Hanging On

October 17, 2001-News Flashes

If Jews of the Northern Hemisphere read Hebrew right to left, is it reasonable to expect that Jews in the Southern Hemisphere read from left to right? So many other things are backwards here. That would also mean that those in the Southern Hemisphere read English right to left. Bad theory.

You’ll be happy to know it has rained all day. No one is complaining. There’s been a 6-month drought. The temperature is probably in the mid-60’s.

We finally figured out where to find the gay community in our town. The news said that homosexual men are meeting in a public bathroom and police will be installing cameras in those bathrooms. Now there’s a protest about infringement of civil rights and demands to know who will view the tapes.

Also on the news was the fact that many Australians have become dobbers. They never thought that Aussies would be that way, but it turns out that their sense of fair play has prevailed. They don’t hesitate to “dobb in” their neighbors when necessary. There has been a great deal of insurance fraud here and requests have gone out for people to turn in those whom they think are the culprits. They showed the usual shots of people on disability for back injuries lifting heavy objects. So dobbing is tattling.

I just gave David the rundown on the West Wing TV show that aired in the U.S. two weeks ago. It was the one about the lock down in the White House and the interrogation of the Arab employee. David was too sick last night to stay up to watch it, but his throat is better today. It was supposed to be on from 10:30-11:30, but was actually on from 10:34-11:27. I don’t know about those of you who saw it, but I was disappointed that it was so even handed.

I had lunch today with the woman who is studying for conversion and was deported from Israel for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you recall, she was staying at a house owned by a millennium cult and didn’t know it. It was a long lunch during which time she told me her life story. She’s 50 years old. I’m glad she isn’t older. It took 3 ½ hours. I don’t know what to think of her. She’s obviously very fond of David and feels “blessed” that he’s here to teach her for seven months. She speaks of studying the “Word,” and she tends to pray about everything. She attributes the good things that happen to her as an answer to her prayers, but ignores the source of the bad things that have happened. She’s an attorney with a specialty in astro-physics. She wanted to work for NASA at one point. She has a pilot’s license but hasn’t flown in a long time. She needs a lot of money to hire an Israeli attorney to help clear her name so she can return. Her goal is to become an Israeli citizen and she’s studying Hebrew with a private tutor. She doesn’t work. She’s very jittery and her hands visibly shake. She seems nice enough, but there’s something that doesn’t add up. I’m wary and suspicious by nature. I surely hope she doesn’t try to get any money from the Jewish community.

October 18, 2001-Mormons Calling

Thank you dear email reader for finding the Mormon view of homosexuality on line and sending it to us. David got a call this morning from Grant Pitman, the man who invited him to speak at the Mormon Family Values awards this Sunday. I guess he finally read David’s resume. They had a discussion of what David’s view was of traditional family values and they pretty well matched the Mormons. The difference was in the definition of family. Obviously, David includes GLBT families, singles, etc. While he explained that this wouldn’t be the thrust of his talk, it would certainly be mentioned as an integral part of his definition of family. He went on to explain how he sees the definition of family changing from Biblical times through the Mormon’s own re- definition. He sees this as evolving, not static. David also told him he couldn’t change his speech to accommodate the Mormon views. He told Mr. Pitman that he was looking at the printout from the Internet and mentioned the authority whose definition he was reading as they spoke. David said that if it would make it easier for them, he would withdraw his name as the speaker. Mr. Pitman was to call back after conferring with the others. I can’t wait to hear the Mormon decision. Whether David speaks or not, the issue will be widely discussed. That in itself is good. To be continued…….

Callback

Grant just told David that if he could leave out the part of including GLBT people as family, he would be welcome to give the speech. Their leadership isn’t comfortable bringing that up at a public forum. What he basically said was that they don’t want to open up a can of worms. David withdrew himself as the speaker and said he had to be true to himself and his rabbinic movement. He told Grant that his movement in America sanctions GLBT weddings and that he performs them.

We finally found out where they got his name. Grant Pitman heard David speak at the interfaith service in Brisbane right after the terrorist attacks and was impressed. He was right on one account. David is impressive. I guess we have Sunday night free and they have to find a speaker in a hurry. Part of me is sorry they asked for a resume. David said he was looking for a way to give them a heads up on the issue and that was it. He’s a nicer person than I am. Blind-siding them would have been awesome. The speech won’t go to waste. The experience and the speech will be his sermon on Friday night. Oh, as an aside, there’s a Church of the Latter Day Saints next door to the temple.

Toby