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Jewish World Review Dec. 2, 2003 / 7 Kislev, 5764 Queer allies By Evan Gahr
The little-noticed alliance between gay marriage opponents and alleged terrorist sympathizers
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
The Massachusetts Supreme Court decision
to legalize homosexual marriage in the Bay state re-ignited the culture wars.
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, perhaps the preeminent liberal
Jewish organization in Washington, DC, applauded the ruling. Religious-minded
conservatives, however, were horrified. They are determined to stop the gay
rights movement in its tracks. At what price?
JewishWorldReview.com has discovered that prominent religious conservatives —
Jews, Catholics and Evangelical Christians — are allied with a radical
Islamic group to stop gay marriage. Pushing a constitutional amendment that would
restrict marriage to heterosexuals, they work with the Islamic Society of North
America. What is ISNA? According to terrorism expert Steve Emerson, ISNA:
"ISNA," says Emerson, "is a radical group hiding under a false veneer of moderation."
What better way for ISNA to maintain its "false veneer of moderation" than
by working side by side with prominent religious figures that also bring the
prestige of their institutional associations? How can critics plausibly depict
the organization as extremist if it boasts the company of so many prominent
Jews and Christians? Even Martin Luther King couldn't boast a working alliance
with this many different members of the religious community.
Who are these religious conservatives? The Jews include a vice-president of
the highly regarded Rabbinical Council of America, who is also known as
"Lieberman's rabbi" because the Connecticut senator and presidential candidate
attends his synagogue; one of Reform Judaism's most highly visible rabbis known for
his frequent TV appearances as the Jewish half of the two man "God Squad,"; an
Orthodox rabbi who is one of the heads of the most highly regarded kosher
supervision agency in America; a former aide to President Ronald Reagan and
official in the subsequent Bush administration; and an Orthodox rabbi who wants to
unite Christians and Jews.
ISNA's newfound Christian friends also boast sterling credentials. They
include President Clinton's ambassador to the Vatican; the Catholic Archdiocese of
Philadelphia: a Harvard law professor and former Clinton advisor; the
president of a prestigious Evangelical school; and a neo-conservative author who edits
a small, but influential magazine, that serves as the unofficial bible of
many religious conservatives.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations, says that "people have to be careful with
whom they associate, even with causes unrelated to the Middle East. Such
associations give credence to groups that don't deserve it."
Radio talk show host Don Feder, himself a religious conservative, is a bit
more blunt: "You have to be crazy to work with these people."
But maybe that's too charitable. Crazy implies divorced from reality. ISNA's
newfound comrades are perfectly sane. They don't have some kind of delusional
concept that ISNA is secretly pro-Israel. They comprehend the facts but don't
seem to much care. They are not guilty by reason of insanity. Their behavior
displays a reckless disregard for the safety and security of America, Jewry and Israel.
This, from people who claim they are on the side of Western civilization?
Although efforts to contact some ISNA's colleagues were unsuccessful, those
that were located hardly seemed perturbed when provided last week with detailed
information — from impeccable sources — about ISNA. Thus far, it appears
they'll remain with ISNA on the advisory board to the Alliance for Marriage,
which has attracted considerable Congressional support for its much ballyhooed
constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage.
Social conservatives consider the amendment their last best hope to preserve
heterosexual marriage. Cultural liberals view the amendment as a potentially
serious roadblock to making gay marriage the law of the land. All this makes it
likely that the Alliance for Marriage, is likely to come under increased
scrutiny. It seems eager to use the "diversity" of its board members to deflect
criticism and show that support for traditional marriage is broad-based.
This strategy seems particularly obtuse. You don't win moral arguments by
bean-counting. The reliance of "diversity" to argue for traditional marriage
obscures if not contradicts the most powerful argument that it supporters can
make: Namely, this is a corner-stone of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
'DIVERSITY' IS NO MASK
Unlike the Ten Commandments, the diversity card is not written in stone.
Moreover, the left is not likely to be assuaged by their opponent's
emphasis on "diversity." Diversity is a power-ploy by the left; when it allows
leftists to aggregate power they're for it. Otherwise, they don't much care about
it. The "diversity" of President Bush's nominees for federal judgeships — a
black woman, Hispanic man and two white women — matters little to the Senate
Democrats who have blocked these nominations for ideological reasons.
Even worse, the inclusion of an allegedly terrorist-friendly Muslim group to
prove "diversity" is likely to sow discord among its own base. Already, it has
cost the Alliance support from one key Jewish organization. It is likely to
alienate Evangelical Christians who are fervently pro-Israel. The last time
JewishWorldReview.com revealed that a different group that is said to be
terrorist friendly served on the AFM's board of advisors, it cost the Alliance one key
constituency member.
THEY DON'T LEARN
Other religious conservatives remained.
But they sounded not like religious figures but rather crass politicians
who lack any kind of moral compass. Rabbi Barry Freundel, of the Rabbinical
Council of America, who wouldn't say much publicly, remained on the board. Father
Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things magazine and head of the
Institute on Religion and Public Life, simply dismissed the AMC connection as the
nature of alliances. So did Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Toward Tradition, which seeks to
unite Jews and Christians.
