There’s been an intensely debated thread on the Psi U list this week about gay marriage, and I don’t trust myself to express articulate arguments so I generally stay silent on such issues, but I did find something amusing to post today:
The Bible seems pretty clear on this particular issue:
Leviticus 11:9-12 says:
9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. 10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: 11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcasses in abomination. 12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
Deuteronomy 14:9-11 says:
9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: 10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. 11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
(from http://godhatesshrimp.com
How about a constitutional amendment to define what acceptable seafood consumption in the U.S. should be?
You can read it in two ways: that either Christians protesting gay marriage are silly because they don’t follow the other Biblical injunctions, or that Christians should follow the Bible not so selectively and keep Kosher laws along with us Jews. ;) I vote for the second. :D It would make shopping at the grocery store much easier, for me at least. ;)
I’m afraid society would truly go to hell if we opted for the second, since we’d have slavery and brutal sexism and racism and all sorts of terrible cultural practices. Did you know I was Jewish when you said “us Jews”? I mean, I’m an agnostic Jew who is just as cynical about Judaism as I am about any other religion, but still a Jew. Once a Jew, always a Jew, even my Dad, who’s been a Christian for almost 20 years. (My Dad’s conversion and strong beliefs have a lot to do with my anti-organized-religion rants).
When I said “us Jews” I was referring to myself and others I know, but it’s good to know that you’re a MOTT (Member of the Tribe) too. I was raised in a mostly Rosh-Hashana/Yom-Kippur/Passover/Hanukkah family and became more religious and respectful of all other organized religions as well (as long as they were moderate and didn’t either espouse extreme positions or seem to think themselves as more important than G-d), as Judaism helped me get through a tough life in college, and I felt more comfortable living in Israel than I do in the USA in many respects, and find aspects of Jewish and Israeli culture very beautiful.
That said, I know that, like everything else in life, there are those who organized religion for bad ends, so I cannot blame your cynicism. Heck, as a Jew, I of all people should know how badly Christianity has been abused by power-freaks for centuries. (And to be fair, Judaism had its share of power-freak rulers when it was the dominant religion of the Near East thousands of years ago–one reason I respect Judaism is that its holy books do not try to cover up the fact that Jews aren’t perfect either.) However, separation of church and state does a lot to prevent gross abuses of power by organized religion except for small cults that most people avoid like the plague anyway. Anyway, as America, Soviet, and Chinese histories show, religion isn’t necessary for slavery, brutal sexism, or racism, as you put it. (Although in the latter two, one could almost call worship of the State a cult.) And there are still plenty of other groups ready to abuse power (Big Business, anyone?); I happen to believe the power corrupts, whoever happens to gain that power will probably abuse it eventually.
Anyway, sorry if it felt like a bit of a rant; feel free to disagree with anything I said. However, to tar religion with matters that to me seem like simply the bad side of human nature seems a tad unfair.
Anyway, what happened with your Dad? Is your Mom Christian or Jewish? What about your Dad’s conversion left such a sour taste in your mouth about organized religion?
Happy Purim ;)
Hey Michael, I did not mean to disparage Judaism; I hope I didn’t offend. I do appreciate Jewish culture and respect the religion. I was turned-off by my mother’s superficial observances of the High Holidays growing up, and I really did not like the conservative synagogue we belonged to growing up. Also, my Bar Mitzvah was one of the worst days of my life, quite far from the positive event it is supposed to be for a Jewish boy.
My comments about organized religion stem, again, from my experience mostly with my Dad, and then more recently, having lived in Knoxville in 2003. My dad married a conservative Southern Baptist after divorcing my mother back in 1984. He embraced Jesus and because quite devout over the years, although still retaining some liberal political views. The churches they went to seemed like cults to me, and I never heard one convincing argument from him when he tried to preach to me something from the Bible. Then, in Knoxville last year, I was surrounded by people who lived and died by their Bibles, and it was a suffocating environment for me. So I guess I’ve been around what may be the more extreme of Christians, and that’s where my distaste comes from. I do think the community aspects of organized religions are valuable; I briefly attended a UU church in Knoxville and may seek one out in the Raleigh-Durham area.
So, in conclusion, I was a bit unfair in my commentary, and thanks for your feedback. I don’t pretend to have informed, rational views on everything, but I am open to modifying my views. :)