fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

December 9, 2012

Mormon Church launches website on gay issues

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Judaism, Mobile, Mobile Sections, Mobile-Homepage, News /

I felt a lot like ” target=”_blank”>Love One Another: A Discussion of Same-Sex Attraction,” that presents the church’s views on same-sex attraction to the world in the context of encouraging Mormons to treat gays with kindness and understanding.

The website features a series of conversations with church leaders and members on issues related to homosexuality. One pleasant surprise is the prominent acknowledgement that “Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them.” I have never before seen an official recognition by the church that gays do not choose their sexual orientation (though most Mormons I know have always believed this).

Mormons don’t recognize themselves or their church in anti-Mormon propaganda that demonizes us as haters, bigots, and homophobes because of our opposition to same-sex marriage. Here is a great chance for us to define our own beliefs on homosexuality to the world. This project is a great beginning, and I hope it will be a catalyst for discussions that need to take place between Mormons, their gay friends and family members, and members of other faiths.

Hag sameach to all of my Jewish readers.

Mormon Church launches website on gay issues Read More »

December 9, 2012

Leave a Comment / Israel, Must Reads /

In-depth

Political Islam in the Middle East

Having to hold the reins of power can act as a moderating force on Islamist parties, argues Reza Aslan in the Council on Foreign Relations. 

…I think what these Islamists are starting to learn, across the region, is that you can't maintain your incorruptible image while also having political power. That power tends to corrupt. Now in Egypt, we're seeing even former supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood demanding the downfall of Mohammed Morsi's presidency.

 

Morsi Under Siege

Ashraf Khalil of Time asks whether the hasty steps taken by the Egyptian president to quell protests over his power grab will be enough.

But even if [the constitution] does pass, the lingering bitterness and mistrust born of this controversy could come back to haunt the Brotherhood at Parliamentary elections–which will gear up once there’s a constitution in place. Morsi has reverted to his base and his Islamist allies in this time of crisis. But he has also managed to alienate some of his own voters. Many of those protesting against Morsi and calling for his downfall said they voted for him over the summer–viewing him as the lesser of two evils compared to Mubarak holdover and military candidate Ahmed Shafiq.

 

 

 

Daily Digest

 

Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter and Facebook for facts and figures, analysis and opinion on Israel and the U.S., the Jewish World and the Middle East

December 9, 2012 Read More »

The Roots of Shame Run Deep

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Culture, Mobile, Mobile Sections, News /

Shame is a soul eating emotion. – Carl Jung

Most people are unaware of how shame affects their personal lives, and is such a major driving force throughout societies around the globe.  Shame plays out in all sorts of shapes and sizes: Feeling ashamed within and outside of ones own community over the darkness of their skin tone; parents disowning their gay child out of the fear of being ostracized within their own community; the shame and hiding from when someone is trying to cover up how they are not a part of the “perfect family”; the shame a child carries into adulthood from having always been told that they are stupid and worthless; the shame and self-blame of victims of sexual abuse.  The Roots of Shame Run Deep Read More »

How to Destroy the Death Star

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

By Josh Silver

Blowing up a Death Star is no easy task.  True, all Luke had to do was fire a missile into a conveniently placed ventilation shaft but that’s not what I’m referring to.  I’m talking about how to destroy your own personal Death Star.  Each of us has one—that looming shadow which shrouds our life.  All of us must either overcome it or continue to suffer.  For me that Death Star was addiction.  For years my addiction to drugs overshadowed all of the good that I tried to accomplish.  Every time I thought I had made steps in the right direction, my addiction pulled me back into despair.

That was, of course, until I entered Beit T’Shuvah.  While there I realized something that I think Star Wars had been trying to teach me for years.  First of all, the Force is real.  No, I’m not crazy and no I don’t think that if you try hard enough that you can make objects fly around a room.  What I do believe is that inside each and every one of us is the potential for good and the potential for evil.  Judaism refers to this dual nature of humanity as the yetzer tov (good impulse) and the yetzer rah (evil impulse).   One of the many lessons that I learned at Beit T’Shuvah is that in order to have a balanced life we must all occasionally give in to both sides of ourselves.  Star Wars offers a simplified view of human impulse.  According to the films, if you lean towards the dark side then you will be pushed in that direction until it eventually destroys you. 

This leads me to one other aspect of the films that people seem to overlook.  Darth Vader wasn’t the bad guy.  Yea, I said it.  The real villain was the Emperor and who killed the Emperor? Darth Vader.  Who ended up saving Luke Skywalker’s life in the final minutes of Return of the Jedi? Darth Vader. 

If you look more closely at the films, the story of Vader is really just a tale of redemption.  According to the teaching of my Rabbi, Mark Borovitz, we must all perform T’Shuvah (redemption) the day before we die.  Since none of us know what day we will die, we must do T’Shuvah every day.  This is exactly what Darth Vader did.  He was the ultimate bad guy—the so-called “unredeemable.”  Yet, in the last moments of his life, he saved Luke and fatally wounded himself in the process. 

How did I destroy my Death Star?  First I realized that every situation in life can be related in some way to Star Wars.  More importantly, I learned that no matter how far I had gone to the side of darkness, there is still a person worthy of redemption inside of all of us.

How to Destroy the Death Star Read More »

Egypt’s opposition protests draft constitution

Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Lead Story, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News, Worldwide /

Egypt's opposition said it would continue to protest an upcoming referendum on a draft constitution even after President Mohammed Morsi cancelled decrees that gave him virtually unlimited power.

Late Saturday night Morsi withdrew the decrees that gave him immunity from judicial oversight. But he continues to insist on going forward with the scheduled Dec. 15 referendum.

The opposition, led by the National Salvation Front, objects to the draft constitution in part because it would enshrine Islamic law.

Demonstrators have been protesting outside of the presidential palace, and the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Morsi belongs, were set on fire.

A million man march demonstration opposing the draft constitution has been called for Tuesday.

Egypt’s opposition protests draft constitution Read More »