News for July 2008
Council supports gay marriage
OFFERING THOUGHTS – Rabbi David Hoffman with the Beth Knesset Bamidbar synagogue in Lancaster, and Chaplain Lisa Morgenstern with First Pantheistic Center, Antelope Valley weigh in Tuesday on their beliefs about the recent same-sex marriage ruling. The two were at a press conference put on by the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council in Lancaster to share its resolution on same-sex marriage.
Faith group urges leaving law in place
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Wednesday, July 2, 2008.
By NORMAN SHOAF
Valley Press Religion Editor
LANCASTER – Members of the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council, “concerned about the impression that there is no support among religious and spiritual leaders for same-sex marriages,” issued a resolution Tuesday calling on “all Californians of conscience” to “leave in place (the) human right to marry equally under the law” regardless of sexual orientation.
About 40 council members and observers gathered in front of the Lancaster Library for a public reading of the “Resolution on Same Sex Marriage.”
“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,” council President Deborah Shelton read from the document.
“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,” the resolution said.
Proposition 8, on the November ballot, would amend California’s constitution to limit marriage to one man-one woman unions. Gay marriages began to be legally consecrated on June 17 after the Republican-dominated state Supreme Court upended previous prohibitions on such unions. The decision reverberated across the United States. Only California and Massachusetts legally license gay marriages.
Edited: July 6th, 2008
Same-sex unions test limits of love
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.
Edited: July 2nd, 2008
Antelope Valley Interfaith Council Resolution on Same Sex Marriage
(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.
Edited: July 1st, 2008
