A "gay pride" parade will be held this evening (Thursday) in Jerusalem, for the third consecutive year - and protestors will be on hand all along the route. The parade, which may be a practice run for the 2005 International Gay Parade scheduled to be held in the city, begins at Ben Yehuda St., and will continue via King George St. to Liberty Bell Park.
The city is now replete with posters condemning the parade. "Stop the Parade of Abomination" and "Protect the Children" are just some of the messages being broadcast on poster boards around the city. Rabbi David Batzri, head of the Kabbalistic "Magen David" Yeshiva in Jerusalem, said in his lecture last night, "This is not a disease or a deviation, but a straight-out abomination. Even animals don't behave this way... There is no place in the Holy City for such a phenomenon."
The parade is being held in the shadow of the ongoing campaign to "discredit and even eliminate therapies to assist clients in reducing their homosexual attractions" (Adam Jessel, Jewish Action, Spring 2003). JONAH still believes such therapy is important. The organization (jonahweb.org), according to its mission statement, is "dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the prevention, intervention, and healing of the underlying issues causing same-sex attractions." JONAH states that because mankind has been endowed with free will, "everyone has the capacity to change. Furthermore, the Rabbis emphasize that parents, teachers and counselors have a special responsibility to educate, nurture, and provide an opportunity for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions to journey out of homosexuality. Through psychological and spiritual counseling, peer support, and self-empowerment, JONAH seeks to reunify families, to heal the wounds surrounding homosexuality, and to provide hope."
A man named Mark is quoted in the above-mentioned Jewish Action article as saying, "The struggle to overcome homosexuality has been long and difficult... Only during the past couple of years have things really started to come together. Looking back, what proved most helpful was a 12-step program, a good therapist, intensive, specially-tailored therapy weekends and the [support of] other strugglers I met through JONAH... Now, at age 39, I'm remarried - happily so - and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my wife, for my kids and for all the ways in which I've grown."
Rabbi Joel Beasley of Alon Shvut has written, "As far as the Jewish religion goes, there are no homosexuals in the world, nor have there ever been. There are no heterosexuals either. Both terms are pejorative. They imply that the essence of existence lies somehow within the crass and the carnal... According to sexual behaviorists like Masters and Johnson, babies are born neither heterosexual nor homosexual in any categorical sense (Human Sexuality, 1995, fifth edition). They are sexually malleable, and can remain in flux throughout their lifetimes... People are inclined naturally towards aesthetic variation. That does not mean they should be free to act on their impulses. The Torah understands that unrestrained pursuit of personal pleasure takes a terrible toll on society, and creates havoc for the stability of the family." (Jewish Spectator, Winter 1998)
The city is now replete with posters condemning the parade. "Stop the Parade of Abomination" and "Protect the Children" are just some of the messages being broadcast on poster boards around the city. Rabbi David Batzri, head of the Kabbalistic "Magen David" Yeshiva in Jerusalem, said in his lecture last night, "This is not a disease or a deviation, but a straight-out abomination. Even animals don't behave this way... There is no place in the Holy City for such a phenomenon."
The parade is being held in the shadow of the ongoing campaign to "discredit and even eliminate therapies to assist clients in reducing their homosexual attractions" (Adam Jessel, Jewish Action, Spring 2003). JONAH still believes such therapy is important. The organization (jonahweb.org), according to its mission statement, is "dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the prevention, intervention, and healing of the underlying issues causing same-sex attractions." JONAH states that because mankind has been endowed with free will, "everyone has the capacity to change. Furthermore, the Rabbis emphasize that parents, teachers and counselors have a special responsibility to educate, nurture, and provide an opportunity for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions to journey out of homosexuality. Through psychological and spiritual counseling, peer support, and self-empowerment, JONAH seeks to reunify families, to heal the wounds surrounding homosexuality, and to provide hope."
A man named Mark is quoted in the above-mentioned Jewish Action article as saying, "The struggle to overcome homosexuality has been long and difficult... Only during the past couple of years have things really started to come together. Looking back, what proved most helpful was a 12-step program, a good therapist, intensive, specially-tailored therapy weekends and the [support of] other strugglers I met through JONAH... Now, at age 39, I'm remarried - happily so - and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my wife, for my kids and for all the ways in which I've grown."