{"id":619,"date":"2010-12-06T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-06T18:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html"},"modified":"2010-12-06T18:58:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-06T18:58:00","slug":"illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Does The Right Thing…Almost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with something when they passed civil union legislation.\u00a0 Of course, it should be marriage, but that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n

As Rabbi Adam Chalom so ably puts it in his Chicago Tribune blog post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

One of the most innovative arguments on this question claims that the religious freedom of liberal communities\u2014from Humanistic and Reform synagogues to Unitarian and Methodist churches\u2014to recognize same-sex couples as married is being restricted. Why shouldn\u2019t a religious community be able to call a couple whom they consider married, \u201cmarried?\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a short answer to this problem: the legal status granted to couples by the state can be a \u201ccivil union\u201d (granted to the civitas, or citizen) for everyone, and the status recognized by religious institutions can be called \u201cmarriage\u201d but carry no legal benefits. This might not solve all issues, but it would clarify the questions involved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The family illness happens to be my mother-in-law.\u00a0 Her status as such was granted to us by our civil marriage in the Province of Quebec.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to believe that only fifty years ago Quebec was North America\u2019s theocracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why on earth does a government get involved in defining relationships between two consenting adults who have lovingly pledged to spend their lives together?\u00a0 There\u2019s only one real reason:\u00a0 to appease religious fundamentalists.\u00a0 It puts to the lie the Republicans\u2019 so-called principle of staying out of people\u2019s personal lives.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with something when they passed civil union legislation.\u00a0 Of course, it should be marriage, but that\u2019s another story. As Rabbi Adam Chalom so ably puts it in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,16],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-church-and-state","tag-homophobia"],"yoast_head":"\nIllinois Does The Right Thing...Almost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois Does The Right Thing...Almost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html\",\"name\":\"Illinois Does The Right Thing...Almost\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\"},\"description\":\"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Illinois Does The Right Thing…Almost\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/\",\"name\":\"The Atheist Rabbi\",\"description\":\"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\"},\"description\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Illinois Does The Right Thing...Almost","description":"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Illinois Does The Right Thing...Almost","og_description":"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html","og_site_name":"The Atheist Rabbi","article_published_time":"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00","author":"Jeffrey L. Falick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey L. Falick","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html","name":"Illinois Does The Right Thing...Almost","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-06T18:58:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372"},"description":"With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I\u2019ve had little to be happy about.\u00a0 My former abode of Illinois did provide me with","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/illinois-does-the-right-thing-almost.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Illinois Does The Right Thing…Almost"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/","name":"The Atheist Rabbi","description":"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372","name":"Jeffrey L. Falick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeffrey L. Falick"},"description":"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}