You shall not stand idly by the blood of another—Leviticus 19:16

Don’t you sometimes have the idea that everyone in a dispute just speaks nonsense? Well, sometimes you can simply show it.

An openly gay Israeli minister of health orders the Red Shield of David (in proper Hebrew Magein Daweed ha-Adom, the Israeli Red Cross) to register from now on from blood donors, not their biological parents but the parents they grew up with: parent 1, and parent 2, not to embarrass and discriminate against same-sex parents.

So, soon after that, the deeply committed to religious bigotry spoke out against this woke and vile political correctness. The Bible speaks of a man and his wife. Something else is an affront to people who believe in the Creator. It’s the “Not Adam and Steve” crowd claiming victimhood.

But it’s all nonsense.

The only reason physicians are interested in the parents of donors is DNA, genealogy. It’s not important who had the virtue of raising and teaching them. So, they should only register biological parents. This is equally true for those fostered, adopted, in-vitro fertilized, birthed in surrogacy, sperm-donored, or raised by a single parent, with a step-parent, by grandparents, in a polyamorous family setting, in a kibbutz, or by their egg and sperm donors. Nothing to do with normative or not normative family options.

However, the new victims, the self-styled religiously hurt, are so blinded by their homophobia and love for normalcy that they run down the rabbit hole of supposedly being the most oppressed here. They don’t say: this is nonsense because the doctors only want their biological parents. No, they must insist that this is a dangerous downfall of the decent society, and as long as it is stopped, they won’t donate blood to the RSD for transfusions.

The Sages already teach us: Every sin is committed in an atmosphere of folly. And anger is idol worship.

Fully related is a rabbi from the same camp who spoke out also today after his brave and widely loved son just came out of the closet at the age of 30. The father shows no humility, no sensitivity, no respect, and no ability to shut up and learn. The nonsense and cruelty of his words apparently escape this genius and loved educator. It’s like a man who first meets a feminist and must air his “thoughts” about gender, instead of sitting in shock and trying to listen. It is so sad. May the L^rd have mercy on the good people who still hate, and shut their mouths and open their eyes.

For the hasty reader: I’m not scandalizing these prominent rabbis. I try to neutralize the desecration of G^d that they spread, the worst Jewish sin.

Sixty years of gays being nice and committing suicide have not moved these teachers back to humanity. I think it’s as forbidden to be nice about their homophobia as it is to give alcohol to a drunk. It’s clear it does not work. Just like flattering antisemites doesn’t work. They must be decried.

Psychologists have repeatedly found that women are nicer than men and homosexuals more understanding than heterosexuals. That doesn’t mean straight men are doomed to be insensitive and rude. Unless one is an outright psychopath, the tool of empathy can be sharpened—by using it.

About the Author

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. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 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, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * 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 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. * 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