I recently saw the movie "It's Kind of a Funny Story." The movie, based on the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini, deals with teenage depression and suicide in a very real and honest way. I might have reacted differently to this movie had I seen it before the recent wave of teen suicides in the LGBT community that have made national headlines. Each of the four teen characters in the movie suffer from depression in one way or another. And while none of them is homosexual, watching the movie I was forced to consider the responsibility that I, as a rabbi, have in preaching tolerance and compassion toward the LGBT community to eradicate this epidemic.
The high rate of suicide among gay and lesbian teens has been brought to light in the darkest way possible. Communities have been devastated by the news of gay teens being bullied to the point of taking their own lives. The reaction to these tragedies has been mixed, as have the reactions to the reactions. For example, I'm sure that Clint McCance, the vice president of the Midland, Ark. School Board, never expected the reaction he received after posting his anti-gay rant on Facebook. That a leader in a school system could make such hurtful and shameful comments publicly on the Web about his fellow human beings is outrageous. It is up to religious leaders to shift the national conversation on LGBT issues to one that prioritizes human dignity and compassion.
On Oct. 19, as Facebook users across the nation were changing their profile pictures to a purple hue to publicize the need for compassion toward the gay community and in memory of the gay teens who killed themselves, another tragedy was taking place. At Oakland University in Michigan, where I serve as a visiting professor of Jewish Studies, yet another gay teen ended his life after being bullied relentlessly since coming out a few months ago. Less than a week earlier on Oakland's campus, a lunchtime program sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center screened the film "Bullied," a teaching-tolerance documentary. The banner advertising the event still hung in the hallway of the student union in the days following Corey Jackson's death, as if to say, "Something more must be done."
To show my support to the LGBT community, along with millions of others, I added a purple tint to my Facebook and Twitter profile pictures on Spirit Day. All of the responses I received were positive and supportive, except for the comment left on my Facebook page by a politically conservative Orthodox Jew. He simply added the link to a New York Post article by Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage titled, "Don't blame me for gay teen suicides." I read the article and then felt even sadder. Gallagher argues that she doesn't have blood on her hands when gay teens are bullied and kill themselves. She conveniently shifts the conversation to the gay marriage debate, but at issue here is allowing gay and lesbian teens to feel pride and comfort in society so they don't get bullied, fall into depression, and eventually take their own lives. Until this horrific trend ends, all Americans have blood on our collective hands.
My teacher, Rabbi Steven Greenberg, recently wrote a powerful opinion piece in The New York Jewish Week titled, "The Cost of Standing Idly By." The first article of Greenberg's I ever read was in a rabbinical school class at the Jewish Theological Seminary when he was still a closeted gay man using the pseudonym "Jacob Levado" (a reference to the patriarch Jacob of the Hebrew Scriptures feeling alone). Here, Greenberg relates what happened when he and his partner relocated from New York City to Cincinnati. Soon after they arrived, the rabbi of the local Orthodox congregation called apologetically to inform him that he and his partner were not welcome to attend the synagogue based on a ruling from another rabbi. Greenberg contacted the rabbi who issued the ruling and shared with him that "people who are gay and lesbian who want to remain true to the Torah, are in a great deal of pain. Many have just left the community. Some young gay people become so desperate they attempt suicide."
Most people would expect the religious leader to respond to that last sentence with some amount of compassion, perhaps deep sadness. However, he replied, "Maybe it's a mitzvah (commandment) for them to do so." The speechless Greenberg asked for clarification and was told that what he heard was precisely what the rabbi intended to say. In other words, since homosexuals are guilty for capital crimes according to the Torah, perhaps it might be a good idea for them to do the job themselves. Wow! I wonder how many Jewish people will read that statement and question if this is the right religion for them.
Rather than let this uncompassionate individual silence him or force him to find a more inclusive community, Greenberg came up with a list of three steps his colleagues in the Orthodox rabbinate, and leaders in Orthodox institutions, can and should take at this time. He encourages them to sign the Statement of Principles, which says that "embarrassing, harassing or demeaning someone with a homosexual orientation or same-sex attraction is a violation of Torah prohibitions that embody the deepest values of Judaism." Second, he calls on Orthodox institutions to sign a letter, initiated by the LGBT advocacy group Keshet, condemning bullying and homophobia in the Jewish community. Third, he states that Orthodox institutions must immediately cut off any support or endorsement of so-called "reparative therapy."
I would take Greenberg's call to action a step further and call upon all religious leaders, regardless of faith, to advocate for tolerance and compassion toward the LGBT community. We all stand firm in trying to eradicate the other stressors leading to teenage depression and suicide. Why should the bullying of gay teens be any different? This epidemic is only made worse by the inflammatory comments of people like the Orthodox rabbi who proposed that it's a mitzvah for gay teens to kill themselves and Clint McCance, a school board official who wrote on Facebook, "It pisses me off though that we make special purple fag day for them. I like that fags can't procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other AIDS and die."
