Friday, July 10, 2015

Sophistry and dishonest about gay marriage: Comment of the week


"Kudos" writes a comment for the ages

The sophistry and dishonesty that goes on here when dealing with an issue like homosexuality in Judaism is unbelievable.

Agreed. And in a fine tradition it is, too.

Like when the Torah clearly says that a disobedient son should be hauled before the elders and stoned to death at the gates of the city.

And then the Rabbis came around later and, realizing how cruel and horrible that punishment was for the "crime," they decided to say that the Torah really meant that the son was only to be judged disobedient if the offense occurred in a three month window between bar mitzvah and physical maturity, that the voices of the parents had to be so much alike that the could be confused for one another, that the appearance and height of the parents had to be the same, that the parents couldn't be crippled or lame, both parents must assent to the stoning, and the disobedience had to have involved stealing money in order to buy a bunch of food on which the son gorged himself all at once - and not in his parents' house - and in so doing assured that no child would ever be killed by a Jewish court for doing what kids (even adult ones) sometimes do: disobey or rebel against their parents.

Judaism has a very long and respectable tradition of taking a harsh, barbaric, or unfair law, looking at the text and then pulling out of it some of the most tortured and ridiculous justifications for legally not enforcing said harsh, barbaric, or unfair law. And thank HaShem that they did so.

So, kudos to Rabbis like R.Yossi, and Orthodox Jews like DB, who are willing to try to do the same in the modern era and relieve some of the pain, alienation, and condemnation that our LGBT brothers and sisters currently endure.

Search for more information about ### at4torah.com

No comments: