Tonight at sundown is the beginning of Passover, an 8-day Jewish holiday observing the story told in Exodus 12 of the Hebrew Bible. The account describes how Moses, with a little help from God, liberated the Hebrew people from from their oppression and slavery in Egypt.
Passover’s message of deliverance from oppression remains relevant today. Yesterday, the Vermont state legislature overturned Gov. Jim Douglas veto, and legalized same-sex marriage. Last week on April 3, the Iowa supreme court found it unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage. Vermont and Iowa joined Connecticut and Massachusetts as the only States in America that consider gays and lesbians as legal equals to heterosexuals. On a small scale, homosexuals are seeing the same kind of liberation as the ancient Hebrews.
As the Passover story goes in Exodus, the Egyptians suffered nine plagues from God, but Pharaoh still refused to let the slaves go. So God sent a devastating tenth plague: death to every first born child in Egypt. Moses told the Hebrews to smear the blood of a lamb on their doorposts and their firstborns would be spared or “passed over”.
Jews celebrate the holiday today with seder meals, and the story of liberation is retold through symbols of food and drink.
Slavery is, no doubt, far more oppressive that being prohibited to marry the person that you love, but the ideology is the same. It comes down to treating others as less-than and not deserving of the same rights and privileges, based solely on things that can’t be controlled: skin color, heritage, sexual orientation. The message of Passover is one that is welcomed by many who are held in bondage of a different sort.
A Pharaoh, or any society, doesn’t have the right to impose it’s ideologies against ordinary people. In Exodus, the Passover brought freedom to a long-oppressed people. Such liberty remains only a dream for far too many today.
But Passover also teaches that such dreams can come true. But it takes more than one heroic Moses figure.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I understand where you’re coming from, but you are definately doing it the wrong way. You’re comparing homosexuality to God’s chosen people. Wow… Okay, first off, God was the only reason the Israelites were freed from Pharoah. Second, if you continue to use the Hebrew Bible, or the Christian Canonized Bible, you will see in Leviticus that it is detestable for a man to lie with a man as with a woman. That is God saying that, not some crazy red-neck ignorant person. And saying that people who say, “homosexuality is sinful” are ignorant, then you just called God, the creator of the heavens and earth, ignorant. I see where you tried to go, but you just ended up being blasphemous.
Jonny,
The Bible, both Hebrew and Christian, also teaches to treat others as you would want to be treated. That means with respect and equality. The fact that many Christians and Jews believe homesexuality to be sinful is irrellivant to the topic of marriage equality.