The Moral Decline of Cvilization

LGBTQ Jews show pride in who they are (JTA)

I get why some people consider intersectionality worse than simple prejudice or bigotry. Intersectionality is a term coined by civil rights activist Kimberlé Crenshaw. It refers to the phenomenon of increased prejudice when two or more different types of bias ‘intersect’ against one individual. An example of this would be a Black woman who may be discriminated against for both racist and sexist reasons.

Whether this has consequences in the real world, I am not prepared to say. Perhaps. But hate is hate regardless of how many reasons one can think of for hating. But I digress.

This issue occurred to me with respect to LGBTQ Jews. (How’s that for intersectionality?) In a rather lengthy article in JTA, Deborah Danan describes the prejudice gay Jews experienced both for being gay and for being Jewish. And how, after the events of October 7^th, gay Jews have experienced antisemitism from other LGBTQ groups because of their support for Israel.

Some have expressed that their identity as Jews has become more important to them than their identity as gay. And they describe how wonderful they feel in Israel, where they are so accepted.

What struck me most about this article, though, was not so much what these young gay Jews were going through. Or how they felt about being both gay and Jewish, when it has become fashionable among the mostly leftist LGBTQ community to be antisemitic.

That antisemitism is so prevalent on the left is no longer a surprise. That it overrides the sense of brotherhood LGBTQ people might otherwise feel toward each other should also not be a surprise. The further one goes to the left, the further one moves away from biblical principles. Which lately also means being more antisemitic.

This, I believe, is why the left hates Jews so much. They consider us responsible for foisting biblical morality onto the world. And our millennia-long existence by virtue of honoring our biblical legacy is evidence as to why biblical morality has lasted so long. The more to the left one goes – the more they consider the Bible to be immoral and blame the Jews for instilling those values into civilization. Israel is simply a convenient target that deflects accusations of antisemitism.

My problem here is just how mainstream the LGBTQ lifestyle has become. This was demonstrated by Danan’s tone. There was not the slightest suggestion that LGBTQ people were living lives inherently at odds with biblical values. The fact that Israel is so gay-friendly is depicted in the most positive of ways. Living one’s biblical values is no longer considered to have any real value at all. The civilized world has a new set of values that essentially discards the biblical ones it dislikes. The values it does retain are independent of the Bible, and are only there by coincidence.

To religious people who still value the Bible, the current culture is completely immoral when it comes to sexuality. Whereas the Bible dictates what is and isn’t proper sexual behavior, Western culture - and by extension secular Israel - has largely ignored these standards.

So, when I read an article like this that assumes an LGBTQ lifestyle is no different morally than a married heterosexual lifestyle, I see a world going down the road to destruction.

Sexual immorality in its various forms has been the ruin of many great civilizations. Rome’s decline can at least in part be attributed to the loss of traditional family values which include sexual restraint.

In our day, birthrates have declined in part due to the increase in homosexual lifestyles, adultery, divorce, simple avoidance of childbearing, and women choosing to have children later in life (if at all) in favor of careers. If I am not mistaken, the birthrate among secular Jews in Israel is declining as well. For similar reasons.

A man lying with another man as with a woman is as immoral as having a sexual relationship with another man’s wife. Even (or perhaps especially) in an ‘open marriage’ that has the consent of both parties.

That LGBTQ people feel their lifestyles carry the same moral values as the lifestyles of married heterosexuals - despite the former lacking the biblical imprimatur given to the latter - is troubling.

This is, of course, not to say that LGBTQ people should EVER be mistreated, harassed, or discriminated against. As I have said more times than I can count: being gay or trans is not a sin. It is what one does about it that might be. The only thing that should be condemned is the sin itself. NOT the individual who struggles with it. We all have our struggles, and no one should be judged for that.

But to go from understanding and respecting individuals who struggle with biblically required behavior, to celebrating and even encouraging it, is a prescription for the destruction of great nations.