AJN Letters: Homophobic bullying – March 23 2012

23 Mar 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition

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Our duty to combat homophobic bullying

AS a member of a people who have fallen victim to a historical “norm” of persecution and ostracism, I find the argument against the program tackling homophobic bullying in schools extremely troubling.

It seems perverse to suggest that it should be the aspiration of our society to converge to the human condition, a condition that has seen the violent oppression of both homosexuals and Jews for millennia.

Now that Jews have finally been afforded a time and place where we are free from such persecution, why would some in our community be tacitly encouraging the vilification of others, some of whom fall within our community, based on their identity?

In advocating that Jews adhere to a medieval idea of morality, certain members of the Orthodox rabbinate are tragically out of step with the modern world.

Should this mentality persist, they will only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendance continues to plummet.

DANIEL MEYEROWITZ-KATZ
Dover Heights, NSW

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