Orthodox Jews and homosexuality

by scotsman 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • scotsman
    scotsman

    As larc's thread has mutated into the tired old nurture vs nature debate I thought I'd give a response to his question, which was

    how do you reconcile the bibles attittude to homosexuality and the living breathing reality of human beings

    I was at a recent screening of Trembling Before G-d, a documentary on homosexuals in the Orthodox community who want to be practising homosexuals and still be accepted as part of the Orthodox faith. (My opinion is that they're wanting to have their cake and eat it but I was interested in the reasoning). The film was followed by a Q&A with the director, a local rabbi and the only gay rabbi there is. The prohibition all stems round Leviticus 18:22 but the reading of it in Hebrew, by both rabbis, was of a prohibition of penetrative anal sex. The gay rabbi is about to publish a book on what he reckons is the "true" meaning of this, which he sums up as a prohibition for using any sexual act as a form of domination. The local rabbi didn't agree with that but pointed out that the same phrase that we translate as 'detestable to God' is also applied to the mixing of wool & linen, which most Orthodox Jews choose to ignore. The rabbis interviewed in the film all came across surprisingly well and not the rabid fanatics I expected, but that may reflect my profound ignorance of the Orthodox community or just possibly the p.c. face they can show that the WTBTS can also have.

    So if it's just anal sex that's off the menu there are obviously a number of alternatives. Intriguingly the rabbis struggled to provide a biblical reason against Lesbianism, so ladies, go for it!

    Another interesting point that the director made was that we have to allow for a certain degree of homophobia. His reasoning was along the lines that 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and pointed to the fact that while his own mother is now a campaigner for gay rights, it wasn't a road to Damascus conversion for her but a gradual change. The film has been screening for 2 years around the globe and is breaking ground with educationalists in Israel and yeshivas around the world.

    For the record I'm not Jewish, nor a Christian, but homosexual.

  • starScream
    starScream

    I posted this on the other homosexual post. The thread was getting exaustive so I figured I would put it under this one to. This was a response to some sentiment that being gay is not or cannot be a choice and that there is something wrong with being offended by homosexuality.

    scotsman, hope you dont mind me putting this under your post, the only relevance is the Homosexual topic.

    Fact.

    It is not a choice that a heterosexual be heterosexual. It is genetically programmed that we are attracted to the opposite sex of the same species. Could a straight man choose to be gay? If he didn't find it disgusting sure he could. I don't know of any genetic disposition that would cause someone to be disgusted by the same sex. So you can become gay by choice I suppose. Most men I would assume simply lack sexual attraction towards other man. It's a lack of programming. People can make themselves like things that they didn't once like. I once didn't like beer. No I hated it. I made myself like it by trying it enough. Now I love it.

    Fact.

    There are a massive number of bi-sexuals. They have the natural programming to be attracted to the opposite sex of the same species. If being gay is genetic then that proves being gay does not mean you don't have the natural attraction for the opposite sex.

    Fact.

    A bi-sexual chooses to become "gay" rather than just stick to the heterosexual lifestyle. He/she has a choice and entertains the aberration. Mere experimentation is a choice. What is not proven is that anyone lacks the natural desire for the opposite sex based on genetics. It may be true that genetics can cause attraction for the same sex. All that we can say based on genetics is that some people have a choice to be gay.

    No one would choose to be gay rather than live as a heterosexual if they could?!!??!?!?!?!?!? Well then you are saying there is no such thing as a bi-sexual, people having incest or screwing sheep.

    Fact.

    Society places prohibitions on many things that are considered victimless. Incest is a taboo. Incest is "victimless," considered a serious aberration and the result of mental illness. Beastiality is "victimless," considered a serious aberration and the result of mental illness.

    If gay people want to their actions to just be accepted and screw how anyone even feels about it then they would need to join the horse and chickenf***ers allaince as well to fight off the bigotry directed at people that want heterosexual relationships with farm animals, apes and household pets. If a gay person considers any such behavior as offensive then they would have to accept the opinion that their actions may be offensive and considered immoral by some people regardless of whether or not they can percieve a victim.

    This is where I draw the line between a reasonable defense of a gay lifestyle and a fanatical one. If a gay person can accept the fact that there is nothing wrong with someone being offended by it then they are being reasonable.

    "Swinging" or open marriage is considered victimless yet immoral to our society. Prostitution is considered victimless yet is immoral to our society. Some pedophiles will reason that a child as young as 6 can give consent but almost nationally the barrier is placed at 18.

    There is nothing that governs these rules in our culture but how we feel about things. A person cannot help but be disgusted at homosexual activity any more than they or a homosexual can with beastiality.

