Legalizing Same Sex Marriage Does Not Lead to Sharia Being Imposed in America: A Response to Robert Avrech [Monday Musing]

Illustration of Avrech’s logic

In the most recent issue of Jewish Action (Spring 2015), Robert Avrech writes (p. 6):

Homosexual marriage is front and center as Hollywood’s most urgent social movement. But government-endorsed homosexual marriage will inevitably lead to the legalization of Islamic polygamous marriages, which is a straight line to the sharia law—ironically, a mortal threat to homosexuals who are cruelly and systematically persecuted, tortured and murdered under Islamic law.

I find this quite ridiculous because a even if homosexual or same-sex marriage is legalized, that does not lead automatically to Islamic polygamous marriages. Yes, we have seen, in the last handful of years, marriage undergoing a redefinition: no longer between one man and one woman, now widely being redefined in America as between any two people, whether one man and one woman, one woman and one woman or one man and one man, so it’s not impossible that this redefining of marriage could also lead to one man and multiple women, etc. (cf. this (amongst many)). (It should be noted that polygamy is permitted in Biblical and Talmudic Judaism (and much subsequent Judaism, as well), yet homosexual relationships are not, thus, in Judaism, polygamy is acceptable, whereas homosexual relationships are not.)

Yes, if this potential for marriage to include polygamous relationships were to happen, there may be Muslims who involve themselves in this enterprise, perhaps even according to Islam, leading to “Islamic polygamous marriages”, but that’s not a problem for Judaism or Jews – let them.

But these Islamic polygamous marriages do not then automatically lead to Sharia law.  Sure, those in those relationships would, I imagine, aspire to accord themselves within Sharia, however, that does not lead to Sharia taking over and being foisted upon America, let alone leading to “homosexuals who are cruelly and systematically persecuted, tortured and murdered under Islamic law.”  Simply put, the political climate in America is not ready or willing to make Sharia take over the laws and to torture homosexuals – it’s just not going to happen.