A challenge to my convictions
While taking a break from my drafting today, I stumbled across yet another article, this time on Salon. The whole thing was quite exciting, but the main quote which, perhaps all-too-predictably, jumped out at me follows:
'And then [Rabbi Eric Yoffie] launched into the most controversial part of his sermon -- an impassioned denunciation of right-wing homophobia that invoked the historical parallel of Nazism. "We understand those who believe that the Bible opposes gay marriage, even though we read that text in a very different way," he said. "But we cannot understand why any two people who make a lifelong commitment to each other should be denied legal guarantees that protect them and their children and benefit the broader society. We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations. And today, we cannot feel anything but rage when we hear about gay men and women, some on the front lines, being hounded out of our armed services. Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."'
That is quite possibly the best and most succinct summation of the intelligent position on gay marriage and, more broadly, gay rights that I've ever read-- and it came from a religious leader.
Those who know me know that I have what might charitably be described as a seething hatred for religion in just about all its forms. Still, reading something like this makes me wonder if maybe, just possibly, there might yet be some good to be done by priests of every stripe, now that the texts have been preserved and the wealth has been built.
Still, I have to think that, heartening as it is to find a religious leader possessed of such strong moral fiber as Rabbi Yoffie obviously is, he is the marked exception, rather than the rule. My main problem with religion is not the belief in God(s); rather, it is the belief in the word of the men who purport to speak for said deities. The fundamental flaw in the system is this: humans are fallible. God(s), at least theoretically, are not. The state of omnipotence, etc., is so far beyond our experience as flawed mortals that we can never hope to comprehend it. Thus, anyone who claims to know the mind of God(s) well enough to tell other people what that God or Gods wants is guilty of the most awesome arrogance which, it seems to me, must lead inevitably to the abuse of power, due to that same damned fallibility.
It's people like Rabbi Yoffie who make me hope that I might be wrong.
'And then [Rabbi Eric Yoffie] launched into the most controversial part of his sermon -- an impassioned denunciation of right-wing homophobia that invoked the historical parallel of Nazism. "We understand those who believe that the Bible opposes gay marriage, even though we read that text in a very different way," he said. "But we cannot understand why any two people who make a lifelong commitment to each other should be denied legal guarantees that protect them and their children and benefit the broader society. We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations. And today, we cannot feel anything but rage when we hear about gay men and women, some on the front lines, being hounded out of our armed services. Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."'
That is quite possibly the best and most succinct summation of the intelligent position on gay marriage and, more broadly, gay rights that I've ever read-- and it came from a religious leader.
Those who know me know that I have what might charitably be described as a seething hatred for religion in just about all its forms. Still, reading something like this makes me wonder if maybe, just possibly, there might yet be some good to be done by priests of every stripe, now that the texts have been preserved and the wealth has been built.
Still, I have to think that, heartening as it is to find a religious leader possessed of such strong moral fiber as Rabbi Yoffie obviously is, he is the marked exception, rather than the rule. My main problem with religion is not the belief in God(s); rather, it is the belief in the word of the men who purport to speak for said deities. The fundamental flaw in the system is this: humans are fallible. God(s), at least theoretically, are not. The state of omnipotence, etc., is so far beyond our experience as flawed mortals that we can never hope to comprehend it. Thus, anyone who claims to know the mind of God(s) well enough to tell other people what that God or Gods wants is guilty of the most awesome arrogance which, it seems to me, must lead inevitably to the abuse of power, due to that same damned fallibility.
It's people like Rabbi Yoffie who make me hope that I might be wrong.
posted by Jon at 9:36 PM
1 Comments:
Hubris is such an easy trap to fall into. I have myself more than a few times in my life. It's mostly the reason for the carefully kept up self-deprecation. In my mind, if not always in my actions.
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