Same-sex Marriage

5 Pages 1243 Words

Same-sex marriage
By Serena Irani
16/01/05
The issue of same-sex marriage has been debated in the world for many years now. This topic concerns especially the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. What is their personal opinion on this subject? Who is with and who is against? All religions view human sexuality as a potential source of sin. Non consensual sex, unsafe sex, manipulative sex are generally regarded as sinful. Many regard recreational sex as immoral, and teach that sex must be restricted to loving, monogamous committed couples. Some insist that it is only moral within a marriage. But faith groups differ in their beliefs about homosexuality. Some teach that these same rules apply to homosexuals and bisexuals as well as heterosexuals -- that sexual activity is not sinful if it is consensual, safe, non-manipulative, and within a committed relationship. Others teach that homosexuality is an intrinsically disordered, abnormal, chosen, and unnatural behavior, which is always sinful, regardless of the nature of the relationship between the participants.


For Jewish communities, there are two primary questions. First, should they legalize same-sex marriage, offering homosexual couples the same legal benefits that married heterosexual couples have? Secondly, should rabbis perform same-sex Jewish weddings, and if so, can these ceremonies be considered kiddushin (the Hebrew term for holy unions)? This would give them the same status as heterosexual marriages. The four primary liberal Jewish denominations—Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative and Orthodox—have been fighting with these questions for over a decade.
The Reconstructionist movement expressed its support for the full inclusion of gay men and lesbians in all aspects of Jewish life in its 1992 Report of the Reconstructionist Commission on Homosexuality. The report affirmed the holiness of homosexual relationships and the need to affirm the...