At this stage it is no longer about the heated and divisive issues like gay marriage or "Don't Ask Don't Tell." It is now a matter of life and death. Teens being bullied until they commit suicide isn't a political issue; it's a human issue. Religious leaders across this country: Please stand up and put an end to this national tragedy.
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Examples? We have the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ and the largest Lutheran denomination that accept gay clergy.
Unfortunately, statements of tolerance and acceptance aren't terribly newsworthy. The crackpot "preacher" of a tiny Midwestern "church" that consists of his family and a dozen or so members gets national news time. The leaders of denominations numbering in millions do not. Their statements are too reasonable and too consistent.
"Plane lands safely" doesn't get headlines. "Christian Leaders Preach Love" doesn't either.
In the spirit of wondering why we all can't just get along, filmmaker Dan Merchant takes to the streets to ask average folks about religious faith and why it seems to be such a divisive force in America's so-called "culture wars." In addition to man-on-the-street perspectives, the thought-provoking (and refreshingly civil) conversation includes input from activists on both sides of the ideological
Well said. thanks for the article.
also, when the bible addresses homosexuality, it refers mostly to the pagan practices where men and women would have sex with anyone, male or female, in the temples as a way to worship pagan gods. I would imagine that homosexual *relationships* like those practiced today were rarely, if ever, an issue. Besides, the OT also says that you should kill adulterous couples, talks about slavery, and making blood sacrifices, but again, Jesus rebuked all of that. He prevented the stoning of an adulterous woman, proving to the religious leaders of his time that no one was considered more holy than anyone. period.
If people truly claim to be Christians, they show the love of Jesus, not the fundamental laws that he rebuked throughout his ministry. Not saying all or even most people who claimto be Christians are like that, but that's ultimately how you tell a real Christian from one who's really not...how they show love.
Jesus actually upheld the O.T. at every turn. The adulterous woman they brought to him was not stoned, not because her sin did not deserve death (according to the O.T. is was a capital sin) ... Jesus told them to go ahead and stone her. However, the only requirement for doing that was to be without sin. In other words, they were, as sinners, unable to pass final judgment on her ... only God could do that.
Jesus, who was himself without sin could have stoned her and have been totally justified, but he didn't come to judge the world, but to save it. But that didn't mean that what she was doing was ok in the sight of God. He just chose to have mercy on her. He told her, "Go and SIN no more." Her sin was adultery!
People like yourself confuse mercy with license and approval. He did not give His approval to that lifestyle and sin.
Biblical literalists are the problem-- the Bible itself has many beautiful stories and lessons, and yes-- some of the ancient rules in the OT are completely archaic and not considered legitimate by anyone anymore. (this is coming from a future LGBT-supporting minister). So no, it is not THE END.
Not everything is so black and white. Ugh.
I think these guilty consciences are trying to *justify* what they know is wrong by blaming the victims, denying it happened, denying it matters, trying to spread the blame or trivialize the Hells they claim are 'protecting the family' somehow...
I think certain homophobic leaders in church and politics are capitalizing on this, stoking it, and that can't go anywhere good.
I know where I was, when I was in school. I know that most of my fellow Americans were once being the bullies, complicit with the bullies, or silent to avoid the bullies.
Now many claim it's 'just the order of things' and refuse to speak out against, even *defend* defamations and injustices and abuses that are ongoing and intensifying.
There's an element of denial there that I *do* think is attached to avoiding guilt.
Some say their 'God's truth' gives them the right to take power over others. Maybe it's more they want to take power over others to 'prove' their God is 'true.' Cause otherwise.... Where were they?
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
If the folks in a particular community don't speak up against bullying, they are not the people they claim to be. I'm so tired of "religious leaders" saying "It's in the (holy text here) so I won't do or say anything against it". Weak kneed cowards. The same cowardice let people get hosed in Alabama, gassed in Auschwitz and burned at the stake. When does it sink in that we are ALL human beings and not one of us should be cast aside because of a d.amn book??!
For example, there are a lot of Episcopal churches that welcome homosexuals, offer them communion, baptize their babies, and so on. They have an outreach ministry called OASIS (google it).
But there are also a lot of Episcopal churches that are not welcoming. They made Gene Robinson's life hell after he was ordained a bishop. You can read his blog on these pages.
There are other welcoming congregations as well. What they have in common is that they reject the primacy of the iron age text we call the Bible. They believe that when science disproves a religious thesis - in this case the thesis that one's gender attraction is a moral issue - the religion must yield.
To someone not addicted to a particular text, or the pronouncements of someone wearing a religous garment, this surely seems self-evident. But to the religiously addicted, not so much.
I remember one day listening on the radio listening to 2 preachers talk. One said he received his calling from god, and the other said that he actually studied theology. Each thought he was better than the other. But what struck, me was when they both started claiming that they never sinned. One of them was like " I don't sin, do you ever sin" and the other was like "no I don;t sin either' . I am a baptized and confirmed catholic, and I ALMOST WRECKED MY CAR when I heard that.
The fundamental issue is the meme that characterizes the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
That meme asserts that there is something radically wrong with you if you are a practicing homosexual. Your behavior is described as an abomination, and hateful to a supposedly good and wise God.
