[throwaway0a5e]

>The only viable "community enforcement method" in that situation would have been excommunication,

Ostracizing them works too. Excommunication is basically the religious equivalent to capital punishment. No need to jump straight to that for petty stuff and first offenses.

> which would not have solved any problems of famine and probably would have exacerbated them.

Deterrence. They wanted people to keep it in the closet and live just like everyone else.

The broader goal of religion is to get everybody to partake in a system of practices that the society knows works (and if you read history you'll see that the definition of "works" expands as societies become richer and more secure). Work hard, have a family, be honest, don't screw your neighbors wife or steal his stuff, and all that other stuff that basically every religion tells people to do. It's basically all about stability and the closer to the edge a society is the less tolerance they're gonna have for things that cause problems and/or deviance from what works.