You can't tell us what to do, Lady Gaga. (photo: Lori Van Buren, Times Union)

Courtesy of a video posted online by New York Now (see the 4:47 mark), I finally received the context from the picture of Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who voted against same-sex-marriage, holding up a glossy photo of Lady Gaga with a telephone on her head. In short, he doesn’t like that she supports gay marriage and thinks we should not follow her lead. He even says he almost changed his mind, but then Lady Gaga offended him.

Afterwards he put down the photo and picked up the Torah, waving it at his peers in the Assembly as he outlined his reasons for voting against gay marriage:

“I wish it wasn’t in the book. Because if it wasn’t, I’d be standing right next to you over there, pushing this, supporting this, because there’d be no reason not to.”
- Assemblyman Dov Hikind, June 15th 2011

Dov really really wishes he could vote for gay marriage, truly. Unfortunately, he doesn’t want Lady Gaga telling him what to do. More importantly, though, he is bound by this book which mentions homosexuality twice in Leviticus and may mention it again in Deuteronomy, though there are issues with both translation and context that muddy the waters quite a bit. Then there’s the mention of man taking only one wife in Genesis.

Look, I get it. Dov is a religious man. He believes the five books of the Torah – which also compromises much of the Christian Old Testament – is the word of God carried to man through mortal vessels. As such, he must take it literally, even if homosexuality is scantly mentioned and the books were written in a wildly different time. In his position, it needs to be taken literally and applied literally in both the private and public sectors.

We must then keep this in mind if we are to see any of these hypothetical laws reach the floor of the Assembly for Dov’s vote.

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: The Judicial Whooping Act
PROVISIONS: Allows for courts in New York State to administer publishments in-house, directly after a verdict, through public flogging.
DOV’S VOTE: Yay
SOURCE: Deuteronomy 25:2-3

‘If the guilty party deserves to be beaten, the judge will have him lie down and be beaten in his presence. He will receive the number of blows his offence warrants. The judge may impose forty blows, but any more than that would be publicly humiliating to your fellow man.’

——–

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: Right to Murder
PROVISIONS: Allows for legalization of murder under some circumstances, eg. to avenge a loved one. Even if the loved one’s death was unintentional (i.e. a no-fault automobile accident). Also, you are allowed to beat your slave to death so long as he lingers for a day or two afterwards.
DOV’S VOTE: Aye
SOURCE: Numbers 35:20-27 / Exodus 21:20

Numbers 35:20-27
‘If he thrust at him in hatred, or lay in waiting and threw something at him so that he dies or in hostility delivered him a death-blow with his fist he is a murderer and the victim’s nearest relative must put him to death.
But if without hostility, he threw something at him unintentionally or without seeing him, dropped a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies as long as he bore him no malice and wished him no harm, the community must protect the killer from the victim’s nearest relative by sending him to the city of refuge.
But should the killer leave the bounds of the city, and the victim’s nearest relative encounter him outside the city the victim’s nearest relative may kill him and will not be guilty of murder.’

Exodus 21:20
‘If someone beats his slave and the slave dies at his hands he shall certainly be avenged. But should the slave survive for one day or two he will pay no penalty because the slave is his owner’s property.’

Deuteronomy 13:6-10
‘If your brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife tries to secretly entice you, telling you to go and worship other gods, gods of people living near you, or far from you, or anywhere on earth, do not listen to him. You must kill them. Show them no pity. And your hand must strike the first blow. ‘Then the hands of all the people. You shall stone them to death.’

——–

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: Rape Reform
PROVISIONS: Reforms current statutes in regards to rape. Specifically, the punishment for rape shall be changed from imprisonment to a fine of fifty shekels (roughly $15 American). Then, the victim has to marry the rapist. But at least he can’t divorce her!
DOV’S VOTE: Aye
SOURCE: Deuteronomy 22:28-29

If a man happens to meet a virgin woman who is not engaged to be married and he seizes her and rapes her but is caught in the act the rapist must pay the girl’s father fifty silver shekels. She must marry the rapist, because he has violated her. And so long as he lives, he may not divorce her.

