Some years ago I asked a local African American community leader why he discriminated against gay men and women. He answered, “The Bible prohibits their lifestyle.” I said, “You mean the same Bible that was used to justify slavery against your family?” He said, and this is the exact quotation, “That’s different.”
But, of course, it’s not different. Jews were excluded from every social club in this city at one time, except for the Jewish club, Oakwood. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Menorah Hospital was founded in 1927 because no hospital would allow Jewish doctors to practice. No Jew could buy property in Leawood because of covenant restrictions. Anti-Semitism was, for centuries, justified by reference to Christian scripture.
The Bible can and has been used to prove whatever values one wants to assert. Religions have always formulated justifications for their prejudices and bigotries based on their own scriptures. Hence the debates over the “real” character of Islam today — peace loving or ISIS? Well, both actually!
So why can’t we allow people to protect their religious values? Because when the dominant culture excludes people from participation in the essentials of society: work, housing, transportation, health care, etc., it is actually creating an underclass of citizens. It’s not protecting individual liberties. It’s creating a subclass denied equal access to the benefits of society. Jews should understand that from our history.
In Kant’s first Categorical Imperative we find that for conduct to be ethical it must be universalizable, meaning: “Suppose everyone did the same thing, how would the world be?” We can judge the morality of an action by asking, “If everyone did this, how would the world be? Would the world be moral?” If everyone discriminates against a particular class of people, gays and lesbians for instance, they will be excluded not only from society, but also from the benefits of society.
The conclusion must be that in the public realm all citizens must be equally accepted. If you desire to do business, you cannot exclude classes of people who cannot, in good conscience, choose to be other than they are. So we cannot discriminate by religion, national origin, race, gender or LGBT status.
A religion can exclude or include whomever it wants when serving its believers. But when we work in the public square, every American deserves equal accommodation.
Rabbi Mark H. Levin is founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah.{/mprestriction}