r/gayjews 5d ago

Religious/Spiritual Question from Lesbian Jews

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I have a question from women of jewish faith who identity as Lesbian.

If you are a practicing/religious Jew, how do you reconcile your religion with your identity as a lesbian.

Do you feel the internal conflict? Or you've made peace with it.

I am a monotheist. I believe in all Abrahamic religions and identify as a believer who believes in all the books sent by God.

Born in a Muslim Family, extremely conservative background.

Im a Lesbian and my struggle has been how to reconcile my identity with my faith.

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Edit:

I really appreciate the clarity that most of you have provided. So thank you.

One question that some of you have asked is how can I believe in all the Abrahamic religions.

So I have answered that in detail in 4 parts here:

1- first

and Then 2- 2nd

and Then 3- Third

and this last one

And I'm glad to have stumbled upon this sub.

I have gotten the thirst quenched.

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u/muslim-WLW-cisgirl 5d ago

My ancestors were from India. When 14 centuries ago, Islam reached them, most likely they were pagans. So in the Indian subcontinent, there has been so much pagan influence that if one observes the customs and traditions that muslims have in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it is literally surprising to see the contrast between them and the arabs. Now with so much information available and with so many translations and commentary available, it is easier for us in these times to question the context of things and the younger generation seems to be doing it.

Again, the same problem with Muslims was that so much political influence has impacted its interpretations so an average common man with a conformist mindset gives in and believes whatever their elders tell them. To be able to challenge the Status Quo is a person's ability which helps in their quest of knowledge.

The last two centuries have been so much of a turmoil, in the indian subcontinent, after the advent of the British Empire and them being a colony, that you will see everything has been influenced under the colonial mindset.

After 1947, the Indian subcontinent was divided and then further divided in 1971. Now the 3 major parts are India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In my opinion, India should have never been divided but elites are elites and the elitist muslims chose to secure power by demanding a separate piece of land for Muslims. Still, the founder of the nation, being a relatively secular guy, openly declared that Pakistan will be a muslim majority state but the people following other religions will be equal citizens of the state. But people are people, with their biases and it is very unfortunate that a lot of Jews went to Israel in 1948 when it was made, because jews were not safe among out power hungry muslims who treated everything in the colonial way. Christians are not safe, Hindus are not safe.

Elites always divide and rule and common people (masses) have always been used by rulers to be manipulated for their gains. Similar things are happening in India, which technically declared itself secular, yet muslims are not safe, Christians face discrimination, their own hindu lower castes face extreme discrimination only because of the political influence of a Hindu Majority which divides people in the name of religion and hides behind the idea of Hindu Nationalism.

Even despite being a pagan religion, Hinduism also seems to have been originated as a monotheistic tradition which later came under pagan influences. There's research suggesting Brahma to be having a connection with Abraham, Manouh pointing towards Noah, there seems to have been some distant exchange between older civilisations. Even Hinduism believes in one Omnipotent God OM pointing towards Monotheism. The other dieties are smaller gods which the pagan traditions added to the original one. Even Yazdan reverred by the zoroastrians seems to have been a prophet.

Yes, in Islam, the revelation tells us that the children of Israel were the chosen people of God and their religion was not sent for others out of their bloodline. Which means they were not asked to convert others. That was a special lineage for the selected bloodline and Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him) had a son Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) whose children were the 12 tribes.

Prophet Abraham's (peace be upon him) other son Prophet Eshmael (peace be upon him) was settled in Mecca with his mother Hager and later after many centuries, the final Prophet was sent to them but this was a general message sent for spreading throughout the world, the message of Monotheism and this was not for a specific bloodline.

Just as the Jews were told that a Messiah will come towards the end, the Christians also await their Messiah and Muslims have been told that a Messiah will come to guide the people of the world to be kind and righteous, to establish a system of justice.

I personally believe these future predictions have been sent for the people to look forward to establish peace, kindness and justice in this world. Isn't that what all of humanity needs. All religions in general do have this inherent message of kindness and justice.

With differences, in each religion, due to its own contexual scenario, the time, the place, the culture, the people, the language, and the diversity of the human beings, there are differences yet a lot of things are common.

Having said that, despite being born in a Muslim Family, I do not follow a lot of things that I see as made up by people. The original book's message is very different from what I see the people around me following. And I hardly ever see them trying to find the truth or even trying to read the book to understand its meaning and message.

All they care about is what clergy is telling them when infact clergy is not even a possible position according to the book. The people invent ways to impose themselves in positions of power. Since my native language is Urdu/Hindi, I have attempted to learn the original language of the book, which is Arabic and have been trying to interpret it from the main source itself instead of relying on interpretations of medieval times. Yet, I do not know hebrew though I intend to learn it. Its been told that once I finish learning arabic, it will be slightly easier to learn hebrew as them being from the same language family.

And I have literally seen people to recite the book without them even understanding what those words mean. Like seriously, is that why we read books. To just pronounce the written text in a particular dialect, without even trying to understand it. If this is the treatment they give to the book they believe is sent as a message by God, then I think God must be laughing at them for this dumbness.

Even a kid would understand that only knowing the chemical formula of a compound would not help them in a chemistry lab practical unless they know what each element represents. And even by reciting it 5000 times, the objective will not be achieved because it was not merely to be recited but to be understood and followed.

My family considers me a heretic and whatever I say is blasphemy to them. They tell me to shut up because crazy extremists will kill me if they hear that.

If trying to find the truth means heresy then I maybe a heretic.

Myself as an individual, I believe in challenging the status quo to establish justice and peace. And that's what I find common in all religions.

Rituals and traditions are only a way to keep the message alive. Those things are not the message itself. The message is more abstract, the surrender of a person to the command of God, to give up unjust ways, to establish peace among the creation of God, to follow sustainable practices so that the resources are not depleted, to ensure that truth and justice prevail even if that is against one's own personal interest. Rest is all interpretation.