Antelope Valley Interfaith Council

Published June 28, 2008 in the Antelope Valley Press

by David Hoffman

In light of the California Supreme Court’s decision in favor of gay marriage, the Antelope Valley Press has devoted several articles in the Opinion and Religion sections to the topic. I read with interest the lead editorial in the Sunday, June 22, AV Press on the drama surrounding gay unions.

The Jewish tradition, which emphasizes the blessing that is derived from children and idealizes harmonious and loving family life, really does not have much to say about homosexuality.

There is no prohibition of lesbianism, for example, though Leviticus 18 includes male homosexual in a series of prohibited sexual acts, calling it an “abomination.” But what is an “abomination”?

The Hebrew word everyone translates as “abomination,” does not mean that God finds the behavior inherently repugnant, but rather the behavior is one for a man to avoid.

In a related prohibition (Deuteronomy 22:5) concerning cross dressing, (wearing the apparel of the opposite sex), which arises innocently in many young children and persists at times into adulthood as transvestitism, the two greatest Medieval rabbis, Maimonides and Rashi, interpret the Hebrew word often translated as “abomination” homiletically as toeh – vah, meaning that more mistakes will come in the wake of that act. In other words, cross dressing in and of itself is not inherently repulsive.

In the Barbara Streisand movie, “Yentl,” the girl pretending to be a boy because she wants to study Torah in the Yeshivah will be abhorred, if discovered, for the potentially inappropriate seduction she presumably dressed herself up for to initiate, not because it is inherently abominable to the Divine sensibility.

And in the medieval Islamic prayer assembly, in addition to men and women sitting separately, there was another separate section for the cross dressers.

This clearly indicates that when effeminacy in males presented itself, much of the monotheistic world handled it with tolerance, sensitivity and matter-of-factness, and for very good reason: The most important point of rabbinic, Islamic and Christian ethics is to not humiliate a fellow being!

Of course, the kind of personal modesty and humility practiced in ages gone by are quite scarce in our soap box-loving, sexually shameless civilization.

I don’t support the campaign of my friends in the Christian clergy to make gay marriage a political issue by advocating for an amendment to our state constitution.

Why? Because what is truly abominable is that this private and personal matter has become a cause célèbre in the first place.

What we need to do is to restore this issue to its proper proportions.

And even though the right wing has good reason to abhor the glut of entitlements that have improperly spilled over into the homosexuality debate, making homosexuals into bigger victims than they actually have been in any number of civilizations, this is not the arena in which to fight that battle.

On the contrary, making this into a major front of the war of values shows the religious right as having its own entitlement hubris, and thus only adding fuel to the entitlement fire they themselves should want to extinguish.

Since the Massachusetts law permitting homosexual nuptials went into effect in 2004, there have only been 60,000 gay weddings — 30,000 in the first half year the law was in effect.

This truly demonstrates just how much of a storm in a tea cup this whole issue is.

Unlike the Abortion issue, which is purely a matter of faith, gay marriage is an issue where demonstrable consequences surely have a bearing.

Let the law in our republic of California take its course, and let us see what happens to these homosexual marriages. Perhaps those who will now be married can give new meaning to the sanctity of love through the generosity and compassion to others they will show.

Let there be a competition over the demonstrable quality of our loving. Let it not be over the letter of the law, but the spirit.

David Hoffman, chairman of the Antelope Valley Interfaith Forum and immediate past chairman of the Cape Town (South Africa) Interfaith Forum, serves as rabbi at Lancaster’s Temple Beth Knesset Bamidbar.

(Adopted on July 1st, 2008,18 members with 14 in favor, 3 abstentions and one nay.)

The Antelope Valley Interfaith Council, representing 18 faith communities in the Antelope Valley, is deeply concerned about the impression that there is no support among religious and spiritual leaders for same sex marriages.

As a religious body comprised of various spiritual traditions, the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council is united in our belief of the God-given dignity of all people and in our pursuit of justice, compassion, and human rights for all.

We recognize that some spiritual and religious doctrine does not support same sex marriage. We realize that for some clergy to come out in favor of same sex marriage could cost them their credentials. We also know that there are clergy who do on a personal level support same sex marriage, but can only express this opinion privately or in a supportive atmosphere. We recognize that this issue is divisive for congregations who may not be ready as a whole body to accept same sex marriages. We also insist that it is the right of any religious or spiritual organization to choose not to perform same sex marriages, because of their doctrine or the beliefs of congregational members.

