Dry Bones Rom THERE ARE Editorials are posted and archived on JN Online: wvvw.detroitjewishnews.com TWO KINDS OF "TARGETED KILLINGS" Kerry For President Last in a series on the Nov. 2 presidential election. Earlier editorials may be found at wvvw.detroitjewisimews.com rom his bravery in Vietnam, through his serv- ice in the U.S. Senate and by his performance in more than a year of campaigning, John E Kerry has demonstrated that he would be a fine presi- dent of the United States. And with one exception, George W. Bush's stunning and stubborn inability to learn from or even acknowledge his policy mistakes has disqualified him from four years more in the Oval Office. . The next four years must be a time of rebuilding. We must correct foreign and domestic missteps that have squandered our international reputation as a fair-minded superpower and have wasted national treasure on an ill-conceived tax cut and a poorly planned war. Most of all, we need to restore the domestic unity that Bush promised four years ago would be central to his administration. Instead, he served up a steady diet of bitter partisan- ship that totally conflicts with the strong sense of national purpose that he briefly helped to craft after the disaster of Sept. 11, 2001. We have substantial empathy with the many Jews who favor Bush because they admire his steadfast sup- port for Israel and the policies being pursued by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Bush's endorsement of not talking with Yasser Arafat and not granting Palestinians a "right" of return to Israel, his backing for the planned Gaza withdrawal and the West Bank security barrier, and his rejection of the one-sided United Nations resolutions against Israel are admirable. But this is an election for president of the United States, not prime minister of Israel. What is paramount for Jewish Americans is what is in the best long-term interest of this country and the world, with special emphasis on Israel. We have every right to be more interested in here and in Israel than in Angola, the Philippines, France and the United Nations. Kerry has repeatedly pledged to continue the strong alliance between the U.S. and Israel. But unlike Bush, who has played all his Mideast cards, Kerry is in a position to make a new start at developing a global consensus that assures Israel's security and addresses replacing the corrupt Palestinian Authority with a viable governmen- tal structure to curb the terrorists and deliver critical civic services. Domestically, the senator has promised to develop a viable energy policy — unlike the one put together in secrecy by Vice President Dick Cheney — that could lessen American depend- ence on oil from the Arab Mideast. That might finally allow us to protest effectively against the Arab autocra- cies that use the Israeli-Palestinian war as an excuse for not reforming their own governance. As we noted last week, Kerry offers a better approach to dealing with terrorism in sustained, effective ways. He may be able to bring some of our traditional allies into the daunting task of repairing the Iraq that Bush has 'so badly broken. He also is substantially in tune with the feelings of Jewish America about the value of equal educational opportunity, about the need for a fair health system 'THE OTHER 6 1 WHEN WE "TARGET" THE KILLERS. TH °NI° STAND!. " rTITIST1 VHEN THEY KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS IN ISRAEL. GUESS WHICH UPSETS THE 'UNITED NATIONS"! EDITORIAL Love Versus Marriage T he gay marriage amendment to the Michigan Constitution is, you should pardon the expres- sion, an unholy mess. Even those uncomfort- able with the idea of gay marriage have good reasons to oppose it. The precedent of embedding a restriction on a spe- cific minority in the constitution is repellent. Constitutions are created to protect such groups. But the clumsy wording of the proposal may have the effect of barring gay civil unions along with mar- riages. That makes it an economic issue. I cannot see how interfering with the extension of health and other benefits to such couples possibly serves the best interest of government. Beyond the rhetoric about finding happiness and love with a partner for life, that is the core of it. Having said that, I am not especially alarmed about this being a religious intrusion into secular life. Jewish and Christian conservatives, especially the Catholic Church, are adamantly opposed to gay marriage and vocally support the amendment. That is certainly their right. I don't believe that reli- George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor@thejewisimews.com and about maintaining our natural environment and resources for future generations. He would appoint Supreme Court justices and an attorney general corn- mitted to social justice. He is far more sensitive than Bush about why the historic American wall between the government and organized religion must be observed both in the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment. George W. Bush has been a steadfast friend of Israel. John F. Kerry has been, too. On every other issue of real meaning to Jews and non-Jews alike, Kerry out- shines Bush. He deserves the full support of the Jewish community. He certainly has ours. ❑ and clan alliances for mutual protection and gious convictions must be left at the door economic benefits. The second was to create when you enter the public arena in America. It an orderly means of transmitting property is a pretty pallid religion that does not inform from one generation to the next. It established your choices as a citizen. blood legitimacy for inheritance. The Establishment Clause of the U.S. The ancient Greeks, with the highest toler- Constitution was never intended to mandate a ance for homosexuality in recorded history, removal of all religious belief from public life. never countenanced anything like gay mar- So if conservative religious groups want to sup- riage. It was understood that such liaisons, port this amendment, even if it is a terrible law, GEO RGE generally accepted as they may have been, had go for it. CAN TOR nothing to do with marriage. Besides, they are less to blame for the over- Rea lily The code of chivalry in the Middle Ages wrought reaction to gay marriage than is Gavin eck Ch glorified romance, but also recognized it as a Newsom, the publicity-hound mayor of San thing apart from marriage. It was a source of Francisco. His outright defiance of California law wonder, and sometimes disapproval, when in performing gay marriage ceremonies is what married couples actually fell in love with each other. touched off this backlash. Who can forget Tevye's plaintive question to his wife Americans have a decent tolerance for social change of 25 years: "Do You Love Me?" The plot of Fiddler is if it is supported by law. They do not like having their driven by the way romantic love shattered Jewish mari- faces rubbed in it, though, when civil disobedience tal tradition. turns into grandstanding for the media. Only in our own enlightened times has romance By concentrating on the economic underpinnings of been accepted as the essential element in marriage, gay gay civil unions, and keeping romantic declamations or otherwise. That probably does more than anything out of it, a principled case can be made against this else to explain the divorce rate in our culture. misbegotten amendment. Romance and religion only Advocates of this amendment argue that even gay confuse the issue. civil unions would undermine heterosexual marriage. I There were two essential purposes for marriage as think it's already too late to worry about that, human society evolved. The first was to extend family ❑ 10/22 2004 45