(no subject)

[sophiaserpentia]

A couple of times, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written on Beliefnet about homosexuality in the Bible -- declaring that it is a religious sin, and not a moral or ethical sin -- making it just as sinful as, say, eating shellfish.

Basically what this means is that it is not inherently wrong, it is just something that Jews, as they observe the rules and laws of their religious teachings, are supposed to avoid.

This has some interesting ramifications. For example, it may have the effect of making Reform Judaism more tolerant of gays and lesbians in general, but LESS tolerant of gays and lesbians who are practicing Jews.

Secondly, one is tempted to ask what benefit one has from adhering to codes or laws that one knows are "religious" vs. ethical -- IOW if they serve mainly to identify the Jewish community, isn't this an arbitrary and stylized distinction that has little inherent meaning?

Comments

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

It sounds almost like an issue of cultural identity, much like the wearing of yarmulkes and side curls - this serves no practical purpose other than to identify the person as Jewish, much in the way that two opposing football teams wear differing uniforms for easy identification. This made sense in a small society perpetually at war with its neighbors. It also encourages that groupthink, pep rally type of feeling which inevitably goes along with a group membership. Someone who dresses in the colors of the opposing team is committing a sin against the spirit of the group and its attempt to stand out as seperate from surropunding society, and such behaviors are harshly punished in most if not all groups, by stining, shunning, jail, etc.
This, oddly enough, seems to go along with the other topic you posted today. Or maybe not so odd - they both have to do with issues of sin or right vs. wrong, good vs. evil.