Can Religion and BDSM interests co-exist?

[fetishdj]

Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed for 'Sodomy' as many beleive but for being inhospitable to strangers. At least in the version I read. I suspect the term 'sodomy' was not related to this city until much later. Like the Sin of Onan (which was refusing to follow Jewish law and impregnate his widowed sister in law NOT, as usually stated, masturbation or homosexuality) it is one of these interpretations which some Christians use to justify a lot of things which are not actually stated in the Bible.

The aforementioned passages about wives and husbands do indeed match some BDSM practise (Peter, it seemed, was very big on women obeying but then I suspect he was 'playing to the crowd' - the crowd being Roman and Greek and therefore not big on women's rights) but I am not sure if it is possible to reconcile FemDom practises.

As for other Christian ideas not mentioned in the Bible... well, for many years there was a group of Catholics in Spain who were big on bondage and sadomasochism though I am not sure many of the people who suffered at their hands were actually masochists, just heretics who got on the wrong side of Torquemada. Though their justification of 'torture purifying the soul' is somewhat suspect in a modern Christian doctrine...

[Thorne]

Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed for 'Sodomy' as many beleive but for being inhospitable to strangers. At least in the version I read. I suspect the term 'sodomy' was not related to this city until much later. Like the Sin of Onan (which was refusing to follow Jewish law and impregnate his widowed sister in law NOT, as usually stated, masturbation or homosexuality) it is one of these interpretations which some Christians use to justify a lot of things which are not actually stated in the Bible.

I've noticed that quite a few Christians (and Muslims, with the Quran) tend to interpret scripture in the manner which most suits their own beliefs. Any other interpretations are, by their definition, heresy. Handy little philosophy, that.

As for other Christian ideas not mentioned in the Bible... well, for many years there was a group of Catholics in Spain who were big on bondage and sadomasochism though I am not sure many of the people who suffered at their hands were actually masochists, just heretics who got on the wrong side of Torquemada. Though their justification of 'torture purifying the soul' is somewhat suspect in a modern Christian doctrine...

The Inquisition wasn't limited to Spain. It was just about everywhere the Church was. The Spanish version was just the most notorious. The purging of witches, throughout Europe and America, was a part of that. And in some cultures those kinds of things still go on, though no longer condoned by the Church.