Brought here from the same-sex marriage thread:
In a society that is not governed by religious law, I agree with you entirely. And frankly, I am not so sure I would want to live in a Halachic State (meaning one that is governed by Halacha, or Jewish Law). I mean, it would depend. If Halacha were used as an inspiration for law, that is one thing. I wouldn't mind that at all. But if it in fact WERE the law, that would not be a state I would want to live in.
I'm curious as to why you wouldn't want this. Is it just a belief in secularity, or is there some feature of Halacha that would make it undesirable?
Well, Halacha is 4,000 years old, in other words, the Bronze Age. Some of the punishments were, well, a bit ridiculous. Walk too far on Sabbath. I KILL YOU!!!
I can understand using Halacha as the basis for legislation, in other words, using it as a starting point, but the punishments would have to go.
Right now, there is a debate going on in Israel, that started before the last election. A "Nationality Law" was proposed that would define Israel as a Jewish State and would make Halacha "the inspiration for Israeli law". Furthermore, although all citizens would have their rights respected as individuals, their current status as separate national groups would dissolved. The State would be defined as a State of its Jewish citizens. Other citizens would have individual rights, but not group rights, as they do now.
Would that distinction be made on the basis of ethnicity or religion? That is, what rights would an Arab who converted to Judaism have? What about an ethnic Jew who converted to Islam?
I'm not sure if this actually happens in practice, I'd just like to understand where the line is drawn.
Actually, yes, it does rarely occur in both directions, although doing so in either direction can be downright dangerous for a person because of extremism on both sides. and a Jew is a Jew whether they are born that way or convert, and they lose their Jewish status if they formally change their religion to something else, but not if they simply cease to practice Judaism. In other words, if you are an atheist Jew, you are still considered a Jew, but if you are a Hindu, you are no longer considered a Jew. The same would apply to a Jew who became a Christian or a Muslim.
And, to answer your question regarding whether there are secular unions in Israel, the answer is no. If you wish to have your marriage recognised in any way, you must do so in the rites of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, or the Druze Faith. There is no way to unite with another person in a secular way. Civil unions do not exist.