As long as adherents of these religions cling to this meme, hatred and intolerance of homosexuals will continue. Individual believers may say (and they do) "love the sinner and hate the sin". They may say, "look to the log in your own eye, not the splinter in someone else's eye". They may say, "I personally am compassionate and not hateful, tolerant and not bigoted".
But all this is to no avail. As long as a large swath of the population defines some minority as "less than", the beatings will continue until moral improves, to borrow a phrase.
This "less than" meme works the same way, no matter who the "other" might be. It worked in the US against blacks for centuries. It worked in Germany against the Jews. It works in Australia against the native Aboriginals. It works in India against the Dalits (untouchables).
The meme itself is EVIL, and as such it inevitably produces "fruit after it's kind".
Some progressive Christians, Muslims and Jews have renounced it, and decided that no iron age text should define their thinking. Others, not so much.
Of course, opposing the evil bahaviors, legally and programmatically, is important. But they are just the fruit. If we really want to see the evil behaviors end, we must deal with the problem at the root.
We have done this before in our society. We did it with black people. We did it with Jews. We did it with women. And we have even done it (more or less) with those who have physical challenges like you do.
We've come to recognize that thinking about Jews, Black, women and those with CP are not the other - and are in no sense "less than" anyone else.
That's why this question of homosexuality is really the cutting edge of the discussion of human rights in our day.
For sure, we need to fight the darkness - but we fight best when we shine the brightest light possible upon it.
---
I don't disagree with you John. I slipped the word "practicing" in there because of the latest wrinkle in the softer forms of homophobic bigotry. Someone wrote a piece here describing the Catholic version recently.
It goes like this: Yes, we admit that homosexuals aren't that way by choice, but by destiny, whether nature or nurture. So we certainly can't say that being same sex attracted is a sin or a moral failure.
However (wait for it), the acting on one's homsexual attraction is a moral sin. So the solution for homosexuals is (wait for it), to abstain from sexual behavior.
The spectacle of people trying to be good Christians, Jews and Moslems while expressing their homophobic bigotry is actually more repulsive than the sheer unadulterated hatred of those who make no attempt to dress up their homophobic memes in saintly clothing.
- Excerpt from a letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, January 1, 1790
Students at Midd-West High School cried out against bullying Friday as they mourned the loss of a classmate who in the early morning hours walked about 13 miles from his home to Routes 11-15, where he ran in front of a southbound tractor-trailer after leaving a suicide note at his home. Freshman Brandon Bitner, 14, of Mount Pleasant Mills, ran in front of the truck at 3 a.m. near Liverpool, according to state police at Newport. "It was because of bullying," friend Takara Jo Folk wrote in a letter to The Daily Item. It was not about race, or gender, but they bullied him for his sexual preferences and the way he dressed. Which," she said, "they wrongly accused him of."
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/11/anti-gay-bullying-blamed-in-suicide-of-pennsylvania-teen.html
Notably, there'd actually been an anti-bullying event at the school the week before... Which people ridiculed, and followed up with more bullying.
Justify/deny/trivialize *this* Christians.
This kind of thing's always happened, it just didn't make the *news* before. But I think we can see the pro-bullying-anti-gay stuff from politics and preachers and all manner of adults accusing kids, straight and gay, of being all these horrible things and defending the idea they should be targets.
I don't care if you think gay sex is the worst 'sin' ever. It's *kids.*
(Actually some of the worst of what we saw here was deleted, but it seems that denying any Christian would do that denies that they *do* Right here.)
Or maybe....they're not "real" Christians?
I understand, and I agree that those spouting hate are not acting in the true Christian spirit, just as the crazy "Muslims" killing innocents saying they do it in the name of Islam are NOT truly "Muslims." They have committed grave sins by killing innocents, which God condemns in the Qur'an, and therefore have gotten their Muslim card voided.
Maybe now it helps you see a little bit what us every day Muslims must endure thanks to the crackpots acting out under the banner of Islam.
" Religious Leaders Must Preach Tolerance, Compassion Toward LGBT Community"
Why?
Moses didnt, so why should they? Or are you saying that Moses was a poor religious leader?
I believe that no one has the right to attack another because of their beliefs, but I have every right to disagree strongly with someone's beliefs, and hold tight to my Faith.
You should know that bigot is probably derived from the German "bei" + "gott," or "by God." it is precisely your hypocrisy and insistence on persistently clinging to your prejudiced religious opinions that defines your bigotry.
Seriously, that's the literal definition of the word.
Which is why I think it fun to point out the hypocrisy of a Rabbi who must suffer from much Cognitive dissonance.
When God asks each and every one of them why they abused, degraded, dehumanized and brutalized innocent, law-abiding citizens, in HIS name no less, what will they answer?
That they did those things in HIS name to honor him?
What makes you assume that there is a 'god' and a 'judgement day', and he likes homosexuals? If the bible is our guide to understanding this god, it would not be the case.
This is but one interpretation of the text. There are hundreds. Do with it what you will.
All sin.
Especially my own.