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| Colorado baker Jack Phillips who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple |
The answer is no. The question in the title was raised by Batya Ungar-Sargon in a Forward opinion piece about whether Orthodox Jews are abandoning the separation of Church and state. That bedrock principle embedded in the constitution’s first amendment is very important to us. Here it is in full:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
No one appreciates this more than religious people do. Including most Orthodox Jews. There was a time not that long ago where despite this lofty principle, Jews experienced serious discrimination in this country. Among other things, Jews were subject to unfair quotas in top universities; barred from top executive positions in major industries; some hotels had signs saying Jews not allowed; country clubs had covenants preventing Jews from joining; and Jews were systematically fired from their jobs if they refused to work on Shabbos.
These and many similar restrictions aimed at our people are all now considered violations of our religious rights and are hardly an issue anymore.
This constitutional right has benefited us and we are very fortunate to be living in a country where religious tolerance is its credo.
In recent years, religious tolerance has taken a back seat to civil rights. Not that civil rights aren’t important. Of course they are. There should never be any discrimination against any particular group. That too is part of the American credo. But recently these two values have come into conflict.
One such case happened a few years ago in Colorado when a Christian baker refused to bake a wedding cake with words congratulating a homosexual couple upon their marraige. He said it violated his faith and therefore his first amendment rights to facilitate a gay marriage in any way. He was taken to court by that homosexual couple and the court ruled that his refusal to accommodate them was an unlawful violation of their civil rights. The Supreme Court now has the case before it this very day. We shall see what they say.
How do Orthodox Jews see it? Is a Jewish baker allowed to bake a wedding cake like that for a homosexual couple? Does our view that a gay union is against Halacha mean that we can’t even bake them a wedding cake for them? I’m not sure it does violate Halacha – for reasons that are beyond the scope of this post. But either way I would be willing to fight for this Christian man’s constitutional religious rights.
For me, this is about more than a cake or whether it affects me as an Orthodox Jew personally. It is about protecting the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. This is the opposite of what Ms. Ungar-Sargon suggests – that Orthodox Jews are abandoning the first amendment and siding with the Evangelical desire to make this country more Christian. It supports the first amendment. There are 2 parts to it and they are equally important.
Ms. Ungar-Sargon bases her perception of us on the fact that we seem to have more in common with Evangelical Christians than we do with mainstream liberal Jews that make up 90%of the Jewish population. She is right. This is an unfortunate fact. It is also a fact (sad though it is) that this very same 90% is in the process of self destructing as Jews via intermarriage and assimilation. To the extent that they have any religious values at all, they are hardly based on any real understanding of the Bible. These are cultural Jews whose grandchildren may very well not even be Jewish.
Why do we have more in common with Evangelical Christians? It is because they have more knowledge about what the bible says than the vast majority of non Orthodox liberal Jews do. Why that is the case is also beyond the scope of this post. But it is really hard to dispute that fact.
And yes, it’s true. I hate to admit it but most Orthodox Jews (54%) voted for the President, despite his very irreligious behavior – as evidenced in his recorded conversation with Billy Bush, former host of the syndicated TV show ‘Access Hollywood’. Most Orthodox Jews as well as Evangelical Christians knew about this and voted for Trump anyway.
How could religious people vote for such a reprobate? It was a protest vote against an establishment which they saw abandoning the moral principles and values upon which this country was founded. They saw for example a Supreme Court validating gay marriage and wanted to change that tide. They would have voted for the devil had he been the one running against the establishment!
One might ask, isn’t the very idea of a country founded on religious principles anathema to the religious tolerance embedded in the constitution? No. Values can be attained through many sources including religious ones. As long as there is no religion established; and long as people are free to practice their religion faith as they wish there is nothing wrong with looking to a book whose values haves guided the civilizations of 2 major faiths for thousands of years. That does not infringe on anyone’s rights.