    Sex is considered natural between the opposite sex of the same species. Change it to same sex and you might as well allow for other species as well.

    Personally, homosexuality is less offensive to me than beastiality but that doesn't mean I think it is more ok.

    The argument that homosexuals are victimized by being forced to suppress their "natural" desires really doesn't hold water with me. There are people that don't have sex at all and are perfectly normal. I haven't had sex since I became a Christian (2.5 yrs). It is not suppression of sexual desire if there is someone or a group of someones that you are restricted from having sex with.

    I myself am restricted from having sex with a married woman. I may entertain my desire to do it, form a fetish and then not be able to enjoy sex with a woman that is not another man's wife but I would still be wrong to do it.

    I even confess that I like (or love i don't know) a woman that I have known for years and is married. I would love to have her but I am obligated to "suppress" my desire because it is immoral. I'd like to make it clear how much I want her. I want her ALOT. Another woman just won't do.

    I am not judging someone for having sexual desires that I consider perversion. I think I have immoral desires as well. I am willing to accept that you can't help that. I will still accept someone as a person if they are acting immoral. I would be offended by it and would not condone it though. And if my feelings are considered bigotry then I don't know how that person can say they are not a bigot.

    Also. Homophobic means having an overpowering or irrational fear of man. Wild animals are homophobic. A bashful gay man is a homophobe, not an outspoken straight one.

  • little witch
    little witch

    Hi Scotsman, I just wanted to say, welcome, I haven't seen your posts before now.

    Any Scotsman is a friend of mine!

    (from the Carmichael Clan Class)

  • RAYZORBLADE
    RAYZORBLADE

    Hi Scotsman. I missed seeing the movie you mentioned. Apparently, it was very good.

    Starscream: I'm sorry, but your post was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. I noticed it's a repeat of what you wrote on the 'homosexual' thread.

    It's so convoluted and so far fetched. I'm not sure/certain if you read some of the posts on the other thread, but I wonder if it would have had any impact anyways. I'm not angry posting here, but it's quite exhaustive.

    Funny how people can take the topic of homosexuality, and before not too long afterwards you'll see some outlandish juxtapositions: pedophelia, beastiality and the list goes on.

    Anyways, I hope to check this movie out Scotsman. Friends that saw it, said it was remarkable. Thanks for the reminder and your comments.

  • dedalus
    dedalus

    Scotsman writes:

    As larc's thread has mutated into the tired old nurture vs nature debate I thought I'd give a response to his question ...

    What does Starscream immediately reply with?

    It is not a choice that a heterosexual be heterosexual. It is genetically programmed that we are attracted to the opposite sex of the same species.

    Get on-topic or get off this thread, Starscream -- it's your sort of dumb irrelevence that motivated Scotsman to start a new thread in the first place.

    Dedalus

  • starScream
    starScream

    scotsman,

    Im sorry but dedalus is bating me.

    dedalus,

    Starscream -- it's your sort of dumb irrelevence that motivated Scotsman to start a new thread in the first place.

    excuse me but the name of the other thread was "HOMOSEXUALITY" in case you forgot.

    Let me see If I understand you. You are saying that I am the reason Scotsman started a new thread? How the hell do you know?

    Get on-topic or get off this thread,

    You don't need to tell me. If Scotsman wants to chastize me I invited him to do it.

    The whole time I have respected the gay opinion that there is nothing wrong with their lifestyle. I did point at the fact that if they take offense of someone taking offense then they should not be offended by beastiality or incest.

    Sorry Scotsman, for taking dedalus' bait

  • dedalus
    dedalus

    Starscream,

    You're an idiot.

    Agape,

    Dedalus

  • scotsman
    scotsman

    Starscream,

    I'd rather you removed your post as it is irrelevant to this thread and you seem to have enough of a platform on the other threads you post.

    Thanks.

  • dedalus
    dedalus

    Scotsman,

    I was thinking about this topic this weekend, and remembered that my mother once had a conversation with a professor at Mount Holyoke about homosexuality in the bible. The professor was, as I recall, big on the story of David and Jonathan, particularly the scripture in which David says something to the effect of "your love is sweeter to me than a woman's." This, the professor said, was an example of homosexuality in the bible, and it seems quite plausible to me.

    However, this sort of revisionist exegesis seems, to me anyway, doomed. A gay person trying to fit into orthodoxy makes about as much sense as a black person trying to fit into the KKK. I understand why some try, though. And at least we have some new, interesting, provocative ways to look at a few scriptures because of it.

    Dedalus

  • Abaddon
    Abaddon

    starScream:

    You are violating posting guidelines;

    5. Spamming; Please don't add the same comment to more than one forum.

    Please show some consideration for your fellow board users. Reading your post once is bad enough...

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