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Just be quiet!
All the political warning bells are going off in my head.
Are you crazy?
Let Education Minister Piron sizzle by himself on the Inquisition bonfire. You don’t have anything else to do in this heat besides to cook along with him? Do you owe him a favor? In politics, one has to know how to talk and no less important, when to remain silent.
But that is precisely the point. It is not about Piron and the uproar that ensued when, in an interview a few days ago he said, “It is the right of Israel, perhaps even its obligation, to tell same-sex couples that they could not be considered ‘families.’” The warning bells trying to convince me to keep my mouth shut are the reason why I must speak out.
Because before the debate about what constitutes a family, there is another debate – on a much more basic question: Is it possible, in our conflict-ridden country, to express an opinion that does not fit within the confines of the politically correct terror?
Yes! I use a harsh word. But we are looking at spiritual terror that has no inclination to debate. Instead, it turns an opinion that is not acceptable to a certain elite into a type of battle cry. Like a pack of wolves descending, at the sound of a whistle, on the lone wolf who strayed from the fold, so everyone jumped on Piron. Piron, who apparently thought that as a sector favorite, he was out of the range of this danger, mistakenly lifted his head above the trench. No apologies will help him now. He was immediately bombarded by crossfire from all sides, fire meant to kill, fire backed up by all the news media – fire that has one purpose: de-legitimization and the abrupt end of his political career. No discussion, no debate, nothing that comes close to that – just chop off the head that was raised too tall and make sure that the other heads remain buried deep inside the trenches, for fear of that terror.”
All this, of course, is done in the name of the values of courage and freedom. So who is locked inside the closet now? Shai Piron? Or (homosexual MK and gay rights advocate) Nitzan Horowitz?
Even before I was elected to the Knesset, I embarked upon a dialogue with representatives of the homosexual public. I heard personal stores that evoked my empathy. We sat in my home, we spoke a long time and became friends. Following those conversations, I was invited to the homosexual Bar Noar Club. I agreed to come, and didn’t really understand why the media made such a big deal out of it. It seemed natural to me. I wanted to speak with them openly; to find what we had in common; to contain the conflict. (After the fact, when the investigation into the murder that had taken place in the club was publicized, I learned of the sexual acts taking place there between counselors and youth – acts that if they were to take place between adults and minors in a regular setting would lead to severe indictments. In retrospect, with this knowledge, I would not have visited the club).
Right from the start of our discussion, I explained that I differentiate between the obligation to safeguard the honor and human rights of homosexuals, as well as the necessity to allow them to share households – and the ethical comparison of homosexual relationships to the natural family. I explained that when I would be an MK, I would be the first to visit a homosexual prisoner who was being abused in prison because of his tendency. I said that I would legislate in the Knesset with this distinction in mind: I would support laws that would solve technical problems in relationships that do not stand up to the criteria of Jewish law, while I would strongly oppose legislation that would attempt to attach moral equivalence between the status of the natural family and the same-sex family.
We must understand. The natural family is the building block of society. Any society. And when everything is defined as a family, then nothing is really a family. Yes, I see family as a value that is under attack, a value that must be safeguarded. The entire western civilization is currently caving in because of the loss of family values. The Jewish state that we established after 2,000 years cannot afford to join this trend.
It is now becoming apparent that the dominant voice among homosexuals is not one of dialogue – like the voice of the friends I got to know – but a violent voice of censorship.
It is completely legitimate to believe that there is an essential difference between the natural family, made up of a male and a female, and any other kind of relationship. In the recesses of their frightened hearts, most people clearly understand that. Even Justice Minister Tzippy Livni began to stutter when I asked her from the Knesset podium to whom she would prefer to give a child for adoption[1] – to a normative couple, or a same-sex couple.
One can argue and try to convince others, people can disagree and that is completely fine – but you cannot force a person whose value system is different from yours to shut his mouth. This intimidation will eventually cause damage to the cause of the homosexuals. One can already sense the indignation it is arousing. Because force does not create legitimacy. It creates aversion.
Source: The Jewish Leadership Blog
A German translation of this entry is to be found on my website.
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