"What I see is that I am supporting an idea and if others with whom I don't
agree on a variety of other topics also support the idea," Rabbi Lapin told the Forward
after the original expose was published on JewishWorldReview.com, "then they are supporting my idea. I'm not supporting theirs . . . When America allied itself with Russia to defeat Nazi Germany in no way was America endorsing the contemptible politics of the Soviet Union."
About six weeks later, a bunch of young men killed 3000 innocent civilians when they plowed highjacked planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
The cliche is that everything changed after September 11. But it doesn't seem
that much changed with the Alliance for Marriage. Although the American
Muslim Council was apparently kicked off — it is no longer among the board of
advisor members posted on AFM's website — the Islamic Society for North America
remains.
ISNA ignored repeated requests for comment. The Alliance for Marriage, for
its part, shrugs off questions about its ties to ISNA. Why does ISNA serve on
its advisory board? "Oh, get over it," replies AFM vice-president Paul E.
Rondeau. "You're wasting your time calling here."
In any event, ISNA's track record is hard to disregard, or "get over" to use
Rondeau 's eloquent phrase.
Steven Schwartz writes in his new book, "Two Faces of Islam", that groups such
as CAIR, AMC, and Islamic Society of America "are comparable to the Saudi
religious militia, or their now-defunct Tailban imitators, in seeking to establish
ideological control over the American Muslims In the furtherance of this
goal, which did not diminish after September 11, they imported the methods,
rhetoric and characteristic deceit of Islamic fundamentalists into the American
public square [p.260]"
Moreover, in his 1998 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government, Steve Emerson said that Hamza Yousef, who serves on CAIR's board of advisors, told a 1995 meeting of the
Islamic Society of North America that "the Jews would have us believe that G-d has
this bias to this small tribe in the middle of the Sinai dessert and all the
rest of humanity is just rubbish. I mean that this is the basic doctrine of
the Jewish religion and that's why it is a most racist religion.
Schwartz, on page 250 of his book, writes that Muzammil Siddiqi of Islamic
Society of America, told an anti-Israel "Jerusalem Day" rally on October 28,
2000 that "America has to learn . . . if you remain on the side of injustice, the
wrath of G-d will come. Please, all Americans. Do you remember that? If you
continue doing injustice, and tolerate injustice, the wrath of G-d will come."
When informed about ISNA, a collective silence prevailed among ISNA's key
religious allies. Rabbi Lapin said through an aide that he regretted he was
unavailable for comment due to a packed speaking schedule. The normally loquacious
"God Squad" rabbi Marc Gellman refused to talk on the record.
Rabbi Freundel, known as "Lieberman's rabbi", said he didn't know ISNA served
on the advisory board. He declined further comment except to say that "I'm
concerned about gay marriage."
But it's troubling that such a well-known figure among the Modern Orthodox
would keep quiet about terrorism. According to his synagogue website, in
addition to serving as a Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America,
Freundel received his smicha (ordination) from Yeshiva University, is an Adjunct
Instructor at the University of Maryland, an Adjunct Professor of Law at
Georgetown University, and a Consultant to the Ethics Review Board of the National
Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health. The rabbi sits on the
Washington Vaad (Orthodox rabbinical council) and is very involved in community
issues in the Greater Washington area. He is regarded as a resource and
authority on eruvim, and has assisted in their construction in a number of cities,
including Washington. His weekly shiurim (public lectures) are varied in both
content and locale, as he teaches classes at NIH, on Capitol Hill, and at the
DCJCC as well as at the synagogue.
Unlike Rabbi Freundel, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld explained his thinking a little bit. An executive at the nation's most highly regarded kosher supervision agency, run by the same
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and known by their symbol, a circled "u" (OU), the rabbi said that before he joined the AFM, its president, Matt Daniels, assured him that there were no
terrorist-friendly groups on its advisory board. (Does that make Daniels a liar? Or just naive? Did he bother to do basic research?) Although Rabbi Schonfeld requested to see more info about ISNA, he did
concede that even if the group is hostile to Israel and sympathetic to terrorists, "I can't tell you I would resign."
According to a Orthodox Union spokesman: "The rabbis in question are not there as official OU representatives but rather represent themselves."
Rabbi Basil Herring of the Rabbinical Council of America declined comment on
Rabbi Freundel's association.
Prominent Christians contacted were equally forthcoming.
Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things, who refused to resign
when the AMC connection was reported in 2001, did not respond to messages, but
was said to be having health problems. Glendon did not return repeated phone
calls. Neither did the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Flynn could not be reached for
comment. Richard Mouw, president of the Fuller Theological Seminary, an
Evangelical institution, said "I'll look into this." How? "Click."
But another Christian conservative has already learned all he needs to know
about the AFM.
Paul Weyrich, longtime leader of the Free Congress Foundation, says that he
was asked to serve on the AFM's advisory board but declined precisely because
of its connection to groups like ISNA.
Weyrich, who supports the constitutional amendment to limit marriage to
the traditional definition, says that "I have no problem
working with Arabs to preserve traditional marriage but the price is too high
when I am asked to work with Islamists."
Why are others willing to pay that price? More importantly, who shall suffer
for their sins?
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Evan Gahr is a journalist in the Washington, DC area. To comment, please click here.
© 2003, Evan Gahr | ||||||||||
