Phinneous the Leader

This is the post in its entirety. Sorry of not formatted. Not sure if the FB is open to all: PINCHAS vs. NEWSPEAK aka The GAY MARRIAGE Debate Balak, King of Moav had failed, and so the Jews marched on. His sorcerer for hire, Bilaam, then came up with Plan B. Seduce them, lower their moral standards. He was successful. Now the Jews marched to a different tune. They traded, “Do you feel G-d?” to “Does it feel good?” A plague broke out and thousands died. One man turned the tide. Pinchas. For his bravery, G-d granted Pinchas immunity from death. And so generations later, our champion, operating under the alias Elijah, again confronts compromise. “How long will you dance between two opinions?” he asks. Make a stand. Don’t waver between truth and convention. Elijah saves the day. This is his eternal role. Indeed it is Elijah who will usher in the final redemption. This obsession with saving Jews makes sense if they are being oppressed. But today, most Jews are relatively safe, so why are we still clamoring for a Messianic redemption? Paradoxically, this bewilderment regarding the need for Moshiach is itself the most emphatic indication of how mixed up we are. Exile’s most distressing aspect is how oblivious we are to it. In Chassidic teachings, exile is compared to a dream. In the dream world, inanities seem real, even natural, and all the usual restrictions of time and space are meaningless. Contemporary society’s craziness should waken us. Yet many are comfortable with today’s amorality. How else can you explain the millions who watch movies glorifying beheadings, sadism, and rape? Contemporary society has borrowed a page from Bilaam’s playbook. We’ve been seduced. G-d has taken a back seat, while converts to the “feel good” team have turned our world upside-down. One example is gay marriage. Don’t bother me and I won’t bother you is insufficient. If it can’t be their G-d given right, the State must declare it their human right, a value unimaginable a few years ago. That the progressive politically correct crowd would all march in lock-step was to be expected. But what came as a shock was how many “traditional” Jews jumped on the bandwagon. “We aren’t hurt by it. We can still celebrate traditional marriage. So who cares?” The “it doesn’t affect me” mantra has become common. In truth, this chant is a bald-faced lie. State-imposed falsehoods do affect us. Marriage is a certain thing with a specific nature and definition. When a government mandates that ‘marriage’ is something other than what it is, you are now living in George Orwell’s 1984, where Newspeak demands a State-sanctioned worldview and suppresses individual thought. Equally important: since when are we only supposed to care about things that directly affect us? Don’t we normally condemn a person, group, or society who fails to speak up or act against injustice, simply because the person or group isn’t yet feeling the effect of it? When dealing with moral truth, its effect on you is irrelevant. We might walk away, but it’s shameful and we shouldn’t be proud of it. Recall, these words in front of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” Of course we’re hurt. Everyone is. Marriage is one of society’s foundations, and we all depend on it, no matter if we’re separated from the issue by a few more laws soon to be passed anyway. If your house is falling into a sinkhole, would you say it doesn’t hurt you because you happen to be standing on the top floor? This is not about freedom, personal choice, or love. Government legislation did not rule on these issues. It’s about power and who dictates new truths. They are not saving marriage for themselves, they wish to destroy ours. Whether the rank and file realize it or not, their Bilaam-like leaders want the entire institution of marriage abolished. Indeed, their desire is that all sacred traditions and their institutions become taboo. That is why we are already being shown their new calling card; that churches and synagogues that oppose gay marriage lose their tax exempt status. That religious institutions provide invaluable social services to their communities is dismissed. In fact, they want only government, meaning society, to decide who is deserving. Only they should have the right to dispense charity. It’s more than a matter of money. Though they won’t admit it, the ultimate goal of today’s Balak is that traditional institutions be outlawed. This is not a dire prophesy. Yes, it’s dire, but it’s not prophecy. No divine vision is necessary. Merely listen to our upcoming leaders. Hilary Clinton, potentially our nation’s president said after the Supreme Court ruling: “While we celebrate today, our work won’t be finished until every American can not only marry, but live, work, PRAY, learn and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice. Doesn’t affect you? Hillary Clinton just advertised the fact that, if elected, she intends to investigate ‘where people pray’ to see if they’re suffering discrimination. In her mind, a gay person being read Leviticus - the parts where homosexual sex is condemned - would qualify as illegal bigotry. After all, if gay marriage is a human right, could one oppose it? Just as churches are not permitted to keep slaves, they would not be allowed to deny unions to gays. Courts have already ruled that florists, bakers, and photographers can’t run their business according to their faith. If gay marriage is a human right, why should Rabbis not have to play by their rules? Marriage will become an anachronism. Incest, polygamy, all will have to be legal, since marital rights must be granted solely on the basis of affection. Then the “doesn’t affect me” crowd will have to finally face the music. It does affect us. Which brings us back to exile as a dream: If we are all in the dream, how can we be objective? How can we tell what is truth and what is not? How can a world blind to its own madness yearn for redemption? The answer is Pinchas. In each generation there is someone who must be out of step with the rest of humanity. The world requires such visionaries. This someone has always been the Jew. It is he who preached absolute morality, when might was the only arbiter of right. It was he who first advocated religious freedom, fair working conditions, education, and common decency. Being a “Light to the nations” remains our responsibility. If need be, we will do it alone like Pinchas who, “Zealously took up G-d’s cause” and defied the establishment. We must save the world. Not just for ourselves, but for all humanity.

From the link:

...Hilary Clinton, potentially our nation’s president said after the Supreme Court ruling: “While we celebrate today, our work won’t be finished until every American can not only marry, but live, work, PRAY, learn and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice.

Doesn’t affect you? Hillary Clinton just advertised the fact that, if elected, she intends to investigate ‘where people pray’ to see if they’re suffering discrimination. In her mind, a gay person being read Leviticus - the parts where homosexual sex is condemned - would qualify as illegal bigotry.

After all, if gay marriage is a human right, could one oppose it? Just as churches are not permitted to keep slaves, they would not be allowed to deny unions to gays. Courts have already ruled that florists, bakers, and photographers can’t run their business according to their faith. If gay marriage is a human right, why should Rabbis not have to play by their rules?...

” Whether the rank and file realize it or not, their Bilaam-like leaders want the entire institution of marriage abolished. “

The State must destroy all things competing for the allegiance of the individual, chiefly of which are faith in God and family.

The State has said, “thou shalt have no other gods before me”.

Though a little long and specifically about traditional Judaism, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky gets to the heart of too much tolerance with regard to homosexuality and SSM:

http://rabbipruzansky.com/2015/07/01/disorder-in-the-court/

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