Conservative Jewish Group Approves Gay Weddings

I continue to believe that anti-gay laws - such as DOMA and DADT before its repeal - and bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional violations of the right to freedom of religion for all, not just Christofascists.  None the less, conservative Christianity continues to enjoy illegal special rights by forcing its religious dogma (one based principally on hate, fear and bigotry) on all of American society.  Adding fuel to the argument that bans on same sex marriage improperly impact on religious freedom of non-Christianists, the Conservative branch of American Judaism has formally approved same-sex marriage ceremonies.   But the Christofascists continue to believe that their beliefs get to trump all others.  It makes me want to vomit.  Here are highlights from Fox News of all places: 

 The Conservative branch of American Judaism has formally approved same-sex marriage ceremonies, nearly six years after lifting a ban on ordaining gays and lesbians.

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards issued the ruling Thursday on a 13-0 vote with one abstention, said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, the committee chairman. The panel of scholars approved two model wedding ceremonies and guidelines for a same-sex divorce. Rabbis can adapt the marriage ceremonies for the couples.

"We acknowledge that these partnerships are distinct from those discussed in the Talmud as 'according to the law of Moses and Israel,' but we celebrate them with the same sense of holiness and joy as that expressed in heterosexual marriages," the legal opinion states.

Conservative Judaism is the second-largest Jewish movement in North America and holds a middle ground between liberal and traditional groups. The Reform and Reconstructionist branches accept gay relationships, while the stricter Orthodox Jewish movement does not. The Conservative law committee lifted the ban on gay ordination in December 2006.

Called the "Covenant of Loving Partners," the Conservative same-sex marriage document bases the ceremonies on Jewish partnership law. In the covenant, the couple pledges to be faithful. A ring ceremony binds the pair.

"The result is still a Jewish marriage," the legal opinion on gay marriage states.  Dorff, an author of the ruling, said the committee's discussions with gays and lesbians as the ceremonies were developed found a split in opinion that led the two templates for same-sex marriage. One adheres more closely to the traditional Jewish ceremony, while the other doesn't.

Of course we all know what the Christianists and far right evangelicals really think of those of Jewish descent:  their only purpose is to help bring about Armageddon at which time almost all of them will be annihilated.  Thus it baffles me as to why pro-Israel Jews in this country don't grasp the fact that the Christianists are NOT their friends.  In fact, they despise them and only are using them for their own horrid purposes.