On the same day that Mayor Mike Bloomberg jetted to Albany with his political ally NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn to promote same-gender marriage, Agudath Israel of America released a call for arms asking citizens for their help in fighting the “pernicious” proposal. Mayor Bloomberg made a point of saying that he would use his power and wealth to support Republicans who buck the establishment and support same-gender marriage.
The fight for same-gender marriage has renewed interest in a potential race to replace Senator Carl Kruger in the New York State Senate. Senator Kruger, a Democrat, has been a consistent “no” vote on same-gender marriage. However, the leading Democratic candidate to replace him, Councilman Lew Fidler, is a firm “yes” vote. Republicans are looking to recruit a candidate to run against Fidler in part on this issue. One of the names being floated is Mayoral aide Fred Kreizman. However, it is unclear if Fred shares his boss – Mayor Bloomberg’s view on same-gender marriage – or has his own. Regardless, Agudath Israel isn’t taking any chances and sent the letter below to their thousands of members:
URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT
TO: Agudath Israel of America constituents and friends in New York State
FROM: Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Esq., Executive Vice President, Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, Vice President for Community Affairs
RE: SAME-GENDER MARRIAGE BILL
DATE: May 17, 2011
The New York State Legislature is expected to vote soon on a bill that would legalize same-gender marriage. This bill is both morally and legally unacceptable, and could lead to serious negative consequences.
The battleground for this legislation is likely to be in the New York State Senate. We therefore urge you to take a minute right now and:
1. Call your State Senator and leave the message that you are deeply opposed to legalizing same-gender marriage and will be watching to see how the Senator votes on this important issue. To be connected to your State Senator, or If you don’t know who your State Senator is, call the Senate operator at 518-455-2800.
2. Please then pass this e-mail along to as many friends as you can who are likely to make similar calls.
Together, we can help defeat this pernicious legislation.
(Dov Gordon – YWN)
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5 Responses
We need to stop that leftist bloomberg dead in his track!
Baruch Hashem Agudah is standing up for Kovod Shmayim and Torah values.
Harav Avigdor miller zatsal would write letters to government officials on erev rosh hashana to stop these kind of toeivas in order that there will be less charon af in the world.
Just remember that one of the main reasons s’dom was destroyed was because they sanctioned “happy” weddings. This is Rashi based on a medresh. Not my vort!
The real issue is the definition of marriage and the involvement of the government in general. Marriage by definition is a religious ceremony joining a man and women before G-D. The government with it separation of church and state has no legal right to be involved at all in the first place.
If the issue is property rights and rights of inheritance and such then the state can have a domestic partnership agreement and you could apply for one just as you would any other “business” partnership, fill out a form a pay a fee.