Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 09:51:37 AM EST
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(I'd also recommend Dan Savage's op-ed in today's NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11... - promoted by Mik Moore)
Misnomers, fear and the power of prayer brought discrimination into the Golden State. That, and using religion as a bludgeon on the very system meant to protect us from fanaticism. As a religious leader who opposed Prop. 8, I am feeling a level of sadness that I have not experienced in some time. On the very night that America overcame a huge skeleton in our closet, electing an African American to the presidency, the people of California, by a slim margin, chose to etch discrimination into our state’s legal code. We have the right to disagree, attend different houses of worship and hold different theologies. And while this is really about human rights, equal rights, and legal rights, I want to share a few thoughts on why this is also about a faulty interpretation of religion.
With the passing of Prop. 8, we have officially segregated gays and lesbians into a second-class closet, a closet that nobody deserves to be in. And for what? For a fanatical, literal reading of the Bible that was never meant to be read that way. In the Jewish tradition, we have always operated with the help of the Talmud and commentaries that sought to interpret the text, explain problematic passages, and in some cases, say that the Bible doesn’t mean for us to act on what it actually says. Deuteronomy teaches that we should kill a wayward child, teaching this in a text that is much clearer and more direct than the verse in Leviticus on homosexuality. The rabbis of the Talmud said that this never happened and never should happen. We no longer stone non-virgin wives to death or those who violate the Sabbath, as the Bible prescribes. And yet, in this one issue, on this one verse, Leviticus 18:22, which modern scholars and rabbis like Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Conservative Rabbi Elliot Dorff have shown to be much more nuanced and obtuse than a literal reading allows, we continue to legislate discrimination and hate. There are those who supported Proposition 8 that say it is not about discrimination or hate; I defy them to make that case honestly to the face of a loved one who is gay. |
| rabbijoshua :: Discrimination creates a second-class closet |
Religion has a long history of both alienation and inclusion; in any given era, we have the opportunity to choose which road this history will follow. Religion has helped to promote hatred of “the other” and has helped to teach peace and love of our fellow human. Dr. King sought to bring love into the world and he fought many setbacks in his quest. Those of us who believe in religious inclusion will continue to fight for the rights of gays and lesbians to become equal and full members of our society. Pope John Paul II helped to usher in a new era of relations between Catholics and Jews, a relationship that had been strained by the nightmares of the Holocaust and church sanctioned anti-Semitism. We religious leaders who stand with our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, leaders from a broad interfaith coalition, will continue to preach a gospel of love, a Torah of inclusion and work for a society of equality.
Our country finally overcame a huge hurdle in our battle against racism with the election of Barack Obama. In no way will it cause racism to disappear, for sure, but it certainly will lead us further down that path than ever before. And so, in the darkness of this moment for my gay and lesbian friends and family, I live with the flicker of hope that one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we too will overcome this discrimination as well. With all of the challenges we face in our world, from war to poverty, disease to lack of education, I find it sad and somewhat hard to believe that so many people prayed with all their hearts for this proposition to pass. Marriage is a good thing and people in love should be able to express that in full faith, straight or gay. I believe in a God of love, a God of kindness and a God of equality. I believe in a God that supports human rights and civil rights for all. Sadly, in the name of religious fanaticism and moral absolutism, a huge part of that God was ushered out of California. But, as our people knows well: exile is never forever. |
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