By Kayla Weiner, Ph.D. , , Seattle
I was shocked and offended by the letter to the editor (“Broad Goals,” Aug. 21).
To the best of my knowledge the teachings of the Torah, which I take as the primary goals of the Jewish people, do not require procreation. Love, compassion and respect for all people seem to me to be the essence, the broad goal, of the Jewish people.
No person — read: Woman — should be seen as an incubator for future warriors of a state. No person, man or woman, should be chastised should she/he choose not to reproduce. Many heterosexual people choose not to reproduce. Would they too, be the victims of Ms. Ervin’s vitriolic comments? In fact, many homosexuals, male and female, raise children in happy homes. Scientific research has shown these children to be as happy and healthy as children raised in heterosexual homes.
I would like to point out that most homosexual adults were raised in heterosexual households. Sexual orientation is not about parents’ modeling behavior.
In a world that is overpopulated, in a time when there is so much violence between individuals and groups, it seems particularly sad that people who love one another should be spoken about with such disdain.
As an educator I know it is true that we teach by example. I hope Ms. Ervin will begin teaching to those around her the precepts of Judaism that are at our core: Respect for others.