Religious Preference Vs. Orientation/Ethnicity

Earlier this year, President Obama invited anti-gay megachurch pastor Rick Warren to pray at the inaugural White House invocation, much to the chagrin of gay-rights supporters. Don't worry--I'm not debating a year-old subject. I want to share a piece by an Orthodox rabbi, Brad Hirschfield, written on Beliefnet shortly after Obama's announcement.

Here is the (not so good) rabbi:

The comments to yesterday's post supporting President-elect Obama's choice of Rev. Rick Warren to offer the inaugural invocation have been fascinating. Some go so far as to suggest that my position is a function of my being a Jew.

A commenter identified as Rob the Rev writes: "Gee Rabbi, would you be so happy about the choice of Warren if he had made anti-semetic remarks about Jewish people? Hmmmmmmmm.....?"

Aside from the smarmy tone which I could live without, and find a little, dare I say "un-Christian, from someone claiming to be a minister, it's an interesting question. The fact is, Rick Warren has the same stance on Jews that he has about gay people i.e. we are living in sin, falling short of God's will and cannot get into Heaven. Actually, Rev. Warren may not believe the later about Gays, but he certainly does about Jews. I was in the room with him when he said it!
So the short answer to your question Rob is, "yes". But what's more telling is that you equate hating Jews with disapproving of homosexuality. I accept that some Christians relate to my Jewishness as "missing the boat" on God's word, just as they think that gay people have. I don't agree with them, but I hardly think that they are motivated by the kind of enduring hatred which defines genuine anti-Semitism.

Like most people in our society, Rob confuses disagreement with hatred. They are simply not the same. And as wrong as I believe Rick Warren was in dealing with Proposition 8, assuming he was motivated by hatred is actually a hateful act - one, that no matter how much inclusivity it dresses itself up in, is as absolutist in its demands of the theological right as they are of the left.

Rabbi Hirschfield is proof that one can be an extremist moderate. Almost everything he writes is maddeningly middle-of-the-road and devoid of any real moral values. It's coldly calculated to appeal to as many people as possible. 'Hey, don't blame me,' the not-so-good rabbi says. 'I didn't vote for Prop 8. But I also don't think Rick Warren is anti-gay just because he uses his influence to keep gays second-class citizens.'

So it's pussy, moderate bullshit--the purest, most egrecious example of what it means to be P.C. But more importantly, it's just plain wrong. Take another look at this section, which could serve as Hirschfield's thesis.

Quote: "The fact is, Rick Warren has the same stance on Jews that he has about gay people i.e. we are living in sin, falling short of God's will and cannot get into Heaven. Actually, Rev. Warren may not believe the later about Gays, but he certainly does about Jews. I was in the room with him when he said it!/strong>

Rabbi Hirschfield is being deceitful. In order to make Warren's stance on gays the anti-Jewish equivalent, Warren would have to say Jews are going to hell for their ethnicity--something they have no choice in. But Warren does NOT say Jews are going to hell. He says Jews who believe in Judaism are going to hell. Warren--like most conservative evangelicals--believes Jesus is the only path to eternal life in heaven. Anyone who believes in Judaism, Islam, or Hinduism on their death bed will go to hell.

Personally, I think that's a terrible, primitive belief, and it's one of a thousand reasons I do not belong to Rick Warren's church or share his views. But it's not the same thing as racism or homophobia. Publicly saying someone will go to hell for her religious beliefs is uncivilized and rude, but it's not the same thing as saying someone will go to hell for something she has no choice in.

I am ethnically Jewish and nothing I do can ever change that. I could change my name, get a nose job, bleach my hair and I'll still be a Jewish guy. Saying I'm doomed to an eternity in hell for my ethnicity is horrible and racist. Likewise, I am gay and nothing I do can change that. I can make the same poor choices made by many gay people in Rick Warren's religion and in Rabbi Hirschfield's religion and marry a woman while telling the world God helped me become straight, but that would be a a lie and I would still be gay. Saying I am going to hell or should be a second-class citizen for being gay is no different from saying those things about my ethnicity.

But my faith is my choice. I'm not some pussy who's going to run to the ACLU because Rick Warren thinks I've missed the boat on the whole Jesus thing and that my synagogue membership is my ticket to Hades. On the contrary, that is empowering to me!! I'm proud to practice Judaism. I talk about it constantly, I wear a star of David, I deck out my apartment with menorahs and flags. I have my own view of God and it sure as hell doesn't include Jesus, and the fact that I'm in the minority doesn't make me the least bit insecure. If you think I'm going to hell for that, I couldn't care less.

But anyone can see I'm making the choice to practice Judaism, whereas I'm not making a choice to be ethnically Jewish or gay. I think even Rabbi Hirschfield realizes that difference. I think that if Rick Warren ever said all Jews are going to hell because of their ethnicity--regardless of what they believe about Jesus--Rabbi Hirshfield would reconsider Warren's place at Obama's inauguration.

And since Hirschfield is so proud to defend a minister who says religious Jews are going to hell, I will take this even further. I think Hirschfield would reconsider Warren's place at the inauguration if Warren felt that since marriage is a Christian institution Jews should be barred from marrying. I think he's purposefully muddying the waters to make a political point, which is what extremists do. Strange behavior for a so-called moderate.