How can Israelis be antigay?
By Archbishop Bruce J. Simpson, OSJB
Just as the Nazis wallowed in ignorance, fear, and scapegoating, these antigay Jews in Israel now do the same to the LGBT people of the world. Do they not understand that unless all people are free, then none are?
Do they not understand that as long as it is acceptable to carve out one group for such hatred and treatment then all groups including themselves are liable to be carved out by someone else seeking to rain death down upon their heads and the heads of their children? Do they not get daily reminders from the Islamists that hatred breeds hatred, and that violence begets more violence?
How can these particular Israelis ever hope to have the support of all humankind when they cannot extend that same compassion and understanding to one of the largest minorities in the world? What is 10% of the world’s population anyway? There are quite possibly 600 million gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders in the world, far more than the people of Israel. There may well be more gay people in the world than followers of the Torah and the United States combined.
How can such a total barbaric mindset even begin to exist in the mind of an Israeli is beyond me and shows just how much work we have to do in order to achieve even safety of life, let alone such luxuries as marriage equaltiy. I pray that the unending violence against both gay people and Israelis comes to an end soon. It is the 21st century--it is time humankind recognizes that we are no longer living in the times of Leviticus.
Archbishop Simpson is the author of the autobiography The Gay Face of God. For more information about the Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved-an order associated with the Old Catholic Church-go to http://www.osjtb.org . You can e-mail Simpson at [email protected]
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail.asp?id=34004&page;=2