legged birds are an abomination to God. 11:20

• Insects have four legs. 11:21, 23

• Baby girls are twice as dirty as baby boys. 12:1-8

• God's cure for leprosy. 14:2-32

• What to do if "he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean." 15:8

• What to do "if any man's seed of copulation go out from him." 15:16-18

• Menstruating women are unclean to God. 15:19-30

• God's law for wet dreams. 15:16-17, 32

• Uncovering the nakedness of your mother, father, aunts, uncles, etc. 18:8-18

• Don't look at any naked menstruating women. 18:19

• Homosexuality is an abomination to God. 18:22

• Don't have sex with animals. 18:23

• Don't mix seeds when sowing a field or wear a garment with mixed fibers. 19:19

• If you have sex with a slave woman, you must then scourge her. 19:20

• Don't round the corners of your head or mar the corners of your beard. 19:27

• Children who curse their parents, adulterers, and homosexuals must be killed. 20:9-12

• Woman with "familiar spirits" must be stoned to death. 20:27

• The unchaste daughters of priests must be burnt to death. 21:9

• Handicapped people must not approach the altar. 21:16-23

• Cursers and blasphemers must be stoned to death. 24:16, 24

• God's instructions for buying slaves. 25:45-46

• "Ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." 26:16

• God will "send wild beasts among you, which shall rob your of your children." 26:22

• "And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." 26:29

• God places a dollar value on human life; with women worth less than men. 27:3-7