Spotlight on CLAL

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Same Sex Marriage: Exploring the Resources of Religious Traditions 

By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs


This spring, Emory University’s Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion held a three-day conference examining the contemporary changes and challenges in marriage, sex, family, and the role of religion. Supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the event brought together close to 700 scholars and participants for a series of lectures, panel discussions, and conversations on such topics as covenant and same sex marriage, in vitro fertilization, contraception, adoption, abortion, rising rates of divorce, and single unwed mothers. As part of the program, smaller working groups convened to address specific topics. One such topic, “same-sex marriage and the resources of religious traditions,” generated lively discussion. Participating from CLAL was Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Senior Teaching Fellow.

Debate ensued on whether marriage itself was desirable or appropriate for same sex couples. Participants explored what materials might be used to generate new forms of commitment ceremonies to sanctify partnerships; how religion can be helpful in this area; and what role religion can play when considering marriage, sex, and family.

“As a group, what we saw was that conventional marriage tended to impose a single form of relationship and demanded a high level of conformism,” said Rabbi Greenberg. “All the social, economic, and legal benefits of marriage are narrowly conferred upon a single form of human solidarity.”

He continued, “In the religious traditions however, marriage is only one among a number of forms that significant relationships took. Daniel Boyarin, for example, suggests that in talmudic culture, chevruta (study partners), and the student-teacher relationships were powerful life long relationships respected and sustained by the community. For all sorts of covenanted ties other than marriage, we have no comparable frame today.”

The group talked about the many sorts of ways to honor, rather than confine, a variety of relationships through the use of traditional resources. The aim of the group was to explore ways to be creative in using religious materials in ways to sanctify, celebrate, and acknowledge all sorts of precious human bonds.

“Contractual unions existed in ancient times,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “Marriage, as it is constructed in ancient times, is not egalitarian. However, there were other sorts of formal ways for people to become mutually obligated to each other. Perhaps we can recover the notion of economic partnerships, described in the Talmud and used throughout the medieval period in a more expansive way. The mutuality, central in such contracts, could frame the loving union between two people more democratically and broadly than conventional marriage.”

Working groups brought their findings to the larger conference for dissemination. As a central theme, it was agreed that families must continue to adapt, and that family as an institution must adjust to the changes of contemporary life. Moreover, religion can be a tremendous resource in the process, as families shift with the prevailing cultural climate.

 

    



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