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March 7, 2003
Compassion is not enough
Letters
Editor: It was certainly encouraging to read the comments expressed
by some of the local rabbis concerning Judaism's evolving position
vis-à-vis homosexuality ("Struggle for acceptance,"
Bulletin Archives, Feb. 14), relating to the screening of
Trembling Before G-d, although admittedly I was deeply perplexed
by the apparently contradictory comments concerning the difficulty
of giving an aliyah to homosexuals, while at the same time welcoming
them to synagogues.
Simply put, any theology or religious doctrine that expressly condemns,
marginalizes or excoriates groups of people on the basis of an ontological
condition the essence of their very being is morally
indefensible. To suggest, as many mainstream right wing and sectarian
theologians (of all faiths) have posited, that homosexuals must
conform to a "normative" heterosexual existence, either
through the suppression of their homosexual orientation (i.e. abstinence)
or subjection to heterosexual coupling, is unspeakably cruel and
unnatural. Moreover, it is precisely this type of bigotry
often disguised in the obtuse language of religious moralism
that fosters indirectly the unrelenting violence and social ostracism
to which gays and lesbians are subjected. Homophobia is based on
fear and ignorance about an aspect of human nature that was not
fully understood scientifically until recent times. Religious positions
that do not account for scientific advancements about human nature
are retrograde at best.
It is only in modernity that western societies have begun to understand
and appreciate the natural phenomenon of homosexuality. Homosexuality
is neither a preference, nor a tendency, nor a behavior, and it
is quite preposterous (and deeply offensive) to suggest that one
can change it as of course it would be equally preposterous
to attempt to change one's heterosexual orientation.
In recent decades, some branches of religion (including Judaism)
have begun to deal with the issue in a highly enlightened and evolved
manner. There are, however, others which remain deeply obscurantist
where homosexuality is concerned, and which continue to demonize
and vilify homosexuals and homosexuality and, of course, in the
process cause unimaginable pain to gay individuals and their families
(as was clearly evidenced in the film).
It is not enough for Jewish religious leaders to express compassion
for the suffering of Charedi (or otherwise observant) gay and lesbian
Jews. These attitudes, however well-meaning in some cases, are patronizing
and miss the fundamental point: gay and lesbian Jews are suffering
not because they are gay, rather precisely because of prevailing
attitudes and halachic interpretations that render their very human
essence anathema. Bigotry is bigotry, no matter how it is construed
or rationalized.
Frederick Fajardo
Vancouver
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