Perth’s Jewish and Islamic leaders say any new laws allowing same-sex marriage should provide certainty for the major religions that they will not be penalised for preaching their beliefs.
However, Perth’s Chief Rabbi and top Islamic figure say most protections they needed were already in place.
Rabbi Dovid Freilich said the Torah taught that marriage was between a man and a woman, but that he did not see it as his job to tell people how to vote during the same-sex survey.
“Whatever the Australian people wanted I will go with,” he said. “If you ask me for my view as a Rabbi the Torah teaches that marriage is between a man and woman, but if a person happens to be gay that’s their business.”
Rabbi Freilich said he believed faith-based schools must be given confidence they can continue to teach beliefs but that should not allow them to preach discrimination.
“It should not prevent them from teaching the law of the land,” he said. “They should learn respect even if it’s not their view.”
Read the article by Nick Butterly in The West Australian.