Does God approve of same-sex marriage? Four professors sought to explore and answer the question from Catholic, Islamic, Protestant and Jewish perspectives, but in the end, the answer was still unclear.
The event was opened to general public, and all of the seats that were set up were completely filled. Some attendees sat on the steps of the staircase facing the panel. When the moderators began to speak, the lower level of BCC went silent.
Rev. Gerry Blaszczak, S.J., university chaplain, and Ellen Umansky, Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies acted as moderators. They asked the panelists to discuss same-sex marriage from the perspectives of their religions.
Paul Lakeland, professor of Religious Studies, acknowledged that the strict Catholic view says that same-sex marriage goes against marriage’s sacramental status in Church. However, he said, “I think that no one has the right to impose anything nor is there really any possibility that a religious group can impose anything on the American public in general.”
Lakeland also noted that the number of approval of homosexuality and marriages is slowly increasing.
Panelist Rachel Gurevitz, who is the associate rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport, outlined and contrasted the traditional orthodox, reform and contemporary Jewish views on same-sex marriage. She also pointed out that the Torah, which is the “human document” of Jewish traditions, is not “set in stone,” and that opinions in her religion are constantly changing.
Dr. David Schmidt, associate professor of business ethics, offered a Protestant view and compared the controversy of same-sex marriage to the marriage of a tall and short person. Instead of focusing on “who” is part of the marriage, he wished to observe what the quality of the relationship can be.
Heba Youssef, the university’s Muslim Chaplain, said that Islam has still not yet breached the topic of same-sex marriage. While the other religions are struggling with it, Islam is “beginning” to struggle with the issue.
All professors seemed to agree that one viewpoint of a religious person does not represent all of that religion. Also, they acknowledged that interpretations of sacred texts and each individual’s relationship with God can contribute to different and varying perspectives on same-sex marriage, even within the same religion.
Matt Faber, founder of the Alumni LGBTQ Alliance, said: “I think the event went really well. When I brought this event up with my alliance, the response was enthusiastic. [The event] drew [people] from undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff and community.”
Rachel Lang ’14 said, “I think that having dialogue on this is making the community more open-minded. But if anything, it makes me question a lot. But it’s clear that nothing about religious is concrete; there’s still a lot of questions.”
The event was sponsored by the Center for Catholic Studies, the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Office of the University Chaplain.
“At the end of the day it’s between you and God,” Youssef said, “God is the ultimate judge …we were not placed here as his judges on earth; no, we were placed to worship Him. Love is unconditional.”
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