In spite of its controversy same sex marriages encourage monogamous relationships where commitment and responsibility in a loving union creates stability, for society. We acknowledge that it is government’s obligation to create safety, security, and economic opportunity for all its citizens. Encouraging marriage among all its citizens creates a nurturing environment for rearing healthy and well adjusted children, thus creating families. Further more it sets up an atmosphere for meeting practical human needs, to be loved, accepted, and cared for. Research has already determined that people in marriage relationships lead happier, fulfilling lives, and live longer as a result. Marriage also lends itself to economic stability through shared resources to provide shelter, clothing, food, health care, and income for later in life. A society that provides for all its citizens to choose marriage as a way of life will reap the rewards through satisfied, well adjusted, and productive citizens.

However we do not support nor will we join religious or spiritual organizations regardless of their size in pressing for a referendum to amend the state Constitution for we do not believe that this is the role of religious or spiritual organizations.

For these reasons, the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council calls upon all Californians of conscience to consider their moral and ethical responsibility toward their fellow human being regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or religious background and leave in place their human right to marry equally under the law. This is an act of compassion for all.

Acting on behalf of the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council
Deborah Shelton, President
www.avinterfaith.com

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Friday, May 2, 2008.

By NORMAN SHOAF
Valley Press Religion Editor

LANCASTER - “There is no faith unless it is interfaith,” Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak told a gathering of approximately 60 listeners Thursday evening at the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council National Day of Prayer Service at the Antelope Valley Church at the Center of Light .

By turns cordial and confrontational, keynote speaker Beliak praised Valley efforts at religious inclusion - and condemned what he called the hijacking of the National Day of Prayer by the Christian Right.

Beliak is a leader of the organization JewsOnFirst, whose proclaimed mission is to protect the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and lobby for an inclusive National Day of Prayer.

“How can National Day of Prayer leaders have their day year after year when they exclude all but fundamentalist Christians?” Beliak said. “God speaks in many languages, nationalities and cultures. This is a wonderful banquet.

“You’re not here to convert me, and I’m not here to convert you,” Beliak said of the multiple religions represented at the fifth annual event. “But are you an honest representation of God’s love.”

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The New Thought/Metaphysical teaching gives no thought or credence to luck, be it the Irish luck of kissing the Blarney Stone, or in any other form. Luck is associated with coincidence which is likewise not held in New Thought. Rather New Thought teaches that we are guided by Source to a serendipity which brings us to our good by our willingness to recognize the good within the circumstance.

New Thought is a teaching based in the teachings of Jesus, acknowledging that God is all, which makes God the Source of all prosperity, be it financial, health, relationships or in any circumstance. Since God is the Everpresent Source of all abundance, we as It’s creations have only to tap into that abundance in our own lives and claim it as our own—in the highest good of all concerned- exactly as a buffet table of food where we choose what and how much we will place on our plate.

With Spirit as our Source, our participation is in self-responsibility for how we use our empowerment to align with Source and therefore become open vessels for accepting our inherited abundance. This means that our job is to remove negative self-talk, negative thinking, negative expectations-which are all blocks to accepting prosperity. As we become positive open loving thinkers and actors, giving good in any form to life, Life responds by filling us with good, often good beyond our greatest expectations, which also need to be free flowing. One of these positive thoughts and exceedingly freeing is GRATITUDE- for gratitude for what is opens up pathways to prosperity beyond what we are experiencing at the moment.

So at the bottom line, realizing that God is our Source, the actual actualization of prosperity in our lives is an inside job. I trust you will choose to take on your footwork on the pathway to realizing your prosperity.

Happy moving toward March Prosperity.

Rev. Maxine Schiltz
Revealing Truth-a metaphysical center

by Maxine Schiltz

The greatest need of human beings is love, the feeling of belonging and not being abandoned.
Love expands as it is expressed,
Our ideas of love are minescule in comparison the the Consciousness of God’s Love.
Love is a blending of all that is good–in thought, choice, feeling, commitment and action.
All love begins and ends in the origin of God’s Love.
Our expressions f love are God’s expressions through us.
All we do, think,and want is a call for love.
Love is the act of feeling good. To be loved in return is a bonus. When we cut ourselves off from loving we cut ourselves off from feeling good.
Stifled love is dis-ease or death.
And finally love is not a choice to be with the people you love. We can love people from an appropriate distance, chosen by the receiver of the loved persons affect on you. To quote John Bradshaw–”To love a monster, you don’t need to be with the monster”.

Happy Love Life!!