No matter where you stand on things (I am libertarian and pretty much could care less what anyone believes and does so long as it does not infringe on my ability to believe and do what I want) the news that I heard this morning on NPR, should shock the imagination.

Here’s a brief snippet.

The Jewish Theological Seminary, the intellectual and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, said yesterday that it would begin accepting openly gay and lesbian candidates into its rabbinical and cantorial schools.

The seminary’s announcement follows opinions in December by a panel of Conservative legal experts ending their movement’s ban on gay rabbis and on same-sex unions. Those opinions gave individual Conservative congregations and institutions, however, the theological latitude to stake out their own positions.

“The decision to ordain gay and lesbian clergy at J.T.S. is in keeping with the longstanding commitment of the Jewish tradition to pluralism,” Chancellor-elect Arnold M. Eisen said in a statement. “Pluralism means that we recognize more than one way to be a good Conservative Jew, more than one way of walking authentically in the path of our tradition and of carrying that tradition forward.”

Now, for the record I fully support complete equal rights for homosexual/bisexual/gay/lesbian/transgendered Americans.  I consider myself enlightened enough to not worry about what someone does in his and/or her bedroom.  It has no impact on my ability to exercise my right to do as I please in my bedroom.

What gets me hung up is that this is the conservative Jewish seminary.  Why?  Because with the creep of pluralism into religion, the erosion of standards becomes more and more apparent.  Who sets the standards of morality and decorum when the standard setters rely on the whims of the people.

What makes standard different is that they are what we strive for.  For example, we have standards of body shape.  Men and women are encouraged by society to look trim and fit because that is the standard of physical attractiveness.  What if that was based on what most people are, rather than what they want to be.  The standard would shift and become less important overall.  What good is a standard if we aren’t striving to make it.

This decision, while progressive in the sense that it accords equal rights, is also regressive in that the crack int eh wall of standards widens.  If it is a bad standard, then I don’t worry too much.  But how much longer before both Christian and Jewish seminaries admit students who believe that murder is okay, and so is adultery, lying, stealing and coveting.  At what point do these religions stop cease to differentiate themselves from society at large.  And without that differentiation, is there any reason why we should be Christians or Jews.  Maybe like the pantheistic Hindus we can be both, without contradiction.