Love is Not a Crime

Monday mornings are often difficult–especially on a frigid, dreary morning, with snow-covered sidewalks and slushy streets. That was certainly true this week, but for a different reason. I began my work week braving the cold and the wind with a group of other rabbis and activists convened by the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) outside of the Ugandan mission. There we sought to deliver a letter signed by hundreds of rabbis urging the Ugandan president to reject legislation that would criminalize homosexuality and threaten gay men and lesbians with prison, torture, or even death. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"90441","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-14574","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"225","alt":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA"}}]]The brisk air served as a wake-up call, startling us out of our complacency, and reminding us that standing up for our values is not always easy or convenient. Rabbis and others all over North America participated in this Day of Action at Ugandan consulates urging that nation’s leaders to honor the dignity of all people and respect human rights, as we expect all nations to do. Love should never be made a crime. I was proud to have the opportunity to join in this action–to stand with others of faith to proclaim to the world’s leaders, “We are watching.” Jewish tradition urges us not only to offer prayers and reflections in the face of injustice, but also to take action. As stated in a well-known dictum, we are compelled to pray as if everything depended upon God, but act as if everything depends upon us. And that is why we stood outside the Ugandan mission on that cold and windy Monday morning. Our prayers are not enough when there is so much more that must be done in the world. We are compelled by our tradition and our heritage to speak out in the face of injustice; to stand up for our values, and to raise our voice before the leaders of the world to move them to action.  You also can join in this action in several ways; click here to find out what you can do. The societal changes that need to be made in our pursuit of justice will not be made on street corners… they will be made in the halls of power, and that is where we must take our message. We stood before the Ugandan mission as people of faith, raising our voice as one; demanding justice for all. Though we stood in that particular place to urge President Museveni to do the right thing, our message was also for other world leaders–those at the UN just a few blocks away and those in the U.S. mission just down the street–that injustice in one corner of the world diminishes us all and is all of our concern. We pray that our world leaders will find the wisdom and the compassion to lead us down a righteous path. But for the sake of our legacy, we will not pray in silence. We will raise our voices, we will march, and we will stand. Together, we can bring hope, and salvation, to those who are vulnerable and at risk wherever they may live and whoever they may love.