(no subject)

[winterbadger]

thanks to my friend Harry for this one

Teaneck, NJ, Jewish newspaper whipsawed by negative reactions to gay wedding announcement...and negative reactions to its reactions to the original negative reactions!"

Among my other various reactions, mazel tov to Justin and Avi! :-)

Comments

[schizokitty.livejournal.com]

Good for Justin and Avi! They look like a very sweet couple. Mazel tov!

(Oh, have I mentioned lately how much I hate religious legalism? >:-/ )

[winterbadger]

How do you define religious legalism?

[schizokitty.livejournal.com]

When a religion has a set of rules that adherents follow more or less unquestioningly, without any analysis or consideration of how things are in the real world. E.g., condemning homosexuals (not just homosexuality) despite the indisputable fact that gays are no more degenerate, perverse, or evil than straight people. Or saying that women should be subservient to men because some writer hundreds of years ago said so, even though it is obvious that a woman can be just as intelligent, motivated, brave, moral, etc. as any man. Or insisting the the earth is 6,000 years old despite provable, reproducible scientific evidence to the contrary.

I would like to make a distinction between tradition and legalism. Keeping kosher, for instance, can be simply a part of a shared religious/ethnic identity, a symbol of a person's relationship with her God. It can be observed strictly for personal, spiritual, or familial reasons, but can also be wielded as inviolate law to bludgeon less observant people, making them outsiders or "not real Jews."

[winterbadger]

Interesting, thank you.