Posted on 11/19/2005 3:40:09 PM PST by Alouette
HOUSTON - The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person."
"What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.
The audience of 5,000 responded to the speech with enthusiastic applause.
Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly, using the term "religious right" instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, including within the Jewish community.
He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage violates Scripture, but he said that did not justify denying legal protections to same-sex partners and their children.
"We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations," Yoffie said. "Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."
The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in North America with an estimated membership of 1.5 million people. Of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism — Orthodox and Conservative are the others — it is the only one that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same-gender couples.
Yoffie said liberals and conservatives share some concerns, such as the potential damage to children from violent or highly sexual TV shows and other popular media. But he said, overall, conservatives too narrowly define family values, making a "frozen embryo in a fertility clinic" more important than a child, and ignoring poverty and other social ills.
One attendee, Judy Weinman of Troy, N.Y., said she thought Yoffie was "right on target."
"He reminded us of where we have things in common and where we're different," she said.
Yoffie also urged lawmakers to model themselves on presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, who famously told a Houston clergy group in 1960 that a president should not make policy based on his religion.
On other topics, Yoffie asked Reform synagogues to do more to hold onto members, who often leave after their children go to college. He also said the Reform movement, which is among the most accepting of non-Jewish spouses, should make a greater effort to invite spouses to convert.
CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A, "AW JEEZ.......... ALERT"??
the article should be retitled...
LIBERAL LEADER ATTACKS JEWS FOR FOLLOWING TORAH LAW.
funny how a rabbi (small r on purpose) is so consumed with the gays and less bothered by the ongoing spritual drain of his liberal flock and even less concerned about America or Israel's existential fight against Jihad.
eric you are the definition of a lemming.
The only reason why he's going after Christians rather than any of the actual anti-Semites (e.g. Muslims and Communists) is because he is 100% certain that he risks no personal danger by doing so. To take on a real enemy of the Jews, he might have to risk his own skin.
lol. Yep. Its a dying denomination anyways. Assimilation and a low birthrate will change that anytime soon. Trust me, we have enough problems keeping people in the Conservative denomination to which I belong. Many of the kids don't care and are marrying out), with not so many coming back (and fewer still in a hardcore way) to the faith. And we're in a far better situation generally than the Reform movement, because a large percentage of us regularly attend Hebrew School as kids, at least, and so a fair number of us do care at least a bit.
The modern Orthodox movement is probably the best poised right now: a good blend of assimilation and orthodox beliefs, lots of kids and low intermarriage rates. Orthodox true also doing well.
This kind of stuff has infuriated me for too long. And now that Anti-Christianity (a thousand times more accurately described as "hate speech" than the way they throw around that term) is on a nearly vertical upward growth spurt, I have plenty more opportunities to be infuriated as a Christian. All that said, Christ said I should take joy when I'm maligned for believing in Him, so I'm trying to adjust my attitude accordingly. It ain't easy, but it's right.
MM
You said. A lot of them think of themselves as Jews, but more as a cultural or ethnic thing than as a faith. It's a shame really.
Oh well. As tragic as it is to see a once vibrant and heavily contributive denomination of faith die, noone will be able to say they didn't see this one coming. Too many intermarriages, too few in the pews, not enough kids and not a strong enough faith.
Maybe we could lock this guy in a room with Pat Buchannan.
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Or pack him off to Osama for a consultation.
Yoffie (prefer to not call him Rabbi) has a 'George Felos' look about him IMO. He is seriously deluded and blinded.... maybe he is Babs Streisand's Rabbi.......ooooops.... pardon my slip up of the tongue my dear orthodox jewish holy men.
Yep. Jerk. He's giving the rest of us Jews a bad name. Something tells me he's a little light on the faith and a little heavy on the politics. And not the kind that would be in tandem with his faith either.
What a stupid comment. Real Jews respect Christians and their faith. You are just as bad as the so-called "Rabbi".
The above is a rather nasty broad brush smear. I think attacking anyone's religion, or branch thereof, that way, is well, simply wrong, and not moral or right. You are replicating the execrable tactics of the clueless, and I think fund raising, rabbi that is the subject of this thread. That is how I see it and call it.
What smear? The truth is not a smear. I was a Deformed Jew. I know from what I speak. The typical Deformed "Rabbi"'s sermon sounds like a rant from Howard Dean, and actual religious content is an afterthought. The Deformed espousal of the homosexual agenda is particularly despicable.
It started out as a very serious movement. That's why there's a lot of very faithful Reform Jews amongst the elderly (65+) normally, and even one generation down (although less). The problem was that they put too much emphasis on assimilation and it worked a little too well. The grandkids just don't care. And the parents don't care enough to force them when they're young. And it's easy to just slip into a stream of feel-good, liberal politics and an empty, questing "spiritualism" rather than a true faith. The great grandkids won't be Jewish. Maybe there will be some cultural residue, or maybe it will be an ethnic thing to an extent, but they won't really be Jewish in any true sense. At least, I don't think so.
As I've said before, I'd rather have some Christian evangelicals at my side, than Reform JINOs at my back. The former I know aren't gonna cut and run, and many of them are armed. The latter, well, they might sell me for the price of political correctness and a good speech about neo-colonialism and the imperialism of the Christian Reich (it's a such a clever twist on "Right" don't you see... /yawn)
Too bad he didn't try to participate in the Million MAN March. He would have wound up looking like Robert Fisk.
I second that, minus the profanity and insults. Well, at least some of the insults.
The truth is, the Reform movement is going to intermarry, assimilate and underbreed itself out of existence, barring some very strange and radical changes of lifestyle.
Well, fine. Just visit their website to find out what they have to say about themselves. I think it is fair and reasonable to judge a denomination by the leaders who represent it.
I think that if Isaac Mayer Wise would be alive today he would run screaming into the nearest "Young Israel" (modern Orthodox) synagogue.
Eric Yoffie is to Rabbi as Barry Lynn is to Reverend.
Truly these are "wolves in sheeps clothing".
Have faith and courage my brothers and sisters....the TRUTH does set us free. So glad we can Freep/network together in this insane world. Now carry on valiantly....we will WIN.
I apologize for the profanity (not the insults, they deserve it). I am so angry at how these JINOs who reject Jewish dogma and despise Israel itself dare to speak for real Jews. Foxman himself was thrown out of his own NJ synogogue because of his anti-Israel rants. It is disgusting how they use their own Jewish identity as a cover for a blanant Marxist agenda.
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