Is it truly a matter of civil rights or is it yet another symptom of the decaying of the moral fabric of our society? Last week, after years of resistance and hesitation, the New York State Senate passed legislation that legalizes and makes it possible for people of the same gender to wed in the same fashion as a conventional wedding or union between a man and a woman—which is the bedrock and foundation of a Judeo-Christian civilized society.
Why did this occur at this point in time and what relevance does it have to us? I believe that under any other circumstances, a matter such as this—that in our opinion attempts to mainstream and legitimize deviancy—would have probably been justifiably ignored. But the way that this same-gender marriage bill made its way through the New York State Senate last week with great fanfare and spectacle begs for commentary on the matter.
On the one hand, just as the old dispute over the legalization of abortion in this country had minimal relevance to everyday life in our communities, it’s very much the same story with this latest marriage bill. I seriously doubt that there will be any same-gender marriages anytime soon in our targeted readership audience.
Still, while it does not necessarily impact on us as a community directly, the victory, as Governor Cuomo called it, has the ability to wear us down in ways that we may not even realize. Last Sunday, I attended a reception for our State Senate representative in Albany, Dean Skelos. The Senator has served our core geographic area for many years with distinction. He is the majority leader in that governing body and has fought vigorously for his constituents and the better good of all New Yorkers.
The criticism of Skelos on this matter is that as majority leader he could have maneuvered so as to table the marriage resolution at this time and let it surface yet again on another day. Skelos apparently looked around and saw the handwriting on the wall, that the Governor had outflanked him, and with the aid of Republican donor money had successfully recruited four senatorial Republicans from upstate New York to defy conservative sentiments and vote in favor of the matter despite the overwhelming opposition to the bill in their districts.
When the four—James Alesi, Roy McDonald, Mark Grisanti, and Stephen Saland—come up for reelection, it is the governor, and the money he has specifically now stockpiled for their reelection campaigns, who will support them and fight for their reelection. I think there is a good chance that the support they expect from the governor will not be as forthcoming as they anticipate. They will most likely look back someday at their crossing over to the other side and realize that it wasn’t such a good idea after all.
The larger longstanding question is what is it about people who demand to be identified almost solely by their sexual orientation. And regardless of what that is, why is it so important that the lifestyle—whether you agree or disagree with it—has to be accepted by society at large with the previous status quo being unacceptable. If as a people we are going to live with some fundamental guidelines that have been handed down over the millennia, why the pressing need to cross those lines and foist those feelings and attitudes—no matter how long they may have been maintained—on society in general.
The legislation itself features aspects of fascination as well as frustration. Senator Skelos in his remarks on Sunday said that he was satisfied with what he feels are the legal and legislative safeguards that are built into the new law. According to reports, the provision that legalizes and makes possible the “marriage†of two people of the same gender also has built into it provisions that do not require religious institutions—that is shuls and churches—to perform these services if they object.
Additionally, built into the bill is what is referred to as “inseverabilityâ€, which Skelos explained means that if any part of the current structure of the legislation is successfully challenged in court and found unconstitutional by a judge, the decision renders the bill void and it is struck from the law books, which the Senator said means that there will be no same-gender marriage.
One of the questions that was asked but not answered at the Skelos forum was why these ceremonious unions had to be deliberately characterized as “marriage.†State after state, along with a multiplicity of cities and municipalities, have legally defined marriage as only taking place between a man and a woman. Insisting that same-gender unions also be referred to as marriage is tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet and crossing clearly defined red lines.
So is this a matter of attempting to rectify age old discriminatory wrongs or is it just a matter of people being worn down and when it comes down to the final analysis not really caring or being too concerned about whether it is important or not that gays can legally wed in New York. Frankly, it’s difficult to accept that it’s about rectifying a discriminatory wrong. That is a bogus claim. Same sex marriage has been legal in the nearby state of Connecticut and Massachusetts for years. Forcing it on us in New York is not exclusively about the need or desire to be married. It’s about the attempt to redefine tradition, defy long and strongly held beliefs, and contribute to weakening of faith and belief in G-d and the laws carefully laid down in our holy books.
Judah Z. Cohen is an affable and intelligent young man who resides in Hewlett. I received an e-mail from him the other night that announced he would be offering a shiur in his home on Wednesday night. The lecture was entitled, “Gay Perspectives: A Biblical Narrative.†I could not make it to the shiur so I called Judah and asked him to share his premises and theories on the subject with me.
“Throughout Tanach, when there are attempts to legitimize homosexuality and other types of promiscuous behavior,†he said, “this has always been followed by a form of affliction on society.†To illustrate his point, Rabbi Cohen says that “Jewish law is clear and unequivocal; the act of homosexuality is forbidden under any and all circumstances, as the Torah says, ‘It is an abomination.â€(Vayikra 18:3). Cohen cites a number of other sources on the subject, including an article in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society. “Homosexuality and Judaism†by Rabbi B. Freundel and “Judaism and the Modern Attitude Toward Homosexuality,†by Rabbi Norman Lamm published in the Encyclopedia Judaica Yearbook in 1974.
In his lecture, Cohen cites periods in history in which an age or a generation was known for its particularly outward promiscuous behavior and the apparent consequences that ensued. There was the instance of the biblical Noah’s encounter with his son Chom and the destruction of the great flood of that time. There was the matter of the men in the corrupted city of Sodom who sought to sodomize a guest in the house of Lot (that’s the obvious origin of the word).
“The same was true of the society of Egypt during the Jewish enslavement and even the tribe of Binyamin as is recorded in the Book of Judges in the account of the Pilegesh B’Givah,†he says. Cohen adds: “These repeated Hebrew words evidence each of these societies’ proclivity and validation of sexually proscribed illicit conduct, leading to their downfall.â€
Which leads us to New York in 2011. Far be it from us or any editorialists to attempt to understand or prognosticate in any fashion about G-d’s mysterious ways. Clearly it is one thing for a society to indulge in activities that are frowned upon by the majority of civilized society and a significantly different matter to legitimize it and make it lawful. None of us know what the future holds. Looking back over thousands of years from the perspective of our history, it is easy to conclude with trepidation that moving forward things do not look very promising.
Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.
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Is it truly a matter of civil rights or is it yet another symptom of the decaying of the moral fabric of our society? Last week, after years of resistance and hesitation, the New York State Senate passed legislation that legalizes and makes it possible for people of the same gender to wed in the same fashion as a conventional wedding or union between a man and a woman—which is the bedrock and foundation of a Judeo-Christian civilized society.
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