Despite the fact that it was revealed that half of their library is made up of Christian literature, and their online resource center is padded with articles from Christian therapists and counselors, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) strives to provide ex-gay therapy to an exclusively Jewish clientele. Christian ex-gay group Exodus International’s Alan Medinger has contributed six articles, more than any other writer, to JONAH’s online library, including one that needed to be “adapted” from its original Christian context (PDF) to be easy on Jewish eyes. Clearly, JONAH considers him to be a good resource – so imagine the surprise I felt when I saw the following statement from an article he’d written for Exodus International explaining the reasons why he left the Episcopal Church:
5. The rejection of evangelism. The strenuous objection to the evangelization of the Jews reveals the fundamental universalism of the Episcopal Church.
In this context, “universalism” is code for “inclusion” or a sort of “liberalism” – that is, according to Medinger, the Episcopal Church is too inclusive of ideas and religions outside the Episcopalian faith, and not orthodox (read: exclusive) enough. He obliquely mentions “radical feminism” (whatever that means) as a danger to the church. Now, JONAH has stooped pretty low to push their anti-gay stance, including using research tied to Holocaust Revisionism. But I think that even a religious Jew who can somehow justify using bad science to back up their Halakhic convictions would agree that JONAH would be doing a Jewish soul a disservice by sending them down a path that could potentially lead to their abandonment of the Jewish faith.
Still, I sincerely doubt Medinger’s presence will disappear from JONAH’s site – they didn’t even bother to remove Paul Rondeau’s only article, which directly quotes Nazi-admiring Paul Cameron. Why would they remove the literature of a man who singularly provides 8% of their online library? Perhaps Christian ex-gay groups aren’t the ONLY ones who offer “freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ.”
In this context, “universalism” is code for “inclusion” or a sort of “liberalism” – that is, according to Medinger, the Episcopal Church is too inclusive of ideas and religions outside the Episcopalian faith, and not orthodox (read: exclusive) enough.
I suspect that in this context, “universalism” would refer to the theological notion that all religions lead to God (or perhaps all Abrahamic religions). This would be in contrast to a more fundamentalist view that no man can approach God except through the Son, Jesus Christ.
But yes, you are right, Medinger’s belief would appear to be that Jews must accept Christ as Savior in order to achieve salvation.
you’re right, Tim, I thought I was wording that in a good way; that all religions lead to salvation. Yes he believes no one gets to God except through Jesus, as is explained quite clearly in the Gospel of John.
Hi Emily,
I have the strange feeling that JONAH’s web page is abandoned. The copyright line at the bottom of the pages is outdated for a year, there’s no blog or interaction, and the archive.org copies show no changes during the year. It simply feels static and untouched for a while.
*pokes at JONAH website, causing the fragile cardboard set to fall on the floor, throwing a cloud of dust in the air. Steps back and raises an eye brow*
I had that feeling until they *mysteriously* changed that “Lez” option they had on their FAQ page. And Jim Phelan claims to be in contact with them. They might be a ghost, but they still haunt the Jewish gay community.
As a lifelong Episcopalian, I have come across the full gamut of beliefs:
1) Jews must profess Christ to be saved.
2) Jews are saved through their prior covenant with God (citing Paul’s statement “All Israel will be saved” from Romans 11 and the belief that God doesn’t renege on “everlasting” covenants)
3) Jews (and others) are saved through Christ’s universal atonement
4) Christ is merely one of many paths to God.
The church is minimalist when it comes to doctrine, requiring nothing beyond a profession of the Apostle’s Creed. You’ll find Episcopalians who find many ways to reconcile Jewish salvation with Christ’s atonement. Universalism is merely one of them.
Hi Emily!
This is a strange, strange bedfellow for JONAH. I have to think about this.
I just met my new neighbor. He’s a very young rabbi, married with a toddler and another on the way.
He was surprised and delighted that I know some Hebrew and hopefully we will be good friends as well as neighbors. He’s definitely orthodox. Fortunately I was raised in Jewish homes growing up as much as my own.
Nothing will be alien to me. I wonder if we’ll have ‘the talk’ on gay folks, and if he’s ever speculated on what he’d do about his own flesh and blood being gay.
The building is VERY diverse, and lots of gay folks live here, so ‘the talk’ is likely.
I think remember telling Chad Thompson that gay people are a minority under siege, like Jews.
And like Jews, are a presence that is compelling, yet misunderstood.
So we need MORE Jews, not less.
More gay people, not less.
The SUGGESTION of conversion is in itself so rude and breathtaking in assumption. It’s saying to a fellow human being that their not existing is preferable.
There is no gentle way to put it or justify it…EVER.
Even if I’d never been loved or raised up with Jewish folks in my life, I resent that someone would want to lessen or take away the opportunity for me to know any.
That’s how I feel about gay people too.
All this interference with anyone’s ability to know their gay or Jewish or both neighbor better is frustrating and appalling to me.
It’s also assuming no one WANTS to know more about Jews or gay people, and if they aren’t here, there will be no one to speak to their real identity and truth.
And a well meaning hetero or Christian person couldn’t do that job as well as the source.
Conversion cuts off so much opportunity and there is little change in the target.
Why gay people?
Why the Jews?
Again….?
It would be countered by missionaries that such organizations as “Jews for Jesus” allow Jews to stay Jewish but follow Jesus as a “plus.”
The truth is, christian dogma is so foreign to the Jewish vision of both the Almighty and the Messiah that the only thing that would be left that is “Jewish” is the veneer; that is, the stereotypical image of an Ashkenazi (eastern european) Jew with a black hat, sidecurls, long coat, skullcap, and beard, who celebrates Shabbos with braided challah and brisket, and eats New York City bagels and lox for breakfast. This is not Judaism. This is the image of Judaism.
So in the end, I believe you are right: Conversion is a form of obliteration.
PLEASE get back to me as soon as you have “the talk.” If he is orthodox, his input is invaluable.
Sisterfriend, it’s a promise.