I will restrict my hypothesis to men and monotheism. Maybe my suggestion would also apply to women and to other religions but one needs to start investigating somewhere.
The suffering afflicted on homosexual men by the monotheistic religions is enormous. So far, not great apologies have been uttered by prominent religious leaders. Though there have been righteous individuals who have tried at least to behave humanely towards homosexuals, especially some parents of homosexuals and rare theologians like some rabbis or priests.
One would assume that therefore homosexuals would all run from anything that looks like organized monotheistic religion. One would think that they would want nothing to do with religion that trashes and declares evil their innate human deep need for a profound sexual relationship with someone of their own gender. But that is not what one always observes.
Surely, there are homosexuals who drop traditional religion as part of their coming out and their liberation from internalized oppression. That should not astonish anyone. But surprisingly, we also see the very opposite.
Many a homosexual man has such deep religiosity that he could never stop being religious. They may wrestle for years with G^d how He could do this to them. How many heterosexuals would engage in such struggles without giving up on religion? When homosexuals leave religious communities, it often seems to be more a being ousted than running away.
I have seen another hint of homosexual men having an extra-large talent for religiosity. They often are the most religious persons in their families. (That would explain why, so sadly, homosexual children from very open-minded religious parents still have committed suicide. Their parents’ liberalism didn’t help them. That’s why it’s not enough to have tolerant religious allies — the whole premise of homosexuals’ sex being evil must go.)
One could try to psychoanalyze that deeper spirituality (away) but I want to suggest that this deep religiosity is a talent that has deeper roots than early hurt causing them. That they are hardwired in the brain.
And now that we’re at differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals, this greater religiosity reminds me of the one thing that I found in psychological literature in which homosexual men and women are significantly better than heterosexuals: empathy.
Their heightened empathy level could also explain why the so prevalent (and almost totally denied) occurrence of childhood sexual abuse does not seem to occur under homosexual parenthood. Deep psychotherapy shows that, on the watch of heterosexual parents, a vast majority of babies experience a lack of ‘sexual respect’ (no one trying anything sexual with them). Just imagine the uproar if such molestation was committed on the watch of only one homosexual couple. But there’s no uproar like that at all.
My suggestion is to investigate statistically if homosexual men indeed are more often the most religious in their families and communities than comparable heterosexuals. Since homosexuality among women seems more fluid, it would make sense to start investigating men first. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the same could be found among lesbians.
It would be the second psychological talent among homosexuals. One being, greater empathy — applying to the relationship between people. And secondly a greater religiosity — applying between humans and G^d.
I could understand why G^d, Who never makes a mistake, has made us live now with a million (5%) homosexual Jews and almost half a billion (5%) homosexual Gentiles. Such amounts exclude a quirk of Nature. They give away a deliberate Plan. And this could be a hint to all of us that we should improve relating to our fellow human beings and to the G^d Who loves us.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