——–

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: The Family Slave Emancipation Act
PROVISIONS: Allows for Slaves, who have been set free, to bring their wife and children with them
DOV’S VOTE: Nay
SOURCE: Exodus 12:2,4

‘When you purchase a Hebrew slave his service will last for six years. In the seventh year he will leave a free man. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and children will belong to the master, and he will depart alone.’

——–

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: The Twilight Act
PROVISIONS: Forbids consumption of blood, whether it be human or animal, and defines punishment as DEATH.
DOV’S VOTE: Aye
SOURCE: Leviticus 7:26

‘Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If anyone eats blood, that person must be executed.’

——–

HYPOTHETICAL LAW: The New York State Anti-Discrimination Act
PROVISIONS: Prohibits employers and others from discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed (i.e. religious beliefs), or national origin. Later amended to also include sexual orientation.
DOV’S VOTE: Nay
DOV’S OBJECTION: Rather than tolerate those of different creeds, New Yorkers should instead locate and murder them.
SOURCE: Deuteronomy 13:13-15

‘If you hear that in one of the towns, there are men who are telling people to go and worship other gods, it is your duty to look into the matter and examine it. If it is proved and confirmed, you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword. You must lay the town under the curse of destruction, the town and everything in it. You must pile up all its loot in the public square and burn the town and all its loot. That town is to be a ruin for all time, and never rebuilt.’

8 Responses to The law according to New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind

  1. Bob Thayer says:

    “I wish it wasn’t in the book. Because if it wasn’t, I’d be standing right next to you over there, pushing this, supporting this, because there’d be no reason not to.”
    – Assemblyman Dov Hikind, June 15th 2011

    Stopped reading after quote.

    Don’t trust people in politics who feel the need to play the religion card. Slimy, really. Like preying on drug addicts, making them work for your gain.

  2. GenWar says:

    Three words.

    Ballot.

    Box.

    Remedy.

    And…….go!

  3. Hal Jordan says:

    We can solve this problem with a play from the “Back to the Future” handbook: Just dress someone up like God, sneak into Dov’s bedroom at night, and blast him with Van Halen music until he agrees to stop acting like such a dingus.

  4. Mike says:

    Wow, Kevin I got a good laugh from your article. “fine of fifty shekels (roughly $15 American).” That basically sums up your whole article you wrote an article without any real knowledge of what you were writing. Did you investigate any of these claims that you made obviously not. Why don’t you follow up with an Orthodox Rabbi to see if any of your claims are actually accurate. Now that would be some real journalism. by the way you way off on the Shekel. It is $15 for the New Israeli Shekel a currency used by the State of Israel, the Shekel in the Torah is an totally different coin that is approximately 11 grams of pure gold. That would be $27,039 today.

  5. Victoria Roth says:

    EXACTLY!!
    Great work, Mr. Marshall.

    Mike, I’m pretty sure you don’t have go through all the trouble of consulting an orthodox rabbi before opening a copy of the Torah/OT yourself and seeing plainly that those passages are there.
    But thanks a bunch for the update on the current exchange rate of the shekel. Because I was all upset that a rapist would only have to pay $15 to possess a woman the rest of her life, but $135K sounds like a very fair deal in that exchange.

  6. u2 says:

    Bill Magee, NYS Assemblyman. “NAY” vote. Claudia Tenney, NYS Assemblywoman “NAY” vote. I agree. If marriage isn’t sacred, what is?

    I’m perplexed as to why this argument goes back to religion? My wife and I only go to church for weddings and funerals. However our marriage license is approved by New York State.

    There are so many other issues in New York/society in general more important than this homosexual marriage.

  7. Cindee says:

    That was a telephone on Lady Gaga’s head? I thought it was a wig meant to look like a sumo wrestler’s topknot.

  8. Get Real © says:

    u2, Britney Spears got married to some scrub in Las Vegas. There is NOTHING sacred about marriage. Get with the times.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>