Marriage equality supported by progressives
Support for same sex marriages has come from the Union of Progressive Judaism.
Steve Denenberg
A statement issued by the Union’s executive director, Steve Denenberg, reads:
The Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) together with the members of the Moetzah, the Rabbinic Council of Progressive Rabbis of Australia, Asia and New Zealand, support marriage equality under Australian law and welcome the decision of the Australian Labor Party to do the same.
Judaism teaches that all human beings are created betzelem Elohim (“in the image of God”) (Genesis )1:27and are therefore entitled to full dignity and equality. The Jewish people are all too familiar with discrimination and worse, and we reject it however rationalised.
We believe that Australian law should guarantee equality in marriage and giving equality in religion and in terms of civil status. There is no reason for Australian law to limit or discriminate against the civil or legal rights of any individual or group.
We hope that the message “It’s time” will be embraced by the Australian Parliament and legislation granting full marriage equality will soon be enacted.
Well spoken Paul, I don’t condemn or judge homosexuals, not my position as a Christian, but if G-d says it is an abomination, then that is exactly what it is. We have progressive Christians too, but the Word of G-d is exactly that, the Word of G-d, and according to Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no understanding or counsel that will prevail against the Almighty.
So far the Pregressive Jews have produced some very significant contributions to our community:
– NIF complete with David Landau support as a “necessary” outlet of …debate, thus enriching one’s intellect and adherence to Judaism as they know it.
– Same sex marriage as a necessary outlet for extending “Juadic consideration of all facets of civil and ethical existence “, as NOT specified in the Torah, thus not just competeing with established and necssarily observed Jewish existence, but denying it.
What makes perfect sense is that you shall not see ANY Progressive rabbi participate in these discussions in an openly fashion, allowing rational retort !!
Good onya Paul for speaking your mind on this important issue. However, it is not inconsistent for the “Progressives” to advocate same-sex marriage. The movement believes in using the Torah as a tawdry plaything to be manipulated according to nascent social trends. At the inception of the movement in Germany, Zion and Zionism were discarded, and then later restored in the early 20th century. Similarly, kashrut was discarded, and only now are we seeing a return to it. It is unsurprising that the “Progressive” rabbinate has chosen to discard 5000+ years of tradition by changing the definition of marriage. The people want it? Let’s do it.
If you don’t like the actions of the “Progressive” rabbinate, you might like to consider joining an authentic synagogue…
As a long-time member of North Shore Temple Emanuel, I reject the stand taken by the so-called Progressive Jewish establishment. I will repeat here the points I made when I raised my objections to homosexual “marriages” in my synagogue. The Torah specifically prohibits homosexuality and any rabbi who says that we do not know what our forebears meant by abomination is talking rubbish; the penalty – stoning – makes it clear that same sex couplings were taboo. It is hypocritical of Reform rabbis to insist on ever higher levels of koshruth at the same time as they attempt to sanctify same sex pairings. No thinking person would advocate stoning homosexuals or discriminating against people who are fixated, or have regressed to the homosexual stage of development, as described by Freud. It is clear that homosexuals need to have some sort of legal arrangement because of superannuation, property matters, carer’s rights (I witnessed very sad case of a man whom a school wanted transfer thus making it almost impossible for him to care for his dying partner), etc. But a civil arrangement is all that is necessary. The demand of the homosexual lobby to call the formalisation of same sex relationships a “marriage” falsely crying equality, must be rejected. People with a developmental defictit are not equal to those who have fully matured. Those with developmental deficits are unsuitable as role models for children, no matter how intelligent and nurturant they are. It is wrong of society to be deceived into thinking that everything is normal, because if that is so, then nothing is normal. And it is wrong for any rabbi to distort his religion to advance a political agenda. As a matter of prudence, clergy should not meddle in politics, because that invites politicians to meddle in religion.