(I know, this is a long post, but it means a lot to me, so give it a read!)

The Jewish High Holidays are upon us again. As many of my readers know, I don't consider myself to be "religious," at least not by the most common definitions of the word.

I enjoy the religion I grew up with, Judaism, for its culture, traditions, and lessons. I don't, however, believe that the Torah is the word of God, nor do I believe that the events described in it ever actually happened.

I feel comfortable in most American Reform and Conservative congregations, where emphasis is placed learning from discussion (even questioning) of religion, not on the virtue of having faith in it.

I understand most of the natural phenomena explained in the Bible in their scientific terms. Still, I think that many of these are awe-inspiring, and I want to celebrate them using the same traditions that my ancestors did.

Tonight, Yom Kippur, the day of reckoning, begins at sunset. According to the liturgy, this is the final day of atonement, when we all stand before God in judgment for our sins:

In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work ... For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord.
-- Leviticus 16:29-30

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed. How many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who shall live and who shall die.... But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY will annul the severity of the decree!
-- Unetanneh Tokef

Do I really believe that there is a God in the heavens judging all the earth's creatures this evening? No. Still, I like the lesson here. None of us is perfect. We have all done things that we know we shouldn't have. As a result, we will stand together, acknowledging our lack of perfection and plan to do better in the future.

I will afflict myself as proscribed in scripture, by fasting for 25 hours. I'm not looking to God to cleanse me of my sins, but I will be thinking of these words from the book of Isaiah about what the discomfort of fasting should remind us of:

Loosen the fetters of wickedness, untie the bands of perverseness, send the oppressed free, and break every oppressive yoke. Offer your bread to the hungry, bring the wandering poor into your home. When you see someone naked, clothe him.
-- Isaiah 58

According to Isaiah, the next step is between us and God, where we receive guidance and forgiveness. If that's what's important to other Jews tomorrow, that's great. The part that's important to me, though, is what would happen between people if we all spent a bit more time trying to better ourselves and help those around us.

In Jewish prayer, one of the most important and most repeated prayers ends with this line:

Oseh shalom bimromav, Hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu
V'al kol Yisrael. V'imru, amen.

(May He who makes peace in the heavens, make peace for us, and for all Israel. Amen.)

I make two changes when I say this line. I change "He" to "those," since I don't believe that peace comes from God. It comes from those people who choose to make it. I also add "V’al kol ha-olam. (And for all the world)," for what I hope are obvious reasons.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. May you each be inscribed for a year of peace, health, and prosperity.

Wired offers a great piece today in its "This Week in Tech" series:

Sept. 11, 1822: Church Admits It's Not All About Us

The College of Cardinals finally caves in to the hard facts of science, saying that the "publication of works treating of the motion of the Earth and the stability of the sun, in accordance with the opinion of modern astronomers, is permitted."

Isn't it great that we no longer have to worry about religious institutions getting in the way of teaching accepted scientific principles? Oh, how far we've come.

USA Today ran an interesting opinion piece today from Oliver Thomas entitled "Gay marraige: A way out." Thomas suggests something that I have long thought would be a good idea -- separating the civil and religious components of two people getting hitched.

Citing the religious history of marriage, the societal benefits of two people being legally attached, and the fact that our constitution separates church from state, Thomas advocates that every couple who ask the state for a joining be granted a civil union. Same sex or not. Those couples would then have the option to continue on to a religious ceremony (a wedding or marriage, if you will) depending on their beliefs and that of their church.

It seems to make such perfect sense to me, but judging from the comments on the piece as well as some hubbub around the web, it seems that it's meeting pretty strong opposition from both sides of the debate.

For the most part, it looks like the anti-gay-marriage camp is responding with a fairly predictable message: Thomas "doesn't get it" -- (our) god said same-sex marriage is wrong, so it must be illegal because the separation of church and state either (a) doesn't really exist or (b) doesn't apply to this.

Members of the pro-gay-marriage camp have also weighed in that "Thomas doesn't get it." Their argument, however, is that they don't want civil union. They want to get "married," without catches or limitations -- "equality," they cry. For some, equality is only achieved when churches to no longer disallow same sex marriage.

I don't think anyone making either of those arguments "gets it." We live in a society that permits religion, but must not legislate it. The legality of joining two people should only consider civil concerns, not theological ones. "Marriage" is a somewhat subjective (even arbitrary) term, invented by religion, the meaning of which varies from one faith to another. Legislating the definition of it may feel like equality, but it's actually limiting freedom of religion.

EDIT: This reminded me of a conversation I had a while back with someone who opposed same sex marriage (and civil unions) on religious grounds. She told me that in her mind, marriage was a contract with "God," and that was that. I asked her how she felt about heterosexual couples in the US getting married who weren't of a Judeo-Christian or Muslim faith, whether they be wiccan, hindu, atheist, or whatever. I also asked her how she felt about my grandparents, who were of two different faiths, and married years after each widowing their first spouse, by a judge, in a catering hall. Her response was that in all of these cases, since the couples weren't same sex, it wasn't really an abomination, but also contended that none of them were really married.

I saw this story on Reddit, and I just don't know what to make of it (or its quasi-sensationalist headline):

'Body Of Christ' Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A University of Central Florida student, upset religious groups hold church services on public campuses, is holding hostage the Eucharist, an object so sacred to Catholics they call it the Body of Christ... The Eucharist is a small bread wafer blessed by a priest. According to Catholics, the wafer becomes the Body of Christ once blessed and is to be consumed immediately after a minister passes it out to churchgoers..."

The student who took the wafer claims he just planned to bring it back to his seat to show his friend, but a church staffer tried to (physically) stop him from doing so. That's when he decided he was going to take the Eucharist with him.

I'm not Catholic, and am mostly unfamiliar with the concept of the Eucharist, other than what I've seen on TV, or from a distance when attending mass for a wedding, etc. After reading the response from the Diocese, though, I'm torn between my desire to be culturally sensitive and shock that the missing wafer is being considered so sacred:

"It is hurtful," said Father Migeul Gonzalez with the Diocese. "Imagine if they kidnapped somebody and you make a plea for that individual to please return that loved one to the family"

Gonzalez said intentionally abusing the Eucharist is classified as a mortal sin in the Catholic church, the most severe possible. If it's not returned, the community of faith will have to ask for forgiveness.

"We have to make acts of reparation," Gonzalez said. "The whole community is going to turn to prayer. We'll ask the Lord for pardon, forgiveness, peace, not only for the whole community affected by it, but also for [Cook], we offer prayers for him as well."

I've just read a few articles about the debate going on in the Kansas State Board of Ed. over the teaching of evolution in schools. I'm all frustrated. After completely removing all traces of evolution from the curriculum in 1999, then adding it back about a year later... the Board is now planning to add in criticism of evolution as well as alternative theories of the origins of life.
( long rant under here )