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.