The Equality Act Could Prove a Threat to Religious Jews

Recently passed by the House of Representatives, the bill known as the Equality Act seeks to protect homosexuals and transsexuals from bigotry and discrimination. But, argue Yaakov Menken and Monica Burke, if passed it would inevitably intrude on the freedoms of religious traditionalists, and perhaps of Orthodox Jews in particular:

Should it ever become law, it will impact businesses, non-profits, houses of worship, and individuals. For example, it could put Jewish wedding halls, bands, caterers, and photographers out of business if they refuse service to a gay wedding. Even a synagogue that rents out a hall for weddings and other celebrations could be at risk. Furthermore, the bill would obligate businesses seeking to hire individuals of a particular sex to evaluate candidates based upon their expressed “gender preference,” rather than their biological sex. . . .

[Such] policies could also be the undoing of many religious charities. The Downtown Hope Center in Anchorage, Alaska was recently sued after it declined to allow a biological male who identifies as a woman to stay overnight in its shelter for battered women. That biological women—especially women seeking refuge from abuse—often feel unsafe sleeping near unfamiliar men was of no interest to government investigators. . . .

The Equality Act would [also] require doctors and nurses to perform and prescribe “transition-affirming” therapies, even if they deem them to be detrimental to their patients. Hospitals, even those with religious missions, would be forced to provide these procedures, and insurers would be required to pay for them.

And if the medical community is expected to provide hormonal and surgical interventions for adults, it will soon be expected to do the same for children. Activists suggest social transition for children as young as four, puberty-blocking drugs for children as young as nine, cross-sex hormones for children as young as fourteen, and surgery a few years later. These drastic therapies come with harmful and potentially fatal side effects: increased risk for cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and, of course, sterility.

Read more at Jewish Press

More about: American politics, Homosexuality, Judaism, Transsexuals

What a Strategic Victory in Gaza Can and Can’t Achieve

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant says that he told the former that only “a decisive victory will bring this war to an end.” Shay Shabtai tries to outline what exactly this would entail, arguing that the IDF can and must attain a “strategic” victory, as opposed to merely a tactical or operational one. Yet even after a such a victory Israelis can’t expect to start beating their rifles into plowshares:

Strategic victory is the removal of the enemy’s ability to pose a military threat in the operational arena for many years to come. . . . This means the Israeli military will continue to fight guerrilla and terrorist operatives in the Strip alongside extensive activity by a local civilian government with an effective police force and international and regional economic and civil backing. This should lead in the coming years to the stabilization of the Gaza Strip without Hamas control over it.

In such a scenario, it will be possible to ensure relative quiet for a decade or more. However, it will not be possible to ensure quiet beyond that, since the absence of a fundamental change in the situation on the ground is likely to lead to a long-term erosion of security quiet and the re-creation of challenges to Israel. This is what happened in the West Bank after a decade of relative quiet, and in relatively stable Iraq after the withdrawal of the United States at the end of 2011.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, IDF