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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2012)
Pase6_____________________ <ri’e F o rtia n i» (f)bserticr lune b , 2012 Many Traditions are Oppressive and Unjust Same-sex couples should be able to get married R ev . J ames M oos “T radition! T rad i tion!” sang Tevye in Fid dler on the Roof. He struggled to m aintain family and religious tra ditions while outside in fluences encroached. In many ways, the current debate over marriage equal ity is a struggle over the meaning of tradition. Recently President Obama publically stated his support for marriage equality. In an interview he said: “At a certain point I've just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” by The President’s personal support came on the heels of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning of C alifornia’s Proposition 8, thus preparing the way for the return of same sex marriage in that state. The court declared: "Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California." Polls now show that a majority of Americans are in favor of same sex marriage. While justice advocates give thanks that the tide is turning in favor of marriage equality, opponents redouble their efforts. Most often, they seek to uphold what they term “tradi tional family values.” Which tradition are they speaking of? Certainly not the Biblical tradition which contains multiple patterns of marriage and family life, none of which bear close resemblance to June and Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver fame. Polygamy, for example, was practiced by many of the “giants” of the Biblical narrative. Neither can it be said that the nuclear fam ily is the “tra d itio n a l” fam ily. Throughout most of history and in many cultures today, the extended family is primary. Moreover, arranged marriages are more deeply rooted in “tradition” than unions based on romance— con sider the “matchmaker” in Fiddler. While traditions cannot be lightly dis missed, we must recognize that many traditions are oppressive and unjust. Sla very, male-only clergy and the exclusion of persons with different abilities were once “traditional” values and practices. It took long, hard efforts to overcome these barriers to equality and, in each case, there is still much work to do. To label something as “traditional” has no reference to it being just. So too with what opponents of marriage equal ity refer to as “traditional family values.” The core values of our faith include love, justice and an affirmation of the dignity of all persons. The Still Speaking God calls us to judge even our most cherished social norms in their light. That is what Jesus did when he critiqued and overturned rituals and practices that had been passed down from the time of Moses. Much to the dismay of the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus called into question the most sacred of traditions when they violated human dignity. Such is still our calling. M arriage equality is not a denial, but an affirm ation of fam ily life. Does it challenge com m only held understand ings of what constitutes a fam ily? Yes. As Tevye discovered, however, som e tim es we must let go of even our most entrenched traditions if we are to re main faithful to God and to one an other. Rev. James Moos is the executive minister o f Wider Church Ministries fo r the United Church o f Christ. Summer Vacation and Empty Stomachs Going hungry once school lets out M arian W right E delman Sum m ertim e can be a carefree, relax ing season filled with cookouts, backyard picnics, and trips to the ice cream truck. But for too many kids, sum m er vaca tion means having an e m p ty s to m a c h . C h ild h u n g e r and by food insecurity often peak dur ing the long, hot break. At a time when food insecurity is so high, an overw helm ing m ajor ity o f A m erican children who receive free or reduced-price meals at school go hungry once school lets out. The f e d e r a lly funded Sum m er Food Service Program and the N ational School Lunch Program pro vide nutritious meals and snacks to low -in com e children during the sum m er months. U n fo r tu n a te ly , it's THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: I I I * t i t i l l i (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com t I "falling increasingly short of m eeting the needs," according to the Food Research and A c tion Center. Schools, local governm ents, sports program s, and private organizations that serve eligible children can all feed kids in sum m er school program s. But in July 2010, ju st 2.8 m illion children received lunch through the sum m er program s on an average day, the Food R e se a rc h and A ctio * n C e n te r found. That's only 15 low -in come kids for every 100 who received lunch on an average day during the school year. By that measure, only one in seven children who needs sum m er food is getting it. There sim ply aren't enough program s available to serve all the children who need them. The continuing fallout from the G reat Recession has only made this worse as budget cuts have led many com m unities to slash funding for sum m er schools and sum m er youth program s, m aking opportunities for sum mer meals even m ore lim ited. Some program s don't run for the w hole sum m er, and there aren't enough eligible programs providing robust activities and services in addition to m eals that draw fam ilies in. A dding p rogram s and serv ices and keeping sites open longer could both reduce childhood hunger and help many com m unities create desperately needed jobs — a win-win. This should be a priority in com m unities across the country. Even where sum m er feed ing program s are in place, there isn't alw ays enough outreach to let all eligible fam ilies know about them. In addition, these program s tend to be available for shorter and less regular hours than a normal school day, w hich lim its p a rtic ip a tio n . Transportation often isn't pro vided, so making these pro gram s available where hungry children are is important. Some program s have had success providing mobile meals. That can be especially helpful in rural com munities. Many organizations that pro vide sum m er activities for chil dren m ay not even realize they're eligible for funding to serve m eals. O thers find they would be able to participate with ju st a little help from local foundations or com m unity do nations to cover extra expenses like refrigerators or coolers. Som etim es the am ount o f paperw ork required to run a site is a barrier. Small pro gram s may have special diffi culty running sites — for ex am ple, a church-based pro gram serving 15 children may not have the same infrastruc ture as a school running a sum m er school lunch program . T h e se k in d s o f o b s ta c le s shouldn't be standing in the way. We should be using these p ro g ram s as effe c tiv e ly as possible to enable more sites to provide m eals for needy children this sum m er — and helping many few er children to go hungry. How is your community help ing hungry children this sum mer? Encourage civic and phil anthropic leaders to get in volved. Encourage sites to stay open longer during the sum mer and help get more eligible kids to participate in the sum mer program s that can keep them from going hungry. Now is the time to act. H un ger and poor nutrition are linked to physical, mental, and dental health problem s — and poor educational outcom es — that don't end when sum m er starts. Marian Wright Edelman is the president o f the Children's Defense Fund.
