Opinion & Commentary:
Homosexuality and choice:
Readers' thoughts

Dear Editor:

I was dismayed by your recent article concerning an organization that purports to "cure" gay and lesbian Jews. Your article was one dimensional, giving voice only to the view of this group, in effect, providing free advertising for them. In fact, the evidence is overwhelming that the orientation of gays and lesbians is biological in nature. That your article ignored the opposing voice on this issue crosses the line from journalism to advocacy.

In fact, gay and lesbian Jews are children of God, created in God's image no less than heterosexual Jews. Gay and lesbian Jews have the right to live and express their Jewish lives without the stigma put forth by the organization you profile. The Reform Movement has long welcomed gay and lesbian Jews as congregants and as beloved rabbis, cantors, educators, and teachers. Rather than bother with refuting the "facts" you print, I invite gay and lesbian Jews to visit our Reform congregations in central New Jersey, where they will be welcomed with love.

-- Rabbi Doug Sagal, Senior Rabbi

Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

To the editor:

We are blessed to live in a country where the first amendment to our constitution guarantees freedom of the press.

However, along with this liberty comes responsibility to report news objectively and honestly. I was very offended to find the article entitled "Homosexuality: JONAH Offers Choice" on the front page of your Nov. 9 edition.

The ideas presented in this article were commonly held several decades ago. Similarly, at that time textbooks stated that Africans dragged to these shores to pick cotton were happy to be enslaved and that Columbus "discovered" America. The media supported the notion that "everyone" would enjoy seeing Christmas decorations displayed in every public venue.

Fortunately we have seen tremendous progress since the 1950s. We know that slavery is inherently evil, that native Americans had lived on this continent for centuries before the arrival of Columbus, and that in a multi-cultural society no group should impose its practices on others. Similarly, we have learned that sexual orientation is an innate aspect of an individual's makeup, and that it is cruel to suggest that members of the gay community should attempt to change their basic nature.

For 2000 years, Jewish martyrs have chosen to die rather than being forced to convert and abandon our faith. We need to use this example to realize that no individual should be advised to try to adapt to someone else's idea of "normal."

-- Louise Beyer, Edison

Dear Editor:

B’tselem Elohim: Where did we go wrong?

As a rabbi of a local Reform congregation, I often state my opinions on issues that are debated openly and honestly. And I respect any congregant who is willing to passionately and knowledgably debate any topic, from both the secular and Jewish perspective.

However, there are some topics that are no longer debate-able – they are simply fact. We KNOW racism is abhorrent. We KNOW anti-semitism is unacceptable. We KNOW women and men must be treated equally. We KNOW that people who are gay do not choose this path, nor are they influenced by childhood circumstances. This is simply who they are, just as some of us are heterosexuals, short, fat or bald. The facts are indisputable, even though the way any of these groups of people are treated may still need to be addressed.

So how could The Jewish State, in good, Jewish conscience, place the article about JONAH on the cover of the last issue, or in the paper at all? There are simply things that are no longer debate-able in 2007, at least in an intellectual, caring, sophisticated community such as ours. To argue that homosexuality is a gender deficiency is beyond my comprehension. To claim that people are gay because they were wounded as children is against everything we know and understand as human beings, all the more so as Jews.

We, as Jews, are guided by the very basic belief that all human beings are created b'tselem Elohim, in the image of God, as it says in Genesis 1:27, "and God created humans in God's own image, in the image of God, God created them; male and female God created them." Each of us, created in God's image, has a unique talent, with which we can contribute to the high moral purpose of tikkun olam, the repair of our world. Attempting to change or exclude anyone from our community lessens our chance of achieving this goal of a more perfect world. How could we possibly cure someone created in God’s image?

I can only imagine that The Jewish State, in its attempt to increase its readership, put a seemingly catchy title to an abhorrent article on the cover of its paper. Should the paper continue to place such outlandish articles in its issues, without so much as a word from an opposing view, I hope people will stop reading this paper nor advertise in it. News worthy of being read is engaging – false information that gives others misinformation is irreprehensible.

Remember -- God created us all, and each of us has some of God in us -- so don’t throw it away so quickly!

-- Rabbi Deborah Bravo,Temple Emanu-El, Edison